Soundwave (BW)
| The name or term "Soundwave" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Soundwave (disambiguation). |
- Soundwave is a Mutant from the Beast Wars portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
None of the Mutants are upbeat characters, but Soundwave really exemplifies their grim attitude toward life. While Razor Claw stoically shoulders his burden and Poison Bite internalizes all of his angst, Soundwave hates his ungainly body, and he wants everyone to know it. Bitter and melodramatic, Soundwave turns his hurt on the rest of the world - after all, it's not like he wanted to be part of this war in the first place. Soundwave only joined up with Icebird's band of misfits to find the 'bot who did this to him... and make them pay for this grotesque transformation. His drive for vengeance, while certainly dramatic, sometimes leads him to make irrational decisions.
The other Mutants tolerate his theatrics, as he's a useful asset to keep around (and it's not like they're particularly jovial folks, either) Whether in the air or in the water, he can rely on his ultra-sensitive internal radar to detect enemies, and his alligator teeth can chomp right through even the toughest Cybertronian alloys. One smack of his tail will send a circuit-disrupting pulse wave through the ground to short out whatever survives. Even so, once the threat has passed, Soundwave will probably go right back to brooding.
Fiction
3H comics
Soundwave and the other three Mutants were discarded offspring of Megatron's experiments. Despite their "tortured existence", they were given a mission from the Oracle itself: Travel to the Outer Orion Cluster, where they would find a way to restore their true forms and heal their fractured sparks. Departure
Arriving at their destination, Soundwave was increasingly cynical about the nature of their mission. His pessimism seemed justified, as he and the other Mutants were herded into a Quintesson courtroom and sentenced to death, despite their pleas. Though it appeared that all four were devoured by Sharkticons, Betrayal only Soundwave and Razor Claw met their gruesome end. Poison Bite and Icebird survived, revealing the Mutants' role as avatars of Primus as the remaining two extinguished the lives of their would-be executioners. Wreckers: Finale Part II
2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity
Once a warrior prior to the Pax Cybertronia, Soundwave attempted to find a new calling in entertainment. Seeking new audiences on other worlds for his acting performances, he enlisted as a crew member of the Axalon. Beast Wars Sourcebook #4
Soundwave was one of the many protoforms from the remaining Axalon stasis pods to be reactivated by Razorbeast. He and his fellow Mutants took up residence in a swamp. When a Predacon scouting party intruded on their home, the Mutants defended their home vigorously—in the course of the slaughter, Soundwave bit Powerpinch's leg off. The Gathering #3
Kre-O online manga
Soundwave was present with the other Soundwaves clones in an attempt to hypnotize the Autobot Kreons into slaves. Soundwave's Trap? Stop Operation Brainwash Humanity!
Recordicons
Soundwave announced "Soundwave eject" before vomiting, causing the nearby Lazorbeak to express the hope that he wasn't the original Soundwave. Recordicons #26
e-HOBBY comics
When Convobat and Megalligator were about to escape Straxus's fortress, Soundwave shot and incapacitated Convobat. Megalligator went with the mysterious figure, leaving behind his "friend". Cybertron Convobat prequel comic Soundwave later attended to Magna Convoy before the Blue Corpsman set off to retrieve the Matrix Sword from Straxus. Cybertron Magna Convoy prequel comic
Once Magna Convoy joined up with Convobat, Soundwave was with Bludgeon when the latter proclaimed the coming of a new era. Cybertron Magna Convoy
2005 IDW continuity
Soundwave was one of Onyx Prime's Maximals. When this bestial horde invaded Cybertron, he was one of the many warriors who wound up battling Arcee, and Jetfire and Aileron came across his severed wing shortly afterwards. Endless Forever
Another Maximal of Soundwave's body-type was among the Maximals who invaded Toronto in advance of Unicron's arrival, and was subsequently shot down by a G.I. Joe Sky Hawk during the battle for the city. Ceremony
Toys
Mutant Beast Wars
- Soundwave (Mutant, 2000)
- Soundwave is a deluxe-sized toy and can transform between bat and alligator forms. He has a panel on the chest of his bat mode that can be lifted to reveal mechanical parts. His robot face can be revealed within the bat's mouth by pressing a spine on the back of the bat head.
- He is a notable sufferer of GPS.
- This mold was to be used to make Leatherhide, but that toy was ultimately canceled.
Notes
- The four Mutants were originally developed as toys for the Animorphs line. But with that line's cancellation, the molds were retooled to replace the human parts with robotic bits, as well as change the Animorphs logo to the new "Mutant" insignia. Design sketches from Transformers Generations 2017 indicate that Soundwave was to be one of the male characters on the team; judging by his head design, he would have been Marco.
- Early pictures of Soundwave showed him with green plastic rather than brown, presumably on the whole "alligator=green" thing... leading to not only a damn strange-looking bat mode, but some color redundancy with Razor Claw. Although this redundancy may have been preferable to the inevitable Gold Plastic Syndrome instead.
- It is implied that this Soundwave is the same as his Generation 1 namesake in the Beast Wars Sourcebook published by IDW. But then, considering how many errors are in the dang thing, feel free to take this factoid with a grain of salt.
- Kreon Soundwave is made from several existing Kre-O pieces, in this case he uses the Rampage animal head (with small wing pieces to simulate bat ears), two spike pieces for 'claws', and Grimwing's wings (although the wings are directly on the arm-joint sections instead of using a back-pack piece). The tail is unique, though.
- In the e-HOBBY comics, Soundwave's body is modeled on the Titans Return Mindwipe body and the Nightbeat head.
Foreign names
- French: Sonar (Canada)
- Spanish: Sonar (Latin America)
