Soundblaster (G1)

This article is about the clone. For the original Soundblaster from 1980s Japanese media, see Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity. For a list of other meanings, see Soundblaster (disambiguation).

Soundblaster is a Decepticon or Mercenary from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Soundblaster took some of Impactor's parts, along with some new parts and created New Impactors, that serve as his goons.

Soundblaster might be a clone of Soundwave, but he couldn't differ more from his progenitor—while Soundwave is a stoic, withdrawn sort who's fanatically loyal to his leader Megatron, Soundblaster is ruthless and mercurial, and uses his extensive connections with Cybertron's criminal underworld to seek out potential avenues of profit, grease the wheels of interplanetary crime, and generally find ways to turn any given situation to his favor.

He takes no pride in his origins, nor the fact that many Autobots and Decepticons regard him as little more than a failed experiment; although his influence has landed him a small army of mercenaries and other criminals, the only 'bot Soundblaster might truly respect is his creator Shockwave, who may be the sole Decepticon capable of checking his boundless ambitions.

Fiction

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Soundblaster was one of several clones created by Shockwave in the same program that produced Sunstorm. While in a tube, he was discovered by the Battlechargers, who released Sunstorm. The laboratory the clones were stored in was soon destroyed by Sunstorm. Night of the Combaticons Later, Prowl reviewed a recorded image of Soundblaster during his investigation of Shockwave's cloning experiments. The Omega Effect

Kre-O online comic

Soundblaster was present with the other Soundwave clones in an attempt to hypnotize the Autobot Kreons into slaves. Soundwave's Trap? Stop Operation Brainwash Humanity!

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

During the war for Cybertron, Soundblaster was a Ground Force Weapons Sergeant. Siege toy packaging

War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon

Voice actor: Rafael Goldstein (English), Yōhei Tadano (Japanese), Jesús Maniega (Castilian Spanish), Osvaldo Trejo Rodríguez (Latin-American Spanish)

"I've been blastin' and laughin' so long, that even my mama thinks that my mind is gone!"

A clone of Soundwave, Soundblaster was created by Shockwave but was labeled as a failed experiment, a detail over which he continued to feel unease. Becoming a Mercenary, he frequently received energon from Bumblebee, who considered Soundblaster to be worse than a Decepticon and a bit unbalanced.

During one of these transactions, Soundblaster became suspicious of the bot's new company while one of his clients was being dealt with by local security. When Buzzsaw caught the Autobots trying to steal raw energon, Soundblaster and his Dome Guards surrounded the thieves, believing the Decepticons would pay a better price than the Energon that Arcee had. Siege episode 5

The Mercenaries' dome then fell victim to a Decepticon virus designed to destroy the Alpha Trion Protocols that was contained within Bumblebee, the sudden systems crash providing enough of a distraction for the Autobots to escape with their ill-gotten goods. Siege episode 6

2019 IDW continuity

Soundblaster's origins are shrouded in mystery; he was known to inhabit the city of Kaon at some point after the end of the War of the Threefold Spark, Storm Horizon Part 2 and had a close relationship with Shockwave, who had assisted Exarchon with developing cloning technology during the war. Escape Part Three

While Megatron eventually smuggled Shockwave back to Cybertron to help manage The Rise, Shockwave sent Soundblaster out into space to gather the necessary raw materials resources for future cloning experiments. Under as-yet-unclear circumstances, Soundblaster either founded or took command of a band of splice-thieves, piratical Transformers who kidnapped other Cybertronians and sold them for parts on the galactic black market. From their base of operations on the remote planet Kworia, he was able to divert their output to fuel Shockwave's ongoing experiments on Cybertron. However, Soundblaster had ambitions of his own; when Alpha Trion passed by the system in search of ancient Cybertronian relics, Soundblaster took an interest in Trion's quest and left with him, leaving Spinister to manage the operation in his stead.

What began as a simple barter for energon soon became an ever-evolving contract that Alpha Trion was unable to escape; aboard a stolen Kworian vessel, Soundblaster began invading and plundering other populated planets for any artifacts left over from the Age of Expansion and earned the ire of several alien species. Storm Horizon Part 2 Their search eventually took them to the Black Sphere, where they encountered an armada of vengeful Kworians; as a last-ditch call for help, Soundblaster projected a hologram of himself and Trion to the planet Obsidar, where Ultra Magnus was searching for his old friend. Storm Horizon Part 2

Even as his vessel was torn apart by the aliens and the black hole, Soundblaster tried to keep his hold on Trion, fighting off Ultra Magnus when the craft entered the event horizon but was soundly defeated. Somehow managing to extradite himself from the situation, Soundblaster returned to Cybertron sixty-six cycles ahead of his foes where Shockwave decided that he'd performed adequately but warned his subordinate to never fail again. Storm Horizon Part 3 After repairing himself, Soundblaster returned to Shockwave's side to assist with his cloning experiments. He stayed silent during a subsequent argument with the Insecticons, and later noted that Shockwave had neglected to tell them that he didn't need the original trio anymore to continue his projects. Shockwave simply answered that the Insecticons were a dangerous and unstable element, one that would have to be closely monitored. Escape Part Two Later, Soundblaster escorted Rage to meet with Shockwave. Escape Part Three

Games

Angry Birds Transformers

Soundblaster appears as one of the first unlockable characters. He is portrayed by Chef Pig. Angry Birds Transformers

Toys

For more Soundblaster toys, see: Soundwave (G1)/toys

The Headmasters

Been spending most our lives living in a repaint's paradise

• Soundblaster (Decepticon, 1987)
  • ID number: D-101
  • Accessories: Buzzsaw, tape case, rocket launcher, 3 rockets, "concussion blaster"

The original Soundblaster toy was repurposed as Soundblaster in the Dreamwave Generation 1 continuity.

As part of the Japanese The Headmasters series, Soundwave was redecoed in a new black and red color scheme, and his chest door was retooled so that he could now hold two cassettes at once. Soundblaster came packaged with Buzzsaw, who now sported a new sticker which would reveal the weak spot of Fortress Maximus when placed behind Soundblaster's translucent red chest door, in the same manner that Tech Specs decoders worked. The figure's stickers, however, retain Soundwave's blue coloration instead of being changed to work with Soundblaster's black.

Soundwave's mold would be redecoed into Collaborative J. Balvintron—a staggering 34 years later.

• More information on Soundblaster at TFU.info

Generations

"Hey, I'm actually appearing in fiction this time! Take that, Night Ops Bumblebee!"
(Hasbro version pictured, TakaraTomy version inset)

• Soundblaster (Voyager Class, 2019)
  • Hasbro ID number: WFC-S63 (Siege) / TT-GS12 (Selects)
  • TakaraTomy ID number: SG-EX
  • TakaraTomy release date: May 29, 2021
  • Accessories: "M2 HI-KEP Concussion Blaster," "M2 LR-HD Sonic Cannon," "M2 EMTX Blitz Charge Blaster" (combine to form "M2 USW HF Sonic Compression Mega-Blaster")

A "Special Edition" figure for the 35th anniversary of the Transformers brand, Siege Voyager Class Soundblaster is a redeco and retool of Soundwave from the same line, featuring a primarily color scheme evoking his rebuilt form in The Headmasters. Soundblaster transforms from a heavily G1-inspired robot to an unfocused "Patrol Hovercraft" in 25 steps. Though undocumented, he can assume the additional modes from Soundwave, a “Cybertronian Sensor Lamp” or boombox mode. Soundblaster also includes three weapons compatible with the C.O.M.B.A.T. System, two of which are based on his classic sonic blaster and shoulder cannon, and all three can combine to form the "M2 USW HF Sonic Compression Mega-Blaster".

As a nod to the original Headmasters toy, Soundblaster's chest door was retooled so that he could now hold two "Drone Armors" (from the Micromaster Soundwave Spy Patrol sets) at once, though the increased storage space results in a very conspicuous chest protrusion. Soundblaster's retooled door avoids the problems people reported with fitting Ravage into Soundwave. His left index finger is sculpted in a "trigger finger" position, allowing him to press the button that opens his chest door. Additionally, he features slots on his arms for Laserbeak to (loosely) perch on, though it's easier to just plug the 5 mm peg on Laserbeak's underside into the 5 mm port on Soundblaster's forearm, though that requires Laserbeak's legs to be flipped up.

Soundblaster's "M2 EMTX Blitz Charge Blaster" can be slotted onto the back of the Siege Voyager Megatron mold, mimicking his G1 gun barrel placement. Whether this was intentional or not is unclear. There are also tabs on the sides of his chest, just in front of his arms, that appear to line up with the notches on the inside of his thruster blocks that seem to have been intended to allow them to fold flush against the sides of his vehicle mode, rather than being held above it by their struts. However, this is not possible as a result of the struts clashing against other parts even if they are modified to allow a wider range of movement.

Soundblaster and the rest of the "35th Anniversary" subline were exclusive to Walmart in the United States. They were also available at general retail in Hasbro's Asian markets such as Taiwan and Singapore.

Exclusive to TakaraTomy Mall in Japan, the TakaraTomy release of the toy, which came nearly two years later (and was pushed back from March 27, 2021), features a more show-accurate tape window, with a cleaner chest and Mercenary badge. Soundblaster is the first toy with a major difference between the Hasbro and TakaraTomy releases since the brand unification, and as such, was imported under Generations Selects branding by Hasbro Pulse. The Selects toy's product description explicitly refers to this Soundblaster as the Soundwave clone from the Dreamwave Productions comics and War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon.

Merchandise

Transformers Trading Card Game

• Sergeant Soundblaster, Weapons-Arms Dealer (2019)
  • Wave 4: War for Cybertron: Siege II
  • Rarity: SRT
  • Card Number: T45/T52
  • Stars: 12

Sergeant Soundblaster, Weapons-Arms Dealer is one of 52 character cards released in Wave 4 of the Transformers Trading Card Game, War for Cybertron: Siege II.

The card's artwork is based on the Siege Soundblaster toy, with line-art for both modes by Andrew Griffith, Bot Mode colors by Marcus Reyno, and Alt Mode colors by Oliver Morit.

Notes

• Like other cameo Kreons, Kre-O Soundblaster is made from existing Kre-O. He uses the Soundwave helmet colored black. He is specifically an homage to the "Blaster Black Version" of Music Label Soundwave (since his chest is purple/lavender instead of red).
• Hasbro never specified whether the Siege Soundblaster toy was meant to represent an upgraded Soundwave or the separate character within the scope of Siege toy bios, though Soundblaster's packaging having a different military division points to the latter.
  • By coincidence or design, subsequent fiction such as the War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon and the 2019 IDW continuity would follow suit.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Soundblaster (サウンドブラスター Saundoburasutā)