Thundercracker (G1)
| This article is about the Generation 1 Decepticon. For the Unicron Trilogy Decepticon, see Thundercracker (Armada). |
- Thundercracker is a Decepticon character in the Generation 1 continuity family.
Thundercracker claims the skies as his arena. He looks down in contempt on those who cannot leave the ground -- he considers them lesser beings. He will often attack the flightless beings below him for no other reason than to satisfy his scorn.
His superiority in this realm is the only thing he is sure of. Thundercracker is not entirely committed to the Decepticon cause, and even has some seemingly contradictory sympathy for the humans they terrorize. Fear of retribution from Megatron and the influence of his peers is usually enough to bury these doubts. Regardless, he needs constant reassurance that he's where he needs to be. Sometimes, his heart's just not in the job.
French-Canadian name: Coup de Tonnerre
Italian name: Vampiro
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Animated continuity
- Voice Actor: John Stephenson, Wally Burr (US), Yutaka Shimaka (Japan)
Thundercracker was one of Megatron's elite warriors, participating in the attack on the Ark and joining the rest of the Earth-bound Transformers in their several-million-year nap under an inactive volcano. He awoke when the rest of the Decepticons did, and took part in their attempts to gather energon and escape the planet Earth, which he loathed for being too "flat". It was he and Reflector who spotted the first "potential Autobot", when in fact they had discovered the planet's native inhabitants, two humans, in an unliving vehicle.
One of the few things he seemed to loathe even more than the world he was stranded on was the attitude of his commander, Starscream. Thundercracker often started fights with the Air Commander, usually over whether or not Megatron's latest plan was a waste of time (Thundercracker took Megatron's side). At one point, Thundercracker's distaste for "that geeky Starscream" became so strong that he was willing to let Skyfire destroy one of the Decepticons' greatest weapons, just in the hopes that Starscream would get blamed for it! Despite these brushes with treachery, however, Thundercracker just never had it in him to do anything more than complain about his fellow Decepticons.
During the assault on Autobot City, Thundercracker was present and accounted for - he was, in fact, flying the shuttle that Megatron used to attempt his sneak attack. After the battle, Thundercracker was tossed out of Astrotrain with the rest of the injured and weakened warriors, jettisoned for ballast in order to preserve fuel.
That was not, however, entirely the end of Thundercracker's story. Unicron was waiting in space for a chance like this, and when the newly reformatted Galvatron needed some new troops to command, Thundercracker was among the corpses chosen to use as raw materials. It is possible his body was used to create Scourge, and given a new lease on life.
Later Octane would show concern when he runs into a Decepticon crypt to hide from some attackers and finds a statue of Thundercracker there. After paying his respects and apologising for the intrusion, Octane decides it would be better to hide behind someone else.
Machine Wars Toy Bio
The mysterious Machine Wars were a tumultuous time for Thundercracker. At long last he was convinced of and commited to the truth of the Decepticon cause, but Thundercracker now ironically found himself in open rebellion against Megatron's leadership of the faction. It is unknown what events lead to his reversal of heart about the Decepticons and his being branded a "Rebel Warrior." (Since no fictional backstory has ever been established for the Machine Wars line it is possible that it is set in some alternate reality where this was simply Thundercracker's nature, but given that the rest of the characters are clearly their classic G1-selves unrevealed events/character development seem more likely explanations).
Dreamwave comics continuity
Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs Transformers continuity
IDW comics continuity
Thundercracker operated as part of a Decepticon insurgent cell that had operated covertly on Earth for at least four years, working to destabilize Earth's governing organizations and create global anarchy. He, Runabout and Runamuck were assigned by Starscream to intercept the human Stoker and retrieve his SM-40 palmtop PC, containing data on their Nebraska operation. The team caught up with and killed Stoker outside Phoenix, AZ, but the SM-40 was missing. hundercracker tracked the device to Hunter O'Nion and Verity Carlo, but was driven off by Ratchet, who managed to temporarily lose him and the two Battlechargers. After picking Ratchet up again, Thundercracker was later shot down by Prowl, Sunstreaker and Ironhide.
Toys
Generation 1
- Thundercracker (Decepticon Jet, 1984/1985/2001/2003)
- Japanese ID number: 24
- Originally a Diaclone "Jet Robo Acrobat-Type", Thundercracker transforms into an F-15 Eagle fighter jet, sharing his mold with his teammates Starscream and Skywarp. Many parts need to be removed completely from transformation from robot to jet and back, which nowadays is considered a major drawback of the toy. It is rare to find it complete, as neither mode can hold all the pieces required. There are a few minor mold variations of this toy (common for the first two years of Transformers, really), the most immediately noticable being that early versions did not have visible "clip-tabs" on the inner face of the gauntlets.
- In 2001, Thundercracker was given a short-run re-issue by Takara as a convention-exclusive item. The toy would later be more extensively released as part of the Hasbro Commemorative Series line, though due to US toy-safety regulations, his missiles were made extra-long.
- Thundercracker (Action Master) (Action Master Exo-Suit, 1991)
- Released only in European markets, once again Thundercracker was a redeco of Starscream, a non-transforming action figure that combined elements of both the character's cartoon model and toy-form. Like all Action Masters, Thundercracker was a nontransformable action figure with a transformable accessory -- in his case, a Solo Mission Jet Plane vehicle that converted into exo-suit battle armor. However, unlike most of Thundercracker's appearances, Action Master Thundercracker is not in his traditional blue and silver colors, but rather in magenta, purple, blue, gold, and two shades of green. (Oy.)
- Thundercracker (Smallest Transformer, 2004)
- Part of the third wave of Smallest Transformer product (dubbed wave "2.5" and avialable only at CVS stores in Japan), Thundercracker is again a redeco of Starscream. Like all toys in the line, Thundercracker is a tiny, even more simplified version of the original toy, transforming into an F-15 fighter jet. These toys were sold in "blind-packed" boxes, so you could not know which one you had until you actually opened the box.
- The same mold is used by Smallest Transformer Skywarp and Thrust.
Machine Wars
- Thundercracker (Basic, 1996)
- Sharing a mold once again with Skywarp, Thundercracker transforms into a green Dassault Rafale fighter jet with spring-loaded one-step transformation from jet to robot. The two halves of his rifle store in his lower legs. Like all Machine Wars toys, Thundercracker was an exclusive to Kay-Bee stores and related stores like Toy Liquidators.
- This mold is also used by Beast Wars II Dirge and Robot Masters Wing Stun.
Robot Masters
- Skywarp & Thundercracker (Multi-pack, 2005)
- Robot Masters Thundercracker is a redeco of Starscream from the same series, a smaller yet more advanced version of the original toy, adding more articulation and reduing the amount of part-forming required. He was available only in a two-pack with Skywarp, which also came with a Decepticon sigil pin. This set was the very last product released in the Robot Masters line, and wasn't even strictly sold in a box from that series; instead, it used a modified e-Hobby Generation 1 reissue box, with only a small corner tab noting its Robot Masters origin from the front.
Titanium Series
- Thundercracker (War Within)
- This mold was also used to make the Titanium War Within versions of Starscream and Sunstorm.
Merchandise
External links
- Thundercracker at TFU.info
- Thundercracker's Universe profile at NTFA.net
- ToyBin Thundercracker Toy Gallery
