Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformers cartoon
- Voice Actor: Frank Welker (English), Issei Masamune (Japanese)
Nine million years ago, during the Golden Age of Cybertron, Soundwave was one of Megatron's first Decepticons, and was seen flying through the planet's skies alongside his leader and Shockwave by Orion Pax. War Dawn When the Great War with the Autobots erupted not long after, Soundwave served as Megatron's intelligence officer and most loyal subordinate, and as keeper of the Decepticon Mini-Cassettes, diminuitive robots designed for espionage.
After five million years of war, Cybertron found itself in the throes of an energy crisis, and Soundwave was charged with spying on the Autobots and learn how they were dealing with it. Using his unconventional alternate mode as a space-age "lamp-post" to position himself on the street outside the Autobot city-state of Iacon, Soundwave was able to deploy Laserbeak to snoop even closer. Laserbeak discovered that the Autobots were preparing to depart Cybertron to search for new sources of energy on other planets, and Soundwave quickly took this news back to Megatron, prompting the Decepticons to pursue the Autobots' spacecraft when it left the planet. After navigating a treacherous meteor shower, the Decepticons intercepted and boarded the Autobots' ship, and battle between the two factions erupted, during which Soundwave displayed his prowess by holding his own against Jazz, Prowl, Sideswipe, Ironhide and Ratchet. However, the fighting was soon cut short when the Autobot spacecraft was caught in the gravity of the nearby prehistoric planet Earth and crash-landed. The ship impacted with the side of a volcano in a collision so violent that all the Transformers onboard, Soundwave included, were knocked off line.
Four million years later, in the Earth year 1984, a volcanic eruption jarred the ship's computer, Teletraan I back on-line, and it reactivated and repaired the Transformers indiscriminately, reformatting Soundwave with the Earthen alternate mode of a portable cassette player. Before the Autobots were restored, the Decepticons pulled out of the ruined hulk of the ship, and Megatron immediately charged Soundwave with drawing up plans for a new space cruiser to return the Decepticons to Cybertron. Soundwave then deployed Rumble to help Starscream ransack a power plant to gather materials for construction, sent Ravage to scare off humans who came to investigate, and dispatched Laserbeak to search the planet for sources of energy. Laserbeak soon returned to report his discovery of an offshore oil platform, which the Decepticons promptly attacked, gathering oil and storing it in the energon cubes Soundwave generated from his chest. The Autobots soon arrived to stop the Decepticons, but Megaton collapsed the rig, forcing the Autobots to save the human workers and allowing the Decepticons to escape.More than Meets the Eye, Part 1
Seeking to exploit the data that Teletraan I had gathered on Earth in its short time on the planet, Soundwave positioned himself close to the Autobots' base, where he transformed into his cassette player mode and allowed himself to be found by the Autobots' new human friend, Spike Witwicky. Unaware of the true nature of the unassuming tape player he had found, Spike brought Soundwave into the Autobot ship and then left him unattended, allowing the Decepticon communicator to release Ravage. The feline felon interfaced with Teletraan I and located the computer's data on energy sources, which Soundwave then recorded. Soundwave was soon caught in the act by Spike, but managed to escape to report to Megatron. Using the information Soundwave obtained, Megatron decided to attack Sherman Dam, where Soundwave instructed Rumble to use his earthquake-generating powers to create a tidal wave that maximized the plant's energy output. More than Meets the Eye, Part 2
The Decepticons' raids continued apace, until only one more theft was necessary. As Megatron put his plan to attack an Air Force base together, Starscream attempted another of his infamous coups by trying to shoot him in the back, but Soundwave proved his loyalty to Megatron by warning his leader of the attack. The subsequent raid on the Air Force base went smoothly, and the Decepticons were at last poised to return to Cybertron when the Autobots made one last-ditch attack on their launch site. Soundwave and his tapes went into action, but Megatron soon called the battle off and ordered the Decepticons to board the completed space cruiser. Soundwave served as the ship's helmsman as it blasted off from Earth, but the flight proved a short one, as Soundwave discovered that the Autobot spy Mirage has used his invisibility powers to stow away. Before the Decepticons could react, Mirage had sabotaged the ship and sent it plummeting back towards Earth. With Soundwave unable to stop its descent, the ship crashed into the ocean, and the Autobots believed the Decepticons destroyed. More than Meets the Eye, Part 3
In truth, however, Soundwave and the other Decepticons had survived the crash, and after months of working in secret, reconstructed their spaceship into an undersea headquarters. The villains revealed their continued existence to the world when Soundwave again used his inconspicuous tape player form to infiltrate a solar power plant and proceeded to take control of it, allowing the Decepticons to harvest its energy that they planned to send back to Cybertron over their new intergalactic "space bridge" transport system. Soundwave repelled an Autobot counterattack by wielding Megatron in pistol mode, but ultimately, the plan backfired when Megatron himself was caught in the space bridge's pull and believed destroyed, leaving Starscream to take control of the Decepticons. Transport to Oblivion Soundwave chafed under Starscream's inept leadership, and their first sortie with the air commander in charge ended in a comical defeat that saw Soundwave bowled over by Prowl as he ran away. Thankfully, Megatron soon returned, with a scheme to steal Doctor Alcazar's antimatter formula, and Soundwave happily latched back onto his master. After Alcazar deleted the formula from his own computer, Soundwave used his mind-reading talents to acquire the formula from the brain of Chip Chase. Roll for It
Soundwave participated in a Decepticon attack on Autobot Headquarters when Optimus Prime was mistakenly believed to be fatally wounded. Divide and Conquer Soon after, during a scheme to drain heat energy from the Earth's core, the Decepticons unearthed the frozen body of Starscream's old friend Skyfire in the North Pole. Soundwave helped reactivate him by delivering a million-volt shock to his systems, but Skyfire ultimately sided with the Autobots to stop the Decepticons' plan. Fire in the Sky Later, Soundwave and Reflector were sent on a data-gathering mission, acquiring information about the Great Falls to facilitate a Decepticon attack on the hydro-electric plant there. S.O.S. Dinobots
On a mission to the Peruvian Andes, Soundwave successfully proved that the legend of the Incan Crystal of Power was true when he deduced that the pyramid containing the fabled gemstone rested on a shaft leading to the Earth's core. On a mission to gather steel for a weapon frame to channel the crystal's power, Soundwave and Reflector were ambushed by Brawn and Windcharger in mid-air, and Soundwave found himself driven face-first into a mountain by the small Autobot in the first of several clashes that they would engage in over the years. Soundwave tried to fight back with his own rifle, and even tried blasting Brawn with Megatron in pistol mode, but the little Autobot took everything he had to give and escaped in one piece. Fire on the Mountain Later, Soundwave's mind-reading abilities came into use again when he scanned the brains of the Dinobots, Grimlock, Slag and Sludge, in order to determine their weaknesses. War of the Dinobots
When Megatron schemed to use the space bridge to transport Cybertron into Earth's orbit, he required human slaves to gather the energy that would result from the massive natural catastrophes such an action would cause. Soundwave and his cassettes were dispatched to capture Sparkplug Witwicky, who served as a guinea pig for the mind-controlling hypno-chips created by the Decepticons' new ally, Doctor Arkeville. The Ultimate Doom, Part 1 The plan to transport Cybertron was subsequently accomplished despite Autobot interference, and Soundwave ensured that energy collection could begin quickly by forcing the Autobots to flee with a barrage of painful audio disruptor waves. The Ultimate Doom, Part 2 Soundwave later transported a cache of energon cubes to the orbiting Cybertron, and was still there when a group of Autobots arrived, searching for the hypno-chip master control. In another encounter with Brawn, Soundwave was taken down by a single blast from his diminutive rival, and then alerted the Decepticon forces on the planet to the Autobots' escape. It did little good, as the heroes were able to evade capture, find the hypno-chip control, free the slaves and blast Cybertron out of orbit.The Ultimate Doom, Part 3
Megatron was briefly thought destroyed by the explosion that pushed Cybertron out of orbit, by the Decepticon leader soon returned to Earth, where Soundwave immediately informed him of Starscream's latest play for leadership. Countdown to Extinction Soundwave later accompanied Megatron and Thundercracker to Bali, where they met the Insecticons. A Plague of Insecticons Later still, when Megatron challenged Optimus Prime to a one-on-one duel, Soundwave and the other Decepticons contributed their power chip rectifiers to a machine built by the Constructicons that would transfer all their powers into Megatron, so that he could win the fight with ease. While Megatron never used Soundwave's powers in the duel,[1] he still claimed victory, but when his breach of the rules was revealed, he, Soundwave and all the Decepticons were sent tumbling into a river of lava by the fighting-mad Autobots.Heavy Metal War
As 1985 rolled in, Soundwave participated in a Decepticon attack on an Air Force base, Autobot Spike and helped in the construction of the Solar Needle in the jungles of South America. Changing Gears When Megatron sought to conquer New York City, Soundwave, Rumble and Frenzy battled a group of Autobots in Central Park, and Soundwave was later put in charge of the weapons systems of the so-called "New Cybertron" that New York was being turned into. City of Steel
Soundwave and his cassettes were next sent on a distraction mission, keeping the Autobots occupied while Megatron and Starscream snuck inside their base and sabotaged their recharging chambers with a personality destabilizer, narrowly avoiding another pounding from Brawn in the process. Attack of the Autobots After helping to steal electro-cells Traitor and the Autobots' new Immobilizer invention, The Immobilizer Soundwave was appointed to guard the captive Autobots after Megatron succeeded in trapping them in vehicle mode with the Transfixatron. The communications officer put his skills to work disabling the Autobots' communicators, but neglected to disable Hound's hologram projector, which the Autobot was able to use to summon the small number of his comrades who had not been affected by the Transfixatron. Wheeljack and Ratchet developed a grenade to undo the device's effects, and together, Spike and Chip Chase outran Soundwave and Ravage to detonate it and restore the Autobots. The Autobot Run
When Laserbeak and Buzzsaw stumbled upon the subaquatic city of Sub-Atlantica, Soundwave immediately summoned Megatron to view their findings. Megatron and the Decepticons set out for the city at once, and forged an alliance with its leader, the boastful telepathic King Nergill, in order to conquer Washington, D.C. Starscream, however, did not trust the fish-man, and had Soundwave put his own telepathic powers to use to decrypt the scrambled messages Nergill repeatedly gave to his underlings. Soundwave discovered that Nergill was planning to betray the Decepticons, leading to the breakdown of their alliance. Atlantis, Arise!
Soundwave and Megatron used their diminutive alternate modes to infiltrate Quantum Laboratories as part of a plan to take over the computer TORQ III. Day of the Machines Later, Soundwave helped steal the human-made robot ninja Nightbird (finally getting one over on Brawn in the process by collapsing a balcony out from under him), and aided Bombshell in reprogramming the femme-bot to serve the Decepticons.Enter the Nightbird
When the Decepticons discovered strange energy emanations coming from a crevice, Soundwave dispatched the Autoscout to investigate, discovering the crevice was filled with Korlonium crystals. Megatron schemed to create a clone of Optimus Prime as part of a plan to harness the crystals' power, and while the plan failed, the clone was at least impressive enough to completely fool Soundwave, and he was in on it! A Prime Problem
The Core The Insecticon Syndrome Dinobot Island, Part 1 Dinobot Island, Part 2 Auto Berserk Microbots Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1 Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2 Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1 A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court The Golden Lagoon Make Tracks Child's Play Quest for Survival The Secret of Omega Supreme Kremzeek! Sea Change
One of Soundwave's most notable misadventures came in 1985, when, operating a plan conceived by Starscream, he brainwashed humans with ultrasonic vibrations inside the Decepticon-built night club Dancitron in New York City, leading to a confrontation with his Autobot Communications Officer counterpart, Blaster. This began a lasting rivalry between the two. Auto-Bop
The Girl Who Loved Powerglide Hoist Goes Hollywood The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1 The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2 War Dawn Trans-Europe Express Cosmic Rust Starscream's Brigade Masquerade B.O.T.
In the year 2005, the Autobots had been driven from Cybertron and were now based on their homeworld's moons and on Earth. After scouting from Laserbeak, Megatron concocted a scheme to strike at the heart of Autobot strength by sacking their great fortress of Autobot City. During the subsequent battle, Soundwave deployed an array of his cassettes against the Autobot communications array manned by Blaster. Little did he know Blaster had since gathered a group of cassettes of his own, and in any case Soundwave's minions failed to stop the distress signal. Soundwave's loyalty to Megatron was demonstrated when he recovered the seriously damaged Decepticon leader, who'd been left for dead after Optimus Prime defeated him. But while Soundwave was loyal, he was far from stupid, and he kept his mouth shut when Megatron was subsequently ejected into space. Although he did suggest himself as a replacement leader, he again loyally served Megatron when that being returned as Galvatron. The Transformers: The Movie
Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1 Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2 Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3 Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5 Webworld
In the year 2006, although operating in a less prominent capacity for most of the time, Soundwave played a prominent role in Galvatron's attempt to learn the secret of a sonic weapon on the planet Eurythma, where sound and music were the way of life, leaving Soundwave entranced by the planet's perfect melodies. Recording each piece of the harmony that formed the devastating sonic effect, Soundwave was defeated when the Eurythmans countered the harmony with white noise, and he was again pulled into a confrontation with Blaster, who erased his recordings. Carnage in C-Minor
The Big Broadcast of 2006 Fight or Flee Call of the Primitives The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1
Madman The Transformers comic
In 2001, Soundwave and his squad of cassettes were deployed to the construction site of Autobot City while the balance of the Autobot forces were engaged in an evacuation of Cybertron. He managed to record a secret conversation between Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus where the Autobot leaders discussed hiding the Autobot Matrix of Leadership in a bunker at the build site, against the chance Prime would be captured or destroyed while off-world. Soundwave returned to the not-so-secret bunker and deployed his minions to dig up the Matrix. Just as the artifact had been secured and Soundwave was about to call for retrieval, the young Autobot Hot Rod took the Matrix and defeated Soundwave's team. The Transformers
Japanese cartoon continuity
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers comic
While Megatron and the Decepticons engaged the Autobots in battle in Arizona, Soundwave and his cassettes were dispatched to do something unspecified (but likely evil) in Tokyo. Optimus Prime dispatched a unit of Autobots led by Bumblebee and Kenji to track them down. He was ultimately defeated when Bumblebee got the drop on him with a patented "Bumble-Kick" and shattered his chest. This made it impossible for his cassette forces to return to him, leaving them to be captured as well. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 2 When he next appeared, Soundwave hadn't quite got over his injuries, and was seen with bandages stuck to his chest-window. Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 3
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers story pages
When Soundwave learned that the Autobots were keeping themselves in shape by having a friendly race, he set up a trap within a narrow canyon, walling the Autobots in and opening fire on them. Luckily, Hound arrived on the scene and delivered a powerful punch to Soundwave's chest, shattering his tape door once again. Soundwave immediately fled. Anime Theater 2: Sic' Em, Hound!
Scramble City
Full Throttle Scramble Power!
The Stargate Battles
First ContactDivided ViewsThe Stargate Battles
The Headmasters cartoon
In 2011, the Decepticons were offered a chance to regain control of Cybertron when Vector Sigma began to destabilize due to the release of the energy of the Matrix. Four Warriors Come out of the Sky To discover the Autobots' plan of action, Soundwave and his cassettes infiltrated Autobot City. Although discovered by Blaster and his own cassettes, they escaped with the knowledge that the Matrix was currently missing, and that the Autobots were preparing to search Earth for it. Blaster and Hot Rod subsequently embarked on a search mission to the Arctic, where Soundwave and his cassettes attacked them. Blaster allowed Hot Rod to escape, and he and Soundwave engaged in a one-on-one battle, with shattered chests and severed limbs aplenty. The two combatants ultimately inflicted fatal damage to one another, and Soundwave's body exploded even as Blaster collapsed. The Mystery of Planet Master
The deceased Soundwave's cassettes were able to recover fragments of his body, allowing Decepticon Headmaster leader Scorponok to reconstruct him using the planet Master's super-technology. Soundwave was thusly restored to life as Soundblaster, although now black in appearance as opposed to blue. Immediately Soundblaster set to work using his broadcasting powers to direct the Decepticons' latest creation, the Madmachine, in another attack on Cybertron. The science of Master had also restored the Autobot Blaster to life, however, and under the new name "Twincast" he destroyed Soundblaster's sonic control and foiled the Decepticons' plot. The Great Cassette Operation
Rebellion on Planet Beast Terror! The Six Shadows
Soundblaster continued to serve in his role as a spy for the Decepticons, and he and his cassettes would regularly snoop on the Autobots on Cybertron, Earth and Athenia. Soundblaster and his team were responsible for discovering that Vector Sigma was in the process of creating Cybertonuron.Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 1
Cybertron Is in Grave Danger, Part 2 The Shadow Emperor, Scorponok The Dormant Volcano Mysteriously Erupts Head On!! Fortress Maximus Explosion on Mars!! Maximus Is in Danger
Soundblaster was himself specifically responsible for the destruction of planet Mars, acting upon the twisted orders of Scorponok; he readily pressed the button which triggered the detonation of plasma bombs placed at the Martian magnetic poles in accord with Scorponok's scheme. Explosion on Mars!! MegaZarak Appears
They didn't take kindly to the arrival of the new intelligence officer, Counterpunch, who seemed able to dig up information that they couldn't (because he was actually the Autobot double-agent, Punch). Return of the Immortal Emperor
SOS from Planet Sandra Daniel Faces His Biggest Crisis Ever!! Fight to the Death on Planet Hive!! Battle for Defense of the False Planet Find MegaZarak's Weak Spot!! Mystery of the Space Pirate Ship Ultra Magnus Dies!! Miraculous Warriors, Targetmasters (Part 2) The Zarak Shield Turns the Tide Operation: Destroy the Decepticons Duel on the Asteroid
Although rarely doing more than standing guard and relaying information over large distances (save for one daring instance where he and Ratbat actually managed to sneak board Battleship Maximus), Soundblaster was a regular battlefield presence and accompanied the Decepticon army on interplanetary energy raids, voyaged to planet Master, and was present on Earth during the final battle at the North Pole. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)
The Headmasters comic
After their defeat at the North Pole, the Decepticons were preparing to retreat from Earth entirely when Scorponok instructed Soundblaster to remain on the planet in secret to act as a spy for the Decepticons. Soundblaster proved that he wasn't up to the challenge by making his presence and intentions known almost instantly when he kicked Wheelie square in the face and took the Witwicky family hostage. Chromedome was left powerless to do anything but surrender, as Slugfest and Overkill brutalized Spike and threatened Carly. Daniel finally snapped and beat the living crap out of the two Cassette dinosaurs, leaving Soundblaster open to Chromedome's poorly named "Master-Chrome Hurricane Throw to the End of Hell!" Chromedome chucked Soundblaster over the horizon, where he landed near the rogue Decepticon Sixshot. The Headmasters issue 8
References
- ↑ In the finished episode, that is. A scene deleted from "Heavy Metal War" saw Megatron use Soundwave's mind-reading abilities to deduce Prime's next attack move.
