Shockwave (G1)
| 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 in the Generation One continuity family. He was also briefly known as Shockblast.
Shockwave has been referred to as "a computer on legs." This is not far from the truth. Logic rules Shockwave's thought processes and is the source of his every inspiration. He sees emotion as a weakness and a distraction. His cold and calculating modus operandi is supported by his frightening and exceptionally powerful form.
Shockwave is possibly even more powerful than Megatron, who he appears to be loyal to. Perhaps logic may one day dictate that the time to replace Megatron's flawed, emotion-fueled rule is at hand.
Japanese name: Laserwave
Italian name: Brutal
French-Canadian name: Onde de Choc
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Shockwave was the only Decepticon not to crash on Earth in the Ark, having stayed behind to pilot the Decepticon ship. After the crash of the Ark, he landed on Earth, where he was detected by the Ark's computer. It activated and reformatted the Dinobots to fight him. They battled in the Savage Land, where both were eventually trapped in a tar pit for over four million years.
Shockwave was awakened shortly after the rest of the Transformers. He challenged Megatron for leadership, and won it. He held it until Megatron was able to defeat him with logic, but became leader again when Megatron apparently committed suicide on the space bridge.
Shockwave lost leadership to Decepticon fuel auditor Ratbat, and was apparently destroyed after losing a fight in space caused him to burn-up upon re-entry. In truth he survived, and resurfaced later, leading a small splinter group of Decepticons against Scorponok, including Mindwipe and the Battlechargers. His resistance was cut short when all Transformers were teleported back to Cybertron to face the threat of Unicron.
After the battle, Shockwave and Starscream stole the Ark in order to escape the dying planet. Shockwave apparently died when the Ark crashed on Earth, shortly after getting his ass handed to him by the combined force of Megatron and Galvatron II.
Animated continuity
- Voice Actor: Corey Burton (US), Yutaka Shimaka (Japan)
(Note: In the Japanese dub of the Generation 1 cartoon, Shockwave's personality was altered from the American interpretation. Instead of being a monotone slave to logic he was presented like a grizzled old man with a raspy voice.)
Shockwave was a highly ranked Decepticon. Fanatically loyal to Megatron, Shockwave was entrusted stewardship of Cybertron by Megatron when the latter left to intercept an Autobot mission surveying for new forms of energy. Neither Decepticon suspected that Megatron's absence (and Shockwave's command) would last four million years. Little changed on Cybertron during those years, although Shockwave apparently lost his left hand and replaced it with a laser cannon.
He oversaw all the Decepticon activity on Cybertron, rarely leaving the planet. His keen scientific mind resulted in several incredible devices, including the space bridge and a time machine.
Shockwave commanded the Decepticon forces during the Unicron's attack on Cybertron, and may have been killed in the ensuing battle.
[Note: Shockwave can be spotted in group shots in season three, but these shots are notorious for animation errors (such as depicting combiner robots alongside component robots). Shockwave's post-season three status is up for speculation.]
Dreamwave comics continuity
Shockwave did it. This describes every event, ever.
Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. Transformers comics continuity
IDW comics continuity
Shockwave was a Decepticon scientist on Cybertron six hundred thousand meta-cycles ago. He predicted the eventual destruction of Cybertron as a result of the Great War, and theorized that the war would spread across the galaxy. In anticipation of this, he seeded several worlds with an altered form of energon. (This is possibly the Ore 13 later found by Starscream.) After a long period of indeterminable length, at the beginning of the Ice Age on Earth, the Energon had become unstable, requiring Shockwave to place dampening devices across the worlds he'd seeded.
Before departing Cybertron, he was ordered to deal with an Energon raid by the Dynobots. He did this by destroying the energon and severely injuring the Dynobots. Vowing revenge, they followed him when he left the planet.
Earth was the first world he visited to plant the devices on. Before he could leave though, his ship was destroyed and the Dynobots teleported down to attack him. The concept of the Dynobots illogical behaviour based off vengeance, along with the sheer force of their attack, left him off balance at first. Unable to win through logic, he developed thought patterns based off rage. This more brutal, violent Shockwave decimated the Dynobots, burning off the organic coatings shielding them from the planet's high energon fields, forcing them into stasis lock. Deactivating his new 'rage' program for further study, Shockwave was prevented by leaving the planet by a dead man's switch on the Dynobots ship. A massive beam of energy plowed into the ground, causing a volcanic eruption which consumed Shockwave and the Dynobots. Shockwave Spotlight
Megatron became suspicious of Shockwave's absence and assigned Bludgeon to search through Shockwave's files. Bludgeon's findings later inspired him in part to reattempt Thunderwing's mad plot which had, in the meantime, left their planet inhabitable. Stormbringer
In 2006, a human archaeological team uncovered Shockwave's body.
Toys
Generation 1
- Shockwave (1985)
- Japanese ID number: 49
- Shockwave transforms into a large Cybertronian handgun. He has light and sound electronics activated by his gun-mode trigger. The sound effects can be switched between two (fairly generic) blaster-sound frequencies with a small toggle on his battery pack.
- Although Shockwave was depicted in the 1984 episodes of the animated series, he did not receive a toy release until 1985. Unlike the bulk of early Transformers that drew their molds from Takara Diaclone and Microchange toys, Shockwave's original form was first produced by ToyCo. As such, similar non-Transformer toys using the same mold were released in 1985, including a gray version called Astro Magnum and a Radio Shack exclusive called Galactic Man. A minor but amusing difference between the Radio Shack version, humorously called "Shackwave", and the Hasbro version, is that Shockwave's inconveniently placed trigger was remolded and appears less...inconvenient.
- Shockwave with Fistfight (Action Master, 1990)
- As an Action Master, Shockwave is a non-transforming action figure who combines elements of his cartoon model and original toy, with a few more details. He is compatible with any other Action Master weapon or vehicle. He came with his small robot partner Fistfight.
- Reportedly, early "test market" releases came with a rubber hose that connects from his gun-arm to his back, like the original toy.
Alternators
- Shockblast (Alternator, 2004)
- Japanese ID number: BT-13
- A retooling of the "Meister" Alternator, Shockwave transforms into a 1:24-scale Mazda RX-8 sports car. He features working car doors, hood, and trunk.
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