Soundwave is the Decepticons' foremost communications specialist and Megatron's most loyal lieutenant. He is also a superb spy and soldier who tries to use everything he sees and hears toward advancing his own goals. The other Decepticons thoroughly dislike Soundwave because of the way he constantly sucks up to Megatron, but none of them dare say anything within his earshot without fearing some form of reprisal. Soundwave is always listening to everything around him and the other Decepticons know that he will use anything they say to blackmail them with later if he can. He desires one day to assume command of the Decepticons, but unlike Starscream he does not regularly boast about it and has no intention of stabbing Megatron in the back, merely waiting for the day that his mighty leader will one day fall in battle and leave control of the Decepticon empire to him.
Soundwave speaks in a monotonous, emotionless tone. The other Decepticons may call him dispassionate and uncharismatic, but he cares not what anyone thinks of him. Information is power and Soundwave hears everything, which grants him power over all the Decepticons... perhaps even Megatron.
History[]
G1 cartoon and movie[]
More Than Meets The Eye[]
Soundwave was one of the Decepticons who joined the crew of the Nemesis when the ship went in search of new energy sources. They pursued the Autobots' Ark vessel through deep space and attacked, boarding the enemy ship. During the fighting, the Ark was caught in the gravitational pull of prehistoric Earth and dragged down, crashing into the side of a volcano. Both Decepticons and Autobots were rendered offline in the crash, remaining in stasis-lock for over four million years.
In 1984, a volcanic eruption occurred, causing the Ark's computer Teletraan-I to reactivate. The computer launched a reconnaissance probe that scanned several Earth machines before it re-energized the Decepticons, with Soundwave assuming the form of a cassette deck. After being revived, the Decepticons vacated the Ark and left the Autobots to rust. However, a parting shot from Starscream caused a rockslide that triggered Teletraan-I again, which went about reviving the Autobots without the Decepticons noticing.
As the Decepticons began their plans to plunder Earth's resources, Soundwave suggested converting whatever fuels they obtained into energon via cube-shaped containment vessels that he would generate from his torso. While the Decepticons were working on building a construction and launch site for their new ship, the Autobot Cliffjumper attempted to assassinate Megatron with a sniper rifle, only to miss his mark. Soundwave deployed Laserbeak to investigate, who spotted Cliffjumper and Hound, taking shots at them both before withdrawing.
While the Decepticons succeeded in raiding an offshore oil rig, they still lacked knowledge of other potential targets to obtain resources from. Soundwave was sent to infiltrate the Autobot base and access Teletraan-I, which had its own recon satellites with which to gather information. Using Ravage to access the computer, Soundwave discovered a number of potential targets before he was discovered by the Autobots. Though he managed to escape, Ravage was captured.
Soundwave returned to the Decepticon camp and made Megatron aware of the existence of Sherman Dam. A raid was soon planned and Soundwave deployed Rumble to generate a tidal wave using his piledrivers, which would cause the dam's hydroelectric generators to overload and produce plenty of excess energy for the Decepticons to harvest. Despite the Autobots' interference, the raid was successful and the Decepticons escaped with a sizeable bounty of energon. Soundwave then recommended Burma's ruby crystal mines as their next target.
After escaping Autobot custody, Ravage would return to Soundwave with information regarding the location of a rocket base. Although the Autobots had prepared a decoy for the Decepticons to target, this ploy failed and the 'Cons targeted the real rocket base, claiming enough fuel to fully power their space cruiser. When the Autobots tried to prevent the cruiser's launch, Soundwave took part in the ensuing battle royale, deploying Rumble, Ravage and Laserbeak to participate. The Autobots' attack failed and the Decepticons boarded the vessel, taking off and leaving the Autobots behind. However, the Autobot spy Mirage had boarded the ship and destroyed its controls, causing the cruiser to crash into the ocean.
Transport to Oblivion[]
Soundwave and the other Decepticons survived their cruiser's crash, and after months of working in secret, reconstructed it 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.
Roll For It[]
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.
Fire on the Mountain[]
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.
The Ultimate Doom[]
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 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.
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 undersized 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 Autobot Run[]
Soundwave was appointed to guard several 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 Witwicky and Chip Chase outran Soundwave and Ravage to detonate it and restore the Autobots.
Atlantis, Arise![]
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.
Child's Play[]
Soundwave joined in the Decepticon attempt to create a space bridge in a baseball stadium, where he wickedly delighted in playing catch with one of the players (literally!). The Autobots soon arrived, and another brawl between Soundwave and Brawn erupted, ending when the small Autobot threw Soundwave into the space bridge. When a stray blast then activated the bridge, Soundwave and a small group of Autobots and Decepticons were inadvertently hurled to a world of alien giants. After being menaced by the huge cat Nitro and trapped in a toybox by Nitro's owner Aron, Soundwave was taken with the other Transformers to the planet's authorities for study and dissection. Ravage succeeded in freeing them, and the Decepticons all escaped back to Earth through a mock space bridge Perceptor created out of a telescope.
Auto-Bop[]
Soundwave embarked on one of his most notable misadventures when, under the command of Starscream, he set about brainwashing humans with ultrasonic vibrations inside the Decepticon-built nightclub Dancitron in New York City. This led to his first major confrontation with his Autobot communications officer counterpart, Blaster, with whom he engaged in a sonic duel. Soundwave had the upper hand in the violent jam session, until Blaster used the club's sound system to magnify his own sonic attacks and win the fight.
B.O.T.[]
Soundwave invented a device to control the flow of Earth's tides. Before the Decepticons could use it, however, it was necessary to blast the moon out of orbit to remove its controlling influence, so they developed an orbit disruptor cannon to do the job. Unfortunately, the cannon would only be operated by Bruticus, and all the Combaticons save Swindle had been destroyed, so Soundwave installed a bomb in Swindle's head to give him the incentive to gather up their parts and rebuild them. Bruticus was restored, and Soundwave participated in the Decepticon attack upon Autobot Headquarters that served as a test run for the disruptor cannon, but the complex plot was foiled when three college students used a makeshift robot to destroy the cannon.
Transformers: The Movie[]
In 2005, Soundwave participated in the Decepticon attack on Autobot City. During the siege, he deployed a cassette force consisting of Ratbat, Ravage, Rumble and Frenzy to destroy the city's communications tower, preventing the Autobots from calling reinforcements from off-world. Although the cassettes did destroy the transmitter, they were too little too late to stop Blaster's distress call from going out.
After Megatron fell in battle against Optimus Prime, Soundwave was the one to carry the broken Decepticon leader to Astrotrain, who acted as the 'Cons' escape vehicle. On the flight back to Cybertron, Astrotrain told his colleagues to jettison the excess mass into space, lest he run out of fuel before making it home. The Decepticons quickly voted to eject all of their wounded into space, including Megatron which, surprisingly, Soundwave didn't object to. With Megatron discarded, the remaining Decepticons began arguing amongst themselves about who should assume leadership. The Constructicons felt they deserved to lead since they combined to form the mighty Devastator, but Soundwave declared that he was the superior choice while dismissing the Constructicons as inferior. The Constructicons didn't take kindly to this, telling Soundwave that no one would follow someone as uncharismatic as he, but Soundwave's cassettes emerged to defend his honour.
In the end, however, it was Starscream who would win the mantle of leadership (somehow). His reign lasted mere seconds before Galvatron arrived and blasted Starscream into dust, taking command of the Decepticons himself, which no one objected to.
Five Faces of Darkness[]
Following the defeat of Unicron and Galvatron's disappearance, the surviving Decepticons - including Soundwave - were quickly routed by the Autobots and exiled from Cybertron. They would establish themselves on the burnt-out world of Chaar, where they eked out a miserable existence on the brink of death. When Rodimus Prime and Grimlock came to Chaar to investigate a mysterious attack on the Galactic Olympics, Soundwave and the Decepticons attacked them, and were then later approached by the true instigators of the Olympics attack, the alien Quintessons, with the prospect of an alliance. Under the Quintessons' instructions, Soundwave and the other Decepticons launched an attack on the Autobots on the planet Goo 8739-B, during which Galvatron returned, having been found by Cyclonus and Scourge. With Galvatron back in charge, Soundwave was amongst the Decepticons who were sent to Earth to try and stop Metroplex's transforming cog from being delivered.
Carnage in C-Minor[]
In 2006, Soundwave accompanied Galvatron to the planet Eurythma to investigate a mysterious sonic weapon. They discovered that sound and music were the way of life on the planet, and Soundwave was entranced by the planet's perfect melodies, specifically the destructive harmony weapon, which was shared by three Eurythmans. One by one, Soundwave coerced from them each piece of the harmony, recording and combining them with the intention of turning the musical maelstrom upon Autobot City. He was defeated, however, when the Eurythmans countered the harmony with anti-sound, and Blaster erased his recordings.
Call of the Primitives[]
During a battle on Earth's moon, Soundwave was shocked when his ejection system activated on its own, releasing Ravage, Ratbat, Slugfest and Overkill, who departed with all the other "Primitive" Transformers present to follow a mysterious voice. An enraged Galvatron decided that punishing the deserters took priority over defeating the Autobots, and so Soundwave departed the battle alongside his leader and Cyclonus. As the three pursued the Primitives, Soundwave detected the very threat these Primitives had been summoned to fight, Tornedron, who having just drained the Autobots on the moon now turned his sights on the Decepticons; the immobilized Soundwave was left floating in space. Thankfully, the Primitives succeeded in defeating Tornedron and restoring everyone's energy.
Marvel Comics[]
To be added
Dreamwave Comics[]
To be added
IDW Publishing[]
To be added
Abilities[]
- Superior Senses - Soundwave can hear even the weakest of radio signals and can even observe the electrical impulses in others' brains, granting him foresight into their actions.
- Communications - Soundwave acts as a relay station and can maintain the communications of all the Decepticons within a 100 mile radius of him.
- Photographic Memory - Soundwave's memory is perfect; the magnetic disks in his chest possess an immense storage capacity.
- Concussive Blaster - Soundwave's rifle fires blasts of concussive energy, disorienting or stunning his targets.
- Mini-Rocket Launcher - Mounted on Soundwave's shoulder, this weapon fires a cluster of explosive darts.
- Alternate Modes - Soundwave transforms into a portable cassette micro-recorder and shrinks down accordingly when he transforms. He has also been known to transform into a Cybertronian armoured truck decked out for mobile communications, and even more inocuous devices such as lampposts.
Mini-Cassettes[]
Soundwave carries a group of Mini-Cassettes with him everywhere he goes. They are all housed within his torso unit and each serve a different role in the Decepticon army.