Soundwave

**Soundwave** (サウンドウェーブ, *Saundowēbu*), is the fictional character and the antagonist from the *DC* series. He is one of Megatron's main earliest followers, most reliable troops and, many to believe, instrumental to his rise. As such, he has positioned himself comfortably and irreplaceably in the Decepticon upper command structure. On top of hearing all in his role as Communications Officer and Decepticon spy-master, he is actually capable of "reading minds" by scanning and decoding the electrical impulses that carry "thoughts" in both organics and Cybertronians, and he will not hesitate to use what he learns as blackmail to keep himself high in Megatron's esteem. He just sneaks about, patiently looking for Autobot transmissions and creeping you out.

Soundwave often finds himself acting as a restraint on treacherous schemers seeking to usurp Megatron, reining in his rather volatile emotions, and ensuring that their less than subtle ambitions are held in check. Indeed, this applies to every soldier amongst the Decepticon ranks. Even the treacherous has very good reason to fear Soundwave; his ferocity and strength from his gladiator days have not lessened in the slightest, rendering him a deadly foe to any Autobot, or a previous traitor. This undying loyalty to his master, as well as their long history together, have attained him a lofty, high position in the Decepticon hierarchy. While others may have officially held the rank of second-in-command, Soundwave may be the true bearer of that distinction, out of sheer loyalty to the Decepticon leader. As long as Soundwave is around, Megatron has nothing to fear.

It's not just loyalty to Megatron that makes Soundwave such an effective soldier, however. Soundwave wouldn't be caught dead employing *Bond* villain tactics; he is concise and pragmatic in all of his endeavors. If he doesn't personally harm you during an outing, don't consider it an act of mercy or decency. You're not a part of his mission and not worth considering. Primus help you if you're in the way or you *are* his mission.

"*The cries and screams of my victims are music to my audio receptors.*"

—Soundwave.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice actor*: Frank Welker (English), Issei Masamune (Japanese), Michael Rüth (German), Toni Orlandi (Italian), Lin Dongfu (Chinese), Albert Augier (French), Miroslav Bijelić (Serbian), Not Known (Korean), Arto Nieminen (Finnish), János Bácskai (Hungarian), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (Spain-Spanish), Alejandro Abdalah (Latin American-Spanish)
### Biography

Soundwave is one of Megatron's most dependable troops and as such, has positioned himself in Megatron's upper command structure. He operates as the Decepticon Communications Officer and answers only to Megatron. Many of the Decepticons see Soundwave as a backstabber who blackmails others to raise his esteem with Megatron. Soundwaves sees and hears all.

Soundwave is known for being unquestionably loyal to Megatron. Commanding an armada of Mini-Con Deployers, Soundwave can infiltrate and acquire enemy intel. Soundwave is often not trusted by other Decepticons out of fear he might also spy on them and reports back to Megatron.

### Appearance

#### Vehicle Mode

His veichle mode is a truck on Cybertron, when arriving to Earth he adapts the Earth veichle mode of a Scion xB.

* Hair Color: N/A
* Skin Color: Not Known
* Eye Color: Red
* Age: Not Known
* Birthday: Not Known
* Height: Not Known
* Weight: Not Known

## Personality

His equally defining characteristic was his unquestionable loyalty and devotion to Megatron, who in turn trusted Soundwave fully and completely, possibly more so than any of his other minions and showing him considerable favor. His loyalty drove Soundwave to maintain a constant vigilance on the Nemesis for any potential conspiracies against his master and alert him of the would-be traitors. Megatron even asked Soundwave to remind him of Airachnid's trustworthiness (which Soundwave willingly obliged by replaying a recording of Airachnid declaring her belief in the need to consider a future without Megatron). Soundwave himself apparently did not trust any of his fellow Decepticons, particularly Starscream and Airachnid, keeping a constant watch on the former (who continuously plotted to take over leadership of the Decepticons) and later enlightening Megatron that Airachnid was not to be trusted. Soundwave diligently followed his orders without question or hesitation, and often succeeded in all his efforts, rewarding him with praise and further trust and favor from Megatron. As long as Soundwave is around, Megatron has nothing to fear, and Megatron is well aware of that fact.

It's not just loyalty to Megatron that makes Soundwave such an effective soldier, however. He is a skilled fighter, being that he was second only to Megatron in the gladiatorial arena of Kaon. He is concise and pragmatic in all of his endeavors. This makes him one of the best hunters on Cybertron. If he doesn't personally harm anyone during an outing, it cannot be considered an act of mercy or decency. It is simply not a part of his mission and not worth considering. Primus help those unfortunate souls who are in the way or are his mission, as he will almost certainly find them and it will not be a pleasant experience when he catches his target, as Ratchet found out.

After being blasted down by the Autobots, he was captured by the Autobots and taken to their base for interrogation. Soundwave continuously gave them a run-around, refusing to cooperate or spill any information, mocking them and even using a sonic pulse when he was threatened with "less civil forms of interrogation". Only when Ratchet threatened to open up Soundwave and look at his drives did Soundwave take drastic measures in erasing his drives of sensitive data and he then crashed his own drives, fully preventing the Autobots from interrogating him further. His words to them clearly expressed that he feels superior to them. However, these drastic measures show the full-extent of Soundwave's complete devotion to Megatron and the Decepticon cause, that he is willing to risk his own destruction if it means his last act is for the benefit of his master.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Frenzy
* Rumble
* Laserbeak
* Buzzsaw
* Ravage
* Ratbat
* Decepticons
	+ Megatron
	+ Shockwave
	+ Blitzwing
	+ Lugnut
	+ Knock Out
	+ Lockdown
	+ Dreadwing
	+ Shadow Striker
	+ Seekers
		- Thundercracker
		- Skywarp
		- Acid Storm
		- Slipstream
	+ Devastator
		- Scrapper
		- Mixmaster
		- Scavenger
		- Long Haul
		- Bonecrusher
		- Hook
	+ Predaking
		- Razorclaw
		- Tantrum
		- Divebomb
		- Headstrong
		- Saberclaw
	+ Menasor
		- Motormaster
		- Breakdown
		- Wildrider
		- Dead End
		- Drag Strip
* Deathstroke

### Neutral

* Starscream
* Airachnid
* Insecticons
	+ Sharpshot
	+ Kickback
	+ Hardshell
	+ Megatronus Prime
* Overlord

### Enemies

* Autobots
	+ Optimus Prime
	+ Arcee
	+ Cliffjumper
	+ Bumblebee
	+ Windblade
	+ Sideswipe
	+ Smokescreen
	+ Alpha Trion
	+ Prowl
	+ Blurr
	+ Arcee
	+ Chromia
	+ Perceptor
	+ Wreckers
		- Ultra Magnus
		- Bulkhead
		- Wheeljack
	+ Computron
		- Quickshot
		- Afterburner
		- Lightspeed
		- Nosecone
		- Strafe
	+ Volcanicus
		- Grimlock
		- Swoop
		- Snarl
		- Sludge
		- Slug
	+ Defensor
	+ Superion
	+ Victorion
		- Pyra Magna
		- Jumpstream
		- Dust Up
		- Stormclash
		- Skyburst
		- Rust Dust
	+ Fortress Maximus
	+ Emissary
* Justice League
	+ Superman
	+ Batman
	+ Wonder Woman
* Teen Titans
	+ Robin/Nightwing
	+ Starfire
	+ Raven
	+ Cyborg
	+ Beast Boy
	+ Kid Flash
	+ Terra
	+ Blue Beetle
	+ Robin
	+ Wonder Girl
* Titans East
	+ Bumblebee
	+ Speedy
* Unicron

## Abilities and Powers

His arsenal of weapons and gadgets is unusually large, and includes powerful speakers, wiretaps, voice modulators, sonic signals that control lesser robots, and the uncanny ability to assimilate other devices into his body. He can also form a larger, Transformer sized body from smaller machines.

Soundwave has the ability to control any machine in Crown City and Jump City remotely, and can control many machines at a time. He can also emits powerful sound blasts that are capable of disrupting Raven's dark energy and knocking a bull elephant about a hundred feet backward.

In his second appearance, Soundwave demonstrates a great knowledge of mechanics and science. He also now possesses his minions Laserbeak and Ratbat. Laserbeak gives Soundwave the ability to use sonic attacks against his enemies. Ratbat enhances Soundwave's ability to control other machines to the point where he can use the smaller Soundwave toys that Porter C. Powell was selling to reduce the whole of Crown and Jump cities to a zombie like state. Soundwave is also able to fly in his robot mode.

Soundwave commands a veritable, ever-growing legion army of Minicon Deployers to learn everything there is to know about his allies and his enemies, and carry out tasks big and small. Stored within his signature chest compartment and called forth on Soundwave's whim with a push of a button, these miniature menaces are most commonly employed as spies for either the Decepticon cause or Soundwave's personal objectives, but are just as effective as warriors, and are entirely devoted to their master.

As the Decepticons' master spy, Soundwave has the ability to receive transmissions and communications eavesdropping from anywhere on the planet, bar the shielded Autobot Base. This allows him to spy on every being on the planet in the hopes of picking up Autobot-related communications. He is also adept in his use of GroundBridges during combat, dealing many a foe a frustrating defeat by virtue of them simply not being able to get to him.

### Abilities

He has the abilities Spawn Sentry and Energon Barrier. He is a Leader Chassis. He can dispense of 5 mini-cons, Buzzsaw, Frenzy, Ravage, Rumble, and Laserbeak.

### Physical Abilities

Despite his build, Soundwave proved to be a deceptively dangerous warrior, skilled in unarmed combat, as well as utilizing his tentacles to overcome his foes. This comes as little shock as he was once a gladiator of Kaon.

Soundwave was a gladiator in the arenas of Kaon and was the sole warrior who came closest to defeating Megatron in battle. He uses his slim arms as blades and to block attacks, as he did against Airachnid and Wheeljack. Soundwave can extend two tentacles from his sides, using them to fight or to hack computer terminals or simply picking things up. They are shown to be very strong as they are capable of throwing around Autobots such as Wheeljack and Bulkhead. The tentacles are capable of shooting red lasers from them, generating electricity to zap opponents, and the claws at the end can rotate and be used as drills, as he did to excavate an Iacon relic.

Soundwave is a walking database, contained, as revealed in Minus One, in his hard drives, in which he stores vast amounts of data. He is capable of hacking computers, intercepting transmissions and communications, and monitoring communications on a planet-wide scale, all of which can be displayed on his visor on his chest.

Lately, it has been shown that Soundwave, possibly, has the ability to open Ground-Bridges anywhere, on or off the Nemesis, dubbed by Ultra Magnus as his "Relocation Trick". Unfortunately, this trick was used against him, leaving Soundwave trapped forever in the Shadowzone.

## History

### Past

Nine million years ago, during the Golden Age of Cybertron, When a gladiator calling himself Megatronus have vowed to challenge Cybertron's leadership, Soundwave was one of his first followers and chief amongst them. Soundwave was seen flying through the planet's skies alongside his leader and Shockwave by Orion Pax. Soundwave remained at Megatronus' side, now Megatron, as the conflict escalated into a war.

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, diminutive robots designed for espionage. While Soundwave was a nigh-constant battlefield presence, he would himself often play no major role in combat, more regularly being present merely to deploy his cassette minions, and, off the field of battle, to replay for his fellow Decepticons the information they would gather for him.

#### Battles of Cybertron

##### Trypticon Incident

Soundwave hacked into the Autobot mainframe and, while Megatron and some other Decepticons kept the Autobots distracted, downloaded intel indicating the location of the Trypticon space station. As they approached the station in Megatron's ship, Soundwave reported that the inhabitants were taking up defensive positions and docking would not be possible. Though Megatron was confident they could ram the station, Soundwave turned out to be right, and they could only get close enough to drop a small team off on the debris surrounding the station. Soundwave took control of the orbital station Starscream was posted at, helping Megatron to reach the Dark Energon by establishing a forward base within the station. He then directed Megatron to a Data Matrix Center in order to find a route to the Dark Energon that had not been blocked by Starscream.

Later, Soundwave notified Megatron that access to the core was impossible, as it was guarded by the Omega Gate. He and Breakdown accompanied Megatron as they led the assault on Iacon, through which they would find and take the Omega Key, opening the Omega Gate and allowing the core to be infused with Dark Energon. On their way to the Stellar Galleries, Soundwave reported snipers, and after taking them down, Megatron infused the entrance with Dark Energon and took his team into the security station. Soundwave noticed that the batteries fed the security grid, and the trio infused each of them with Dark Energon, deactivating the security measures. Soundwave then detected the Omega Key behind their next door, and after opening it, the Decepticons arrived at the Stellar Galleries. They opened the container, finding not the key, but a message from Sentinel Prime, who announced that he had taken the Omega Key, anticipating Megatron's plan. Sentinel sent Autobot attack forces against them, but they were swiftly taken down. Megatron ordered Soundwave to trace Zeta Prime's broadcast, and Soundwave found it came from 12.7 cycles ahead. He then noted a weak wall, and the Decepticons broke it down and entered the cities' subsystems, providing a direct route to Sentinel, and the Omega Key.

The group descended down a shaft and went through a tunnel, avoiding trains on the way, and after breaking down a door in a ventilation area, they were ambushed by Autobot cloakers. Soundwave dispatched them and infused Dark Energon into the batteries. Megatron congratulated him, and then ordered him to unlock the exit. Soundwave obliged, and the trio found themselves in another tunnel. Breakdown challenged Soundwave to a race, to which the Decepticon responded, in his trademark monotone, "Negative." Tough crowd. Rushing through the tunnel, this time full of moving trains, the group came to a station where they infiltrated Iacon's lower levels. Soundwave detected the Omega Key at last, and suggested proceeding through the logistics station. Roughing it through the Autobot attackers, Soundwave finally determined that the key was beyond the train tunnels.

Soundwave and his teammates arrived at Iacon's main streets, where they met up with Brawl outside of Sentinel Prime's vaults, which were impervious to the small amount of Dark Energon Megatron was capable of channeling. After Megatron's squad helped Brawl clear the area, Brawl called in the Dark Energon bombers, but they were spectacularly shot down by the planetary guns. Brawl suggested disabling them, and Soundwave assisted in carrying out the plan. Autobots advanced all around, but Soundwave and the others managed to hold them off until the next wave of bombers arrived, clearing the street and destroying the Vault doors. Soundwave joined the others on their way to the entrance, but the squad was intercepted by a Destroyer. Soundwave and Breakdown split from Megatron to flank him, and eventually they rendered him non-functional. Inside the vault, they avoided Sentinel's traps and finally reached the Omega Key—but it too was a trap. Sentinel then attacked them, using a giant hologram and controlling the chamber to his advantage, dropping the ceiling and sending holographic brutes to attack for him while safe within an impenetrable energy shield. (Even during the battle, Soundwave was impressed by the creation of endless energon clones, to which Breakdown responded, roughly, "NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD!") Soundwave's dorkiness proved useful in discerning the weakness of Sentinel's machines—that the core rapidly overheated after prolonged use, and needed to open up in order to cool, rendering it vulnerable to attack. After the battle, Megatron plucked from Sentinel's hand the "key"...which started to blink its lights and chirp. Sentinel Prime informed them that the "key" he was actually a device that activated the real key: Omega Supreme.

As the three Decepticons flew away to track Omega, Soundwave noticed that the "key" was coming for them. Omega Supreme attacked, and thrust the Decepticons' star cruiser into a wall. Crash-landing, Megatron had a change of plans; force Omega Supreme to open the Omega Gate. Soundwave noticed a Decepticon Dropship across the bridge, but when the squad went to investigate, Omega Supreme intercepted them. Soundwave reported that his weapons were ineffective; Megatron told his soldiers to destroy the bridge supports, causing Omega Supreme's vast bulk to collapse it. But he transformed to his ship mode, flew back up, and forced the Decepticons to retreat inside. In a frenzy, Breakdown noted that the next door was locked, and Soundwave proposed that Dark Energon could open the door, which it did. Inside, Soundwave picked up a transmission from Starscream, who announced that he would be replacing the "deceased" Megatron as Decepticon leader. Enraged, Megatron threatened Starscream, but Soundwave informed his leader that communication to the surface had been cut off, so Starscream could not hear him.

The trio arrived at the lift, but found it to be locked down. Breaking the locks got the lift back to working condition, but on their way up, Omega Supreme returned and blasted it, forcing the Decepticons down the shaft at breakneck speed. Omega was still out there, so the emergency brakes' destruction was the Decepticons' only hope. At the bottom, they continued their journey to find a way to fight Omega Supreme—Soundwave noted that at the top of the tower were several heavy weapons emplacements which could at least theoretically damage Omega—but Omega Supreme didn't know the meaning of the word quit. (He really doesn't; not much in the processor department.) He grabbed the Decepticons, but Soundwave helped out in shooting Omega Supreme's hand, forcing him relinquishing the three from his grasp. They retreated inside a fortified Autobot position, and in order to prevent detection, Soundwave jammed their signals. Slaying the Autobots inside who dared attempt to counterattack, Soundwave unlocked the exit, which only let in more Autobots. They too, met their demise, but as Soundwave and his comrades escaped, he noticed that the Autobots' security was countering the effects of Dark Energon. Destroying the sentries turned to be a worthwhile solution, but then the Decepticons had to deal with Omega Supreme mining road. Soundwave's sensors indicated the presence of a bridge nearby, and though Breakdown was unsure, Megatron was willing to follow Soundwave's advice. Once again, Omega Supreme continued to stalk them, but Soundwave led his group to an alternate route...a dead end, to be precise, which Megatron was irritated with. Soundwave revealed that breaking a structurally-weak sealed doorway nearby took them to Iacon maintenance tunnels leading straight to the bridge terminal. When they arrived through the power conduits, Soundwave and the others fought through more Autobots and finally activated the bridge.

Racing across the bridge, they barely avoided Omega Supreme's pursuit, and Soundwave located another cargo lift that would transport them straight to the heavy ion turrets. On the lift he picked up several Autobot/Decepticon signals, a sign they were approaching the battle on the surface. Soundwave participated in the slugfest, and his analysis proved that the turrets nearby had enough firepower to legitimately damage Omega Supreme. Then, he showed no mercy using the turrets to breach Omega's armour and finally topple him to the ground below.

Soundwave, Breakdown, and Megatron followed Omega, and at the bottom, they were surprised to see him survive and transform into his mighty robot mode. Soundwave noted that energon batteries produced from within Cybertron were the source of Omega's limitless endurance, and further advised the team on battling Omega; avoiding his tractor beams would allow them to live, and his turrets were vulnerable, making them the prime target. When the turrets were blown, Soundwave saw that the batteries were being used to repair them, and so it became an objective to corrupt them with Dark Energon. When Omega Supreme used the batteries to heal himself, he was instead weakened, allowing the Decepticons to critically injure him. Omega Supreme was still alive even after all of that, but much weaker. Soundwave observed that his chest plating had been damaged, and Megatron ordered Soundwave and Breakdown to blast it, and Omega Supreme fell at last. Soundwave advised Megatron that now would be a good time to corrupt Omega with Dark Energon, but Megatron told Captain Obvious to shut up and did as he would have done even if Soundwave hadn't brought it up, laughing all the way.

After Cybertron's Core had been infected with Dark Energon, Soundwave was reassigned to watch over (i.e., tortured) Sentinel Prime in his spare time at Kaon's prison. Optimus, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, and Air Raid led an Autobot breakout and battled Soundwave's minions Frenzy, Rumble and Laserbeak. Soundwave himself sustained heavy damage leaving the safety of his position to revive and retrieve each Mini-con, showing uncharaceristic concern for other living beings. Eventually, defeated and critically damaged, Soundwave desperately attempted to restore himself by absorbing life force from Sentinel's very own spark. His attempt to fully heal was halted by Optimus, who even took a shot from the Decepticon intended to finish off Prime. Although Soundwave and his minions fled, the damage had already been done and Sentinel Prime expired moments later

Soundwave discovers that the Autobots have infiltrated the Datacore. Megatron sends him and Barricade to take care of the intrusion. The two speed out, and Soundwave must navigate a highway overgrown with Dark Energon crystals while dealing with swarms of Aerialbots before they can shut off access to the Datacore. An Autobot Destroyer blocks Soundwave's path and brings the roof down, forcing him to take an alternate route. He makes his way to a security station and downloads the information on the Autobots' advance, radioing Barricade to meet him at the assigned coordinates. When Soundwave arrives, though, he finds Barricade in the middle of a shooting gallery. The Autobots are soon joined by an aerial Destroyer, but the pair make short work of it. Soundwave intercepts a data download but cuts it off quickly, and races to intercept the escaping Autobots. Weaving his way through Dark Energon crystals and moving walls (huh?), he reaches the intercept point in time, causing Ironhide and Bumblebee to skid out of control... and right into a fusion blast from Megatron.

#### During the War

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 to learn how they were dealing with it.

After finding out that the Decepticon scientist Shockwave had used Rumble and Frenzy as test subjects in his experiment to swap the sparks of Decepticons between different bodies, he demanded that Shockwave return them to their original bodies, to which Shockwave complied.

##### Dark Spark Incident

He took part in the assault on the factory the Autobots had built in the crater where Trypticon crashed, and once Megatron had rebuilt the giant Decepticon, came to power up Trypticon's power core. On Megatron's orders, Soundwave rebuilt Trypticon into the *Nemesis*, a ship strong enough to make it towards the planet Shockwave had chosen.

#### Preparing Departure

Soundwave was present when Optimus was brought to Megatron by Starscream and Onslaught. He watched as Metroplex **pulverised** Megatron. He was the only one who hesitated in following Starscream. He secretly salvaged and with the help of Laserbeak, Rumble and an E.D.K. TechVolt, repairs his glorious leader, while improving on his original design. He infused Megatron with Dark Energon, and pointed his leader in the direction of Starscream.

On the outskit streets outside Great Dome of Iacon City, 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.

When the Autobots have launched the Ark, and after navigating a treacherous meteor shower, the *Nemesis* soon caught up and battle erupted between the two factions, and Soundwave spearheaded the assault on the other ship, 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 both spacecrafts were caught in the gravity of the nearby prehistoric planet Earth and crash-landed. The Ark impacted with the side of a volcano and the Nemesis crashed into deep under water in a collision so violent that all the Transformers on board, Soundwave included, were knocked off line.

## External links

* Soundwave *Wikipedia*
* Soundwave *Teletraan 1: The Transformers Wiki*
* Soundwave *Transformers Wiki*

## Notes & Trivia

* Soundwave's design appearance is influenced from both his *Generation One* and live-action film series counterparts.
* Ratchet noted that Soundwave possesses a vastly unique bioligy far greater than that of normal Cybertronians.
	+ He is able to record and display spoken phrases and images in order to communicate.
	+ His ability to create Transwarp hole even without the aid of a control pannel, this abiltiy was dubbed by Ultra Magnus as his 'Relocation Trick'
	+ He is able to self crash his own drives and thus can enter into stasis.