Origin
One of the first members of the Decepticons, Soundwave is one of Megatrons most loyal and reliable troops. Despite only being the communications officer he is one of the highest ranked Decepticon on a par with Shockwave and answerable only to Megatron himself.
He commands his own army of mini-cassette tape troops which he can eject from his chest when needed. Among these are Lazerbeak and Ravage who act as spies and the brothers, Frenzy and Rumble, who both just love a good fight. There is also Ratbat who is the least loyal out of Soundwave’s mini-cassettes but is intelligent and efficient and was even once the Decepticon leader.
Creation
Soundwave was created by Bob Budianksy, who created and named hundreds of other Transformers as well.
Character Evolution
There have been many versions of Soundwave; however, all are very highly ranked Decepticons. Soundwave is, however, often seen as two-faced or untrustworthy to other Decepticons. Only Megatron’s trust in him keeps him safe.
Major Story Arcs
Marvel Continuity
Soundwave was among the Decepticons in the Ark when it crash landed on Earth 4 million years ago. After Mt. Saint Hillary erupts he, along with all the Autobots and Decepticons on board the Ark, awakens and he takes the form of a tape deck. He mainly used his abilities as a spy to record and send information for the Decepticons, and also to assist him are his mini-tape bots such as Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw, and Ratbat.
IDW Publishing Continuity
Long ago on Cybertron, before the war began, Soundwave first appeared to Megatron, when he was just a contender in the illegal gladiator games on Cybertron in the city of Kaon, offering him weapons with the only condition being that he use them as he sees fit. He’s also the one who recruits the seekers, Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp, into Megatron’s army at the time, which would eventually become the Decepticons. He and Starscream would also work together to bust everyone out of the prison in Kaon as part of the second phase in Megatron’s plan to take over Cybertron. Much later, Soundwave was told by Megatron to keep on optic on Bludgeon, who was told by Megatron to search through Shockwave’s archived projects to learn what he was working on. He would watch over everything Bludgeon did on Cybertron and would even continue following him when he went to Earth. In the mid-1980, Soundwave was working spying on a hidden group of facsimiles at a construction site who are working to find ultra-energon under Bludgeon’s orders. He learns that Bludgeon, along with Bomb-burst, and Iguanus are using Mt. St. Helens as a temporary base and eventually confronts them with the intention of gaining energon from them only to learn that they were actually planning to use it all to resurrect Thunderwing. Hearing this, Soundwave tries to stop them but is overpowered and struck by a weapon that locks him in his alternate mode. Bludgeon and his crew then leave and use plasma-density charges to blow up the base and leave Soundwave. Years later, in 2007, Soundwave is seen still stuck as a cassette player in front of a window display where he is mocked by two kids for being outdated.
Dreamwave Continuity
Soundwave was selected by Megatron to lead an assassination squad to kill the new, young Autobot leader, Optimus Prime and bring back the Matrix. He and the assassination team where quickly defeated but Soundwave recovered in time to save Megatron after his own battle with Prime ended in defeat. Soundwave’s loyalty initially seemed to favour whoever was leader of the Decepticons. He was however always working for Megatron and betrayed both Shockwave and Starscream.
Exodus
During the end of Cybertron’s golden age Soundwave becomes Megatron’s first follower and general. He is also Megatron’s most loyal follower followed by Skyquake.
Powers and Abilities
Soundwave possesses powers and abilities akin to other Decepticons. Soundwave can incorporate nearby machines into his body, and already houses a legion of ‘cassette troops’ in his chest. These smaller robots carry out spy and recon missions for Soundwave. Soundwave also has several conventional weapons attached to his body, such as machine guns and rocket launchers.
Soundwave is also superhumanly strong and durable. He can also fly at high speeds.
Soundwave, like other Decepticons, can change his form to appear as human-made vehicles.
Other Media
Film
Soundwave appears in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen voiced by Frank Welker and has a satellite for an alternate mode. He hacks into a communication satellite to learn the whereabouts of Megatron’s remains at the bottom of the ocean, as well as a fragment of the Allspark in a US base in Diego Garcia, where he sends Ravage, who then steals the fragment which is then used to revive Megatron. He also sends out the message to the Decepticons to mobilize for the battle in Egypt.
Soundwave appears in Dark of the Moon helping Megatron and Sentinel Prime sending an army of Decepticons to Earth.
Television
Soundwave appears in The Transfomers Generation 1 and Transformers Prime which is a continuity of Transformers Exodus .
Video Games
Soundwave appears in the following:
Revenge of the Fallen
Dark of the Moon
War of Cybertron
Fall of Cybertron