Shockwave (Movie)

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 from the Movie continuity family.

Shockwave was left to watch Cybertron by Megatron long ago, but he would eventually follow the call of the AllSpark to Earth. Deadly efficient with a cold devotion to logic, Shockwave is a killing machine like few others and one of the very few who could rival Megatron. This has made him quite popular amongst the Decepticons; some respect him enough to willingly work with him while others idolize him to the point of avenging his death. Nevertheless, Shockwave is ready and willing to destroy whichever Autobots dare stand in his way with his arm-mounted AstroMag Cannon.

“	Emotionless, coldly logical, utterly ruthless... killing is all Shockwave lives for.	”
—Optimus Prime, Dark of the Moon #1

Contents 1 Fiction 1.1 Movies 1.1.1 Revenge of the Fallen film 1.1.2 Dark of the Moon film 1.1.3 Age of Extinction film 1.1.4 The Last Knight film 1.1.5 Bumblebee film 1.1.6 One film 1.2 Titan movie comics 1.3 IDW movie comics 1.4 BeCool shorts 1.5 Precursor World 2 Games 2.1 Transformers: The Game (console) 2.2 Transformers: Autobots/Decepticons 2.3 Transformers: The Game (PSP) 2.4 Autobot Stronghold 2.5 Web Wars 2.6 Transformers: Dark of the Moon - The Game 2.6.1 (Xbox 360/PS3) 2.6.2 Autobots/Decepticons 2.7 Transformers: Dark of the Moon (mobile game) 2.8 MechTech Weapons Challenge 2.9 Bot Shots Battle Game! 2.10 Transformers: Human Alliance 3 Commercial appearances 4 Toys 4.1 Dark of the Moon 4.1.1 Cyberverse 4.1.2 Voyager Class toys 4.2 Bot Shots 4.3 BeCool 4.4 Kre-O 4.5 Movie The Best 4.6 The Last Knight 4.7 Studio Series 5 Merchandise 5.1 Burger King 5.2 Thrilling 30 5.3 McDonald's 5.4 Prime 1 Studio 6 Notes 6.1 Foreign names 7 Gallery 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Fiction

Movies

Revenge of the Fallen film

At some point during 2009, Shockwave was caught on film and the event was written up for a newspaper article. A newspaper page with the headline "Mysterious Robot Spotted" was discarded in Egypt, where it was sucked up by a rampaging Devastator. Revenge of the Fallen

Dark of the Moon film

Voice actor: Frank Welker (English), Jirō Saitō (Japanese), Zhang Yaohan (Chinese), Horst Lampe (German), Alessandro Ballico (Italian), Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza (Latin American Spanish), Bernard Métraux (European French), Stéphane Rivard (Canadian French), Oğuz Özoğul (Turkish), Luiz Laffey (Brazilian Portuguese)

Shockwave and his pet Driller attacked the Autobots when they were summoned to Chernobyl by the Decepticon agent Alexi Voskhod. This was done as an act of misdirection to ensure that the Autobots did not realize that the Decepticons actually wanted them to find the fuel cell from the Ark located within the facility. After Optimus retrieved the fuel cell from the Driller, Shockwave emerged from it to reveal himself to Optimus, and the pair quickly retreated underground, leaving Optimus very disturbed to see Shockwave on Earth.

Later, Shockwave took part in the invasion of Chicago. He and the Driller emerged from beneath the convoy of Autobots, and the Driller separated Optimus from his trailer. Shockwave left the Driller and proceeded to track down the Autobots. The Wreckers were sent to distract him, peppering his armor with fire from their machine-guns. He used a car as a shield and fired at them, and once they drove off, he menacingly began to pursue them down the road, missing the two small Autobots, Wheelie and Brains, who quickly fled.

Later, he noticed humans inside a building, and sent his Driller into the fray to topple a building and kill Sam Witwicky, Carly Spencer, Robert Epps, and the other humans inside. However, the beast was killed by Optimus Prime using his flight gear. Enraged by the death of his pet, Shockwave opened fire on the Autobot leader, briefly disabling him and taking him out of the fight.

He soon joined Soundwave and Barricade in rounding up the other Autobots. Brains and Wheelie forestalled the Decepticons from further executing their prisoners by taking control of a Decepticon gunship, and dropping fighters onto the battlefield. Shockwave retreated further away with Barricade and some other Decepticons, but the human soldiers had set a trap and fired upon them. Shockwave's face was obscured by one of their parachutes, and his eye was then shot out by the Wreckers, causing it to dangle by its wires. He then attempted to escape, but Optimus Prime came charging back into the battle, and when Shockwave fired at him, the Autobot dodged the shot, donned a set of knuckle-spikes, and punched Shockwave so hard that part of his abdomen shattered. Even this did not put Shockwave down, but Prime did not give up - he punched Shockwave again, pinned the Decepticon down and tore his dangling eye out through his throat, finally killing the bloodthirsty Decepticon. Optimus then used Shockwave's cannon to shoot out the control pillar set up in the city. Dark of the Moon

Age of Extinction film

Five years after the Battle of Chicago, Shockwave was listed as "deceased" by the CIA taskforce, Cemetery Wind.^[1] Age of Extinction

The Last Knight film

Shockwave was active in a battle during the 1560s, where his exploits were recorded in a painting. He later participated in World War I around 1917, where his silhouette had been used on a war poster. Both of these events were covered up by the Order of the Witwiccans.

After the battle of Chicago, Shockwave's death greatly angered fellow Decepticon, Nitro Zeus.^[2]

When Viviane Wembly was abducted by Hot Rod, she remarked that her captor had better be a famous Transformer, like Shockwave or Soundwave, perhaps unaware that both Decepticons were deceased. Hot Rod retorted that he was more impressive than either of them. The Last Knight

Bumblebee film

Voice actor: Jon Bailey (English), Shinnosuke Ogami (Japanese), Alejandro Orozco (Latin-American Spanish)

After Megatron had disappeared, Shockwave and Soundwave assumed command of the Decepticon army. Under their joint leadership, the Decepticons conquered Cybertron forcing the Autobots to abandon the planet. When the Decepticons launched a final assault on the last Autobot city, Shockwave ordered the Seekers to destroy the launch pad and prevent the Autobot evacuation. Despite the Seekers' attack, all the Autobots but Optimus Prime managed to escape immediate danger. After Prime was attacked by Ravage, Shockwave and the other Decepticons closed in to attack the Autobot leader. Despite this, Prime managed to escape the planet. Bumblebee

One film

Further information in this article is coming soon as it pertains to information that has not yet been officially released. See the relevant policy page for the reasons why, and do not add further information pending review. This tag expires in 56 days

Transformers One

Titan movie comics

While Starscream didn't like or trust Shockwave, he respected his intelligence and, if he had to choose, would give the nod to Shockwave being his successor. #21's Star Screams

IDW movie comics

Eons after the Dynasty of Primes were vanquished, Cybertron fell into dark times. The AllSpark had been buried somewhere within Cybertron and been dismissed as a legend, and the planet itself lacked a star to orbit. As energy became more and more scarce, Cybertronians segregated into tribes. Shockwave chose to rally behind Sentinel Prime, who claimed to be descended from Primus himself. However, he faced opposition from the non-believer Thetacons, and Shockwave joined Megatron, Optimus, and several others in repelling their attacks. Ultimately, Sentinel Prime won the day, as he and Wheeljack were successful in locating the lost AllSpark and harnessing a new sun to orbit. This, however, did not please Shockwave. Now that the war was over, he was dissatisfied, and he no longer knew his purpose. This shocked his old friend, Megatron, and Shockwave explained that it was the journey he enjoyed, not the destination. Plus, well, that new sun was kind of bright. Foundation #1

The next day, Megatron detailed to Shockwave how he had eavesdropped on a conversation between Sentinel and Optimus, where Sentinel had tried to pass on leadership to Optimus, who refused, unable to accept he was also a Prime. At the outskirts of Thetacon, they encountered a Driller, a subterranean lifeform that had been brought to the planet's surface by the new energy flowing through it, which was attacking a group of Hatchlings and their protector Starscream. Shockwave was amazed by the creature and called it "magnificent". After besting it, he joined the Cybertronian Defense Force that Sentinel placed under Megatron's command, rooting out dissident Transformers. Foundation #2

After the war broke out he joined the Decepticons. As Starscream was asking what to do next minutes before the Nemesis went to space, Shockwave told him that they would obey Megatron's orders without any question. Foundation #3 When the Autobots attacked Simfur Temple, Shockwave attempted to apprehend Elita-One, but with no success. When Starscream blew up the ship carrying Sentinel and his secret weapon, Shockwave ordered the annihilation of the retreating Autobots, but Megatron made him stand down, gleefully predicting Optimus would return with a vengeance. Foundation #4

Shockwave returned with Megatron to his citadel during Optimus's revenge attack. Foundation #1 Shockwave asked Megatron if he could kill Optimus Prime and Ironhide after they had been stuck by the smelting pool, but Megatron was disappointed by Shockwave's lack of vision. Foundation #3 Optimus got inside to fight Megatron, while Starscream and Shockwave attempted to kill their former comrade Ironhide. Suddenly, the skies darkened: the Autobots had attacked the citadel to distract the Decepticons from their true goal of stealing the AllSpark from the temple. Optimus blasted Starscream and Shockwave, and the two Autobots escaped. Foundation #4

Some time later, after the Autobots sent the All Spark into space, Starscream left Shockwave in charge of the Decepticons still on Cybertron as he went in search of his prize. During a battle with a team of Autobots, Shockwave heard the scream of the AllSpark when it was found by Sector Seven. Leaving Dreadwing in charge of the Decepticons on Cybertron, Shockwave set out in an impossibly fast ship, swearing not to return without the AllSpark. He crashed in Tunguska, Siberia in 1908.^[3] He remained buried there in stasis lock, healing until Soviet Russia found him ten years later. Using stolen research from the U.S., who had found Megatron the same way, the Russians reverse-engineered his technology to invent nuclear power plants. Rising Storm #2 Frozen

There were no digital records of Shockwave's existence, and the physical documents pertaining to him were lost, burned, shredded or stolen in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. The Siberian facility was abandoned and Shockwave was left forgotten. Convergence chapter 4

Soundwave discovered the satirical article and its photograph, and deduced it was based on stolen Soviet documents. Convergence chapter 4 In 2010, Megatron freed Shockwave and brought him to his "base" in Namibia, where he was eager to get back to killing Autobots as soon as possible. Rising Storm #2

Shockwave and Astrotrain made their presence known on Earth near Dalian, China, where they quickly disposed of the Autobots Longarm and Salvage and stole material for a mysterious construction project.

Shockwave began following the exploits of Earth's stranded Transformers from afar, and derided its war's combatants as idiots after watching a skirmish in California. After contacting Astrotrain for an update on their project, he tracked Divebomb's radiation trail back to Starscream's current base of operations, in a junkyard on the outskirts of Mexico City. Blasting his way through the Decepticons unwise enough to try defending Starscream, Shockwave informed the treacherous air commander that Megatron had "requested his services." Before the conversation could go any further, Astrotrain radioed Shockwave with some bad news: the "brain unit" scrap drone that held the control software for the machine he was constructing had escaped. Shockwave charged Starscream and his followers with recovering the drone. Rising Storm #1

Shockwave contacted an angry Starscream who thought he was promised the Autobots would be occupied. Shockwave countered that they were occupied, but, you know, with Starscream, leaving Shockwave free to leave a message for Optimus Prime at the NEST Headquarters in Diego Garcia. After killing Knock Out, Dune Runner, and other Autobots who stood in his way, Shockwave confronted the trembling humans left to fend for themselves. When Shockwave asked who was in command, Theodore Galloway told him that he was. Shockwave killed Galloway and the other humans save one, and he asked his question one more time. Rising Storm #3

After killing Jolt, he and Fearswoop left Diego Garcia, then he arrived in Philadelphia killing Elita-One in the process and shot down Wheeljack and Mirage. Enraged by the death of Elita-One and the other Autobots, Optimus Prime battled Shockwave, quickly overpowering him and brutally pummeling the sadistic Decepticon. Prime was about to kill Shockwave, till Shockwave's "pet" came to save his master. The badly damaged Shockwave returned to Namibia along Starscream and Soundwave. Rising Storm #4

BeCool shorts

On a team with Tank, Battle Tank (バトルタンク Batoru Tanku) took part in the Quiz! BeCool show. Despite only being able to speak in computer noises, Battle Tank led his team to victory by correctly answering the last question. The Story of Quiz! BeCool Battle Tank later watched the filming of a movie that was interrupted by the fire brigade who confusedly thought it was an emergency. The Story of the Fire Brigade Dispatch!

Precursor World

A Warrior of the Seven Lights resembling Battle Tank was a member of the Purple Order of the Primus Vanguard. Through a screen, he oversaw the containment of interdimensional warlord Ultra Megatron Omega and his turncoat Straxus followers by the Order's Pretender Monster creations such that his commander Purple Wicked Convoy could propose an alliance. God Neptune comic 1

Games

Transformers: The Game (console)

Voice actor: Daniel Riordan

Under the orders of Starscream, Shockwave attacked Tranquility in an effort to interfere with Optimus Prime's attempt to rescue Bumblebee from Sector Seven. Prime actually had a grip on the helicopter net that held Bumblebee, but the force of Shockwave's entry mode's impact knocked him off, allowing Sector Seven to get away.

Landing in downtown, the triple-changing Shockwave adopted a helicopter and an artillery emplacement as his alternate modes, promptly transforming into the latter and lobbing explosives around the city. Prime, forced to cut off his rescue, charged in and pounded Shockwave until the goliath transformed and retreated to another position. Prime doggedly kept at Shockwave, following him every time he retreated, eventually defeating the Decepticon and saving Tranquility. Transformers The Game (console)

Later, when the Autobots returned to Cybertron, Shockwave appeared on the planet alongside (and presumably leading) an army of Decepticon drones. Optimus quickly defeated the drones and once more defeated Shockwave.

Transformers: Autobots/Decepticons

Shockwave's body-type is used for only a few Apache-based helicopter modes: the Attack Copter, the Recon Chopper, and the Stealth Chopper. Transformers Autobots/Decepticons

Transformers: The Game (PSP)

Voice actor: Daniel Riordan

The massive Shockwave might look like he's purely about muscle and firepower, but he's actually remarkably shrewd and cunning. Coveting the position of Decepticon leader for himself, Shockwave has been working to oust Megatron for years. As you might imagine, he and Starscream don't get along very well.

When the Decepticons arrived on Earth in search of their lost leader, Megatron, Shockwave adopted a tank as his alternate mode. Shockwave was supposed to join Blackout in his attack on the SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in Qatar, but instead busied himself surrepticiously searching for leads to the location of the AllSpark. After receiving a communique from Frenzy, who informed him that the Autobots were on Earth and had discovered their own leads to the location of Megatron, Shockwave had Thundercracker airlift him to Qatar, where he helped Blackout take care of the last few military units opposing him. He relayed Frenzy's message to Blackout, then departed for the Arctic with Thundercracker, intending to investigate the site where Megatron's body was discovered.

In the Arctic, Shockwave and Thundercracker faced resistance from an Autobot unit in the area, but fought their way through them to discover that Megatron's body had been moved by Sector Seven. The trip was not a wasted one, however: after scanning a computer terminal in the cavern, Shockwave discovered that Megatron had brought an army of drones with him to Earth to help in the search for the All Spark. These drones were presently lying dormant all over the Earth, and Shockwave schemed to reactivate them so that they could serve him as his personal army. The signal required to reanimated the drones had to be broadcast from a great height, so Shockwave and Thundercracker quickly made their way to a rocket launch site, where Shockwave programmed the code into a rocket that subsequently beamed the signal down over the Earth from space. Drones sprang to life all over the planet, and began attacking the Autobots. Shockwave's control of his self-made army was short lived, however, as Autobots Trailbreaker and Hound successfully transmitted a virus that shut the drones down. Simultaneously, Shockwave received another message from Frenzy that the he had discovered the location of Megatron, and that the Decepticon leader was about to reawaken.

After the Autobots defeated Megatron and most of the other Decepticons in battle in Center City, Shockwave retreated back to Cybertron, as did Starscream. Back on their homeworld, Shockwave and Starscream faced off for leadership of the Decepticons, with Starscream ultimately claiming victory. Transformers The Game (PSP)

Autobot Stronghold

Shockwave was used as the basis for an army of drone units, who were part of the constant attacks on the Autobot's LG Stronghold. For some reason, these drones had two Sparks. Autobot Stronghold

Web Wars

Shockwave battled the Autobots across the digital frontier, vying to wrestle control of numerous websites across the internet from their hands! Web Wars

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - The Game

Voice actor: Isaac C. Singleton, Jr. (Wii version only)

(Xbox 360/PS3)

Shockwave had crashed on Earth thousands of years ago and fell into stasis mode. He was later discovered by the Russians and a facility was built to contain him, where he was frozen to prevent him from waking up.

Three years after Megatron was wounded, the Decepticons took refuge in that same Russian facility to repair themselves. His leader Megatron decided to release him, since he was needed for the upcoming operation. The base came under fire, however, thanks to Starscream leading the Autobots straight to Megatron. The 'Cons abandoned base and left Shockwave and his Driller to thaw out.

Optimus discovered Shockwave and ordered Ratchet to activate more freeze tanks to keep him frozen. Unfortunately, Shockwave's pet awoke from its slumber, and lashed out at the intruders. The attempts to keep him frozen eventually failed, and Shockwave woke up and decided to destroy the Autobot leader. Years under stasis meant that he wasn't fully combat ready, and it was something Optimus took advantage of when he attacked the Decepticon assassin. Shockwave soon managed to fully recover and lashed out at Prime with everything he had. Autobot reinforcements arrived to help in Optimus' assault, but were dispatched quite easily. During their skirmish, Optimus Prime (with a little help from Ratchet) deduced his weak spot as the three cylinder-shaped generators mounted on his back. With this knowledge, Optimus Prime was then able to take down Shockwave with his jetpack/machinegun upgrades, until the Driller decided to intervene, and blocked off the shots while retreating with its master.

Shortly after, Shockwave met up with Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave in Nambia, Africa. He was ordered to find a device in a nuclear power plant called Chernobyl. Shockwave agreed, and Megatron told him and the others of Operation Pillar... Dark of the Moon (Xbox 360/PS3)

Autobots/Decepticons

Shockwave was in some state where he needed to be revived and was stored in the Decepticons' base in Siberia. When the Autobots invaded the base, Megatron was forced to revive Shockwave early, but managed to get the assassin out and began preparing for the next stage of the plan. Dark of the Moon: Autobots/Decepticons

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (mobile game)

The Game Full of Death and Suffering...! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their video game appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Dark of the Moon

MechTech Weapons Challenge

Bumblebee could use Shockwave's particle wave blaster to aid him in his missions to retrieve MechTech weapons technology stolen by the Decepticons. MechTech Weapons Challenge

Bot Shots Battle Game!

Shockwave (in his Super Bot form) was the final challenge that your Bot Shot had to face and defeat in the Kaon gladiatorial pits. Your Bot Shot prevailed, and Shockwave was knocked offline.

Shockwave also created some eeevil creatures in his lab, which your Bot Shot also had to face. Good thing your Bot Shot defeated them, then!

Bot Shots Battle Game!

Transformers: Human Alliance

Shockwave surfaced in the North Africa Desert, his sudden appearance on Earth greatly disturbing Optimus Prime. Shockwave tangled with Optimus for a bit, growling Optimus's name repeatedly the entire time, before being driven off by the combined efforts of Optimus, Jake, and Vanessa. Transformers: Human Alliance

Commercial appearances

Shockwave duked it out with Optimus Prime in front of a Burger King restaurant, while some of the patrons inside were too enraptured with savoring their Bacon Cheddar Ranch Tendercrisp sandwiches to notice. Dark of the Moon Burger King tie-in commercial

Toys

Dark of the Moon

Cyberverse

• Shockwave / Fusion Tank (Cyberverse Action Set, 2011)

• Series: 1
• Number: 006
• Japanese ID number: CV19
• Accessories: Battle Cannon/Particle Wave Blaster, rubber hose, arm blade, missile, Chicago
• Known designers: Joe Kyde (Hasbro), Hisao Nishimoto (TakaraTomy)

The Cyberverse Commander class Shockwave is cast in a lighter purple than his Voyager class figure. Like that larger toy, he transforms into a Cybertronian tank, and features a removable cannon, blade, and hose. He also has a back component that attaches to his vehicle to form a "Fusion Tank," and that can separately transform into "Ground Weapon" and "Battle Base" modes. For safety reasons, his knee spikes are molded in rubbery plastic. Likewise, his chest ribs are also molded with the same soft plastic. Due to the hose's slightly short length, raising the shoulder-mounted cannon in a firing position with the hose attached will cause it to occasionally pop off. Care must be taken on the tank mode's front wheels: Since they're painted, rolling them on uneven surfaces can cause the paint to chip.

Shockwave's alternate mode has some rather annoying problems with the treads refusing to straighten out or peg onto his body and front "wheels" securely. As a result, combining him with the action set to form the "Fusion Tank" mode will result in the back treads becoming parallel with the rest of the tank... while the front treads split open and detach from the wheels.

Like other action sets, Shockwave comes with a cardboard backdrop. In his case, it’s a scene of Chicago under attack. Oddly, the box bio mentions Shockwave's ability to drill through the ground, with no mention of his friend.

• More information on Cyberverse Shockwave at TFU.info

Voyager Class toys

• Shockwave (MechTech Voyager Class, 2011)

• Japanese ID number: DD05
• Accessories: MechTech Battle Cannon/Particle Wave Blaster, rubber hose, arm blade
• Known designers: Hironori Kobayashi (TakaraTomy), Andrew Scribner (deco artist)

Part of the second wave of Dark of the Moon Voyager Class MechTech toys, Shockwave transforms into a purple Cybertronian tank. He has a large, detachable MechTech Battle Cannon on his right arm with a rubber tube which connects to his back, and a removable blade on his left arm. When a button is pushed on the rear of his arm cannon, MechTech gearing opens up the cannon, widening it and exposing more gun barrels. C joint rungs are located on Shockwave's arm-blade, with one concealed underneath said blade, two on his AstroMag cannon, two more on his backpack, and two more on his feet. Other MechTech weapons can peg into Shockwave's hands, on the barrel of his cannon, and behind each shoulder blade. Due to the nature of his MechTech weapon being integrated with his arm, it is not a prime candidate for swapping with other toys; although it does fit with the Dark of the Moon Voyager Megatron, due to its shape and color.

The instructions tell you to keep the cannon attached to his right arm in tank mode, though it is possible to stick it in between the arms. This is done by sliding the cannon's bottom in between Shockwave's thumbs. It is fairly stable, matches some stock photography, and makes for a more coherent tank.

Shockwave's stock photography depicts him with a different color scheme as well as wrist articulation that the final toy does not have. Although partly cropped, his packaging photography on the box-front depicts an alternative placement of his gun hose in tank mode, plugging into the port on the side of his rear treads, which actually aligns better than the awkward frontal position depicted in the instructions; in the box-back. The gun hose in vehicle mode is not shown, but since the picture was taken from a left profile, it could just be covered by the toy itself, reinforcing the alternate placement.

• More information on Voyager Shockwave at TFU.info

• Optimus Prime vs. Shockwave (MechTech Voyager Class two-pack, 2011)

• Accessories: MechTech Battle Cannon/Particle Wave Blaster, rubber hose, arm blade

Exclusive to Canadian Costco stores, this repaint of Shockwave was advertised as "SHOCKWAVE with CYBER METAL Armour" via a sticker on the packaging. This two-pack also contains an unchanged Dark of the Moon Voyager class Optimus Prime.

• Streetside Bot Brawl (Multi-pack, 2011)

• Accessories: MechTech Battle Cannon/Particle Wave Blaster, rubber hose, arm blade

Part of the Toys"R"Us-exclusive "Streetside Bot Brawl" three-pack, this grey and purple redeco of Shockwave (which was an homage to the 4 Changeable Astro Magnum's colors) was sold with battle-damaged redecos of Dark of the Moon Deluxe-Class Bumblebee and Dark of the Moon Voyager-Class Optimus Prime.

• More information on "Streetside Bot Brawl" Shockwave at TFU.info

Bot Shots

• Decepticon Brawl / Shockwave / Ironhide (Multi-pack, 2012)

• Number: BP010
  • Fist strength: 235
  • Blaster strength: 835
  • Sword strength: 550

Part of the second wave of Bot Shots three-packs, Shockwave is a small, purple tank with a spring-loaded automatic transformation to robot mode triggered when his front bumper is pressed. He has a "spinner" in his chest that shows his three attack types and power levels.

He comes with Super Bot Ironhide and Decepticon Brawl. He shares parts with the Brawl and Megatron molds.

• More information on three-pack Shockwave at TFU.info

• Shockwave (Super Bot, 2012)

• Series: 1
• Number: Super Bot 005
  • Fist strength: 300
  • Blaster strength: 995
  • Sword strength: 330

Part of the fifth wave of Bot Shots single-packs, this redeco of Shockwave is cast in translucent purplish-blue, with minimal paint operations. As a Super Bot, he was packed one per case, and has more lopsided stats than normal Bot Shots, such as his really, really good Blaster stat.

• More information on Super Bot Shockwave at TFU.info

• Decepticon Fire Assault Team (Multi-pack, 2013)

• Series: 2
• Number: T017
  • Fist strength: 483
  • Blaster strength: 867
  • Sword strength: 272

A redeco of the original Shockwave mold in orange and red, this version of Shockwave was available in a five-pack with similar redecos of Megatron, Starscream, Barricade, and Lockdown.

• More information on Fire Assault Shockwave at TFU.info

BeCool

• Battle Tank (Shockwave) (2013)

• ID number: B16

BeCool "Battle Tank" is practically identical to the first, multi-packed Bot Shots Shockwave toy, the only difference being that his stickers don't depict power levels, instead depicting drawings of his vehicle mode firing away, a compass, and a walkie-talkie.

Kre-O

• Army Shockwave (Kreon Warrior, 2015)

• Set number: B0945
• Collection: 1
• Accessories: Stand-plate, hand grenade

Part of the first wave of Kre-O Kreon Warriors, Shockwave has been re-imagined as if he was part of a World War I era fighting force, with tank-kibble deco, a military-style helmet, and a combat knife taking the place of his traditional gun "hand". His "face" deco is very much Dark of the Moon Shockwave, even if his colors owe more to the original Shockwave.

Like all the Kreons released that year (at normal retail at least), he uses the new 2015-tooling Kreon body, which basically involves small construction changes on every part below the head, making them largely incompatible with the prior Kreon parts (heads still work fine), but the new tooling adds some extra functionality and structural support.

The Kreon Warriors were only released in Canada, Australia, and various Asian markets. The individual bags had also abandoned any kind of coding that identified the contents. This means getting the one you want from an unopened bag involves either trying to feel out the unique parts, or just buying the whole dang case.

• Ninja Shockwave (Kreon Warrior, 2015)

• Set number: B0945
• Series: 1
• Accessories: Stand-plate, sai, 2 pegged shuriken

Also part of the first wave of Kreon Warriors, Ninja Shockwave replaces his gun-hand with a huge lavender stabby-blade, and has a pair of shuriken pegged to his legs for quick throwing. He even has a ninja hood to emulate his enclosed helmet.

All the aggravation of the blind-bagged, non-US distribution above applies to this one as well.

Movie The Best

• Shockwave (Voyager, 2017-02-04)

• Japanese ID Number: MB-04
• Accessories: MechTech Battle Cannon/Particle Wave Blaster, rubber hose, arm blade

Released as part of TakaraTomy's Transformers Movie The Best toyline to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the live-action film series, this Shockwave is an extensive redeco of his Voyager Class toy. Shockwave features a deco similar to, but not the same as, the Dark of the Moon prototype figure's paint applications.

The pegs on the ribcage that allow it to plug into his main body are slathered in the same silver paint as the rest of his ribs, which can lead to the fit being incredibly tight. As a result, it might be wise to sand down the pegs before inserting them to prevent then from getting stuck.

The Last Knight

• Decepticon Shockwave (Tiny Turbo Changer, 2017)

• Series: 2
• Bag Code: A

Released in Series 2 of blindbagged Tiny Turbo Changers, Shockwave is a small soft-plastic transformable figure based on his appearance in Dark of the Moon. He changes from robot to Cybertronian tank in a few simple steps. He has articulated shoulders and his hands can grip 3mm posts and other small accessories. Like all Tiny Turbo Changers, he can't roll in vehicle mode.

His instructions show his front-scoops/feet-soles with tech detailing that does not exist on the actual toy.

Studio Series

• Shockwave (Leader Class, 2019)

• Movie: Dark of the Moon
• Hasbro ID number: 56
• TakaraTomy ID number: SS-45
• TakaraTomy release date: February 29, 2020
• Accessories: arm-blade, Brains figure, Wheelie figure, NEST Paratrooper with parachute, "Battle of Chicago" backdrop (3rd version)

Studio Series Shockwave transforms from robot mode to a Cybertronian tank in 17 steps. He is a mostly new sculpt, reusing some parts from Studio Series Voyager Class Revenge of the Fallen Megatron– notably the neck, elbows, hips, and tank treads, as well as sharing engineering cues with said Megatron. He comes with a cardboard backdrop display depicting a war-torn Chicago.

While the original promotional render showcased his purple coloring as brighter, solid paint applications, the figure itself has darker purple applied mostly with extensive dry-brushed paint applications, with solid purple paint on his feet. A similar silver dry-brushing technique is also present in his arm-blade, hands, lower torso, and foot spikes.

While roughly tall Voyager-height (as stated before, he even reuses some parts from a Voyager Class figure), he is sold under the Leader Class price point, with the additional budget being devoted to his bulkier physique, large cannon, arm-blade, extensive paint applications, and also to a surprising three additionally included figurines: a scale accurate Brains, Wheelie, and the parachuting NEST soldier that obscures his face with a parachute made from clear white plastic film.

With Wheelie and Brains being 1.5cm tall, you will definitely lose them. Unfortunately, the parachuting soldier does not descend slowly when you drop him from a high altitude. He can, however, plug onto two pegs on Shockwave's back.

This mold uses rubbery plastic extensively, possibly for safety reasons, with his cannon barrel, hose, arm-blade, hand, right thumb, and spikes on his legs being cast from said material.

Although the instructions show the hose port facing backward in the tank mode, on the actual figure it is impossible to do this due to the short length of the hose. Fortunately, the port can be rotated downwards and even inwards to avoid awkwardly disconnecting the hose. While not mentioned in the instructions, there is another port further back on his cannon arm that the hose can connect to. This is more than likely where the hose is supposed to go in vehicle mode to stop the aforementioned issue.

Depending on the individual quality of the figure, it can be a bit tricky to get Shockwave to stand up straight, as the weight of his backpack can cause him to fall back on his ankles.

He first saw release in Hong Kong in December 2019.

• Shockwave (Core Class, 2022)

• Movie: Bumblebee
• TakaraTomy ID number: SS-79
• TakaraTomy release date: May 28, 2022
• Accessories: Cannon
• Known designers: Sam Smith (Hasbro), Koki Yamada (TakaraTomy), Emiliano Santalucia (concept artist), Felipe Hamame (instruction designer)^[4]

Part of Core Class's introduction to Studio Series, Shockwave is a faithful recreation of his Bumblebee movie appearance and turns into a tank similar to his Prime incarnation's alternate mode. Like the majority of Cybertronian characters from the movie, this alt mode was created for the toy as the CG model was not designed to transform. At the point of his introduction, Shockwave was unique in that he was the first Studio Series character to be produced at an entirely different scale to the rest of his contemporaries, being a pocket-sized toy. During a Q&A, Hasbro stated that this did not preclude him getting another, larger toy at a later date.^[5] Said larger toy (below) would finally be released a whole two years later.

Shockwave comes with a cannon which can be equipped in either hand and pegs into the top of his tank mode to create the tank's turret. As it is mounted on his head, this turret can rotate. The front end of the turret peg is also compatible with Fire Blast effects. Due to the hexagonal hole on Shockwave's rear head, it can be somewhat difficult to pull the cannon back out when converting into robot mode.

The instructions omit rotating the forearms so that the treads face down in vehicle mode, and consistently display the arms incorrectly from that step on.

While the Core Class lacks the backdrops included with all other Studio Series classes, the insides of Shockwave's packaging are decorated with the artwork used as the second version of the "Cybertron Falls" backdrop.

• Designer Commentary on Studio Series Core Class Shockwave from Sam Smith on Instagram

• Shockwave (Voyager Class, 2024)

• Movie: Bumblebee
• Hasbro ID number: 110
• Accessories: Cannon, Hose, "Cybertron Falls" backdrop (1st version)
• Known designers: Sam Smith (Hasbro)^[6], Koki Yamada (TakaraTomy)^[7]

A scale-accurate Bumblebee Shockwave was finally released as part of Wave 24 of the Studio Series Voyagers. Like his Core Class figure, this Shockwave transforms into a Prime-inspired Cybertronian tank in 22 steps, reusing most of the Core's transformation scheme with additional flourishes. His arm cannon now comes with a hose attachment and once again can be used on either arm. Unfortunately, the tip of this cannon is slightly too small to hold blast effects. The cannon has two joints to extend the barrel for tank mode that go undocumented in the instructions but are shown on the box renders, which also depict the hose being bright silver. He has rather ineffective light-piping for his eye and comes with a backdrop depicting a war-torn Cybertron as it appears in the beginning of the film.

Most illogically for a figure of this size, Shockwave lacks bicep swivels, something even his core figure had. More baffling is the inclusion of two thigh swivels per leg; presumably the higher ones are meant for tank mode, but Shockwave's legs are locked in place by pegs in that mode, so, uh...? He does feature soft ratcheted shoulders though, yay!

Accurate to his film model, Shockwave has an Autobot symbol on his right forearm. For some reason, this toy is severely lacking in accurate silver detailing, being replaced with dark gunmetal paint and plastics instead. Most notably are his thighs having sparse silver dry-brushing instead of being fully painted. This "battle damage" dry-brushing is also present on his shoulders and torso, and is something no other Bumblebee Cybertronian figure has. In a Q&A, a Hasbro representative postulated this deco is due to the CAD model given to the toy designers.^[8]

He was first spotted in Melbourne, Australia, during a record period of radio silence of Hasbro regarding new releases. He was officially revealed nearly a month later at Wondercon on March 30, 2024, and went up for pre-order on April 4.

Merchandise

Burger King

• Flip-Out Shockwave (Burger King, 2011)

Part of the 2011 Burger King Dark of the Moon promotion, Shockwave is a simple figure with bobble-head-like proportions, but is otherwise reasonably accurate to his on-screen appearance. The entirety of his body flips out of his enormous head when it is opened. A similar gimmick is present in all the toys part of this promotion. Pushing the button on his back projects a red Decepticon symbol out of his chest. There is an on/off switch on his back.

Thrilling 30

• Shockwave (Collectible Figurine, 2014)

• Series / Number: 2 / #27
• Accessories: Collector's base

A super-deformed Shockwave was released among the blindpacked Thrilling 30 Collectible Figurines by Goldie Marketing. He comes with a base to help him stand, a collector's card that doubles as a puzzle piece, and a checklist.

• Collectible Figurines (5-pack, 2014)

• Series: 2
• Accessories: 5 collector's bases

The same Shockwave figurine was also available in a 5-pack alongside Bumblebee, Ironhide, Soundwave and Barricade.

McDonald's

• Decepticon Shockwave (Happy Meal Toy, 2018)

Released as part of the McDonald's June 2018 Happy Meal Toys along with My Little Pony, this super deformed Shockwave is a rerelease of the Authentics figure, but under Bumblebee branding. His gimmick consists of his little pop-out rocket boots. They are activated when you pull his arms forward.

Prime 1 Studio

• Shockwave (2020)

• Movie: Dark of the Moon
• ID number: MMTFM-14
• Accessories: Base

Prime 1 Studio Museum Masterline Shockwave is an absurdly huge non-transforming sculpture based on his Dark of the Moon appearance. The statue is made of polystone along with other materials and features LED lights on his eye, cannon and backpack.

The statue's base is designed after the Driller, with two of its tentacles sprawling out of it. It was limited to 888 pieces.

Notes

• Transformers: The Game Shockwave was designed by artist Ken Christiansen. His original flying altmode was to be an A-10 Warthog, but to reduce the mass discrepancy with the howitzer mode, Christiansen changed this to an AH-64 Apache and bulked up the Howitzer into a made-up "super-howitzer".^[9]
• Christiansen originally intended TFTG Shockwave to be a dull green, as seen right, but was asked to make him purple for the final version, after attempting a "compromise" black.^[10]
• The "Attack Copter", "Recon Chopper" and "Stealth Chopper" Create-A-Bot vehicle modes from the Nintendo DS video games transform into robot modes bearing some resemblance to Shockwave. The Attack Chopper is the only one that can be customized to appear purple, though.
• The photo on the newspaper article in Revenge of the Fallen is of Palisades's statue of Generation 1 Shockwave, with something digitally added in the foreground.
  • Ironically, it appears that Shockwave's appearance in the game Autobot Stronghold is also based on the same statue according to concept art shown in cargocollective.com.
• Promotion for Dark of the Moon heavily touted Shockwave as the new main villain of the film, presumably to conceal Sentinel Prime's unexpected betrayal halfway through the movie. Media coverage often described Shockwave as the ruler of Cybertron while the other Transformers were fighting on Earth,^[11] and while IDW's comics would toy with this idea a little bit, it had no bearing on his depiction in the film. It's generally thought to have been a Chinese whisper that resulted from mainstream media independently researching the character and reporting information on his Generation 1 namesake (though that didn't stop its inclusion in the official plot summary from Paramount's German branch, which also claimed that Shockwave was the robot inside the Ark in the trailer).^[12]
• In what was presumably an attempt to hide his finalized movie design, Shockwave appeared in IDW's prequel comic with an alternate Cybertronian body with a jet alternate mode before being badly damaged at the end of Rising Storm, necessitating his reconstruction into his movie form. While his toy transforms into a tank, he never transforms in either the film or the video game.

• Bucking tradition, this Shockwave has a mouth.
• In contrast to his highly promoted nature and major presence in the movie comics, Shockwave receives minimal screentime in the finished film, with only one understandable line of dialogue (snarling Optimus's name at Chernobyl). As with Bonecrusher in the first film, and multiple characters in the second, he emits a lot of gnashing, gurgling noises that could be mistakenly interpreted as dialogue if one strains hard to hear something in them—one of his snarls to the Driller before it dives into the skyscraper, for instance, sounds sort of like "Commence". As happened with Mixmaster on the Revenge of the Fallen DVD, the subtitle writer misinterpreted one of Shockwave's snarls as the hilarious sentence, "Driller-bot is thirsty". In contrast, while he still has a minimal presence in Bumblebee, he has two lines of intelligible dialogue more in line with his Generation 1 counterpart.
• In the DOTM novel adaptation, Shockwave is described as gray colored.
• Generation 1 Shockwave's original voice actor, Corey Burton had no desire to return to the role for Dark of the Moon, explaining "[I] have practically no interest in that kind of mega-budget movie enterprise involvement". He noted that the inspiration for his Shockwave voice, David Warner, was rumored to have been considered,^[13] but in the end, Shockwave's almost-entirely-wordless-snarl-based role went to Frank Welker. There's a nice touch of symmetry in the casting, with Welker taking over a Burton-originated role not long after Burton took on a Welker-originated character in Animated Megatron.
• Hasbro's online bio for Shockwave claims he had spent decades trapped under Chernobyl, but this was not reflected in any actual media; both the video game and Rising Storm comics have him held at a different Russian facility from which he is freed shortly before the film's events, and the film itself doesn't give any indication that his appearance at Chernobyl in its opening scenes is an "escape" of any kind.
• Shockwave's AstroMag cannon is a reference to the original Shockwave's toy mold being first released by ToyCo as the "4 Changeable Astro Magnum". Though described as a particle or laser cannon in most related Dark of the Moon media, it appears to be some variety of cluster missile launcher in the movie proper.
• Select Toys"R"Us stores in the US had a promotion for a Shockwave poster with the purchase of any Transformers brand toy from June 5, 2011 to June 11, 2011.

• Early artwork for Shockwave for Dark of the Moon showed Blitzwing as a working name for the character, obviously an attempt to hide his identity during production.^[14]
• Shockwave's appearance in a Burger King commercial that depicts him fighting Optimus Prime does not depict any scene in the film. Rather, the animation places Shockwave's model over Sentinel Prime's motions during part of his own fight against Optimus.
• In subsequent films, Shockwave's model is reused for the "Two Head"s, with the biggest differences being a second one-horned head and the lack of an arm cannon. His head design is also reused and modified for Nitro Zeus, hence the reason Shockwave is mentioned in his TRF prisoner dossier bio.
• Attinger's playing card of Shockwave was barely visible in Age of Extinction. It wasn't until a prop auction for the Transformers film series held in 2019 that a clearer view of the card was shown.^[15]
• Shockwave's design in Bumblebee is heavily inspired by his Generation 1 namesake.
  • Due to the rushed nature of the Cybertron scenes, Shockwave's model was reworked from Bumblebee Optimus Prime's model and retains many of the same parts, such has the feet, kneepads, pelvis, and back detailing to name a few.
  • He has an Autobot insignia on his right forearm. Why it's there is currently unexplained.
  • "Yes, he's thicc, deal with it."^[16]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Shockwave (ショックウェーブ Shokkuwēbu)
• Hungarian: Sokkoló ("Shocker")
• Mandarin: Jèn-dàng-pō (震盪波, "Shock Wave"), Zhèngdàngbō (震荡波, "Shock Wave")

Gallery

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  Transformers The Game concept

• 

  Transformers The Game concept

See also

References

External links

• Transformers: The Game Shockwave concepts, vehicle mode renderings, robot mode and head concepts, final robot mode rendering and transformation animation guide on Ken Christiansen's blog.
• Transformers: The Game video interview with Daniel Suarez, featuring Shockwave footage