App for dramadramaduck
Player nickname: Angel
Player LJ: angelcide
Way to contact you: PM, or Plurk
Email: angelcide@gmail.com
AIM: N/A
Other: Plurk: Angelcide, but friend's locked, so prod me to add you.
Are you at least 15?: Yes.
Current Characters: N/A ( Used to play Ichigo back in the day )
Character: Soundwave
Fandom: Transformers Prime
Character Notes:
History:
Soundwave is a sentient, mechanical organism from an alien planet known as Cybertron. He is a part of the Decepticon faction’s army, and third in command currently, and is by far the most silent, and mysterious of the transformers. Soundwave’s history is largely left vague by the first season, except for a brief summary/exposition made by Ratchet to explain how Optimus came to be a Prime. We know from canon that Soundwave was a fellow gladiator in the arena back on Cybertron. He met Megatron ( then Megatronus ) after an unknown length of time fighting, and killing other mechs for the entertainment of the crowds. It’s not clear when, but we do know that one day, Megatron(us) faced Soundwave in the arena, and it’s Megatron himself who states that Soundwave may be the only mech he has ever fought who had a chance to beat him, furthermore it’s only through luck that the match was not to the death that saved Megatron(us) from being killed.
Megatron rose to infamy in the arena, and soon started to gather a following, thanks to his hard won skills as ( oddly enough ) an orator. His ideals on overturning the caste system on Cybertron fired many of the Sparks and minds of transformers, and with his most ardent, and loyal supporter, Soundwave, at his back, Megatron soon became something of a living legend. During this time Orion Pax, a clerk in the Iacon hall of records, heard of the gladiator-turned-revolutionary, and after corresponding with Megatron(us) for a time, became something of a student of his.
It’s unknown how much time passed between Megatron leaving the gladiatorial arena for the political one, but the next we hear of him, Megatron went before the Iacon council, the ruling body on Cybertron, and made an impassioned speech about the overturning of the unjust laws that held all mechs as being of no greater worth than what they were born with. Of course, Megatron also argued that the old guard should be overturned with brute force, and urged other mechs to rise up, and fight under him to achieve these goals. This, of course, is not what Orion Pax believed, and when he stepped up to speak before the council, he urged for a peaceful transition, but that all mechs should be given the chance to earn their places in society. The council was deeply moved by Orion’s words, and wanted to name him the next Prime over Megatron.
Bitter, and resentful of this, Megatronus officially shortened his name to Megatron, and gathered his revolutionaries into an army. Soundwave followed Megatron during this schism in the revolution’s factions, and became one of the first ( if not the first ) Decepticon. The Decepticon army swept across Cybertron, fighting against both the Autobot faction, and Iacon in their support of Megatron’s bid for power.
The planet was consumed by a vicious, and devastating civil war that lasted for generations, and finally coming to a head when Megatron poisoned the planet’s core ( we do not know exactly why this was done in TFP canon, but other Transformers canon offers theories )
Orion Pax, the leader of the Autobot faction traveled to the planet core, and encountered the Spark of Primus ( the progenitor of the entire Cybertronian race ) and when Primus looked inside the Spark of this lone warrior, he saw goodness, and decency. The ailing Primus bestowed on Orion the Matrix of Leadership, thus transforming him into Optimus Prime; the last of the Primes.
Another indeterminate amount of time passes between this, and the mass exodus from Cybertron, and when current canon picks up in the Transformers Prime series, the Decepticons are already on earth. Already working against the Autobots, and Soundwave is established as head of navigation, and chief of communications. Soundwave is not second in command, however, despite his unwavering loyalty. Starscream is second in command through much of Season 1, and shows himself to be a grasping, devious, ambitious “soldier” whom Soundwave is tasked with keeping up surveillance on. Throughout much of Season 1, Starscream is shown to defer to Soundwave, even seems to be afraid of him, but no explanation is really given on why.
It isn’t until long after Megatron has attempted to use dark energon ( said to be the crystallized blood of Unicron the Chaos Bringer ) to raise a zombie-mech army that we see more of Soundwave. He is almost a background character through several episodes, mentioned only by Starscream himself as a warning to “watch what you say, that blasted Soundwave could be listening.” Soundwave is also the main reason why, while Megatron was comatose, and on life support, Starscream could not simply pull the plug, ridding himself of Megatron for good. Soundwave, in his silent, imposing way, is insistent that Megatron is not only kept alive. Even after the Autobots break into the Nemesis ( the Decepticon’s warship ) and retrieve vital information from Megatron’s comatose mind, then shoot at the equipment sustaining him, thus negating any sign of processor activity, Soundwave is adamant that Megatron be kept on life support.
It turns out that keeping Starscream’s regicide plans in check were a full time job, and Soundwave takes his work very seriously throughout the majority of Season 1. This isn’t to say he doesn’t do his part to continue trying to further the Decepticon cause, though, just that SOundwave keeps an ‘eye’ and an ‘ear’ on all the Decepticons, and Starscream just happens to be the most open about his ambition. Several episodes on, the Autobot Scout, Bumblebee, has been displaying strange behavior after being the one to do a cortical psychic patch, and mind-meld with Megatron to get information. Turns out, Megatron’s conscious mind jumped ship when Bee’s did, and now Bumblebee is fighting his control. He even breaks into the Nemesis again under the control of Megatron, in order for Megatron to reupload his mind into his proper body.
Of course, once Megatron is up, and about again, Soundwave is all too quick to send along his amassed surveillance reports on the Decepticons, and soon Megatron confronts Starscream about his many failed schemes, betrayals, and general mismanagement. A fight ensues, and thanks to taking this quarrel into an abandoned mine, the cave-in traps both Decpticons, and Autobots for several hours. Yet, when everyone manages to dig themselves out, Starscream behaves chastened, and speaks to Soundwave directly ( who then publically broadcasts said contrition across the Nemesis ) about “knowing his place” and implies he will no longer attempt to betray Megatron.
It’s a dubious apology, and one that doesn’t really have much weight coming from Starscream, but between Megatron’s increasing volatility thanks to the Dark Energon in his Spark, and his obsession with an ancient prophecy about a planetary alignment, Soundwave has more important things to worry about. Namely the fact he Megatron seems to be coming unhinged.
Even after Starscream is captured by the Autobots, released, and goes rogue, Soundwave is more preoccupied with the newly appointed ‘second-in-command’, Airachnid. She’s just as devious as Starscream, but much more effective at her duties, and starts out far more subtle thanthe air commander ever was. Soundwave is still suspicious, though he follows Megatron’s orders on who is whom in the chain of command.
Megatron’s volatility is only increasing during this time, with his belief that he’s somehow invincible thanks to possessing the “power of Unicron”, and continuing to pursue more traces of Dark Energon, and Unicron himself. But, when Unicron does start to awaken thanks to the planetary alignment, Megatron’s proven just how terribly wrong he was. Even then, it’s not until Megatron is raving about being able to hear Unicron’s ‘heartbeat’ in his mind that Soundwave seems to become concerned.
Concerned spiked to worry, and focus when Megatron goes missing, too. Planet Earth is dealing with radical shifts in weather, earthquakes, wild fires, and a whole host of apocalyptic disasters thanks to Unicron’s awakening, but Soundwave is intently focused on locating Megatron throughout. In fact, it isn’t until Airachnid gathers the Decepticon army together, and publically states that Earth is now a failed experiment, and it’s in the Decepticon’s best interests to abandon Megatron, and flee the planet that Soundwave seems to detach from his work at all.
Of course that also means that Airachnid is faced with a very blatant challenge to her command, and when she reacts with violence, the reasons for Starscream’s wariness around Soundwave are made plain. He was a gladiator, then a general in a revolutionary army for most of his life cycle, and there is no Decepticon, not even Megatron himself, that doesn’t have a healthy respect ( or fear ) of Soundwave’s anger.
After delivering a proper beatdown on Airachnid, though, Soundwave turns on his heel, and goes straight back to work. He’s never displayed any ambition to be second-in-command himself, but rather seems to prefer to work in peace, unbothered by the concerns of the other ‘Cons.
Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger, with Optimus Prime, Megatron, and three other Autobots uniting to take down Unicron together. After surrendering the Matrix of Leadership in order to extinguish Unicron’s Spark, Optimus seems to have reverted all the way back to who he was before he ever received the Matrix; Orion Pax. He seems to have no memory of the Autobots, no memory of the war, and even calls Megatron by his old name Megatronus. The last we see of either Megatron, or Soundwave, is when Megatron is stepping back onto the command deck of the Nemesis, and the assembled Decepticons kneel to him, then all look up to see Optimus ( Orion ) being welcomed into their ranks as “a long lost comrade”.
Personality: Soundwave doesn't speak. He will record the voice clips, or words of others, and re-use them himself on those rare occasions he chooses to communicate audibly with the other Decepticons. He tends to spend a lot of his time immersed in Earth's internet, and monitoring deep space transmissions at the same time for more efficiency, and carrying out Megatron's orders. Because of this lack of communication, and the creepy feeling that he's always watching, most of the other Decepticons are creeped out by him, and being that just about all of them have secrets they prefer to keep hidden, none actually want him around as anything but possibly as a useful ally - that is to say, they only care about their own personal gain.
Megatron is the only one that acknowledges Soundwave. He's the only one that will speak directly to him, rather than as a mirror, or silent sounding board. It makes a large difference, because Soundwave is loyal to a fault to his leader. It's said that it's Soundwave, and his 'veritable army' of mini-cons that were so instrumental to Megatron's rise to power. Likely, this is why Starscream wanted to keep him around, despite Soundwave's loyalty. But Starscream was certainly no Megatron in either strength, courage, or cleverness. He talked to Soundwave like Soundwave was only a drone, himself, thus making the slow build of resentment all the worse, later, when he was reporting all of Starscream's schemes to a resurrected Megatron. He seems to be blank, and automated, but is in fact an intelligent, and willful. He doesn't speak, but not from having a lack of something to say. He even has his own voice, but chooses to only reflect, and replay sound, and video clips by way of communication. It's far better to let everyone see what he sees, in his opinion. He even has opinions of his own, strong ones, but it's his choice not to share them. Mostly because no one ever asks.
He is creepy, silent, and has an 'eye' or an 'ear' on everything he can. He's subtle, though, and a master spy in that none can really seem to get an accurate read on him in return. Well, except for Megatron, but then again, that's why Soundwave started following him in the first place.
Soundwave is very, very good at surveillance. He spends his days monitoring satellite transmissions, ground transmissions, and everything that's incoming, and outgoing from the Nemesis, not to mention chatter on the Nemesis itself ( mostly keeping tabs on Starscream ) for anything of interest. He can 'see, and hear' everything, and very much enjoys the challenge of someone trying to encrypt transmissions against him. He can hack remotely quite well, but with the use of his tentacles ( which are really just large cables ) he can hack directly into hardware; both human, and Cybertronian made. Like all Cybertronians, he can change himself into an alt form, which in his case is an unmanned aerial vehicle with a similar design to the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. In addition to this, he also has his largest drone that attaches to his chest plate, but can be controlled remotely. It acts as an extension of his surveillance work, but it's also used to physically pick up Agent Fowler fly with him, and crash the hellicopter he was flying before it brings Agent Fowler back to Soundwave on the Nemesis. It's said that he has a 'veritable army' of mini-cons in his drone collection as well.
Other: In G1, and even the Micheal Bay movies, Soundwave has several drones at his command. Comics, and wiki have both implied that Prime-verse Soundwave likewise has several drones at his command, but through Season 1 the only one we see on screen is Laserbeak - the flying Deployer-class drone. Since Season 2 release got pushed back again, I’ve been playing Soundwave with his army of minicons intact. If allowed into DDD, I would like to keep that army, though of course mun permission would always apply for the use of them on any other player’s character.
Additional Links: Wiki entry, though only the section for 'Prime' applies. ( Though in game he will be working through Season 1 )
First Person (entry type): Status Report 200.058.9
Current Operational Status--> Fully functional
Anomalous activity detected --> Estimated to be unknown signals malfunction
Primitive Networking Design--> Unknown encryption coding, signals trace inconclusive
Data Package File Contents; Anomalous effects on Decepticon officers
Known Data; Inconclusive, continuing to monitor frequencies.
Decepticon Signals Detected, ID; Knock Out. No other known officer communications detected
End Transmission
[Decepticon Level Encryption to ID: Knock Out]
Report status.
Third Person:
None of them mattered. Not really. Not when all was said, and done, and Megatron's strange humor was set aside; all of the others were only out for themselves. Sycophants, and hangers on, all of them. Was it any wonder he chose not to interact with them? Chose, instead, to keep away from the ships commons, the bridge, or any of the haunts of the other Decepticons? Oh, he kept a careful watch on all of them, of course, but for all that they liked to look down on drones, and Mini-cons, none of them ever seemed to notice the small extensions of Soundwave's eyes, and ears staring them right in the faceplates. No, they were too busy whispering, and scheming like a nest of vipers to check the frequencies, or see if a third party was listening through the surrounding terminal screens. Or a small cleaning drone was at it's business right next to their feet, recording everything they said to each other.
Fools.
Soundwave even understood, to a degree, the perverse whim of Megatron's to allow Starscream as much filching, and incessant scheming as he did. That was humor; a misplaced desire of his lord's to keep himself sharp, on his toes so to speak. It was inefficient, yes, and seemed a terrible distraction to more pressing Functions, but Soundwave obeyed. He monitored, and reported dutifully all the petty sins of the self-proclaimed 'Commander' to Lod Megatron at the end of each full planetary cycle. Now, though, even Megatron's indomitable will seemed...different. As he stayed at his monitoring station, plugged into the ship's computer, remotely accessing the human 'internet', and monitoring radio signals from several of his satellite drones all at once, Soundwave found himself...troubled? Yes, that was it. Troubled. Troubled by the increasingly erratic behavior, the way even Starscream seemed to be a groveling weakling by comparison, yet still injecting a word, or two of sense now, and again. Now, even Starscream had chosen to go rogue, and none were more pleased than Soundwave, but even he was having doubts about their great, and noble lord.
Being troubled never sat well with Soundwave. It decreased energy output, slowed his efficiency at assigned tasks, made things difficult. But he wasn't a drone. He wasn't, and despite what all the other crew may believe, he did think for himself...
Increase remote drone detail to 'Megatron, Lord' work room, barracks, and bridge.
Keep communications open. Monitor responses for discrepancies. More data required
...Yes. He would wait. There must be rhythm to this chaos. There was always, always a purpose behind what Megatron did.
He would simply have to...have faith.