ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
FUNCTION: MILITARY OPERATIONS COMMANDER
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 4

“Clarity of thought before rashness of action.”

Profile: Of all the Decepticons, Shockwave’s method of operation is
most characterized by the cold, brutal efficiency one would expect of a purely
mechanical being. He enters every battle not with the bloodlust of his comrades,
but with a scientist’s approach to solving a problem. The problem is always
the same: How can he use his abilities to most effectively eliminate the greatest
number of his enemies, the Autobots? All too often he finds the answer. He seeks
Megatron’s position of supremacy over the Decepticons not because his ego demands
it, but because his logic-circuits dictate it. He feels Megatron’s all-consuming
passion for conquest only hinders its achievement. With smug certainty Shockwave
believes the reins of Decepticon power will inevitably be his – after all, he
reasons, it’s only logical.

Abilities: Among the Decepticons, Shockwave’s power is second only to
Megatron’s. His total command of the electromagnetic spectrum allows him, in
his ray-gun mode, to emit a coruscating beam of energy in a wide variety of
forms: high-energy explosive gamma rays, x-rays that allow him to see through
almost anything, blinding visible light, super-hot infrared rays and radio waves
that can either send messages or jam other radio signals are but a few of the
weapons in Shockwave’s arsenal. Never having been adapted by the Ark to an Earthly
form, Shockwave remains a size consistent with his robot mode when he transforms
to a ray-gun, that is, more than 35 feet long. He can fly in either mode using
powerful jet thrusters in his boots (which become the handle in his ray-gun
mode).

Weaknesses: Shockwave’s wave-emission power, as well as his flying,
is limited by his high fuel consumption. Although he uses the same type of liquid
fuel as his fellow Transformers, he can also use radioactive fuels in the small
nuclear reactor within his torso, which substantially eliminates his liquid
fuel dependency problem. Although his logical brain center is usually an advantage,
more intuitive and emotional thinking processes often confound him, particularly
when his adversary is human.