Shockwave (Marvel G1)

« Soundwave: Congratulations, Shockwave... or should I say Commander Shockwave. You did it-- you destroyed Megatron!
Shockwave: Correction Soundwave. Although everything had went precisely as I planned, I did not destroy Megatron -- a memory did. »
— Shockwave retaking control of the Decepticons

Shockwave is one of the main antagonist of the 1984 The Transformers comic book series published by Marvel Comics. He is the chief strategist of the Decepticons, devoted to the victory of the Decepticons through whatever means necessary. This has not only led him to become one of the most dangerous Decepticons the Autobots have to face, but Shockwave would even go against Megatron if logic dictates he should take over.

What Makes Him Magnificent?

• While not devoted to any individual leader, Shockwave is perhaps the most devoted Decepticon to the cause that whenever he takes over, it is not because of any desire for power like Megatron or Starscream or mere empty sadism, but because he feels whatever he plans is highly beneficial.
  • This would go to the point where he would surrender any power to the likes of Megatron and Ratbat, purely because he finds it logical to.
• On top of his strategic prowess, Shockwave is skilled with combat that he is still able to dominate enemies on the battlefield.
• Masterminds Megatron's ambush attack on the Autobots when they were at their weakest, the attack foiled only because of the Ark's unexpected crash onto Earth, which Shockwave tracks down.
• In his debut, in a single blow, he was able to render all the Autobots into a coma on an ambush attack, leading to an infamous cover that has Shockwave announcing that "The Transformers are dead?".
• He would then wrestle control of the Decepticons from Megatron, taking note of his repeated failures to destroy the Autobots, and easily keeps him at bay.
• When Optimus secretly gives the Creation Matrix to Buster Witwicky, Shockwave scans the memories of the Decepticons guarding him, Rumble, to uncover this secret, and has Laserbeak track Buster down.
• Knowing the Autobots are spying on him through the telephone wires, Shockwave relays roders to dump Optimus Prime's head in a swamp. In truth, it is a decoy, that when attached to Optimus' body, would attack and nearly kill all the reactivated Autobots in the resulting Decepticon ambush.
• Eventually agreeing to hand over Decepticon leadership back to Megatron, when Megatron gets into a depressive slump upon Optimus Prime's death that made him a liability to the Decepticons, Shockwave sends in several Predacons disguised as Autobots to attack Megatron, and then carefully curates his words to trigger a memory of Optimus in Megatron, driving him to seemingly destroying himself, taking voer the Decepticons as a result
• Forms an alliance with COBRA to take over Power Station Alpha, to which it is revealed he had been using them for his own ends to use the Station to harvest energy from Earth and form a star that would replenish Cybertron.
• Strategises an ambush against Scorponok to nearly destroy Scorponok, his loyalists, and the Autobots, thwarted only by the arrival of the Neo-Knights.
• Knowing that it is senseless to fight Unicron with even his abiltiies, he hijacks the Ark in order to take advantage of Earth's now defenseless state.

What Makes Him a Baddie?

• Tries to repeatedly conquer Earth in hopes of using humanity as slave labour to harvest energy, enslaving workers to drill and harvest oil.
• Shoots Josie Beller, leading her to become paralysed without the exosuit Blackrock developed for her, and her intense hatred for Transformers.
• Ultimately attacks the Autobots in an ambush, and hang their near-dead bodies on the Ark.
• Backstabs COBRA in hopes of using Power Station Alpha to try harvesting energy from the Earth's core, which would result in the planet's destruction.

Why is He Not Too Much of a Baddie?

• Ultimately, Shockwave only acts if he feels there is a benefit to the Decepticons, and firmly abstains from senseless cruelty, contrasting the likes of Megatron, Starscream, Galvatron II, Straxus and Unicron who torture and/or kill, sometimes even on a mass scale, primarily for their own enjoyment.