Character discussion : This Week 'Soundwave'

Kup_1 · Post by **Kup_1** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 2:34 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:Last I heard, Soundwave will be in the movie, but no-one knows what his alt-Mode will be.

He's gonna be an I-Pod

Optimus Prime Rib · Post by **Optimus Prime Rib** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 2:53 am

frighteningly possible

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:19 am

Bouncelot wrote:Laserbeak and Buzzsaw did spend a fair bit of time hiding in Soundwave's chest compartment (presumably as emergency back-up) as well. Maybe they rotated jobs between sitting on the leader's shoulder and sleeping inside Soundwave.

Interestingly, in Bud's stories Shockwave preferred Buzzsaw, while Megs always used Laserbeak.

Guess gold goes well with purple, yes?

ShadowSonic · Post by **ShadowSonic** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 2:44 pm

I gotta wonder why Ratbat was a cassette to begin with if he was never part of Soundwave's personal troops. Was he really so obsessed with fuel-efficiency he downgraded himself into a cassette?

Then again, maybe they used Ratbat as the model for Micromasters

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 3:01 pm

Heh... again, I plan to have Ratty in TWW mode (in that TF cartoon-fanfic) until he leaves Cybertron, when Shockwave "insists" that a reformatting is necessery to maintain disguise and gives Ratbat a fairly embarassing alt mode...

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 4:44 pm

At least Soundwave was never short of a coaster for his coffee.

It's weird though - why was Laserbeak used more than Buzzsaw? Or Rumble more than Frenzy? It's not like they were particularly different from each other.

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 9:18 am

Rumble maybe because he had a slightly more distinct power than Frenzy and because him using his power was 'funner' and more interesting to illustrate?

Laserbeak maybe because he had a name with 'laser' in it, which of course makes it cooler and more Sci-Fi than Buzzsaw, which just made the editors think of bad haircuts and rednecks operating power-tools.

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 5:10 pm

'Buzzcut and Fonzie' a buddy show which teams the cool hipster from 'Happy days' with an ex-army white sumpremist with a wooden leg.
I'd watch it.

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 7:08 pm

Kup_1 wrote:
Metal Vendetta wrote:Last I heard, Soundwave will be in the movie, but no-one knows what his alt-Mode will be.
He's gonna be an I-Pod

Just thought, surely that still breaks the 'no mass conversion' rule. I mean, if he could still shrink then a mobile phone would be better - repace Spike's phone and listen in on the Autobot's plans. But then, what would Ravage, Rumble et al be? Sim cards?
No, we need a non-mass conversion mode for old Soundy.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:44 pm

If he's an Ipod they'll be mp3s, Spike will download Metallica and get Ravage...

Kup_1 · Post by **Kup_1** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:57 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote:If he's an Ipod they'll be mp3s, Spike will download Metallica and get Ravage...

No, Spike will download Metallica and let an evil Larsicon in attackmode.

yeah, that was bad, but,meh.

Kup_1 · Post by **Kup_1** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:58 pm

Just thought, surely that still breaks the 'no mass conversion' rule. I mean, if he could still shrink then a mobile phone would be better - repace Spike's phone and listen in on the Autobot's plans. But then, what would Ravage, Rumble et al be? Sim cards?
No, we need a non-mass conversion mode for old Soundy.

Hmmm, how about a home theater system?

I dunno.....

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 2:02 pm

The only decent alt mode I can think of for him would be one of those big jets with the radar dish on the top. It fulfils the communication aspect, and jets WERE the Decepticon 'thing' for early G1.
His cassettes could be little scout vehicles - Ravage as a sleek black motorbike or Laserbeak as a mini spyplane - that way they could still fit in his cargo hold.

Optimus Prime Rib · Post by **Optimus Prime Rib** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 2:55 pm

I like it!

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:01 pm

Thank you (takes a quick bow and goes to bug the TF filmmakers).

ShadowSonic · Post by **ShadowSonic** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 9:11 pm

I think he'll either be a spy plane of some sort, or a communications van. I doubt they'd make him an I-Pod or something tiny like that, the toy version and the cassette dudes would suck mega behind.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 9:59 pm

The fanboys would be outraged if Soundwave was a plane.

I don't think the producers can win, whatever they decide for him.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:00 pm

TF wont change size and mass in this film because suposedly I wont understand it, and nor will the genral public accept that alien robots from another world can change mass and size. go figure.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:59 pm

Hold on. If there's no mass-shifting, then having Decepticons as planes and Autobots as cars wil give the Cons a big advantage, given the relative sizes of planes and cars.

And having Soundwave as an E-3 Sentry would make him tower over Starscream (assuming SS is a jet fighter), only being beaten by something like a C-5 Galaxy transport for size!

What's next? Omega Supreme - Oil Tanker?

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 12:31 am

yup, its a big nob fact that they wont allow this, so Optimus prime, could be a large truck, and starscream will be larger.
Im pretty sure Megatron will be an Abrahams main battle tank, and thus freaking huge.

Hmm then again perhaps prime can do an ultra magnus and combine with his trailer?

then again, bumblebee is truly screwed!

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 4:34 pm

Frankly, I think that the filmmakers are stupid for not allowing mass-conversion. It's a big part of the TF universe and most of the favourite G1 characters are size-changers. Essentially, this means that our classic characters are going to have to be changed somehow, and if that happens too much they may as well just crank out an Armada or Energon film for all the accuracy it would have.
If people are expected to believe in huge robots that can transform into other things, then surely they can suspend belief enough to get their heads around a bit of Mass-conversion. Megatron and Soundvave hardly ever transformed in the cartoons, so it's not like the audience would hit over the head with it every few minutes, and Ravage and Laserbeak really only ever came out of Soundwave while he was in robot mode, so size-change wouldn't be an issue.
The fact that Decepticons were not only planes but spy/communication devices means that the filmmakers would be missing half the point if suddenly all the TFs were just vehicles. And Soundwave could still be a cassette deck instead of something more modern - perhaps the Ark scanned an old tape player in a secondhand shop for his alt form.
Bringing in the small stuff like cameras, phones or - yes - ipods, can give a contemporary veiw of our current world and it's smaller, but prevalent technology too, and not just cars and suchlike.

I say we demand mass-conversion, dammit!

ShadowSonic · Post by **ShadowSonic** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 11:34 pm

FOr films, they tend to remove lots of stuff that would be a little unbelievable, take the X-Men Movies, they just made Magneto his real age, instead of the whole "I got turned into a baby and re-aged back into an adult but a young adult" thing they did in the comics. The Spidey movies they gave him the whole organic shooters thing.

The Mass-conversion thing has never been a staple of TFs, it's been a plot hole that subsequent people (mostly fans) had to fill in. I'll be happy if Soundwave stays in a mode good for spying, no matter what it is. It's not like being a gun or a tank is essential to the characters.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 11:55 pm

People for centuries have been able to get round the idea of a genie coming out of a lamp...

Kup_1 · Post by **Kup_1** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 5:13 am

Autobloke wrote:Frankly, I think that the filmmakers are stupid for not allowing mass-conversion. It's a big part of the TF universe and most of the favourite G1 characters are size-changers.

I say we demand mass-conversion, dammit!

Is it truly 'written in stone' that mass conversion will not be in the movie?

ShadowSonic · Post by **ShadowSonic** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 1:42 pm

I think Don Murphy said no size-shifting.

As for the Car vs Planes argument, I can see the Bots being able to expand their car modes into larger robots modes fi they compacted themselves enough. They'd be somewhat more hollow compared to the Cons but it's still doable.

As for the Genies lamp thing, it's magic that defies reality. TFs is Sci-Fi which is why I think they won't mention the whole God thing either (which was pretty cliche to begin with). I hope they don't touch on the TF origin and just have them be an alien race.

I also hope that not every single TF will at war, it makes a little more sense that a lot of TFs would just choose to on neither side, and the Cybertronian race is more than Autobots and Cons.

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 1:45 pm

Kup_1 wrote:
Autobloke wrote:Frankly, I think that the filmmakers are stupid for not allowing mass-conversion. It's a big part of the TF universe and most of the favourite G1 characters are size-changers.

I say we demand mass-conversion, dammit!
Is it truly 'written in stone' that mass conversion will not be in the movie?

I'm certain I read it on one of these forums or in an interview. Hopefully it IS a mistake though. Perhaps the filmmakers may read these sites and have cause to reconsider.
Also, if blatant mass-conversion is not so believeable, perhaps some perspective trickery can be employed, like when Galvatron would come out of Cyclonus' cockpit in the movie and they'd both end up the same size by the time Cyclonus had finished transforming.

ShadowSonic · Post by **ShadowSonic** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 1:49 pm

They could just make Cyclonus be a lot bigger...or not have him be Galvatrons' ship but bodyguard or something...

They have to fix Motormaster though, seriously this guy is either one small truck/trailer or he should be the size of a gestalt or something when he transforms, not the same as Prime.

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 2:01 pm

ShadowSonic wrote:They have to fix Motormaster though, seriously this guy is either one small truck/trailer or he should be the size of a gestalt or something when he transforms, not the same as Prime.

Unfortunately I'm fairly certain that I read there wouldn't be any combiners in the new movie either. Not for the sake of believability like with the mass-conversion thing, but 'cos the filmmakers want to keep the cast of 'bots small - like seven Autobots, seven Decepticons, and gestalts would eat into that character allocation.
I'm sure everybody wondered about Motormaster's actual size. Imagine a Binaltech version of him in the same scale as the Masterpiece Prime!
As for non-affiliated 'bots in the new film, perhaps characters like Bluestreak and Thundercracker could fill those roles for a time 'cos they're unsure of their positions in the war according to their tech specs. Well, at least until they choose sides of course...

ShadowSonic · Post by **ShadowSonic** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 2:33 pm

But what I mean is that as part of the larger story, the war shouldn't encompass every singel Cybertronian. I mean, realistically if there was a war that pitted 50% of one speices against the other 50% they'd have annihilated each toehr and destroyed their world only a few years into the war, not keep going for 4 million years.

The Autobots and Cons should only be moderately sized factions within the Cybertronian race, and most Cybertonains are neither Bots nor Cons and not wanting to be involved in the war.

That leaves the door open for morally ambigious characters (Beast Machines was the only series to really do this), other factions, stories about off-world colonies of TFs not involved in the conflict, etc.

Basically, a story that doesn't need to be a semi-religious epic to be good.

Autobloke · Post by **Autobloke** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 3:00 pm

It doesn't have to be religious at all - the early G1 comics were just 'shoot-kill', and even when the Matrix turned up it was just like an operating program for generating TF personalities and not the quasi-religious icon it is continually touted to be today. Even Primus was unheard of as a concept (except for their music of course!).
You could also say that other shape-changing robot races like the Junkions and the Sharkticons were possibly TF colonies that weren't involved with the Cybertronian war (although, if the cartoon is to be believed, the Sharkticons are Quintesson-built and thus technically Cybertronians too - unlike the unmentioned origin of the Junkions).
The problem with a planetwide war, such as Cybertron is that even neutral parties were eventually forced to take up arms to defend themselves (a'la Bluestreak), or if they didn't, then they would be destroyed by merciless Decepticons and the result would still be no non-warring Cybertronians.
Also, the fact that Transformers are a mechanical race, and tend to not die, but just be repaired to fight another day, would suggest that a war could be sustained for millions of years due to the troops being a renewable source from any casualties that occur. If humans could be so easily repaired, the how many of OUR wars would have lasted much longer than they did instead of one side overwhelming the other with more troop numbers and shifting the balance of power?
Anyway, duplicitous self-serving characters like Starscream could be considered non-affiliated due to the fact that he'd say 'stuff the other Decepticons' when it suited his purposes. As long as Starscream is just like his old self in the new movie we will always technically have at least three factions (four if the humans side with the Autos - and five if some also ally themselves with the Cons).