Characters / Shattered Glass Prime Decepticons

Shattered Glass Prime Main Character Index
The Decepticons | The Autobots | Humans | Others

As a whole:

• Adaptational Heroism: Wouldn't be Shattered Glass otherwise. The Decepticons here are far more noble and heroic, completely lacking their canon counterparts' Fantastic Racism against organic life forms and genocidal tendencies.
• Aliens Among Us: The benevolent kind who aim to peacefully co-exist.
• Badass Crew: There's a reason the Nemesis crew remain a considerable threat to the Autobots' plans on Earth, despite being outnumbered in most confrontations.
• Cool Starship: Albeit a sunken one at the moment. The Nemesis is a massive Decepticon starship and also the vehicle form of a currently semi-comatose titan named Trypticon.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Their names can sound intimidating and they themselves are a lot rougher around the edges than the Autobots in canon, but they're overall heroic people. This is lampshaded a bit in Volume 1, when Fowler comments on the names "Decepticons" and "Nemesis" not really being trust-inspiring.
• Mildly Military: Apart from Megatron being in charge overall and Starscream being his acknowledged second-in-command, there's not really a command structure among the Nemesis crew. The same can be said for Strika's group back on Cybertron.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Decepticon ranks are comprised primarily of lower castes tired of being discriminated against and getting taken advantage of, criminals turning over a new leaf, and the occasional Defector from Decadence from the Autobot Empire.
• The Resistance: The movement started as a protest against Cybertron's Fantastic Caste System and its exploitation of the lower classes, only gradually growing violent in self-defense due to Autobot antagonizing and sabotage.

Crew of the Nemesis

Megatron

Megatron/D-16

The leader of the Decepticons. Once a miner forced to risk his life every day to get the higher castes their precious energon and seeing his friends slowly succumb to the harsh working conditions one by one, he eventually came to oppose the caste system in its entirety. What began as peaceful protests soon turned into an all-out war after the murder of Sentinel Prime was pinned on Megatron, forcing the Decepticons to fight back when the vengeful Autobots attacked them.

After a heavy altercation in space, Megatron and his crew stranded on Earth together with their ship, the Nemesis. Megatron is a humble and kind Decepticon, who despises the mere idea of Primes and wishes for true equality and a Cybertron for all.

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• Badass Bookworm: He developed a liking for both reading and writing during his time as a low-caste miner, and even back then he was extremely physically strong. He even taught himself how to fight in order to defend his Energon cargoes against bandits. He still likes to read in the present and his fighting abilities certainly haven't declined.
• Berserk Button: The general topic of Primes, since he despises the idea of anyone wielding that much power. When the Matrix of Leadership opened for him, he reacted with shock and disgust, even pleading with it not to make him like its previous carriers.
• The Chosen One: When he tries to talk Orion Pax down in "One Shall Fall", the Matrix of Leadership starts to open, all but spelling it out that he was it's candidate for the next Prime and it almost does convert him when Megatron and Orion get into a tug-o-war over it. Both Orion and Megatron were not happy about it in the slightest. He also presently holds the key to Vector Sigma.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Used to be just one of many lower caste miners forced to slave away for uncaring, rich higher chastes. Then he started to publish his thoughts and criticisms on the Cybertronian government and eventually formed an entire resistance movement to oppose its fascist caste system.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He used to be really easy to set off, jumping into fights or shouting matches when he felt something was unjustified. To be fair, he was right in most cases, but due to his low standing in the caste system, his outbursts often did little but get him and his friends into trouble. He's learned to reign it in considerably in the present.
• Nice Guy: He's a very kind and forthcoming Decepticon, so much so he was willing to give Orion Pax a second chance even after the latter betrayed him and had him framed for murder.
• Refusal of the Call: Megatron was extremely reluctant to form the Decepticon movement or even publish his criticisms of the Autobot Empire at first due to his fears that the power coming with the position would go to his head and make him a monster like it did Sentinel Prime and the high castes. When the Matrix of Leadership opened for him, he was horrified and outright begged it not to choose him.
• Warrior Poet: He has a way with words and can kick some serious tailpipe. His love for poetry and philosophy formed early on Cybertron when he started writing poems and formulating debates in his head to pass the time while he was transporting Energon in his alt-mode.
• We Used to Be Friends: Him and Orion Pax/Optimus Prime formed an Odd Friendship over their shared dislike for the caste system and initially led the Decepticons together. But then Dai Atlas got his servos on Orion, playing on the young archivist's doubt for the cause and own desire for power, eventually succeeding in getting Orion to murder Sentinel Prime and frame Megatron for it. Megatron tried to reach out for his friend one last time when Orion tried to claim the Matrix of Leadership, but a combination of Orion's arrogance and ever escalating Sanity Slippage along with some seriously bad timing on the Matrix's side rendered his efforts pointless and tore them apart for good. In the present, both Transformers have nothing but contempt for each other.

Starscream

The former Lord of Vos, now Megatron's faithful second-in-command. Starscream is an honorable and noble 'con and an expert duelist.

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• Berserk Button:
  • Dishonorable conduct. Back on Cybertron he once almost challenged a senator, Star Sabre, to a duel because Star Sabre insulted his honor and he hates Bots like Strongarm who abuse their power to mistreat prisoners.
  • Someone Hiding Behind Religion. He couldn't stand how the other higher castes used the Thirteen as justification for perpetuating Functionism and he gives Windblade a hefty "The Reason You Suck" Speech for siding with Optimus Prime and justifying it with her faith.
• Dual Wielding: Uses two slick long-swords in combat.
• It's Personal: His rivalry with Jetfire, due to Jetfire's betrayal leading to the destruction of Vos by the Autobot forces.
• Number Two: He's Megatron's second-in-command, poised to take over the Decepticons if Megatron should fall in battle.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Starscream is a Master Swordsman and due to seeker culture he takes pride in being an honorable Bot.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He's a seeker lord, one of, if not the highest caste safe for Primes, yet even before officially becoming a Decepticon he was vocally against the caste system and the way the othe higher castes used religion to justify it.
• Undying Loyalty: He believes deeply in Megatron's cause and would never so much as entertain the thought of betraying him.
• We Used to Be Friends: Starscream was close friends with Windblade in the past, but once she showed her true colors by siding with Optimus and defending Functionism, all the while using their shared faith in the Thirteen as an excuse, Starscream realized Windblade wasn't the seeker he thought she was and pretty much disowned her as a friend.

Soundwave & Ravage

Soundwave

The former leader of the Anti Vocationist League (AVL) who came to join the Decepticon cause due to their interests and philosophies overlapping. He was captured by the Wrecker Wheeljack during the war and given to Ratchet for interrogation. When he wouldn't relay Megatron's whereabouts and once he made it clear to Optimus Prime that he knew the truth about the death of Optimus' predecessor Sentinel, Optimus brutally silenced him by tearing out his voicebox.

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• Adaptational Wimp: Soundwave in the mainverse series was The Dreaded and such a capable combatant that no one but Megatron could even hope to best him in a one-on-one fight. Soundwave here is not only a fair bit smaller than his counterpart, but also not nearly as strong, often being forced to rely on trickery and his sound-powers to get the better of stronger and taller opponents.
• Badass Bookworm: The Decepticons' chief communications officer and also a pretty remarkable combatant.
• Berserk Button: Belittling his alt-mode or implying that it's not good enough and that he should get a new one. When a couple of readers asked him whether he wished to change it, Soundwave flipped them the bird with both hands, while Ravage yelled at them to go "frag" themselves. Seeing as both Soundwave and Ravage were victims of a society that only valued alt-modes and heavily discriminated against those with alt-modes they viewed as lesser, it's an understandable reaction.
• The Blank: His face is nothing but a black visor due to Optimus Prime disfiguring his original face when ripping out his voice box.
• Combat Pragmatist: Will eject Ravage mid-battle to distract opponents and use his sound powers to shut them down when the going gets tough.
• Combat Tentacles: Can release a set of long, iron data cables to grapple with, restrain, or throw opponents.
• Expressive Mask: The lines on his visor will occasionally bend or shift in a way that vaguely resembles a facial expression.
• The Faceless: He can thank Optimus for that.
• He Knows Too Much: Narrowly avoided. Optimus ripped his voicebox out in order to keep him from spilling the beans about who really killed Sentinel Prime, then left him to bleed out. Luckily, Pharma couldn't go through with just seeing someone die in front of him, so he patched Soundwave up enough to survive, then left him where his Decepticon allies could find him.
• Hero of Another Story: Him and the rest of the A.V.L. were fighting Functionism and helping lower-case bots off-planet long before the Decepticons were founded.
• Mythology Gag: In one ask, he reveals that one of his aliases during his time with the AVL was Soundblaster. Many continuities have Soundblaster be either a clone of Soundwave's or a rebuilt version of him.
• Psychic Link: He's mentally linked to all of his symbiotes, making him able to share their thoughts and see what they see. This made him particularly dangerous to Optimus, as he also saw Laserbeak's memory of witnessing Orion Pax kill Sentinel Prime.
• Super-Scream: He can emit a strong sonic pulse that puts everyone who hears it out of commission for a while.

Ravage

One of Soundwave's symbiotes and the Nemesis crew's scout. A snarky Minicon Beastformer who often acts as Soundwave's voice.

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• Berserk Button: Being called or being treated like a pet. He reacts indignantly when several readers ask to pet him over the ask blog and even growls at one of them for calling him cute. While mostly Played for Laughs, the origin of said button isn't funny. Before the war, Ravage used to be seen as little more than a pet due to being a Beastformer, despite him being just as sapient as his "owners".
• Snarky Non-Human Sidekick: In a way. He's the only Decepticon on the Nemesis whose robot-mode isn't humanoid and instead resembles an Earth cat. He's also one of the more sarcastic crew members, second only to Knock Out.
• Voice for the Voiceless: Downplayed, as Soundwave has ways to communicate through playing back sentences or words, but Ravage tends to speak for him when it comes to more in-depth responses for asks or to relay what he's thinking.
• What Measure Is a Non-Humanoid?: As a beastformer, he was part of the lowest caste on Cybertron and was treated as little more than a cute pet that could speak. Due to this, being treated like an animal is still a major Berserk Button for him.

Airachnid

An Insecticon whose Hive was destroyed during the Cybertronian Civil War. Following the death of her older sister Blackarachnia, she came to develop a deep hatred for the mercenary Arcee and hunted her down across the galaxy, until a fateful meeting with Starscream eventually led to her joining the Decepticons.

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• Adaptational Superpower Change: She transforms into a motorcycle instead of a helicopter like in the main series. In-universe, this is explained through her former body having been heavily damaged from contracting the rust plague and needing to be re-modeled for her to survive.
• An Arm and a Leg: Arcee cuts off one of her spider-legs in Volume 2. It gets re-attached by Knock Out later on.
• Friendly Neighborhood Spider: Downplayed, but Airachnid is an Insecticon with spider-like features and is at spark a good person, even if it might be hard to see through the snark and xenophobia.
• It's Personal: With Arcee, who assassinated the Insecticon queen during the war, then indirectly killed Airachnid's sister Blackarachnia by destroying one of three remaining antidotes for the weaponized Rust Plague both Airachnid and Blackarachnia had contracted, which forced Blackarachnia to give up her own to save her younger sister and leave Airachnid with the remaining antidote so the Decepticons could reverse engineer it. Both events caused Airachnid to develop a violent hatred of Arcee and vowing to take the bounty hunter down to avenge her leader and sister.
• What You Are in the Dark: While tracking down Arcee and Cliffjumper, Airachnid witnessed the pair's capture of Starscream. She later has to make a choice between either continuing her pursuit of Arcee, or help Starscream to escape from Autobot-captivity. After some agonizing, she chooses to save Starscream.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Due to her experiences with the Rust Plague virus, Airachnid is utterly terrified of organic life-forms, seeing them as walking disease factories. She slowly gets over that fear once she partners up with Jack.

Knock Out

A Velocitronian medic who was initially apathetic to the on-going war between Autobots and Decepticons, believing it would be millennia until the fighting would spill over from Cybertron to Cybertron's colonies. He was proven wrong when the Autobots violently annexed his home city of Paradron, leading to the death of his mentor, Lifeline, and many others.

Knock Out and many other refugees were rescued by the combiner Menasor and a small group of other Decepticons. After this event, Knock Out changed his initial paintjob to a green and white one in order to honor his fallen mentor and fellow medics and officially joined the Decepticons' medical/scientific core. He eventually also became Conjunx Endura with Breakdown, one of the Decepticons who formed Menasor.

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• Agent Peacock: Very downplayed, compared to his canon counterpart, but it's still there. When duking it out with Wheeljack, he snaps at the Wrecker to "watch the paint" and is shown to be very grateful when Breakdown offers to buff him later on.
• Anger Born of Worry: He's less than happy about his companions' tendency to leave for another battle before the wounds of their last ones are fully healed, often yelling at them for putting their health at risk.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Drops one on Nautica for blaming the Decepticons for starting the Autobot-Decepticon war, pointing out that Solus Prime would be ashamed of what the Autobots are doing.
  Knock Out: Defy a Prime. Ha! I'm no believer, but you are, right (I can see that forge mark)? Well tell me, if Solus Prime could see what you 'Bots have done, do you think she'd be proud?!
• Blatant Lies: When telling Raf his backstory in Volume 3, Knock Out claims that he was one of the most talented medical students in his academy, to the point war hero Lifeline took him on as her personal apprentice. The accompanying flashbacks show us that in reality, Knock Out failed his semesters mutliple times and had to beg a very reluctant Lifeline to train him after literally all the other medics at the academy had already refused.
  • He also claims that he managed to shock Roadbuster and Bulkhead into silence with the words he used when he defended Lug from the two Wreckers. In reality, Roadbuster was about to beat the scrap out of him before the Stunticons showed up to rescue Knock Out's group.
• Brutal Honesty: Not a fan of mincing words. He'll always cut to the chase even if it might make him look like a Jerkass from time to time.
• Combat Medic: While Knock Out tends to avoid combat, due to not being a frontline fighter, he is able and willing to engage when it's necessary. He put up a pretty good fight against Wheeljack in Volume 1, using both his electrostaff and his integrated circular saw blades to give the latter a nasty cut across the face-plate, though he was eventually overpowered.
• Happily Married: To Breakdown.
• Hidden Depths: His constant fuzzing about his paintjob might just seem like him being a diva at first glance, but Volume 3 reveals a much more sympathetic reason behind it: Knock Out's green paintjob is his way of honoring the fallen medics of Paradron, as well as evidence that he earned the right to call himself a medic by mastering the exams, something he immensely struggled with at first.
• Honor Before Reason: In Volume 3 both Megatron and Starscream order him to keep Steve strapped to the medical berth at all times since, poisoned or not, Steve is still part of the Autobots and could cause trouble for them in the long run if not kept under watch. Knock Out lets Steve run free in favor of giving him a thorough examination and as Megatron and Starscream predicted Steve takes the first opportunity to make an escape attempt.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Contrasting his mainverse counterpart, who was Affably Evil, Knock Out here is cold, sarcastic and snarky, but truly does care for his team and, though he'd never admit it, the humans they picked up along the way.
• The Medic: He's currently the only medic aboard the Nemesis.
• Shock Stick: When in combat he wields an energon prod capable of giving painful but non-lethal shocks.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Him not keeping Steve strapped to the berth as he was ordered to leads to the worker drone incapacitating Knock Out and managing to flee the medical bay.
• Official Couple: Him and Breakdown are Conjunx Endura, which is essentially the Transformers version of being married.

Breakdown

A Stunticon hailing from Cybertron and the left leg of the Combiner Menasor. He took part in a rescue mission after the Autobots attacked Paradron, where him and the other Stunticons formed Menasor to help the refugees gets away. He used to be friends with the Autobot Bulkhead until Breakdown abandoned him to the Autobot authorities during a protest gone wrong.

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• Adaptational Context Change: Breakdown still loses an optic as he did in the main continuity, but this time it's because of Bulkhead brutally gouging it out in a fight as opposed to MECH kidnapping him and removing the optic as bait for any would-be rescuers.
• Aliens of London: His accent is distinctly Scottish, despite being an alien robot from outer space. A flashback showing his meeting with Motormaster reveals that its a "Galaxwegian" accent.
• The Atoner: He's deeply remorseful about abandoning Bulkhead all those years back, as well as his time as a pirate after, and considers joining the Decepticons a way to make up for his cowardice back then.
• Brave Scot: Has a heavy Scottish accent (for some reason) and fights for the heroic Decepticons.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Apart from the incident on Galaxxon where he abandoned Bulkhead, Breakdown spend a considerable time after as a space pirate under Motormaster, targeting ships from both sides of the Decepticon-Autobot conflict for profit. He's clearly remorseful about it when he recalls his past to Raf in Volume 3.
• Dirty Coward: Used to be one. He abandoned Bulkhead when a protest at Galaxxon was forcefully broken up by Functionaries due to his fears of being sent to the Institute and reprogrammed. He subverts it in the present, where he's more than willing to take risks to protect his team-mates.
• Eye Scream: He gets an optic gouged out by Bulkhead while distracted during one of their scuffles in Volume 3.
• Gentle Giant: Is the second biggest Decepticon in the crew behind Megatron and is as kind as they come.
• Happily Married: To Knock Out.
• Hidden Depths: When driving Raf to the groundbridge site in Volume 2, he displays a keen interest in Earth's fauna and genuinely listens when Raf rattles down what he knows about owls.
• Informed Ability: It's mentioned several times that Breakdown is a combiner and is able to form the giant Menasor with the rest of the Combaticons but since he and them are currently on different planets we never get to see Breakdown combine in the present.
• Manly Gay: A tall, strong bruiser who is in a loving relationship with his male Conjunx Endura.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Views being part of the Decepticons as this, after he once abandoned his former friend Bulkhead out of fear and became an opportunistic space pirate right after.
• Straight Gay: He's in a relationship with a male Transformer, but doesn't display any of the stereotypes usually associated with gay characters.
• Official Couple: He's Knock Out's Conjunx Endura, basically the Cybertronian equivalent to being spouses.

Others

Strika

The leader of the Decepticons remaining on Cybertron.

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• Happily Married: Has a very happy and loving relationship with her conjunx Lugnut.
• Hero of Another Story:
  • Due to her strategic brilliance, Cybertron managed to fend off the Blackbox Consortia when they tried to annex Messatine.
  • She's also this in the present, being the leader of the remaining Decepticons on Cybertron while Megatron and the Nemesis crew are stuck on Earth.
• Husky Russkie: Has a thick Russian accent and is one of the biggest 'Cons depicted so far, towering over her entire team.
• Large and in Charge: Is both one of the the biggest Transformers in the story and the leader of her team of Decepticons on Cybertron.

Flamewar

Flareup/Flamewar

A Pyrobot and former Autobot who defected to the Decepticons when her part in Ultra Magnus' conspiracy against Optimus Prime came to light.

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• The Atoner: Volume 3 implies she's starting to honestly regret everything she did while she was still with the Autobots.
• Deadpan Snarker: She offten makes rather biting commentary on whatever's going on and isn't afraid to snap back whenever Slipstream antagonizes her.
• Defector from Decadence: She decided to join the Decepticons' rebellion after Blaster betrayed her and the rest of Ultra Magnus' co-conspirators to Optimus Prime. It's implied she's growing a lot more genuine as she's spending time with them.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • In "Changing Sides..." she admits to being ashamed of trying to kill Optimus via orbital bombardment, seeing the method as cowardly and dishonorable.
  • She's also horrified by the interrogation and brainwashing-methods the Institute performs on a regular basis. Her fear of being subjected to them herself is what drove her to the 'Cons in the first place.
• Heel–Face Turn: Used to work for Ultra Magnus, but decided to join the Decepticons when his assassination attempt on Optimus failed and put her at risk of being brought in for questioning by the A.A.T.
• Jerkass Has a Point: In "Changing Sides..". While she's far from innocent herself and her Just Following Orders excuse is rightfully called out, she isn't wrong in pointing out that the Autobots aren't the only ones who resorted to dishonorable tactics during the war.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She still lets the occasionally bigoted comment slip, but there are signs she's trying to do better in that regard and that she's growing to genuinely like and respect her fellow 'Cons.
• Just Following Orders: Apparently she was involved in a mass incineration on Mebion, but claims she only took part because her commanding officer would have killed her too, had she refused.
• Pet the Dog: In Volume 3 she comforts Ratbat after the latter beats herself up over letting the Forge of Solus Prime fall into the Autobots' hands.
• Playing with Fire: As a Pyrobot, she has the ability to emit and shoot flames at her opponents. She uses it to save Ratbat from Sundor in Volume 3.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Despite coming over to the good side, Flamewar still has quite a mouth on her. Something that doesn't really endear her to Decepticons who are still wary of her intentions, like Slipstream.

Ratbat

A bat-Beastformer and one of Soundwave's symbiotes.

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• Cuddle Bug: She hugs Flamewar after the latter comforts her over her not being able to keep Windblade from taking the Forge of Solus Prime. She keeps it up for several seconds, to the point it starts to make Flamewar uncomfortable.
• Defiant Captive: She mouths off to Sundor when he drags her to his master, directly questioning why he, as a mini-con beastformer, is working for the very faction that hates and dehumanizes them. Even after being brought before Windblade and Ratchet, two violent Autobots several heads taller than her, Ratbat refuses to cower in fear and instead cusses Windblade out when the latter tries to appeal to her through extremely Condescending Compassion.
• Damsel in Distress: Is captured by Ratchet and Windblade at the beginning of Volume 3, forcing the rest of Strika's team to attack in order to bail her out.
• It's All My Fault: In Volume 3, she's rather torn up about failing to stop Windblade from taking the Forge of Solus Prime.
• Super-Hearing: Can use her echo-location to suss out hidden bases, caves, or mines.

Slipstream

A seeker and a member of Strika's team.

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• Cold Sniper: Has a reserved attitude and is the sharpshooter in Strika's team.
• Dark Secret: During her time in The Institute as a Double Agent, she performed a number of shadowplay operations on dissidents in order to maintain her cover, with Bulkhead being one of her "patients".
• Insistent Terminology: She still calls Flamewar "Flareup" or "Autobot" despite Flamewar correcting her every time. Same for Brainstorm, whom she still addresses by his old name of Genitus.
• It's Personal:
  • She has a lot of disdain for Flamewar due to watching the latter and her squad throw a bunch of her friends in a smelting pool on Mebion.
  • She also carries a grudge against Windblade for the part the City Speaker played in the destruction of their home city Vos.
• Jerkass to One: She's personable toward most of her teammates, but a lot more cold whenever she's talking to Flamewar. Justified, since Flamewar killed a lot of her friends when she was still an Autobot.
• She Is the King: Is a femme, but Barricade and some others address her by the title of "Lord".
• Malicious Misnaming: She still calls Flamewar "Flareup", which was the latter's name when she worked for the Autobots. It's a sign that she's not quite convinced of Flamewar's Heel–Face Turn yet. She does the same with Brainstorm by referring to him as "Genitus".
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Her performing shadowplay on Bulkhead to make him forget crucial parts of the day he was arrested together with Strika lead to Bulkhead developing a violent hatred of Decepticons, since Breakdown had abandoned him and Strika seemingly got off scot-free for being a war hero.

Brainstorm

Genitus/Brainstorm

A former Autobot-scientist who defected to the Decepticons when his own faction left him to die.

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• Defector from Decadence: Like Flamewar, he used to be an Autobot, but changed sides when his own faction betrayed him.
• Lovable Coward: Is found cowering under a table by the Decepticons and presented as entirely unthreatening. It helps that he changes sides almost as soon as he's brought before Strika.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Part of the reason he became a Decepticon. After the Rust Plague virus was unleashed on the base he worked in, his fellow Autobots left him behind to either get killed by the virus or be found by the 'Cons.

Shockwave

A former senator who was complicit in and crucial to the instation of Cybertron's Fantastic Caste System. After realizing how much suffering the caste system really brought, he joined the Decepticons as a double-agent, using his high caste status to provide them with information about the Autobots.

Unfortunately, he was eventually caught. Optimus Prime had Ratchet put him through empurata, after performing a cortical psychic patch to determine the whereabouts of Megatron and the crew of the Nemesis.

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• Adaptational Superpower Change: He transformed into a tank in the cartoon, but changes into a Cybertonian jet here.
• An Arm and a Leg: He lost his cannon arm when Grimlock tore it off when apprehending him and its still missing after being subjected to empurata and shadowplay, his remaining hand being replaced by a crude clamp in the process.
• The Atoner: Him and several other high caste bots were responsible for instating the caste system that assigned Cybertronians value and work based solely on their altmodes, regardless of their own wishes, and ended up causing extreme prejuidice and social inequality. While initially seeing the caste system as a necessary evil to rebuild their homeworld after the Quintesson War, Shockwave eventually came to realize just how cruel and unjust it truly was and joined the Decepticons to help abolish it.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: Zig-zagged. He fought against the Quintessons, a race of squid-like beings who enslaved mechanoid races, due to seeing them as inferior and only fit for servitude. Once the war was over, he endorsed Sentinel Prime's decision to employ a Fantastic Caste System in order to speed Cybertron's rebuilding along, completely ignoring or brushing aside the rather reasonable protests of the soon-to-be lower castes who weren't looking forward to being forced into doing all the dirty work and being prohibited from following any other career paths. After Terminus, an old friend of his and a lower caste, died a miserable death in the energon mines due to the atrocious working conditions and his young pupil Megatron blew up at Shockwave over it, Shockwave realized that the caste system was unjust and cruel and decided to help the Decepticons fight for its abolition.
• The Blank: It's a relatively recent development caused by Ratchet subjecting him to empurata under Optimus' orders.
• Creepy Monotone: After getting hit with empurata and shadowplay, his font is noticeably blockier and he speaks in a very stilted and robotic manner, emphasizing just how much he was changed in spite of his core memories and psyche having been protected.
• Cyber Cyclops: Not always, but after being put through empurata, his two optics are replaced by one large one that takes up his entire head.
• Double Agent: After the civil war officially broke out, Shockwave pretended he, too, believed Megatron had killed Sentinel Prime and that he'd lost faith in the Decepticon cause as a result. He proceeded to join Optimus' Autobots and then feed all the valuable information he gained back to the Decepticons. Sadly, he ended up getting caught, forced to give up information about his allies, and turned into an emotionless drone via shadowplay. Despite of what was done to him, he managed to arrange for a last minute procedure that let him partially resist the brainwashing and remain a spy right under Optimus' nose.
• Heroic Sacrifice: After his cover was blown by Blurr and Optimus sent the Dinobots to hunt him down and bring him in, Shockwave concluded that he wouldn't be able to escape being subjected to shadowplay or worse and that he was too old to fight with the rest of the Decepticons. He let Slipstream perform an impromptu mnemosurgery on him that would shield his core memories and psyche so he would be able to stay loyal to the Decepticons, even after being reduced to a near mindless drone, and able to spy on Optimus in plain sight.
• Mind Rape: He had his memories forcibly extracted by Ratchet via a cortical psychic patch so Optimus could find out the whereabouts of the Nemesis. He resisted the procedure so much that Ratchet had to crank the machine up to the maximum, and if Shockwave's screams are any indication, the experience was not pleasant.
• Mythology Gag:
  • A flashback in Volume 3 reveals that Shockwave's cover was blown due to being caught communicating with Megatron by Blurr. This is a reference to his Transformers: Animated counterpart, who also almost ended up exposed by his incarnation of Blurr but managed to silence the Autobot before it actually came to that. Unfortunately, this Shockwave wasn't so lucky.
  • Another flashback revealed that his left arm was ripped off by Grimlock, just like what happened to him near the end of Fall of Cybertron.

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