Thundercracker (Cyberverse)
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The name or term "Thundercracker" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Thundercracker (disambiguation). |
- Thundercracker is a Decepticon Seeker from the Cyberverse continuity family.
If you were to ask Thundercracker, his skill in the air makes him the very best of the best.[1] In practice...well, the truth is usually a bit less than the legend. Thundercracker may be one of the Seeker Elite, but he's a bit slow on the uptake and lacking in any real independence. His flying skills frequently let him down in a fight regardless of whether his opponent has wings or not. More than most, he needs a good leader to direct him on the proper course. Under Slipstream, this is following the Decepticon line as best as his dubious talents allow. Under Starscream...weeeeeeell, let's just say his tendency to do what he's told might very well be the death of him.
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Fiction
Cyberverse cartoon
- Voice actor: Ben Bott (English), Satoshi Tsuruoka (Japanese), Pino Pirovano (Italian), Silvio Pandolfi (Italian, "Whiteout"), Alain Eloy (French), Christoph Banken (German), Dan Frausto (Latin-American Spanish), André Gaiani (Brazilian Portuguese)
Thundercracker bore witness to the beatboxing battle between Soundwave and Soundblaster.The Immobilizers
After the Allspark had been launched away, Thundercracker and Nova Storm, under the command of Starscream, chased Optimus Prime and Bumblebee to the Grand Imperium only for the Prime to send the Seekers running. Matrix of Leadership
Some 66 million years later, the Allspark had been traced to Earth with Starscream dispatching Slipstream's squadron to scout the alien world. As Thundercracker scouted, he chanced upon Windblade and an amnesiac Bumblebee. While Thundercracker initially held the upper hand in his fight with Windblade, Bumblebee had enough memories left to access his stinger, allowing him to paralyze the blue Seeker. While he'd recovered, Windblade sent Thundercracker down a cliff. Fractured Once the energy signature of a cortical psychic patch had been detected, Thundercracker and Nova Storm traced it to the Autobots only for Windblade to bury the two beneath a pile of rubble. Memory
When Windblade travelled to the Himalayas for any clues relating to the Ark's location, the Seekers ambushed her but Windblade's superior fighting skills sent Thundercracker tumbling down another cliff. Whiteout
The squad's consistent lack of progress eventually necessitated Shockwave's personal intervention. From Cybertron, the scientist hacked into the cortical psychic patch, trapping the scout in a false memory, and took remote control of the Decepticon scout ship. The Seekers waited for the ship at an airfield where Thundercracker suffered yet another humiliating defeat to Windblade before the ship crashed into the base, exploding into a ball of fire. Sabotage
Undeterred, the Seekers found the Autobot drone Teletraan-X and used it to draw Bumblebee to them and access the Ark's location from the drone's databanks. The drone's security protocols activated, however, and compelled it to attack the Decepticons. As the Autobots fled, Thundercracker found himself paralyzed by Bumblebee's stingers once again. It wasn't all bad news, however, for Windblade remained trapped in the silo. Teletraan-X The Seekers hooked Windblade up to a cortical psychic patch to try and gleam useful information out of her. Slipstream attempted to intimidate Windblade by elaborating on the hopelessness of the situation, only for Thundercracker to inadvertantly undermine her efforts by admitting she was stretching the truth, causing an incensed Slipstream to order he and Acid Storm to perform a mind rip. The two pumped up the power to increase the procedure's speed only to wind up unleashing an energy burst that knocked them all into stasis lock. Siloed
At Shockwave's orders, the Seekers repaired the space bridge orbiting Earth, allowing him to come through with two magnetic disruptors he planned to use to eradicate Earth's biosphere. Put under Shadow Striker's command, Thundercracker was sent to the North Pole, remaining in the ship even as the Autobots struck. As he loitered, Thundercracker was contacted by Shockwave for a status report and things only became worse when Grimlock arrived, using his strength to rip the ship apart, saving Earth. The Extinction Event
Thanks to one of Shockwave's drones, the Decepticons followed the Autobots to Mount St. Hilary, the resting place of the Ark. After the Seekers had shot down the Autobots' plane, Thundercracker had Teletraan-X thrown at him, as part of a Fastball Special courtesy of Grimlock, knocking him out. Awaken Sleeping Giants Though the Decepticons soon recovered and followed the Autobots into the mountain, they failed to stop their foes from breaching the ship. Shockwave ordered a retreat and used the remaining disruptor to trigger the volcano only for the Ark's shields to be raised in time. With the Autobot crew awake, the Decepticons fell back to regroup with Starscream's recently arrived Decepticon fleet. Eruption
Thundercracker was among the Decepticon forces who engaged the Autobots in battle on the Moon. Sea of Tranquility
Thundercracker was present when Starscream betrayed Megatron beneath the surface of the Moon. He questioned Starscream on what to do with Megatron, and fled with the remaining Decepticons when Starscream ordered that Megatron be left to burn. He returned to the Nemesis, and cowered in fear as Megatron pounded Starscream for his treachery. Bad Moon Rising
When the other Seekers deployed to hunt down Optimus Prime, Thundercracker stayed behind at the Nemesis. When Slipstream later radioed him to ask where the Seekers were again, Thundercracker was in Shockwave’s lab and acted very suspicious before being yanked away from the call. Later, Thundercracker and three other Seekers were carrying Vector Sigma when Slipstream demanded to know what was going on. He pretended to know nothing, and all of them were knocked over by an escaping Hot Rod. Bring Me The Spark Of Optimus Prime
Slipstream tracked the Seekers to the abandoned missile silo, and Thundercracker panicked at her early arrival. Leading Slipstream to the others, he was present when Starscream returned bearing the AllSpark. Trials
Thundercracker was among the Seekers who were assembled before a triumphant Starscream, nervously agreeing with the raving Seeker’s questions. Slipstream urged him and the others to leave Starscream. Dark Birth
Thundercracker watched as Starscream introduced the reborn “ancients”, and pursued the horrified Slipstream as she fled. Parley
Thundercracker, Nova Storm and Thrust ambushed Bumblebee, and pursued Cheetor when he discovered them. He was present when Bumblebee and Cheetor were captured, and was swarmed by Scraplets when Cheetor doused him in Energon. Spotted
When Jetfire crashed after his dogfight with Sky-Byte, Thundercracker and Nova Storm brought him to Starscream’s lair. Infinite Vendetta
Thundercracker was among the army of Seekers offlined by an Allspark-powered Starscream. I Am The Allspark
Games
Transformers: Battlegrounds
Toys
Cyberverse
- Thundercracker (Warrior Class, 2018)
- Action Attack: "Lightning Slash"
- Cyberverse Thundercracker is a redeco of Warrior Class Starscream, converting from robot to jet and back. His "Lightning Slash" Action Attack gimmick is activated by winding up a spring in his waist and releasing the upper part of the figure, allowing it to spin and flip out its spring-loaded wing blades with centrifugal force. The waist can be locked in place by pegging his landing gear onto a peg on his backside. Additionally, he has non-firing Null Ray blasters molded into his forearms with 5 mm post hole hands.
- While his arms have articulation comparable to other Warrior Class Cyberverse toys, this mold has the unusual distinction of having his hip swivels molded together, meaning the front-to-back movement is in tandem. He also lacks knees, likely due to his whole legs being cast from the same blue plastic. Despite this otherwise restricted movement, he can splay his legs out to the sides due to hinges on his hips, allowing splits and high kicks.
- This toy was intended as a Toys"R"Us exclusive for the United States market, but due to the bankruptcy of Toys"R"Us in the United States, this didn't work out. The figure was first revealed to the public via a listing on the Hong Kong Toys"R"Us website and, subsequently released as a Toys"R"Us exclusive in Singapore and Malaysia without any prior announcement from Hasbro. It was also available from the Canadian Toys"R"Us online store. In 2019, it finally appeared at US retail, specifically at a chain named "Go! Calendars" (who charged an insane price of $20 per figure) and later Tuesday Morning (at a far more reasonable $7.99).
- This mold was also redecoed into Acid Storm and Slipstream.
- Seekers Sinister Strikeforce (Multi-pack, 2020)
- Action Attack: "Nova Seeker Missile"
- This version of Cyberverse Thundercracker is a redeco of Warrior Class "Cybertronian Mode" Starscream, transforming into a Cybertronian jet that resembles the Vic Viper T-301 from Gradius V. His "Nova Seeker Missile" Action Attack flips his wing-attached spring-loaded null rays up and forward when his cockpit is pulled back all the way into his robot-mode back. The blasters are also removable for safety reasons, but cannot attach to anything but their normal mounts.
- Thundercracker was released exclusively at Target with fellow Seekers Skywarp, Thrust, and Starscream, all of whom were also redecoed from the same Starscream figure. The product was first sighted in July 2020 with no prior announcement from Hasbro.
Notes
Foreign names
- Japanese: Thundercracker (サンダークラッカー Sandākurakkā)
See also
References
- ↑ Character bios at the official Hasbro USA Cyberverse website