Waverider - Transformers Wiki

Waverider is an Autobot Pretender from the Generation 1 continuity family.

A 'bot with two sides. On the one hand, Waverider is the peaceful sort, enjoying the freedom his alternate mode provides him under the waves and the chance to explore the deep, looking for lost treasure or sunken vessels. On the other hand, Waverider is a steadfast warrior and the fiercest of opponents in a fight. He is more than willing to go the extra mile that other Autobots, due to a lack of fighting instinct or general distaste for warfare, might not. Waverider knows what he's fighting for and recognizes the need to fight for it.

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

A member of Fortress Maximus's crew aboard the Steelhaven, Waverider volunteered for the synthoplasmic conversion process Optimus Prime had stolen from Scorponok, transforming him into an Autobot Pretender. With Optimus Prime coordinating the Pretenders' first battle with the Decepticons, Waverider and his teammates easily overwhelmed the opposing force. Pretender to the Throne!

In the weeks that followed, Steelhaven's crew united with the other Autobots on board the Ark. Unfortunately, the Ark's commander, Grimlock, was difficult to deal with, and so their meetup resulted in a ritual battle for Autobot supremacy between him and Blaster on Earth's moon. Waverider disembarked along with the rest of the Steelhaven crew to watch the fight. Totaled!

Later, when the now-resurrected Optimus Prime and a squad of Autobots travelled to Earth to battle the Matrix-powered Deathbringer, Waverider remained aboard the Ark and supplied Nightbeat with the information he needed to defeat the mechanoid. Deathbringer

Waverider helped battle Thunderwing aboard the Ark when the Decepticon Pretender used the Creation Matrix to fuel a devastating rampage. His efforts amounted to little, unfortunately, and it was ultimately Nightbeat who defeated Thunderwing by casting him out into the void of space. All Fall Down

Afterwards, Waverider was among those who retrieved Bumblebee, Jazz, and Grimlock from VsQs where the trio had been left for dead by Thunderwing. Some downtime followed, during which Waverider attempted to reach out to the distraught Grimlock, then trashing his room to vent out his frustration over recent events. His "tough love" speech nearly got him skewered on the end of an energo-sword, prompting him to report the incident to Optimus. But the Autobot leader didn't have time to hear Waverider out, needing to make an announcement to the entire ship beforehand. By the time Waverider got a word in, it was too late; Grimlock had already commandeered a shuttle and forced his way out of the Ark to pursue the means to restore the Dinobots. Further distressing developments followed, as Waverider was among those who witnessed Ratchet materializing out of unspace onto the Ark's bridge, grotesquely fused to Megatron! Eye of the Storm Waverider looked on in stunned stupor, asking what had happened to Ratchet. Despite Kup happening in on the scene and opening fire on the fusion, Nightbeat tried to keep all involved calm, explaining how their friend had become conjoined to the Decepticon leader following being blown into unspace. Before they could make a decision on what to do next, the Autobots were tackled into a nearby wall by the creature, allowing it to scamper off and begin causing havoc throughout the Ark. Ultimately, Optimus subdued the creature, and the Autobots took steps to physically separate Ratchet and Megatron. The Pri¢e of Life!

Waverider and his fellow Autobots intervened when a duel between Scorponok and Shockwave threatened New York City. During the battle, Mindwipe hypnotized Soundwave, and planned to have the latter order his subordinates to lay down their arms, so that Shockwave's loyalists could easily pick off Scorponok's followers. Waverider was part of a small group of Autobots who forced him to modify this plan; at gun-point, Mindwipe had the Decepticons unite into a cohesive faction, and join forces with the Autobots. Primus then suddenly summoned all the Transformers of Earth back to Cybertron to do battle with Unicron. Out of Time! Waverider and the other warped Transformers gathered in a crowd, and listened as Primus told them of his eons-old conflict with his dark opposite. During the speech, Waverider had to restrain Cloudburst, who was growing increasingly frustrated by the exposition being interrupted by Dreadwing's jokes. The Void! Upon Unicron's arrival, Waverider charged headfirst into the fight with the Chaos-Bringer. He concentrated all his firepower onto him until Unicron retaliated with an optic blast, destroying Waverider. On the Edge of Extinction!

Transformers Comic-Magazin

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Spotlight: Hardhead

Waverider, Cloudburst, Landmine, and Groundbreaker were sent to investigate the Benzuli Expanse, but discovered that any probes or drones entering the area immediately ceased to function. After reporting this to Jetfire, he volunteered them for the Pretender process as a means of safely entering the expanse. Spotlight: Hardhead

Cyclonus was later patrolling the Benzuli Expanse with Galvatron to look for those who would disturb the Expansion. Upon spotting Cloudburst's ship, Cyclonus called "dibs", and Galvatron happily let Cyclonus attack the vessel. Spotlight: Doubledealer Fortunately Waverider and the rest of the crew were rescued by the Technobots who transported them to their ship and presented them with new and improved Pretender shells. Now equipped to deal with the Dead Universe and its denizens, the four warriors finished off Cyclonus and entered the Benzuli Expanse, where they planted the Nega-Cores inside the Dead Universe, allowing them to detonate and seal off the link to the real universe. Spotlight: Sideswipe Everything in Its Right Place At some point afterwards, Waverider was questioned about his experiences by Dead Universe enthusiast Brainstorm. Black Metal

Waverider later joined Rodimus's mission to use the map within the Matrix of Leadership to find the Knights of Cybertron at Cyberutopia. The mission's departure in the Lost Light was interrupted by an explosion in the ship sending it into premature quantum jump. The resulting hull breach sucked Waverider out of the ship, and he fell to a nearby planet, burning up as he entered the atmosphere. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It He recovered in time to attend the secret opening of Swerve's. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases

Waverider played a game of hand-grenade tag with Sureshot outside Ultra Magnus's office, an offence for which he would be arrested and thrown in the brig. Cybertronian Homesick Blues As an underwater specialist, Waverider participated in the battle to defend the Lost Light from Ammonites in the oceans of Hydrophena. Into the Abyss The Dead Are Not Enough

A quantum double of Waverider was among the many dead Autobots aboard the duplicate Lost Light. slaughterhouse

As one of the mutineers aboard the Lost Light, Waverider was seen hanging out with Highbrow at "Visages". Full Circle He was eventually betrayed by Getaway and subjected to a Sparkeater virus by his new ally, Scorponok. He was saved by concussive medicine administered by First Aid on Mederi Prime. Lūstrāre

TransTech

Waverider was seen among the inhabitants of the multiversal hub city of Axiom Nexus. Transcendent: Part 4

e-HOBBY comics

Waverider and Splashdown guided a submarine carrying an Eldedroid, Cliffjumper, and Sideswipe to an underwater Decepticon base. MP-1B Cybertron Commander / Convoy Black Ver.

Commercial appearances

After a string of defeats, the Autobots conceived of the Pretenders to regain the advantage against the Decepticons. Upon Waverider, Landmine and Cloudburst's activation within an Autobot research facility, the trio came under attack from Dreadwind and Darkwing. The Autobot Pretenders quickly retaliated, sending the intruders fleeing after splitting from their shells. The Decepticons were quick to develop their own Pretender warriors however, and Waverider, Cloudburst and Landmine's mettle was once more tested, this time against opponents who also possessed Pretender shells. Waverider squared off against Submarauder in the ensuing fight. Pretenders commercial

Animation from this commercial was recycled for the title sequence of season 5 of the Generation 1 animated series, even though Waverider himself didn't appear in the show.

Games

Waverider and Seaspray were aiding in the evacuation of workers from an off-shore oil platform during a storm. When the Seacons attacked the station in order to steal its oil, the two Autobots were left to face them alone, the storm preventing them from calling for reinforcements. The two Autobot were able to defend the platform until the storm subsided and called for back-up, forcing the Seacons to flee. Deadly Depths

Toys

The Transformers

• Waverider (Pretender, 1988)

• Accessories: 2-piece Pretender shell, helmet, belt, thermal broad-axe, energy spear gun
• Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist), Richard Marcej (packaging)

Part of the first assortment of Pretenders in the fifth year of the original The Transformers toyline (fourth year in European markets), Waverider transforms into a black and grey Cybertronian submarine. His "energy spear gun" can be used in both modes.

His Pretender shell resembles a human in a dark grey armored space suit, armed with his grey thermal broadaxe, though he can also hold the spear gun. The shell's helmet and belt (molded from the same soft grey plastic as his axe) are also removable, and used to help "lock" the two halves of the shell together.

This toy was released concurrently by Takara in their Super-God Masterforce line as Diver, with one noteworthy difference between the two: Diver's human head has brown hair, while Waverider is a blond.

• More information on Waverider at TFU.info

Notes

• A Waverider-based decoy armor mold was created for Power of the Primes, but Hasbro never released it. Given the gang-molding of Cloudburst / Micronus, the Waverider tooling was presumably paired with the inner robot released as Amalgamous Prime. TakaraTomy offered a redecoed version as a bonus Pretender Suit for Legends Grand Maximus, but preorders for the set failed to reach the necessary threshold and the Suit was not produced.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Waverider (ウェーブライダー Wēburaidā)
• French: Clapotis (Canada, "Lapping")
• Italian: Falcon