Thundercracker (G1)/2005 IDW continuity - Transformers Wiki

A chance to be part of the exciting world of underground gladiator games turned into a life Thundercracker never wanted, but a belief in the rhetoric that founded his faction, and the sense of brotherhood and belonging he gained from being a Seeker saw him remain a loyal Decepticon for millions of years. Eventually, however, the Decepticons strayed too far from their original goals for Thundercracker to tolerate, and he threw his lot in with Earth, embracing the planet as a new home and celebrating the ability of its people to grow and change in ways that Transformers struggle to. Today, his love of humanity and their arts has evolved into a desire to become a screenwriter, but love for his dog Buster always comes first.

First appearance: Infiltration #0

“	The are few things currently on Earth that have lasted as long as we have. [...] I used to find that transience laughably fragile. But I see now that it's actually a strength I'm just beginning to grasp. [...] I believe I'm finally understanding the meaning of the word... "beautiful". I can't think of the last time we created anything. We have so much to learn here.	”
—Thundercracker, The Transformers #4

Fiction

Becoming a Seeker

Marked as an outlier by the power to create incredibly loud sonic booms, Thundercracker first met Skywarp at the Jhiaxian Academy of Advanced Technology. Skywarp came to resent the Academy, convinced that the two were treated as second-class citizens because of their airborne alternate modes. When they were approached by Senator Starscream, Skywarp pushed Thundercracker into joining, and the two were rebuilt into bodyframes identical to Starscream's own. Skywarp would later realize that Starscream had done this to confuse the taxpayers he'd conned. Starscream: The Movie

The three were approached by Soundwave with an offer from the underground pit-fighter and revolutionary rhetorician Megatron, who sought flight-capable Transformers to join his forces. Megatron Origin #3 To hide from his former constituents, Starscream and his new lackeys joined up; Starscream: The Movie while the trio believed that they would be joining his gladiatorial team, Megatron intended them to be fully-fledged warriors as he transitioned his Decepticons from underground activists to fully-blown insurgents. After being given weapons systems by Hook, the Seekers kidnapped Senator Decimus, who was to be executed at Megatron's recruitment rally. However, Sentinel Prime and the Autobots arrived and arrested everyone. Megatron Origin #3 After Starscream killed the members of the Senate who had gathered in Kaon and liberated the prisoners, Megatron launched an "Everything burns" offensive on Kaon, during which Thundercracker and Skywarp were sent to target a ship carrying the wealthy and elite. Thundercracker expressed reservations about attacking the ship, but Skywarp gave him some simple advice: "Don't think. Just do it." Megatron Origin #4

As the Decepticon uprising spread across the planet, Thundercracker came under the command of Bludgeon and participated in his plan to capture Alpha Trion. He protested against Bludgeon's idea to strap a captive Orion Pax to a shuttle and launch it at the nearest settlement, disturbed by the needless civilian casualties it would cause. Omega's Conundrum

When Orion Pax turned against the demented Autobot leader Zeta Prime, Thundercracker was among the Decepticons that Megatron led to Orion's rescue. Megatron and Orion joined forces against Zeta, but Thundercracker didn't enjoy having to spend time with Orion's Autobots, and almost came to blows with Ironhide. Choices He participated in their combined attack on Zeta Prime's Citadel, working with Blitzwing to take out the building's defensive vamparc cannons. Overthrown After Zeta was dead, Megatron betrayed Orion, declared himself ruler of Cybertron and began capturing Autobots. During this time, Thundercracker brought Hot Rod to the Decepticon-controlled Citadel before going on to guard an Autobot detention cell, only to be punched out by Ironhide when Hot Rod broke the prisoners out. Rise Megatron ordered Thundercracker and other seekers to defend the Citadel from the assaulting Autobots—led by Orion, now Optimus Prime—but they were intercepted by the newly recruited Aerialbots. Broadcast

After Megatron's short-lived rule of Cybertron was ended, Thundercracker watched Scorponok take control of the Decepticons. Wreckage Scorponok's first move was to lead the Seekers in an attack on the Toraxxis mega-refinery, Faces of Darkness which ended disastrously when the refinery exploded. Rage Scorponok did not mourn those who lost their lives in the blast, however; Thundercracker silently watched as he praised the strong for surviving, and put a Decepticon who spoke out against him in his place. Fallout Fortunately, Megatron soon returned to retake command of the Decepticons, and began putting his splintered faction back together. Thundercracker was sent to the planet Magmara Nine to bring the Stunticons back into the fold, Primacy #2 so that the reunified Decepticon forces could launch a major attack on the Autobots. Unfortunately, a miscalculation during that great battled saw Thundercracker and his fellow fliers taken out of the fight early on, as the lingering fumes of acid rain unleashed against the Autobots corroded the Seekers' systems and caused them to drop out of the sky. Primacy #4

Alongside Starscream and Overlord, Thundercracker participated in an attack on the New Institute, Remembrance Day and in another battle, blew away a yellow Autobot. Drift #2 Eventually, he fell under Bludgeon's command again, and became one of his Titan Hunters, searching through space for the Titan Metroplex, who had vanished from Cybertron some years prior. Thundercracker did not enjoy the work; the chase seemed futile, each stop proving fruitless, and his fellow hunters held no respect for him or his attempts to apply any kind of scientific deduction to their mission. As such, when Thundercracker discovered a chunk of Cybertronian metal during the Hunters' investigation of an asteroid, he kept it to himself. Examining the metal, Thundercracker deduced it was a piece of Metroplex, and used the quantum radiation it was saturated with to pinpoint the Titans' current location—but still, for reasons he could not even explain to himself, he kept the specifics of his findings to himself, providing the co-ordinates to Bludgeon with the justification that he had a "hunch". Unfortunately, it turned out there was an inhabited colony on the asteroid the co-ordinates led to; Thundercracker failed to talk Bludgeon out of attacking the alien residents, so instead, he took up position at the head of the attack unit and tried to scare the colonists away with a sonic boom, hoping they would get clear before his teammates opened fire. He failed miserably, but pushed it from his mind, focusing intently on his greater mission. Headed into the asteroid's depths, Thundercracker discovered Metroplex soaking up the pseudo-energon reservoir within, whereupon he was attacked by Bumblebee, part of an Autobot unit that had followed the Hunters to the asteroid. The pair battled until one of the aliens intervened, hurling himself at Thundercracker in an attempt to save Bumblebee's life. Thundercracker simply tossed the alien aside, but the creature's grand gesture allowed Thundercracker to come to a realization... just as the alien had acted selflessly, Thundercracker realized the lie he had told Bludgeon was not a self-serving one, but rather, a lie told out of a genuine desire not to see Metroplex fall into Decepticon hands. Thundercracker radioed his fellow Decepticons and lied once more, claiming Metroplex was nowhere to be found, and they all withdrew from the asteroid, believing that the whole affair had been an Autobot trick. Angry at Thundercracker for leading them into it, Bludgeon had him removed from his unit and sent back to Cybertron. The Hunting Party

Infiltration

In the present day, long after Cybertron had been rendered uninhabitable, Thundercracker served as part of Starscream's insurgent unit, operating covertly on Earth to destabilize governing organizations and create global anarchy. After four years of secrecy, the unit went off-mission with the discovery of Ore-13, a super-powerful variant of energon, which Starscream planned to use to stage a coup. When their activities in Nebraska were discovered by the human Stoker, an agent of the secret organization known as the Machination, Thundercracker, Runabout, and Runamuck were sent to deal with the human and recover his SM-40 palmtop PC, containing data on their operation. The team caught up with and killed Stoker outside Phoenix, AZ, but the SM-40 was missing, stolen by young runaway Verity Carlo. Thundercracker tracked her down, but before he could terminate her and her friend Hunter O'Nion, he was driven off by Ratchet. Infiltration #0 Ratchet managed to temporarily shake Thundercracker and the two Battlechargers, Infiltration #1 but they picked up his trail again before long. This time, however, Thundercracker was shot down by Prowl, Sunstreaker and Ironhide. Infiltration #2

Soon, Megatron arrived on Earth to put down Starscream's attempted rebellion. Thundercracker, along with the other Decepticons, were unwilling to stand against him when the Decepticon leader ordered them to stand down. Megatron proceeded to take Starscream offline, Infiltration #6 and Thundercracker and the others promptly submitted themselves to his command once again. Escalation #1 To get the infiltration protocol back on track, Megatron sent Thundercracker and Skywarp to destroy the El Jira power plant in the middle east to inflame global tensions and spark a global energy shortage, Escalation #2 then focused his efforts on the Eastern European country of Latveria. Man and Machine, Part One There, Megatron activated the Psycho-Prism he had stolen from Doctor Doom, which emitted an aggression wave that acted on humans, increasing international tensions in the area. Megatron sent Thundercracker and Skywarp to bomb the neighboring country of Symkaria so they would blame Latveria and start a war, but their actions drew the attention of both the Autobots and the human superhero team the Avengers. After capturing Spider-Man, Thundercracker and the Decepticons powered themselves up using his super-powers as part of mirror response mode, then took the fight to the Autobots and Avengers. Thundercracker shot and injured Optimus Prime Man and Machine, Part Two and Ms. Marvel, and engaged in a dogfight with Captain America in the Quinjet, but was then taken down by a blast from Iron Man's Transformer-sized armor Man and Machine, Part Three and retreated with the other Decepticons via emergency warp-out. Man and Machine, Part Four

During battle in Brasnya, the sorely-pressed Skywarp teleported Thundercracker in to try and stop Hot Rod from escaping with one of their facsimile constructs. Hot Rod was able to orbital jump to safety, and Thundercracker then joined Skywarp in recovering the defeated Megatron and retreating. Escalation #6 Furious over his defeat, Megatron called in the destructive Sixshot—a breach of protocol that alarmed Thundercracker and several other Decepticons. Together, they conspired to bring Starscream back online in hopes he could to talk some sense into their leader. Devastation #1 They managed to get Starscream active again just in time for the Decepticon base to be attacked by the alien Reapers, Devastation #5 and with a little help from a mysterious ally, Thundercracker and his comrades claimed victory over the extraterrestrial invaders. Devastation #6

Dishonor to the Decepticons

During the Decepticons' battle with the Reapers, the Autobots had left Earth to deal with the threat of an incursion by the Dead Universe, and Megatron exploited their absence by taking his men to ground. The Decepticons returned to Cybertron, where a series of experiments were carried out to create Insecticons. The misshapen swarm of creatures that were created one after another in pursuit of a perfect specimen outraged Thundercracker, who demanded Megatron euthanize them rather than allow fellow Decepticons to endure such a torturous existence. Megatron, unsurprisingly, paid little heed to the Seeker's words. After a trio of satisfactory Insecticons were created, the Decepticons returned to Earth and lured the Autobots into a trap, which saw Thundercracker and the other Decepticons successfully overpower their enemies and strand them on Cybertron via a space bridge. All Hail Megatron #7

With Earth now unprotected, a year on from the Reaper battle, the Decepticons launched a huge attack on New York City in which Thundercracker participated. Though he followed orders obediently, engaging human jet fighters in the skies over the city, he shared little of his comrades' enthusiasm for mindless destruction, and was the only one among them to cast a backward glance at the devastation Megatron left in his wake. All Hail Megatron #1 Thundercracker and his fellow Seekers helped cut off the city by blowing up the Brooklyn Bridge, All Hail Megatron #2 then listened in silence as Megatron gave a victory speech. All Hail Megatron #4

When Skywarp got into an argument with Bombshell that ended with weapons drawn, Thundercracker came to the aid of his brother Seeker and sent the Insecticons scuttling off. While Skywarp expressed his enjoyment at working with Thundercracker again, describing it as "like old times", Thundercracker immediately became sullen and withdrawn again, leaving Skywarp frustrated, unable to have any real fun in the destruction if he was doing it on his own. All Hail Megatron #6 Some time later, back in New York, when Starscream betrayed Megatron and sent the Insecticons and Constructicons to attack him, Thundercracker merely stood back and watched. All Hail Megatron #10 This battle was interrupted by the arrival of human jets sent from Europe, which Thundercracker helped engage. All Hail Megatron #11 The Autobots themselves then returned, but were abandoned in the city by the Decepticons to die in a nuclear bomb strike Megatron had arranged. After the other Decepticons had pulled out, however, Thundercracker returned, and offered to help the Autobots redirect the plummeting bomb. When questioned, he opined the Decepticons had lost their way, and the mass slaughter of unworthy foes was dishonorable. He succeeded in snatching the bomb out the air, flying it up to the fringes of the atmosphere, and detonating it safely, but was then confronted by a furious Skywarp, who was outraged at the idea of a Seeker "betrayer". Despite Thundercracker's attempts to explain his position, Skywarp blasted him point-blank in the head. All Hail Megatron #12

Evolution on Earth

Thundercracker survived, but was left heavily injured and only partially functional. Painfully dragging himself inside a ruined New York skyscraper, which human cleanup crews likely wouldn't reach for months, he reflected on how life on Earth was always changing and always finding a way to survive. After weeks of scrounging, he eventually managed to construct a distress beacon, and as he waited for his fellow Decepticons to find him, he also got a television working. For the next one and a half years, Thundercracker spent his time watching human programs and growing increasingly fascinated with their ever-changing world and society. Eventually, he was found by a ragtag team of 'cons left behind on the planet, who repaired him and hoped that he, as an elite Seeker, would lead them. Thundercracker refused, as he saw no point in a warrior leading the team, since the war was over for them. Seasons in Flight

Instead, Swindle took command, and led Thundercracker and the others in a revenge attack on Omega Supreme. After some quick battlefield thinking by Swindle, the Decepticons changed their tunes and instead offered to help Hot Rod and his group leave Earth. New Arrivals, Old Encounters As Thundercracker helped them construct a ship, he thought about how Swindle had to be planning something, and how he felt remorse for the Autobots and how lost they were. His thoughts strayed back to the humans and their ever-changing world, comparing them to his own so-called "transforming" race that had remained the same for millions of years. While Thundercracker used to laugh at it, he now saw the beauty of Earth, where every act of destruction was also an act of creation. He knew that they had a lot to learn from the humans, but all his fellow Transformers wanted to do was to run away. Seasons in Flight When Ultra Magnus confronted Hot Rod's group, Thundercracker stood back and watched from the sidelines as Swindle unveiled his new creation, Menasor. Enemies of the System While the other Decepticons turned on their Autobot "comrades", Thundercracker remained true to his honor. He saved Bumblebee during a scrap with Scrapper, and proceeded to help Rodimus as well. Earthworks

Months later, Bumblebee contacted Thundercracker, asking him for help in getting the Combaticons out of North Korea. Ranks of Bronze While he had left the Decepticons, Thundercracker was uninterested in rejoining the war, having found a new hobby in studying humanity from a hideout filled with televisions. After Bumblebee's attempts to befriend him were rebuffed, the Autobot confronted him with the fact that despite his admirable attempts at changing, Thundercracker was a warrior at heart, and would get back in the action sooner or later. Realizing that he was right, Thundercracker agreed to aid Bumblebee's Autobots, and traveled to North Korea where he knocked Vortex out of the sky. Hawk Among the Sparrows The Combaticons were defeated, only for the Autobots to get attacked by the Predacons instead. Thundercracker faced off against Divebomb before personally blowing up the energon plants in North Korea and China, thus ending the Combaticons' and Predacons' alliances with those nations. All My Sins Remembered

Returning home from Asia, Thundercracker found his hideout trashed—the humans had discovered it while he was away. And if that wasn't bad enough, Starscream was there, asking for his help. Altered Carbon He had recently been ousted from his position of Decepticon leader by Megatron, and tried to convince Thundercracker to return to the Decepticons and help him overthrow Megatron again. Thundercracker reacted with the same disinterest as he had shown Bumblebee's proposition, reminding Starscream that the Decepticons had left him to rot and that he couldn't care less about galactic conquest. His attitude only served to anger Starscream, who shot him in the back repeatedly. Woken Furies Thundercracker's life was saved by Brawn, sent by the Autobots to again request his help against the returning Decepticon army, who defeated Starscream and carried the injured Seeker to safety. Burning Chrome

At the Autobot base, Thundercracker got medical attention from Wheeljack (and complained that he wasn't Ratchet). In exchange for his repairs, Optimus Prime wanted him to tell the Autobots where Megatron could have brought the recently injured Soundwave, but having had no contact with the main Decepticon force for years, Thundercracker couldn't tell him anything. Enemy Mine With his repairs done, Thundercracker left the Autobots' base, calling them "sentimental" for wanting to return to Cybertron and electing not to come with them. Prowl tried to stop him, but he only warned the Autobot against provoking him before flying off. Police Action: Prologue

He returned to his hideout to pack up his televisions and find a new place to live, only to be approached once again by Bumblebee, who was now looking for help with finding Decepticons currently on Earth. Thundercracker reminded the Autobot he had no contact with the other Decepticons anymore, wishing only to live in peace on Earth, and questioned his ability to lead the Autobots. When the subject of returning to Cybertron with a space bridge came up, he remembered that earlier Megatron had been grilling him about the time he and Bumblebee met Metroplex, suggesting that he was looking for a way to generate space bridges using his own body much like the titan. Thundercracker let Bumblebee have his records of Metroplex's space bridge radiation signature to follow up on this theory, but refused to get involved with the fight himself. The Question

In time, Cybertron was restored and its scattered populace began returning home, but Thundercracker elected to continue living on Earth. His absence from Cybertron was pointed out by Wheeljack when Starscream expressed interest in getting the Seekers back together; mentioning Thundercracker's name gave Wheeljack a flash of inspiration, and helped him realize that a series of recent explosions on Cybertron were reminiscent of ball lightning. Stick Together

A 'bot and his dog

As the years rolled by, Thundercracker's interest in TV shows evolved into a desire to become a scriptwriter himself. He got to work writing a screenplay about a human female named "Susan Journeyer" and her love interest "Josh Boyfriend" which was heavily inspired by his favourite show Nurse Whitney, but his attempts to write from a human perspective were... interesting. He came into contact with Earth Defense Command, who recognized his neutrality and provided him with a new hideout, a source of energon and a friendly dog named Buster, but eventually, they required something from him in return: when a group of Autobots returned to Earth for the first time in years, Thundercracker was to serve as bait to lure them into an ambush. Noting that Bumblebee wasn't among them, Thundercracker was a bit bummed to learn the Autobot had died, but this was overridden by the shock of hearing the war had ended with Megatron joining the Autobots. Hello Cruel World As the EDC and their new Decepticon allies ambushed the Autobots, Thundercracker stayed out of the line of fire, worrying over Buster. Detonation Boulevard He then accompanied—and annoyed—his EDC liaison Marissa Faireborn as she cleaned up the mess after the battle. Full Fathom Five

The EDC base on Bikini Atoll was next to be attacked by Autobots, so Thundercracker took Marissa there, though he refused to get too close to the battle out of worry for Buster. While escaping the destruction, he slipped and fell into a cavern where, to his horror, he discovered an EDC facility full of drone duplicates of his old comrades, Ramjet and Thrust. I Dream of Wires Alarmed, Thundercracker contacted Soundwave to learn more about the Decepticons' alliance with the EDC, but the meeting did not go very well; Soundwave inadvertently threatened Buster, getting things off on the wrong foot, and Thundercracker soon learned that he had no knowledge of the drones. Thundercracker agreed to think about Soundwave's offer to live on the new Decepticon commune the EDC was constructing for them around Jupiter, and gave his old comrade a copy of his screenplay as a parting gift. Vs.

Now aware that the EDC was secretly working towards their own ends, Thundercracker kept a vigil over their Bikini Atoll base, and did not have to wait long before the drone army was activated. ONoffON Unable to stop the drones' flight, Thundercracker entrusted Buster's safety to EDC scientist Sanjay Bharwaney and took off after them, radioing Soundwave for assistance. Angry to learn of the EDC's deception, Soundwave weighed his options; Thundercracker was able to convince him that if the drones made it across the ocean and reached land, the re-ignition of war between humanity and Cybertronians was inevitable, and that they needed to act to save Earth not for the humans, but in spite of them, so that it could be a world for the Decepticons as well. Soundwave reluctantly agreed, and easily cracked the control signal for the drones, deactivating them and letting them fall out of the sky... but warned Thundercracker not to contact him again. Not that that bothered Thundercracker much, as he happily reunited with Buster on the beaches of Bikini Atoll. The Obliterati

At some point, Thundercracker discovered Christmas and decided to write children's story about it. And he did. And despite the very best of Bogart and Se7en references, it remained on par with his other writing. The Thirteenth Day of Christmas

Thundercracker was still hanging around Bikini Atoll when the captive Spike Witwicky was brought in. Thundercracker felt he should be allowed to talk to the human, believing he could get him to open up since they had both acted heroically during Megatron's occupation of Earth years earlier, but Faireborn refused to allow it. Instead, Thundercracker passed the time by reading her, Bharwaney, and Jones his screenplay. The Nothing Man

Still looking for a chance to talk to Spike, Thundercracker grumbled that Blackrock got to see Spike and he didn't. TC complained to Buster that Blackrock seemed a little nuts. Lagrange When Buster and D.0.C. uncovered a secret room with captive Autobots under the Bikini Atoll base, Thundercracker "translated" for Buster that the Autobots weren't attacking the EDC, but had been prisoners. Helden As Galvatron betrayed, well, everyone, Thundercracker offered to stand beside the Autobots and EDC against the Decepticons. Perihelion He offered to fly straight to Shanghai to take part in the battle against Galvatron's forces, but was urged not to go by Marissa, who said she was afraid he would die and that she liked his stupid stories. Once the battle was over Optimus and his forces arrived at EDC Headquarters to rescue the Autobots there. Thundercracker and Marissa explained that it was the traitorous Blackrock, not the EDC who harmed Optimus's friends. Wanting to leave the EDC and its subterfuge behind, Thundercracker asked Optimus to put the past aside, and he was allowed to join with the Autobots in leaving Bikini Atoll. He took the Autobots to his old homestead, where they set up a new base of operations on Earth. Once Upon a Time on Earth

During the Autobots' global relief efforts, Thundercracker, Buster, and Kup provided tablets and internet access to poverty stricken Balkan villages. Edge of the Earth

Optimus took Thundercracker and Buster with him to Sanctuary Station to try and convince Soundwave and his group of Decepticons to join with the Autobots, where he was not received warmly by his former comrades. The Medium and the Message They arrived back at Monument Valley with Soundwave and his Decepticons in tow. After splitting up a fight between Buster and Bob, Thundercracker got into an argument with Sunstreaker, which had to be split up by Optimus. Thundercracker was among the combined Autobot and Decepticon force that rode in Sky Lynx to engage with Galvatron's group of Decepticons in the Indian Ocean. When Galvatron turned the Earth into a giant Enigma of Combination, Thundercracker was forcibly fused with Sky Lynx, Sunstreaker, Cosmos, and Slugslinger into Sky Reign (Thundercracker formed the left arm). It's Beginning To And Back Again Sky Reign, Galvatronus, and two Seeker combiners ganged up on Superion, until Superion was able to write the combination code into his brain and separate all the combiners. The now separated Thundercracker knocked Sunstreaker out of the way of a blast from the fleeing Galvatron's fusion cannon, getting his arm blown off in the process, and fired upon Astrotrain to try and prevent the Decepticons from escaping. As Above...So Below He regrouped with the Autobots while Cosmos and Arcee gave chase to Astrotrain and Galvatron. No Fair Fights He was later seen sitting on a raft with Sunstreaker and Slugslinger while the remaining Decepticons were being rounded up at the bottom of the ocean. White Light Once that was cleared up, he stood in a group shot while Soundwave gave an inspirational speech about the importance of Cybertronians being united. White Heat

Some time later, Joe Colton and Miles Mayhem discussed the initial infiltration of Earth by the Autobots and Decepticons (including Thundercracker), the search for Ore-13, and how Optimus Prime and the Autobots abandoned the planet to Megatron and the Decepticons (still including Thundercracker). Secret Raiders

Months later, he'd been given a new arm by Jetfire that incorporated a powerful cannon. He was in Philadelphia with Buster, Bob and D.0.C. helping people evacuate from a burning building before he got a distress call from Marissa Faireborn at the White House which had been infiltrated by aliens. When he arrived, the aliens had taken control of the Seeker clones. He managed to best one before the second forced him into the White House (crushing an alien in the process) before he and D.0.C. defeated it. When Marissa briefed him on the powers of the Wraiths he briefly geeked out about organics with abilities comparable to Cybertronians before he atomized one that was threatening Buster. Thundercracker led the charge into the situation room cutting through more Wraiths before the leader combined her magics with a sample of Ore-13 growing to Cybertronian size. Thundercracker forced her into the sky with the promise to throw her into the sun before she managed to tear his new arm off. As she fell boasting of her superiority Thundercracker warned her to be careful with her burning hands around the cannon's ammunition. She wasn't careful and wound up impaling herself on the Washington Monument. Thundercracker then attempted a quip before he reunited with his friends. He then realized his disconnect from Susan Journeyer was caused by his still being a Seeker regardless of his affiliations. Together with Buster, Thundercracker decided it was time to seek himself. ROAD TRIP! Thundercracker & Buster Save the World

Disaster artist

Thundercracker's world tour eventually took him, Marissa, and Buster to Egypt. While lounging against the Sphinx, Thundercracker received a call from Spike, asking if he would help G.I. Joe understand the cloaking field around the Junkions' ship. When Marissa asked who he was talking to, he told her that it was a wrong number, but after she'd gone away, Thundercracker agreed to help on one condition. A Lonely Pillar on the Plain As it turned out, this one condition was giving Marissa an invitation to join G.I. Joe. While she talked with Flint inside a cafe, Thundercracker sat outside with Chameleon and discussed his past with Marissa with her. As she brought up her past with Flint, Thundercracker commented on how "trope-y" it seemed and was later captivated by her own history- "the guy in a Hawaiian shirt" she mentioned being of particular interest to him. As Flint exited the cafe, Thundercracker excitedly started to tell him about his new screenplay based on Chameleon's story about Chuckles, but the irritated Joe wasn't interested and only wanted to know if he'd now provide the calculations on the Junkions' ship. Though Thundercracker was surprised to learn Flint was Marissa's father (and showed a lack of understanding of the human reproductive process), a stern look from Flint was enough to get him to agree. Behind My Bleeding Back

After Marissa declined the offer to join G.I.Joe, Thundercracker tried to get her to open up about her relationship with her father, to little avail. He tactfully suggested that Flint just wanted to spend time with her by asking her to join the team, and Marissa had second thoughts. The two caught up with Flint and Chameleon's aircraft, landing in Sicily for another try at conversation. As Flint and Marissa talked, Thundercracker shot the breeze with Chameleon again. Thundercracker seemed a bit taken aback when he overheard Marissa say that she accompanied him on their sightseeing tour only because she was afraid the Cybertronians would eventually destroy the world. Dance Among the Shadows After Sharkticon hordes were unleashed across the world by the Junkions, Thundercracker had to fend some off in Sicily. As the survivors departed, Marissa expressed her frustration at the constant battles she'd been involved in since the Cybertronians came to Earth, and hurt Thundercracker's feelings when she claimed all his kind knew how to do was destroy. Deciding they couldn't stay on the sidelines any longer, Marissa had Thundercracker fly them to the Matterhorn, where she presented a proposal to the President of the United States about the Junkion matter. A week later, Thundercracker was on-site at Earth Defense Command's old Bikini Atoll HQ where a refugee camp was being built for the Junkions, overseen by Marissa. Feel Safe Without Regrets Pyra Magna soon got on Thundercracker's case for spending his time playing with Buster instead of helping build the Junkion settlement, forcing Marissa to cover for her friend. The Next Day, and the Next

On the day that Earth was to officially join the Council of Worlds, Thundercracker complimented Marissa's outfit as she prepared to travel to Cybertron for the ceremony. He wished her well as she stepped through the space bridge portal, but panicked when the portal died and all communication from Cybertron ceased. Aileron calmed things down and asked Thundercracker to check in on Sanctuary Station to make sure the Decepticons aboard were all accounted for. Thundercracker wasn't exactly pleased with the implication that they, and therefore HE- couldn't be trusted. Primeless, Part 1 Nevertheless, he took Buster on a trip to the space station, admiring the view on the way there. Once aboard, he was warmly greeted by Cosmos and asked Sky-Byte if he had composed any new poems. Thundercracker then tried to find a place for Buster to relieve herself as Cosmos got him a headcount of those currently aboard Sanctuary. Primeless, Part 2

In his spare time, Thundercracker began working on his screenplay about Chuckles, envisioning a heroic story about the G.I.Joe undercover agent saving the world from Cobra. He was approached by Starscream, who was interested in employing Thundercracker's creative "talents" to make a biographical film about his life. Thundercracker eagerly accepted the job and was soon listening to Starscream recount his own history, albeit with an obvious bias. Deciding he needed some close outside sources to get a more accurate picture of Starscream's life, Thundercracker interviewed his fellow Seekers Dirge and Skywarp, each of whom painted a pointedly-negative picture of Starscream. Realizing that this was incompatible with Starscream's self-congratulatory accounts, Thundercracker consulted Alpha Trion for help on marrying the truth with myths and storytelling in general.

As production on the movie commenced, it quickly became apparent to those hired as actors and crew that Thundercracker had little practical idea of how to make a film. Proxima had to explain how cinematography and lighting worked to him, and Acid Storm complained about having to have his entire body painted every day to play the title role as Starscream. Thundercracker's rigid directing style and his constant rewrites of the script just before takes didn't help matters either. Production stalled and Thundercracker confided in Marissa that he was uncertain about how to reconcile the truth with Starscream's preferred narrative. He needed to keep Starscream happy so that the film would continue to be funded, but felt like he was selling out his creative vision by presenting an inaccurate picture of Cybertron's ruler to the public. Fearing he could never break into Hollywood by compromising himself, Thundercracker asked for Marissa's advice. Marissa put Thundercracker in contact with movie producer Richard Ruby, to whom he showed a rough cut of some of the more "talking heads" scenes that had been filmed. Ruby bluntly told Thundercracker that this kind of film would never make it in Hollywood, as the general human audience just wanted to see giant robots shooting each other- not historical drama. Thundercracker didn't care for the advice, but reasoned that as long as people were inspired by what they watched, the film could still work.

The latest round of spontaneous script rewrites were the last straw for Acid Storm, who dropped out of the production. Thundercracker decided to step into the role of Starscream himself for the remainder of the shoot (as well as playing Skywarp and himself), but the news just then broke that Starscream had confessed to a number of crimes and been imprisoned. Inspired by this turn of events, Thundercracker now had his ending for the film. After completing it, he visited Starscream in prison and showed him the final product. Starscream accepted it in seeming good humor, but pointed out it was irrelevant now that he was in jail. Thundercracker disagreed, standing behind his work, claiming the film would withstand the test of time. After giving the movie's crew some gift baskets for their hard work (Thundercracker ignored the question of actual payment now that their funding had been cut), he headed to Earth with Buster to deliver the finished film to Richard Ruby for distribution. However, the space bridge portal redirected him to the barren world of Prion, where some of Starscream's goons tried to kill him and prevent the film from seeing release. Thundercracker defeated them easily and eventually got to Earth, finding out that Richard Ruby had left a message for him upon his arrival.

Thundercracker discovered that Rumble and Frenzy had already made a Cybertronian action movie for human audiences and it had bombed hard in theaters. Ruby told Thundercracker that Cybertronian movies were probably D.O.A. on Earth now, and the best he could do was release the Starscream bio-pic on an obscure direct-to-digital platform. Accepting this, Thundercracker glumly decided he had been kidding himself about being a successful filmmaker and returned to Cybertron. Marissa attempted to console him, but was interrupted when Thundercracker received another phone call, this one from famed human director J.J. Hackensack. Having watched Thundercracker's movie, Hackensack saw more potential in Cybertronian cinema, and asked Thundercracker if he'd like to colloborate on something. His confidence restored, a giddy Thundercracker immediately responded in the affirmative. Starscream: The Movie

Breaking in

Now possessing the connections and clout to make his Chuckles movie into a reality, Thundercracker moved to Hollywood and got it properly written and filmed. He was in the middle of producing a final edit of it to send to J.J. Hackensack when Unicron appeared over the Earth. Thundercracker sprang into action, protecting those in his neighborhood from the destruction that Unicron's mere presence above the planet caused. A Sunrise Dark As he helped people evacuate a burning building, Thundercracker tried to call Marissa, but she was unable to talk at the moment. A plan was formed to destroy Unicron by using the Talisman and Thundercracker was contacted by Starscream to aid them in getting the alien artifact to the planet-eater's surface. Thundercracker first flew to Mount Rushmore to see Marissa one more time, leaving Buster with her in case he didn't return. He then flew into Earth's orbit with the Talisman to rendezvous with Starscream and Skywarp, being somewhat elated that the three of them were flying together again. Starscream and Skywarp were less thrilled to have him along, and the gravity of the situation didn't stop Thundercracker from being amused at the initials of the Decepticon Vengeance Division (D.V.D.) that barred their path to Unicron. Assembly

Unicron's Maximal minions began firing upon the approaching Seekers as Thundercracker unleashed sonic booms, heedless of whether they were effective in space or not. The oncoming fire directed at them grew too intense and Thundercracker was shot down, with Skywarp being forced to go to his aid to recover the Talisman. Surrounded by Maximals, Thundercracker was surprised to see Skywarp teleport in and take a strike meant for him. He threw the Talisman to Starscream, unwilling to abandon Skywarp and the two of them were soon completely overwhelmed by the Maximals. However, in the end, Thundercracker's sonic booms were able to keep their enemies at bay in close quarters, and he and Skywarp managed to survive the onslaught. With Unicron having been defeated, the pair returned to Earth and Thundercracker happily reunited with Buster and Marissa. Skywarp watched Thundercracker be embraced by his friends and incredulously admitted that his old comrade was still a true Seeker. In the aftermath, Thundercracker sat with the survivors and admired a bald eagle that perched on his finger. Ceremony

After "Last Laugh: The Life and Death of Chuckles" was released, it was nominated for an award for "Best Original Screenplay." Thundercracker and Buster attended the awards ceremony, with Thundercracker being nervous not just to hear if he had won, but also because his favorite actress Karen Fishook was the presenter. Having realized his dream at last, Thundercracker was overcome with emotion as Karen prepared to announce the winner. Post

Notes

• Thundercracker's profile in Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #3 notes that his outlier sonic powers are so mild that they may not qualify as a true outlier ability.
• In answer to fan speculation that Thundercracker, Skywarp, and the other Seekers would have been constructed cold (like Starscream), James Roberts gave a possible explanation for their outlier abilities (ostensibly unique to Forged Cybertronians) by suggesting that they were the eventual result of the Senate's attempts to artificially induce outlier abilities (first seen in issue #36 of More than Meets the Eye).^[1] However, these fan speculations were largely born out of the belief that Thundercracker and Skywarp's bodies always resembled Starscream; later stories would show this was not the case, and that the pair had been alive prior to the Senate's attempts to create artificial outliers.
• Despite joining the Autobots after Galvatron's insurgency, Thundercracker never dons the Autobot insignia nor does he formally identify as one. He does however remove the Decepticon insignias from his wings, choosing to identify as a neutral Cybertronian.
• In Infiltration, E. J. Su debuted Thundercracker in an original design as an F-22. For All Hail Megatron, Guido Guidi drew Thundercracker in his Masterpiece toy body as an F-15. This initially remained the case in The Transformers vol. 1 until Don Figueroa reverted Thundercracker to a stylized version of Su's F-22 body in issue #4.
• According to Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #3, Thundercracker is 30 feet tall and weighs 10 tons^[2] (the same as Skywarp).

References