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Thundercracker is the name given to several fictional characters in the Transformers Universes. Thundercracker is almost always depicted as a blue color Decepticon who turns into a jet fighter. In many different incarnations, Thundercracker is classified as one of the Seekers (Transformers).

Transformers - Generation One (1984)

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Thundercracker (Coup de Tonnerre in France, Vampiro in Italy) is one of the first Decepticon F-15 Eagles, along with Skywarp and Starscream released in 1984. Thundercracker's toy was originally from an older toyline called Diaclone which was created by Takara in the late 1970s.

NOTE: Due to what appears to be a mistake in production, the tech spec ratings for Skywarp and Starscream were seemingly swapped, since Starscream is described as the leader and fastest of the three jets in the text, yet the numbers show Skywarp as faster and having a higher ranking. Most accounts indicate that Thundercracker's tech specs were correct, however.

Action Masters (1991)

A repaint of Action Master Starscream with new accessories, this toy was only released in Europe. The color scheme does not resemble the original, and is considered garish by some. Thundercracker comes with a jet which he can ride or wear as armor when it is transformed. This version of Thundercracker does not appear in any official Transformers fiction.

Bio A mean-spirited, ruthless sky jockey who enjoys running his enemies into the ground. Contemptuous of anyone who can't fly. Engage the enemy in high-speed dogfights at maximum altitudes then power-dives straight down. Enjoys pulling up at the last second and sending his opponent into a crash landing. Plane equipped with special, duraflex metal construction that bends to accommodate excessive G-forces. Able to fly very fast at low altitudes, skimming across treetops and dodging obstacles with death-defying accuracy. Plane converts into high density, exo-suit battle armor, impervious to most armaments. Also armed with deafening sonic boom blaster.

Animated Series

Thundercracker was one of the first Decepticons to awaken on Earth in 1984. After laying dormant for four million years, he now shares the same Earthen appearance as Starscream and Skywarp and is usually allied with them during attacks.

In the year 2005, Thundercracker was present during the battle for Autobot City. With the defeat of their leader Megatron, the Decepticons were forced to retreat. However, there were too many Decepticons aboard their escape shuttle Astrotrain and Thundercracker was amongst those few Decepticons too weakened to put up a fight to stay on board. Being cast out into space, the damaged Decepticons drifted into the path of Unicron, and Thundercracker's body was used to create Scourge, one of Galvatron's new warriors.

Marvel Comics

In the Marvel comics series, Thundercracker was depicted as Starscream's lieutenant, or at least higher in rank than third Seeker Skywarp. According to his expanded Transformer's Universe biography, Thundercracker is unique among his fellow Decepticons in that he has a certain amount of pity for the humans they continually endanger or kill. He doesn't see the point of killing humans just to kill them as some of his fellows do, although he is very careful not to reveal this. No matter what small amount of sympathy Thundercracker feels for humans, his sense of self-preservation (and fear of what Megatron would do if he found out) outweighs it.

Dreamwave Comics

Thundercracker could always fly, even before joining the Decepticons. He was recruited as a Decepticon under the leadership of Megatron in his war against the Autobots on the planet Cybertron. Thundercracker became a member of the elite Seekers under Aerospace Commander Starscream. He often worked with fellow Seeker Skywarp.

Skywarp and Thundercracker launched an attack against the city of Altihex, where they killed the Autobot named Overhaul and routed Grimlock and his group of Autobots.

Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker attacked the city of Protihex under the orders of Megatron, but this time Grimlock launched a successful counterattack. If not for Skywarp's ability to teleport to safety, the Decepticons may have not escaped alive.

Because he was part of Megatron's loyal inner circle, Thundercracker was chosen as a member of the crew of the Nemesis when Megatron launched it to attack the Ark, an Autobot ship. Both ships fought, and after the Decepticons boarded the Ark, it crashed on the planet Earth. All on board were placed in emergency stasis lock for millions of years.

In the Earth year 1984, a volcanic explosion awakened the Ark. The Ark's computer, Teletran One, reformatted all on board to be able to assume the forms of Earth machines. Thundercracker, like Starscream and Skywarp, was given the form of an F-15 fighter jet.

Eventually the combined forces of the Autobots on Earth, and their human allies were able to capture the Decepticons. A ship called the Ark II was built to take the Cybertonians back to Cybertron, along with some human companions, but the ship exploded shortly after takeoff. The human allies were killed, but the Cybertonians were lost in the ocean, again in stasis lock.

After being awoken again Thundercracker and the other Decepticons on Earth returned to Cybertron with Shockwave.

Returning to Earth under the command of Starscream, Skywarp, Soundwave and Thundercracker were captured by the Autobots and locked in cells on board the Ark. They escaped when the Ark was attacked by Bruticus (Transformers: Generation One III #1).

Devil's Due Comics

In this reimagining of the Generation One story, the Ark was discovered by the terrorist Cobra organization, and all the Transformers inside were reformatted into Cobra vehicles remotely controlled by the Televipers. In this storyline Thundercracker turned into a Cobra Rattler jet (since both Skywarp and Thundercracker were blue Rattler jets, Thundercracker is supossed to be the blue-headed one).When the Transformers broke free Thundercracker would battle the Autobots. Thundercracker was not seen again, but it is likely he was deactivated with the rest of the Decepticons.

IDW Comics

After Dreamwave's closure, the rights to the Transformers comics were taken up by IDW publishing. They have begun to publish their own new material, including a miniseries called Infiltation featuring some of the Generation One Transformers. In Infiltration, Starscream is in command of a small group of Decepticons on Earth consisting of Skywarp, Thundercracker, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, and the Battlechargers Runabout and Runamuck. Starscream had discovered an ore on Earth that was the Transformer equivalent of steroids, making him bold enough to advance their infiltration phase ahead of schedule. However, it seems that humans have somehow obtained evidence of the Transformers' existence, which would derail Starscream's plans. Thundercracker has so far been seen chasing Ratchet to kill several humans who discovered the Decepticons' presence on Earth. When Megatron finally arrived at the Decepticons' base on Earth to destroy Starscream, Thundercracker was one of the four Decepticons (along with Runabout, Runamuck, and Astrotrain) who stood between Megatron and Starscream - and who promptly surrendered to him without a fight.

Thundercracker will likely reappear in the upcoming Transformers: Escalation. His alternate mode here is that of an F-22 Raptor, the successor to his original Gen 1 F-15 alternate jet mode.

Evolution

Thundercracker and the other Seekers will also apparently be major players in the mini-series Evolution: Hearts of Steel. According to early designs Starscream and the other Seekers will be reconfigured as Wright Brothers-esque early aircraft. http://idwpublishing.com/titles/transformers/hos.shtml

Machine Wars (1997)

His function is Rebel Warrior and his motto is "The best weapon is terror!"

Sharing the same mold as fellow Decepticon Skywarp, Thundercracker was a "flip-changer" jet where if the toy's nosecone was pressed down, the toy would automatically transform to robot mode. It is difficult to determine where the Machine Wars characters are placed within the overall Transformers storyline as there was no fictional material other than their tech specs. Machine Wars characters are usually considered alternate reality versions of the main G1 characters which was never expanded upon.

Tech Spec: Believes in the Decepticon cause, but remains rebellious among his own ranks. Contemptuous and cruel to anything that can't fly. Produces 200 mile radius sonic boom at excessive flight speeds. Uses terror tactics to strike fear in enemies, and panic among the innocent.

Transformers: Armada (2003)

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Armada Thundercracker is actually a Hasbro release of the Japanese Micron Legend toy Starscream Super Mode. This began a trend which was prominent during Transformers: Energon where Hasbro released toys that were repainted from another as a separate character with a different name even though the show depicted the repaint as an upgrade to the original character. This was because the show's creators did not like to use repainted toys as separate characters. To cement the character of Starscream as being separate from the toy character he now looked like, the American version of the show added a line of dialogue where Starscream remarked that "he looked like Thundercracker", implying an off-screen character that Starscream somehow knew. Thundercracker's Mini-Con is called Zapmaster who is a grey repaint of Starscream's Mini-Con.

Thundercracker's only fictional appearance was in a flashback scene in the Transformers: Energon comic #30 and #31.

Bio:

(From Dreamwave's More Than Meets The Eye)

Truly a rebel without a cause, the apathetic Thundercracker was an exceptional Decepticon warrior who wished for nothing more than to excel at his appointed task. Despite his constant attempts to win Megatron's favor, the bold aerial warrior eventually grew to resent his former leader and the cause for which he stood. Having abandoned the Decepticon ranks some time before the Earthen Conflict, Thundercracker dropped out of sight for so long that he was believed destroyed, but it's been ~ rumored that he may have set up a new base of operations within the portion of Cybertron's southern hemisphere known as the Wastelands. Several recent reports have also suggested that he has returned to Cyber City, serving in a mercenary capacity along with a currently unidentified Mini-Con accomplice. Without any hard evidence of Thunder cracker's continued existence, it's hard to substantiate such claims.

Thundercracker commands an extensive knowledge of a wide range of Cybertronian martial arts and combat techniques, having trained several of the Decepticon elite, including Starscream and ~. Thundercracker is also rumored to possess a fierce "warrior spirit" which allows him to perform nearly impossible feats of strength and endurance when properly motivated. Like Starscream, he can utili~e, his wing as a deadly Energon-powered blade in hand-to-hand combat.

Thundercracker's lack of motivation and susceptibility to apathetic thinking can lead to bouts of depression and self-doubt, which can adversely affect his battlefield abilities.

Transformers: Cybertron (2005)

Template:Transformers character Thundercracker, an off-screen mention in Transformers: Armada television series, finally makes his appearance on screen. Originally released alone, Thundercracker was later packaged with a Mini-Con partner as a Walmart exclusive but is unable to powerlinx with the Mini-Con. Although Armada Thundercracker did appear in the Dreamwave comics, he was portrayed very differently from the Cybertron character.

As a character, Thundercracker is a Deception highly distinguished for his love of battle. This excessive blood-lust affects the entire Deception group. What he lacks in skills, Megatron recognizes Thundercracker's talent for encourage the troupe's fighting spirit. He always has his sights on target in either robot or as F-type jet fighter.

When Galvatron needed the Decepticons to distract the Autobots while he used the power of the Cyber Planet Keys to control the Grand Black Hole, he used the power of the keys to turn Dark Crumplezone, Ransack, Thunderblast and Thundercracker into giants. After the fight the Decepticons returned to normal size.

After realising that Galvatron has no intentions of helping his minions escape the Black Hole disaster in the first place, Thundercracker and the remaining Decepticons abandoned their allegiance to Galvatron and considered themselves free.

When the Autobots attempted to use a gigantic rocket to move the Jungle Planet back into it's orbit, Galvatron attacked damaged the rocket. The Jungle Planet threatened to crash into Cybertron. The combined strength of Scourge, the Autobots, the former Decepticons (Dark Crumplezone, Ransack, Thunderblast and Thundercracker), and their allies from the various planets were able to combine their strength and move the rocket back into place.

After Galvatron's death, Thundercracker in an attempt to continue being active, allies himself with the Autobots by taking part in construction work on Earth. He wanted to be an Autobot and never lose. He was forced back to the Decepticon ranks by Thunderblast, Dark Crumplezone and Ransack, who self-declared themselves as the new Decepticon army.

The deluxe sized toy of Thundercracker was sold by itself in 2005, as well as packaged with the Mini-Con Downshift and a Tiny-Tin as a promotion at Walmart stores, then again packaged with the Autobot Crosswise as a Target exclusive. In 2006 a Micro sized Thundercracker toy was sold. The original deluxe sized Thundercracker was recolored into Cybertron Skywarp.

Takara Tech Spec: Thundercracker is distinguished for enjoying fighting more than getting regular daily refuelling. This excessive battle-fever affects the entire Destron force. While his skills are as yet unrefined, Master Megatron recognizes his ability to encourage others' fighting spirit. He is always sighting on targets, even while disguised as an Earthly jet fighter.

Hasbro Tech Spec: The loyal Decepticon works under the command of Starscream for the recovery of the Planet Key on Earth. Thundercracker believes that the most effective way to defeat an enemy is to terrorize and demoralize him before attacking. The mere sound of his focused sonic booms - audible for more than 200 miles - is enough to firghten many other Transformers.

Hasbro Key Content: Thundercracker is a goofball, and a practical joker. One time, he thought it would be funny to throw a surprise birthday party for Megatron. Little did he know that Optimus Prime in a battle had just beaten Megatron... Megatron got back to the base and Thundercracker came out yelling "SURPRISE!!!?" Megatron was not amused. Thundercracker ended up spending the next 5 hours cleaning the Energon-Goodie-Cake out of his joints...

Mini-Con Pack

A specialty of THUNDERCRACKER is creating fear among the enemy, and the chance to snatch DOWNSHIFT from the AUTOBOTS offered him a rare opportunity. Kidnapping the MINI-CON was a piece of cake, but he never counted on the speed of the tiny robot, or his willingness to help THUNDERCRACKER create chaos. The two have formed an uneasy partnership, dedicated to causing as much havoc as they can among the AUTOBOT forces on Earth.

Ground To Air Blast Pack

In 2006 a Target store exclusive 2 pack called the Ground To Air Blast Pack included Cybertron Crosswise and Thundercracker. The toys were identical to their original ones, and the front included a brief mention of how the Autobot Bounty Hunter was hunting the Decepticon criminal Thundercracker.

Tech Spec: When he's not under orders, THUNDERCRACKER cruises the skies, dropping bombs on any AUTOBOT he happens to see. It's sort of a hobby with him, and it keeps him out of trouble. Which is to say, it keeps MEGATRON from noticing him unless he's needed, and that's just fine. THUNDERCRACKER believes in the DECEPTICON movement, but MEGATRON has a habit of pummeling those closest to him, and THUNDERCRACKER is very happy with his currently pummel-free existence.

Transformers: Robot Masters (2005)

Thundercracker is a repaint of Robot Masters Starscream and was released in a package with Robot Masters Skywarp. Apart from his new chest missiles, he is the exact same character as his original appearance, only with a red stripe in his abdomen and more black in jet mode. Thundercracker did not appear in any Robot Masters fiction.

Transformers: Titanium (2006)

A new 6" Thundercracker toy based on his 'The War Within' design was unveiled on the 8th March by an internet store. A day later the pictures were taken down at the request of Hasbro. This version of Thundercracker seems to be based on his appearance in the Dreamwave War Within comics series.

THUNDERCRACKER was so named because of his unique sonic abilities. Even at low altitudes and speeds, he is able to force super-compressed air pulses through his engine intakes, giving him a burst of acceleration and generating a focused sonic boom that can shatter reinforced glass and deafen unprotected audio receptors. He is further able to modulate his sonic booms to affect the sensory response processors of enemy targets, causing panic and fear.

Recruited to the DECEPTICON® cause by MEGATRON® himself and assigned to the elite Seeker squadron under STARSCREAM®, THUNDERCRACKER proved himself to be a deadly and effective warrior, both on CYBERTRON and Earth. Working alongside fellow Seeker SKYWARP®, he attacked and destroyed the AUTOBOT® stronghold at Altihex, and nearly succeeded in destroying Protihex as well.

This toy was later repainted as a War Within Starscream.

A second Titanium Thundercracker, a 3 inch one based on his Generation form was released. This one is a repaint of the 3 inch Starscream.

Contemptuous of anything that cannot fly, THUNDERCRACKER delights in the terror of those he views as lesser beings. Very few things give him quite as much pleasure as watching through his crosshairs as his incendiary rounds chew up the Earth behind a fleeing ground target. Though he has his doubts about the DECEPTICON® cause, which can sometimes lead to him being less than totally dedicated to a mission, his passion for terror is unmatched. He is a tool that MEGATRON® uses often, and wisely.

• Action Masters
• Decepticons
• Seekers