Its a 3 way tie for me:

Movie SW should be recognized as a major villain in the films for all he has done (Human-Con alliance, Finding Megatron, etc).

He's one of the "quiet ones". 'nuff said.
And finaly...

I loved his role in animated, an independent stalker who doesn't take sh*t from anyone.

 

G1 and Prime tie for me i cant pick between the two g1 version actually talks but prime version is a bad ass

 

Personality (or lack thereof)/Characterization:
1.) TFP
2.) Bayformers
3.) Animated

Voice (or lack thereof):
1.) G1
2.) Bayformers
3.) TFP

Design:
1.) TFP
2.) DotM
3.) RotF

Overall, TFP Soundwave followed closely by Bayformers Soundwave.

 

I am a big fan of TFA... but G1 Soundwave is THE Soundwave.

 

G1 Soundwave.

 

Agreed, and the brand always has an issue with him. The original Soundwave is a critical part of the brand, but is very much bound up in the '80s. So he requires re-invention, and no two writers can decide how to do it.

This leads to odd cases. For instance, Movie Soundwave and Prime Soundwave both take inspiration from G1 Soundwave, but they take different bits from him and interpret things differently.

Movie Soundwave-
-Loyalty to Megatron
-Spy who hides in plain sight, or listens from miles away
-Brutal and effective warrior
-Sadistic (elaborated from G1 Soundwave's cold demeanor)
-Head antennae, light homage to visor and mouthplate in movie 2 only
-Minions

Prime Soundwave-
-Loyalty to Megatron
-"Blank" face (G1 had visor AND mouthplate) with vaguely triangular shape and head antennae
-Flight capability
-Aura of mystery (elaborated from G1's lack of emotion or backstory)
-Listens to everything for own use
-Function: Communications
-Minion

Same inspiration, but the characters appear almost totally different. One has eyes and a mouth and is thuggish, and the other has no features at all and hardly gets his claws dirty!

He also has a bit of "Megatron syndrome" in that, because the G1 alt mode is unacceptable, the writers over the years have tried everything under the sun.

Still. None of that takes away from other Soundwaves. I think the Prime one certainly has potential. But right now only G1 really expresses all that I like about the character. Animated went a little far afield in making him a robot revolutionary, though his alt mode was nice.

 

G1

 

The one with the cool voice.  

 

I like Prime's.

 

War For Cybertron. Next to Optimus my favorite character to play as. I really like the Prime version too but his skinny arms are kind of meh imo.