Seriously, this is all over fic, but I have yet to see an example of it anywhere in anything official. Unless I'm missing something...?

 

It's cannon. He does it in some of the Marvel Comics.

 

So in other words, we're in for a "Soundwave can hear your dirty thoughts" meme?

 

Original text-specs, you don't get much more canon than that (except the first run of Beast Wars).

 

See this. It's his original, official bio:

Who's Who in the Transformers Universe

I'm not sure if the mind-reading thing applies only for him in relation to other robots, but considering human brain activity consists of electrical impulses, too, I presume it's equally applicable to reading human thoughts.

 

Ah, thanks for that link. I was searching through various websites but couldn't find anything.

 

Here are three examples from the UK comic:

 

I remember him trying to read Astoria's mind in The Girl Who Loved Powerglide, but it was empty.  

 

Hahahahahaah, I totally remember that now, and thinking how funny it'd be if he literally saw nothing, which is what happened.

This is why I love Transformers.

 

Still on the topic of fanon or canon, are there actual mentions of "high grade" energon, or is that just a term fans created for the kind of energon that'll get you slagfaced?

 

  I forgot about that, oh, that was brilliant  

Nothing mentioned as such, the closest is Ore 13 AKA Ultra Energon http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ultra-Energon

High grade energon is a fan term, rather than just fanon.

 

No, it's cannon. From tfwiki:

 

Yep:

 

Holy crap. They should have Soundwave read minds in Transformers: Prime.

 

How do you know that he hasn't done so already?

I mean, if your setting yourself out to be the galaxy's best snitch, you're gonna use every tool in your head to keep your methods hidden, methods hidden.

 

That was through use of an external device called the psycho-probe, though. He actually used his own mind-reading powers on Chip in "Roll For It".

 

It was also apparently planned for Megatron to use Soundwaves mind-reading ability to predict one of Primes moves during their duel in "Heavy Metal War".

 

I think if he was going to have any mind-reading abilities I'd like some kind of limits set on them. If he can just dip in and out of anyone's mind at will it would get boring real quick. And he'd have discovered the location of the Autobot's hidden base already.

Maybe he should only be able to read minds if he's in stasis mode. So then there's a certain vulnerability to the skill. He's not likely to shut himself down with the enemy around or in the middle of a firefight but could still use his ability if he had a prisoner secured in an environment where Soundwave can stasis himself in safety and 'tune into' their mind and read their thoughts.

 

Yeah, letting him godmode this shit would definitely ruin it for the show. I've always liked the idea of weaknesses involving being able to isolate whats actually being intercepted, and only getting glimpses of clarity.

Along with that, maybe his ability would work better at certain times than others, and be more or less prone to certain individuals? I know that none of these ideas are original per say, but they definitely seem more plausible than Soundwave just being lazy at certain times or whatever.

 

I'd just not want a freely mind-reading Soundwave to walk up to Megatron after encountering the Autobots and going "The Autobot base is here, these are the security codes, here's Ratchet's working formula for synthetic energon, this is where Bumblebee hid that powerful mcguffin, Bulkhead sniffs fembot chassis parts - after Wheeljack has worn them, Arcee is actually a tiny alien driving her robot body from a little chair in her head, and Optimus is allergic to salmon and poetry. Oh, and your bank account pin number is 7479, Megatron, and you left your lost car keys in your other pants pocket".