A part of the community says TFP Soundwave is the best version, but what, wtf? He didn't even have more than 1 line in the entire series, his design was awful, thin like that, and he loses for a lot of Soundwaves. Foc/wfc Soundwave? That beats him easily. Devastation Soundwave? That version was amazing! G1? Same. Idw comics? One of the best. Cyberverse? A pretty good one. Why do people overrate TFP's version so much?

 

I like the face screen part of his design, but it's too skinny for my tastes. Something like this I like more.


As for characterization, yes I agree IDW is the best one but I think what people like about Prime Soundwave is the sort of espionage aspect the show went for. Picking up signals, opening space bridges unexpected, stuff like that. At least that's how I see why people like him.
May also be the silent brooding type some people like, since he's the only Soundwave to be like that so far.

 

People also say Boba Fett is one of the greatest characters in the Star Wars original trilogy and endlessly whine about him becoming an actual character in the prequel era. Nerds prefer their characters and stories to be underdeveloped blank slates that they can project their own ideas onto. Look at how many shows and movies just dangle mystery boxes in the viewer's face, then Nerds obsess over theorizing what the story that isn't being told actually is and go on and on about what a brilliant show it is for the story and characters that aren't even in the show because they made it all up.

 

So do I, that's why I love this design

 

"Actions speak louder than words"

Subjective. For his characterization, it worked. A living shadow.

Him being the most effective of the Prime Decepticons certainly helped to bolster his profile. No bickering and bantering. He always operated with silent efficiency, and always got the job done. His silent treatment was creepy, and made him stand out.

 

Yeah, he has no personality, his design nothing look like Soundwave. He is a nameslap. I don't hate him, but I don't like him either. Hell, even Energon Starscream, which is a boring character, had more personality than TFP Soundwave.

 

I grew to like him. His design was different, which is nice. The screen for a face thing worked and helped him stand out.
Character wise, yeah, he's a nobody. No motivations, no goals, no sense of humor or anything. Shit sucked. But I think what made people like him was just from a matter of efficiency. Him being a walking groundbridge, his effectiveness (Or at the very least, perceived effectiveness, since the show made it a point to emphasize Soundwave's W's compared to the rest of the cons), and people just love the stoic silent type.

 

In the Transformers reddit people were saying TFP Soundwave had the best design, not even characterization, and I said otherwise and people fell downvoting me. And I wonder, how is that design even good? He's as similar to the original as movie Soundwave is, and the lack of similarity is one of the main hates in the movies, while TFP doesn't suffer it even changing some designs as much as the movies. And, saying you like TFP Soundwave is one thing, NOW saying it's the BEST? This person makes me think he/she only knows TFP Soundwave and movie version, bcs damn, IDW Soundwave had enough character and motivation to join the Autobots while keeping being a Decepticon, and TFP

 

Glad the thread mentions the character, cuz otherwise, I would have forgotten him. I mean, seriously, I always forget Soundwave existed in TFP. That's how memorable he was for me. Normally, I don't care about Soundwave since he is kinda overrated IMO, but the TFP version really is extremely overrated (like a lot of stuff in TFP).

 

Best design?? What? He looks nothing like Soundwa-- oh, Reddit.. I'm not surprised.

 

What?

 

The fact that, to this day, there's still outrage over deviations from G1 will always seem ridiculous to me. Expecting otherwise goes against years of Transformers history. Did RID01 Grimlock look anything like his G1 counterpart? Did Armada Megatron? Did Cybertron Megatron? Did Animated Prowl?

 

He certainly had a personality. Words aren't always needed to convey personality.

No Country for Old Men, the movie, is a great example of this. The antagonist Anton Chigurh barely says anything throughout the course of the movie. Instead we learn of his personality through his actions. His ruthlessness, his skill, his single minded determination towards his goal.

While RWBY is garbage, Neo is also an example of a character who is mute, but builds her character and personality through her actions.

One of Del Toro's goddamn best movies, "Shape of Water," is about a mute janitor who falls in love with a fish man. It's fantastic.

 

The difference is, they were good. But no one says those are the best versions of the characters. Now tfp? That souless empty thing is said by many to be the best. No one says the UT Megatron and Prowl animated were the best versions.

 

Even if he had a personality, it was almost nonexistent. All he did was stand like a statue.

 

He had as much personality as an AI. And I'm not talking about an AI like C3PO, bcs it certainly had more personality

 

I'm pretty sure they have their fans. Animated Prowl's ninja design is cooler and conveys more character than his G1 design. As for Soundwave, his G1 cartoon counterpart was always depicted as computer-like. This design simply takes that to a creepy extreme. Looking soulless is the point, while also adding a sleek, ninja-like aesthetic, to reflect his role as a spy and intelligence gatherer. I don't know if it's my personal favorite, but I understand why it's others'. It embodies Soundwave, at least his most typical portrayal.

 

I thought Prime sucked. I always said it was the worst of the three flagship Hub shows. But if that's what you saw then did you watch the same show I did....? Goddamn.

 

That just speaks to you as being bad at reading character, not that Prime Soundwave was a bad character.

Soundwave just radiates "I ain't got time for this shit" sass. While all the other Decepticons are off squabbling and in-fighting, Soundwave simply does the job. A ruthlessly efficient operative, what it might take the others three steps to achieve, he does in one.

 

making new lines that are legendary in their own right: inferior, making soundwave say the movie line for the 18th time: superior