Thunderwing is aDecepticon from theGeneration 1continuity family.

And we are dutifully impressed.

In a better world,Thunderwing would be the ideal Decepticon leader. He's fearless, ruthless, and immensely powerful, while uncommonly concerned about the welfare of his fellow Decepticons. For this mindset, Thunderwing gets a high approval rating from his peers, but, sadly, this is not the whole story.

Thunderwing's vice is, simply, obsession. When his mind sets its sights on a who or what that furthers his goals, he will stop at nothing to achieve victory. Slowly but surely, his esteem for his colleagues is replaced by single-mindedness, until finally Thunderwing awakens from his haze, potentially victorious, but either abandoned or surrounded by the bodies of the few friends who tried valiantly to snap him out of it. In these dark moments, the usually noble Thunderwing is as deceitful and two-faced as any halfwit Decepticon.

But whattruly separates Thunderwing from the rest is his sheer power. HisPretender shell is likely the most powerful ever built, and it forms impenetrable armor around his robot body. Every inch is covered in weaponry, from the electrostatic guns in his shoulders, to the hoses in his chest that emit dangerous gases, to even the rarely-used metal-eating laser beam that fires out of his forehead. In addition to this built-in arsenal, he carries around his signaturecyclone cannon, the power of which is increased 50% by the powerpack his shell houses on its back. In jet mode, Thunderwing can unleash a never-ending torrent of plasma charges.

Because of all this, Thunderwing is almost always successful in hunting down his obsessions, though at regrettable costs.

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

MarvelThe Transformers comics

No, my visual appearance is not acontinuity error. Why do you ask?

A handful of Transformers are born with a natural affinity to theCreation Matrix. Though these special few are usually Autobots, Thunderwing was an exception. Thunderwing felt that the Matrix called to him, and believed that he would become the first Decepticon to possess it.Deadly Obsession

Thunderwing is a Pretender? The hell you say!

Early on in the war, he served atFort Scyk. He became a protege of Fort commanderMegadeath, who saw and encouraged the burning ambition within the lad, grooming Thunderwing as an asset and potential general for when he'd make a bid for leadership. For his part, Thunderwing thought Megadeath was utterly mental but also that he'd be his ticket to the top. When theMagnificent Six were holed up in theneutral town ofYuss, it was Thunderwing who broke the siege by destroying the town'sAmpodrome with athermo-charge, which was instrumental in turning the neutralists against their would-be saviours. He later soured on Megadeath when he viciously tortured the Magnificent Six, which Thunderwing felt was ill-fitting for such valiant enemies, and then Megadeath let himself and the whole ofStanix get nuked to slaganyway.The Magnificent Six!

Four million years later, a vacuum inDecepticon High Command allowed a driven Thunderwing to rise quickly from relative obscurity to a command position in the ranks. Thunderwing oversaw an operation that lured theBattle Patrol into a Decepticon facility in order to capture them and stealMicromaster technology from the Autobots. TheRace Car andOff Road Patrols staged a successful rescue operation but failed to stop the Decepticons from making their own Micromasters.A Small War!

Fourteen months later, to test of his readiness to takeover leadership of the Decepticons, Thunderwing was given a hunting mission: Three Autobot prisoners were released on Earth, and Thunderwing was charged with chasing down and executing them on his own. WhilePlayback andHorsepower did fall before his cyclone cannon, the last runner,Hosehead, was saved by his fellow AutobotsNightbeat andSiren. TheHeadmasters exploded the fuel core in Playback's corpse at close range to Thunderwing, nearly cooking him alive inside his own impenetrablePretender shell. Shrieking in agony, Thunderwing plunged into the nearby surf.The Big Shutdown!

This is exactly how cable news pundits are hired.

Thunderwing eventually rose from the waters, his still-cooling shell juxtaposed with the growing intensity of his rage at being beaten. Thunderwing lashed out at everything around him and very nearly destroyed a ship of his fellow Decepticons who had been sent to find him. As a duly appointed officer of theDecepticon High Council,Ruckus was sent to inform Thunderwing that his bid for leadership was not being rejected outright, but was still under review, and the Councilors had asked that he return to Cybertron. Instead, Thunderwing violently conscripted Ruckus and his team into joining him for an assault on theArk in order to get revenge on Hosehead and his ilk.Rage!Thunderwing single-handedly blasted his way into the Ark and confrontedOptimus Prime directly before Ruckus convinced him to save the fight for another day. Returning to Cybertron, Thunderwing was surprised to learn that the Decepticon High Council was impressed by his initiative and the strength of his vendetta, and so granted him full leadership of the Decepticons of Cybertron.Assault on the Ark!

One of Thunderwing's first actions on taking over Decepticon leadership was to abolishneutral territories, making places such asMaccadam's Old Oil House Decepticon-only establishments.Out to Lunch! Despite these movements, Lord Thunderwing became displeased with the growing success of the newly rebuiltJazz,Grimlock, andBumblebee and their raiding ofDecepticon fuel and ammunition depositories. Fearing the Autobot resistance movement was gaining momentum, he orderedBludgeon,Octopunch, andStranglehold, theMayhem Attack Squad, to find and kill the Autobot Pretenders.Yesterday's Heroes!

This is probably the closest look we'll get at Thunderwing's unpublished character model.José Delbo was a copier.

When the Mayhem Attack Squad failed, Thunderwing became curious when teams of Autobots were subsequently ordered to search an area of space. Trailing a team onPz-Zazz which included(again) Nightbeat, Hosehead, and Siren, he waited until the right moment to blast and capture them.Bird of Prey! As Thunderwing's Decepticons began trailing another team of Autobots onCheyne (Backstreet,Dogfight, andOverride), he subjected the captured first group to hisMind Leech machine. He learned from these torture sessions that the Autobots were scouring the universe for the lost Creation Matrix. Unfortunately, the second group was no closer to finding the Matrix either, and he left them to their own devices.Kings of the Wild Frontier. His obsession with finding the Creation Matrix caused some concerns for the Decepticons under his command, and he even began attacking his own troops when accused of taking his personal quest too far. These outbursts began coming to a head when he found traces of Matrix energy in asea monster onPequod. Ruckus made the mistake of questioning his leader's growing obsession, and Thunderwing backhanded him into some equipment (unknowingly shorting out the Mind Leech which held their captive Autobots immobile). While his troops battled the Autobots searching there, he used his affinity for the Matrix to mind-link with the sea monster. Discovering that the Matrix was onCameron's third moon,VsQs, he abandoned the battle, much to the growing frustration of his troops.Deadly Obsession

We arepower incarnate! We areunstoppable! We are areally short Deluxe Class toy!

As it happened, between the revival of the Klud and the arrival of Thunderwing, the Creation Matrix had become warped. Thunderwing fought intensely with Bumblebee, Jazz, and Grimlock on VsQs, and they were overwhelmed not only by his vastly superior might, but by the strength of his desire to possess the Matrix. However, he and his troops were subdued by aMatrixspawn, a darkly-evolved creature contaminated by the Matrix, allowing Bumblebee and the other Autobots to grab the Matrix and head for their ship.Dark Creation The Autobots were low on fuel however, and struggling against the moon's high gravity. Thunderwing overtook them with ease, snatched away the Matrix, and stole their shuttle.All Fall Down Thus, when the Autobots allowed their shuttlecraft to board the Ark, it was Thunderwing who emerged, in full possession of the Creation Matrix, enshrouded in its energies.Dark Creation

On board the Ark, Thunderwing savagely beat Optimus Prime, the latter of whom was afraid to return the violence in kind, in fear that the Matrix would be destroyed and their race would be doomed against Unicron. Waves of Autobots stormed against Thunderwing, ending inLandmine and others being killed or critically wounded. Quickly, the increasingly-evil Matrix took over Thunderwing, overpowering his thoughts and controlling his actions. After turning his power on his own troops, he had one final moment of clarity at what he had become, but it was too late. He was consumed. Nightbeat, Siren, and Hosehead, who Thunderwing had captured earlier, had escaped their constraints, and after releasing the bay doors, harpooned Thunderwing to the shuttlecraft. The shuttle self-destructed and Thunderwing and the Creation Matrix were seemingly lost, out in the void of space.All Fall Down

Optimus Prime would later refer to Thunderwing (and the lost Matrix) in his pitch toScorponok for an alliance againstUnicron.Surrender!

Thunderwing displays that, yes, he has an alternate mode just before showing up to die again.

The Matrix, however, was made of sterner stuff, and after some time reactivated alongside Thunderwing's body and the Autobot shuttlecraft on the surface of a planet.Out of Time! As time passed, and though only the "barest spark of life remained", it healed Thunderwing's body, eventually allowing it to transform and escape. It (they) now hungered for revenge!The Void!

Thunderwing, completely controlled by the Creation Matrix, arrived on Cybertron just as Unicron had attacked. Through Thunderwing, the Matrix continued to manifest as a frightening demon, which blasted Unicron and buried its tendrils within him. Though Unicron was momentarily stunned, once the Matrix revealed that it was now attempting to be a force of Evil, Unicron ripped the manifestation apart. Unicron has no equal in the arena of evil. Thunderwing's body fell in tatters, and the Matrix casing dropped to the planet below.On the Edge of Extinction!

Transformers Comic-Magazin

Emerging from a dimensional bridge that linkedEarth to parallel worlds and times, Thunderwing attackedVroom andCrossblades.Headmaster of the Dimensions Later, this Thunderwing or another Thunderwing trailed a nuclear submarine in preparation for the Decepticons stealing itsplutonium rods.The Energon Trap

United

Thunderwing was so disappointed he laterpainted his arms gray.

Thunderwing originated from another universe, where he was said to have possessed the Matrix and nearly defeated the Autobots.United Thunderwing bio

As Decepticon leader, Thunderwing had anano-virus released that afflicted most Autobots save those withNebulan partners, tricking them to go toNebulos for an anti-virus so they could be ambushed and their partners taken! His minionStraxus botched the mission though. Thunderwing chewed him out and decided he needed to take a more active role...The Fierce Fighting on Planet Nebulos

Transformers '84

AfterMegatron was lost aboard theArk, Thunderwing,Straxus, andScorponok formed an alliance to wipe out the remaining Autobots on Cybertron. There was a degree of contentiousness between the three about divvying up personal territories, and Thunderwing raised the question of what would happen if Megatron were to return—a possibility that Straxus readily dismissed.Secrets & Lies #3

Regeneration One

At some point following the battle with Unicron, Thunderwing's remains were recovered and interred in theHall of Silence on Cybertron. Twenty-one years later, Optimus Prime departed Cybertron, bound for Earth to end the threat of Megatron.Loose Ends, Part 3Soundwave seized this opportunity to attack the Hall of Silence to steal what was left of Thunderwing for Bludgeon, and to gain control of the residual Matrix energy stored in his corpse.Loose Ends, Part 4 Soundwave reached the remains, and used the emergency destruct charges triggered byHot Rod in the event of a break-in to cover his teleportation escape.Natural Selection, Part One

Rendezvousing at Bludgeon'sWarworld, Soundwave provided the Pretender what he needed to augment hisBlitz Engines before the attack on Cybertron.Destiny, Part One When the Autobots fought back, that last remnants of Thunderwing and the Matrix energy were seemingly lost with theWarworld.Destiny, Part Five

DreamwaveArmada continuity

They weren't even trying to color me right!

Ask Vector Prime

Thunderwing was the most recent addition to a crew of dimension-travelingHeralds ofUnicron. He was addicted toDark Energon, and the prospect of an endless supply ofangolmois energy was enough to convince him to join. He went toAurex 402.24 Gamma with the other heralds when his home universe was destroyed.Ask Vector Prime, 19/09/2015

DreamwaveArmada comic

Thunderwing, along withScourge,Bludgeon,Dirge, andGalvatron, was sent to prepareanother universe for Unicron's arrival. Porting intoDecepticon Command Headquarters onCybertron, Galvatron left Thunderwing and the others on Cybertron to accomplish their task.Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 Though they destroyed all of the Decepticons in their headquarters and established a network ofspace bridge portals, this universe'sMegatron was not amongst their victims.Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4

Traveling to Earth's Decepticon headquarters (but leaving Bludgeon behind on Cybertron to guard the portal), they found it momentarily abandoned, so Thunderwing suggested they hunt down this universe'sThrust to learn Megatron's location.Worlds Collide, Part 3 of 4 However, Thrust knew nothing, and they quickly returned to Decepticon Earth headquarters when Thunderwing detected that their space bridge nexus on Cybertron had been breached. Ultimately, Thunderwing and the other servants of Unicron were destroyed when this universe'sJetfire detonated a bomb in Cybertron's Decepticon Command Headquarters, incinerating them all.Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance:Transformers: Stormbringer #1

Moral of Stormbringer: Pretendersruined Transformers.

Before the war, Thunderwing, being both a flyer and a scientist, was an inspiration to a youngJetfire. After Jetfire joined the Decepticons and actually MET Thunderwing in person, he realized the guy was a nut.What It's Really Like

During the height of the Autobot-Decepticon war, Thunderwing alerted both sides to the damage that the ongoing conflict was doing toCybertron and the resultant danger of an impending catastrophic event. According toBludgeon, his warnings were ignored, even by Jetfire.

Y'know, Thunderwing, Al Gore was content with just making a slide show.

Subsequently, Thunderwing took action on his own, subjecting himself to a "polydermal grafting" process of his own design, one that had previously been summarily rejected byMegatron as "unnatural" and "ill-conceived". This process of grafting tissue culled from living subjects onto a Transformer to create an armored symbiotic carapace made him nearly invulnerable but drove him insane. Thunderwing's subsequent rampage inadvertently made him the avatar of the very apocalypse he had warned against and the combined might of the Autobots and Decepticons couldn't stop him. In the end, he was seemingly swallowed whole by Cybertron itself, leaving the planet completely uninhabitable in the aftermath.Stormbringer #1

An indeterminate time later, Bludgeon—who had been assigned by Megatron to dig into the missingShockwave's research—discovered Thunderwing's resting place. Bludgeon and the Decepticons serving under him decided to continue where Thunderwing left off,Spotlight: Soundwave and in the present day completed their project using a combination of "Ultra-Energon" (culled from Shockwave's research) and a set of imprinted commands.Stormbringer #2 Thunderwing was thus resurrected and immediately departed forNebulos, following Bludgeon's plans to sacrifice that world to somehow restore Cybertron. There, Thunderwing was engaged by the local Decepticon Infiltration team, which did not want to see Nebulos completely destroyed. Thunderwing totaledCrankcase,Ruckus,Skullcruncher, andRoadgrabber, and the survivors (Dreadwind,Darkwing, andThrust) abandoned the planet. However, after the destruction of Bludgeon'saxis cradle, Thunderwing changed course—back towards Cybertron.Stormbringer #3

There, he was attacked byOptimus Prime, theWreckers, thePredacons, and reprogrammedCenturion drones. Jetfire revealed that enough punishment would eventually cause Thunderwing to drain most of hisenergon reserves. However, Thunderwing revealed a third "Ultra" robot configuration. Thanks to the Wreckers, the Decepticons, the instability of Ultra Energon, and a speech/salvo combination from Optimus Prime, he was stopped dead in his tracks. His inanimate form was taken into custody by theAutobots.Stormbringer #4

"Ultra mode" puts all that wing kibble to use!

Galvatron would later steal Thunderwing's body fromHound's detail of Autobots, in service ofhis master in theDead Universe.Spotlight: Galvatron Since the Dead Universe Transformers can only spend a limited amount of time in the land of the living, they programmed Thunderwing to guard the cave entrance to theNega-Core on planetCorata-Vaz. He easily batted away Hound's crew andUltra Magnus, but did not pursue them, as his programming seemed to keep him on a leash that only included the cave entrance. It did, however, allowCyclonus the time he needed to escape.Spotlight: Cyclonus

TheWreckers later attempted to penetrate Thunderwing's defenses and reach the Nega-Core, but apparently had no more success than Ultra Magnus and company.Spotlight: Hardhead Jetfire came up with the idea to try and take control of Thunderwing using Bludgeon's (apparently repaired) control harness. This alertedJhiaxus, who activated Bludgeon (now under his control) to put a stop to it.Spotlight: Doubledealer While Jetfire managed to halt Thunderwing in his tracks for a brief time, a visit from the Jhiaxus-controlled Bludgeon forced Jetfire to focus on other, more pressing issues. While the Wreckers were successful in disabling the Nega-Core, Thunderwing once again began to advance on them. All of the Wreckers survived the experience, so Thunderwing was presumably disabled along with the other guardians when Jhiaxus was defeated.Spotlight: Sideswipe

Thunderwing's attacks had leftCrankcase with a notable head wound.Rules of Disengagement The Decepticon often spoke about Thunderwing onThe Big Conversation which caused some confusion (and a healthy dose of panic) when theDire Wraith known as "CONS4EVA" adopted Thunderwing's form to meet Crankcase.Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!

Wings Universe

Thunderwing was captured by theCombaticons after being cornered and making an unsuccessful attempt to defend himself with what turned out to be a dud bomb.The Coming Storm: Part 3

Kre-O online comic

Thunderwing was among the Decepticons that invadedMetroplex.Two Giant Bases! Everybody Getting Along, Come On, Fight!

Of Masters and Mayhem

Seeking ultimate power, Thunderwing experimented on himself, managing to turn hisspark green.Shockwave learned of this, had Thunderwing imprisoned and removed the spark, placing it in a special container and creating theMatrix of Malice. The Matrix of Malice became the core ofThunder Mayhem, a monstrously powerfulcombiner formed from theMayhem Attack Squad that wore Thunderwing's visage. Thunder Mayhem rampaged across the universe, proving near-unstoppable and reducing the Cybertronian race to only a handful of survivors.Deadly Aim

Beast Wars: Uprising

Some time after theScouring of Nebulos saw theGreat War restricted to ahandful of planets, Thunderwing succeededOverlord as Decepticon leader, becoming known to future generations as the Last Decepticon Emperor.Not All MegatronsDerailment He led an expedition toArtemis in search of theUnderbase. His quest proved successful–thus empowered by the artifact, he fused his sparks with those of theMayhem Attack Squad and wreaked havoc across Cybertron, killing theWreckers.Not All Megatrons Around this time, he oversaw advances in military science, developing theMicromaster upgrade onCyberdroid volunteers such asCaliburnDerailment as well as a method of weaponizingTargetmasters' links with their partners' sparks to drain Cybertronians of life merely through presence.Trigger Warnings Thunderwing eventually uploaded himself into theGrand Mal; the floating fortress was only brought down after the Autobots and Decepticons teamed up to bring down their mutual enemy. Thunderwing died when the battle station crash-landed, but the Autobot-Decepticon alliance paved the way for the rise of the pan-factionalBuilder Assembly.Not All Megatrons

Prime Wars Trilogy marketing material

TheTitan Master Thunderwing granted those he bonded with the ability ofultimate power boost.Trypticon's Titan Master Crunch Thunderwing participated in a Decepticon mission on Cybertron alongsidePounce andTidal Wave.Siege on Cybertron

Thunderwing was a potential bearer of the Matrix of Leadership. As a force for chaos, Thunderwing planned to unleash the unknown powers within the Matrix using its connection to his uniquespark. Instead, the Matrix went toOptimus Primal.Power of the Primes fan poll

Precursor World

AWarrior of the Seven Lights resembling Thunderwing^[1] was a leader of theWhite Order of thePrimus Vanguard. He passed away and was memorialized with a hologram at theIvory Towers.Finale Prelude

ASpecter would later take on his visage.Blue Big Convoy comic

2019 IDW continuity

Can't figure out how to do theVulcan salute.

During the era ofExpansion, Thunderwing was a famed fleet commander and at the forefront of the movement, gathering resources to fuel the ever-growing Cybertronian race. After the Expansion had been halted, Thunderwing was consigned to the distant asteroid colonyHexagon as its administrator. Stewing in his perceived "retirement" and theSenate's curtailing of his lofty ambitions, Thunderwing waited for the day he could again ascend to prominence. Upon receiving word of the rise of theDecepticon movement on Cybertron, he began hiring various mercenaries and malcontents likeBludgeon,Ramjet,Dirge, andThrust under the pretense of increasing security for Hexagon. Thunderwing also secretly sheltered and allowedAirachnid's unholy experiments in creating synthetic versions of theArtifacts of the Primes.

WhenVigilem docked at Hexagon and Thunderwing heard of the Senate's dissolution, he saw an opportunity to ingratiate himself with the new Decepticon regime by repairing the fugitiveTitan. TheTechnobots soon arrived at Hexagon aboardLodestar, seeking to apprehend Vigilem in the name ofColonial Security. Thunderwing held an audience with them and played dumb in regards to the Titan's crimes and what was occurring on Cybertron. The Technobots' suspicions were sparked by Thunderwing's choice in employees and his attempts to divert them, and a battle soon broke out on Hexagon. Intending to have the intruders killed, Thunderwing revealed the full scope of his plans, but the Technobots accidentally fell into Airachnid's experimentalCombination Core, which forcibly merged them intoComputron. Furious at this turn of events, Thunderwing jettisoned the entire section of Hexagon that Computron was in out into space. Vigilem was soon thereafter destroyed by Lodestar, further stymying Thunderwing's ambitions.Light/Star

Games

Transformers Legends

During the Great War, Thunderwing almost destroyedCybertron, but was defeated and placed in a state of dormancy. Years later,Bludgeon came up with a plan to revive Thunderwing and destroy the Autobots once and for all. TheWreckers traveled to Cybertron in an attempt to stop Bludgeon andDarkwing, but failed. Both the Autobots and Decepticons were forced to cooperate as Thunderwing proved uncontrollable, and they eventually wore him down until he ran out ofUltra Energon.Stormbringer

Sometime later, Thunderwing had become more amenable. He,Axer, andStraxus accompaniedNemesis Prime on a mission to defeat Nemesis's former self, Nova Prime.Prime Evil He led a team of Decepticons includingBanzai-Tron and Bludgeon in a raid on an AutobotSun-Farming facility. Despite the Autobots putting up more resistance than expected, Thunderwing and his men triumphed, conquering the facility and sending the Autobots packing.Revelation

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Not so menacing when you are asuper deformer, uh?

Thunderwing participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was an Uncommon character who could be recruited after collecting 120 units of Cybermetal, and 56 units of Transmetal.Transformers: Battle Tactics

Toys

The Transformers

You passed this up when you saw it in the stores. ThenFurman had to come along.

• Thunderwing (Mega Pretender,1989)

• Accessories: Pretender shell, 2 "heat-seeking laser blasters", "cyclone cannon"
• Known designers:Kōjin Ōno (TakaraTomy),Masakatsu Saito (concept artist),Richard Marcej (packaging),Hidetsugu Yoshioka (packaging artist)

Thunderwing's inner robot transforms into a rather simple Cybertronic shuttlecraft. HisPretender shell also transforms into a starship mode of its own. The inner vehicle can be attached underneath the nose of the larger vehicle to create a combined starship mode. The inner robot is relatively generic in appearance (as with most Pretenders) while his outer Pretender shell resembles an alien warrior with Japaneseoni influences. The inner robot carries a small "cyclone cannon" laser, while the shell is armed with two large laser blasters. All three of his guns can be mounted on his shell's vehicle mode. The large laser blasters can be mounted on the jet two different ways, either perpendicular or parallel to the wing undersides.

Unlike fellow Mega PretendersCrossblades orVroom, parts do not need to be removed and rearranged in order for Thunderwing to achieve any of his modes.

As the caption at right wryly notes, the prices for Thunderwing on the secondary market increased due to his use in fiction, as a result of something this wiki terms the "Bludgeon effect".

This mold wasretooled to makeBlack Shadow.

• More information on Thunderwing at TFU.info
• Instruction booklet for Thunderwing at Botchthecrab.com

Generations

Matrix obsession sold separately.

• Thunderwing (Deluxe Class,2010)

• Accessories: 2 missile launchers, 2 missiles, recon drone
• Known designers:Joe Kyde (Hasbro),Takashi Kunihiro (TakaraTomy),Andrew Scribner (deco artist)

Part of the fifth wave ofGenerations Deluxe Class toys, Thunderwing's alternate mode is a fighter jet loosely based on anF-22 Raptor, with different wings but retaining the F-22's characteristic zigzag patterns sculpted on the hull. He transforms into a robot that looks like the original Thunderwing toy's Pretender shell. The nose of the jet can detach and become a separate aerial drone, an homage to the vehicle mode of the original toy's inner robot. The two missile launchers can detach from the wings and become handheld weapons or clip together into one massive gun. The middle section of the sculpted missiles on the sides of the guns are also compatible withC joint accessories. Thunderwing's colors seem to be inspired by his color scheme in the latter end of the Marvel run, considering his green arms. There is also an homage toDon Figueroa's design inStormbringer with Thunderwing's face and feet.

AtBotCon 2010, theHasbro design team noted that they had wanted to make the aerial drone unit transform into a robot but were unable to do so (presumably for budget reasons).

The toy is slightly mistransformed in packaging, with the chest section that conceals his head in jet mode in its robot mode position.

This sculpt was retooled to makeGenerationsSky Shadow andAdventureBlack Shadow as well asBotCon 2012Metalhawk. Thunderwing'sinstructions initially depicted him with Sky Shadow's head and chest. Arunning change version of the instructions depicts Thunderwing's own head, but keeps Sky Shadow's chest unchanged.

• More information onGenerations Thunderwing at TFU.info

United

Sometimes Hasbro beats Takara to media accuracy.

• Thunderwing (Deluxe Class,January 28,2012)

• ID number:UN-26
• Accessories: 2 missile launchers, 2 missiles, recon drone

TheUnited release of Thunderwing decos his robot mode to approximate the colors of the original toy rather than his Marvel appearances. It achieves this by changing the green plastic on his arms for gray and the green plastic on his thighs and waist side armor for black plastic. The clear orange plastic is now a clear cherry red, the light green and dark green paint is a hi-gloss forest green, and the blue paint is slightly darker. His light gray plastic is now a cream color. Last but not least the purple plastic is a very light purple on this release.

The soft-plastic spikes onUnited Thunderwing's arms are much softer than either hisGenerations counterpart or Sky Shadow's.

Like the 5th and 6th wave figures, Thunderwing's package feature a sticker that said "limited quantity (数量限定)", indicating that this figure is released in limited numbers after its first and only shipment.

Titans Return

Evil cute little robot but still dangerous.

• Siege on Cybertron (Multi-pack,2017)

Titans Return Thunderwing is a retool ofTitan MasterFangry, with a new die-cast metal head mode face based on Thunderwing's Pretender Shell face, and a torso shared with Titan MasterRodimus Prime. The robot mode face is based onDon Figueroa'sStormbringer design.

Thunderwing was only available as part of the "Siege of Cybertron" set, which also includesMagnus Prime &Ginrai,Fathom &Tidal Wave,Professor Go &Metalhawk, andDecepticon Pounce. In the United States, this set was exclusive toBigBadToyStore, but it saw a wider release in Canada where it was available atToys"R"Us,Amazon, the CanadianWalmart online store, book store chain Indigo and several PC retailers (seriously!). Additionally, it was also available at retail in Hong Kong and Singapore and even saw an official in the Netherlands, where it was exclusively available from BOL.

This sculpt was also used to makeUltra Magnus andScorponok.

Merchandise

Transformers Character Card

• Crossblades & Thunderwing Set (August 29,2022)
  • ID number:23 & 24

Released as part of the fourth wave of thee-HOBBY exclusiveTransformers Character Card series, this pair of holographic trading cards depict super-deformed art of Thunderwing andCrossblades along withcharacter profiles andtech specs.

• Translation of Thunderwing's Transformers Character Card

Rubber strap series

• Vroom & Crossblades & Thunderwing Set (June2023)

Released as part of the second wave of ane-HOBBY exclusive series, this trio of rubber keychains depict super-deformed art ofVroom,Crossblades, and Thunderwing.

Notes

Like that cannon he always carries around? Too bad, the toy ain't got it.

Also available in Violent Violet.

• According to the Marvel UK story, "The Big Shutdown!", Thunderwing stands at 40 feet (12.2 metres) tall while in his Pretender shell.
• Thunderwing only transformed out of his humanoid shell mode once in the entire United States run of the Marvel Comics series. Even then, it was into his non-combined shell-only jet mode, leaving no hint that he had an inner robot mode at all. The only time we see his inner robot mode is in his first appearance, the Marvel United Kingdom story, "The Big Shutdown!".
• Thunderwing's Marvel Comics appearances give him a four-barreled hand weapon that's completely fabricated, as it's not based on any of the toy's three guns. As with the melee weaponsBludgeon,Stranglehold, andOctopunch use in the comic, his four-barreled cannon likely originated from his unpublishedcharacter model.
• A phenomenonseenoften in the Marvel United States material, Thunderwing suffered from color scheme shift. At first, he appears in colors that approximate his toy's layout as best as the printing process allowed. Suddenly, in his biggest, most memorable appearances in#65 and#66, much of his blacks, grays, and blues were replaced by light greens. As a side effect of this phenomenon, since covers are colored in advance of the interiors, #66's cover featured a blue-armed Thunderwing with a green-armed Thunderwing inside.
• Hasbrophotography of Thunderwing shows some plastic color differences from the final product. His shell's arms are the same purple as his guns instead of gray, and his inner robot's thighs are that purple as well, instead of the final toy's black. Black paint is applied to the shell's thighs differently, and the inner robot's forearms seem to be painted light gray. Additionally, the smaller robot is incapable of toting either of the larger guns in jet mode, as the peghole isn't large enough.
• Speaking of pegholes, both of Thunderwing's large guns have5 mm posts with holes in the center that can function very much likePowerlinxable pegs, which means one can storeMini-Cons on them, if one so desires.
• Fitting withDon Figueroa's method of making all of his robot designs able to be easily turned into toys, IDW Thunderwing's Ultra Mode is telegraphed by his kibble. An image in theStormbringer trade paperback's sketch section shows exactly how he transforms into it.
• Kreon Thunderwing's appearance in the comic is extremely small, making it difficult to tell what Kre-O parts he's made out of. He does seem to have the clip-on wings on his arms, but what his helmet is we couldn't tell you.

Foreign names

• Japanese:Thunderwing (サンダーウイングSandāuingu; サンダーウィング^[2]Sandāwingu)
• French:Aérofoudre (Canada, "Aerolightning"),Foudre (France, "Lightning")
• Mandarin:Léi Yì (Taiwan, 雷翼, "Thunder Wing"),Léi Yì (China, 雷翼, "Thunder Wing")
• Hungarian:Mennydörgés ("Thunder")

Gallery

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  2006 IDW robot, vehicle, and Pretender modes

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  2021 IDW robot mode

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  2021 IDW vehicle mode

References