Thundercracker (TF2017)

Thundercracker
Biographical information
Homeworld	Cybertron
Date of birth	At least over 4,000,000 B.C.
Physical description
Alternate Mode	Cybertronian jet, Boeing F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter jet
Gender	Male
Sensor color	Yellow
Personal information
Enemies	Autobots
Profession	Aerial Combat
Position	Warrior
Chronological and political information
Era(s)	Generation 1
Affiliation	Decepticons

Thundercracker from The Transformers (2017 TV Series).

Bio

Thundercracker claims the skies as his arena. He looks down in contempt on those who cannot leave the ground — he considers them lesser beings. He will often attack the flightless beings below him for no other reason than to satisfy his scorn.

His superiority in this realm is the only thing he is sure of. Thundercracker is not entirely committed to the Decepticon cause, and even has some seemingly contradictory sympathy for the organics they terrorize. Fear of retribution from Megatron and the influence of his peers is usually enough to bury these doubts. Regardless, he needs constant reassurance from Skywarp and Starscream (which occasionally take the form of threats) that he's where he needs to be. Sometimes, his heart's just not in the job.

History

Arc 1

Thundercracker was one of Megatron's troops who attacked the Ark during its mission to clear a path for Cybertron through an asteroid field. Deactivated when the Ark crashed on Earth, Thundercracker lay dormant for four million years until the Transformers awoke in 1984, at which point he was given the new alternate mode of an Earth jet. Soon after their revival, Thundercracker joined his fellow Decepticon fliers in battling the Autobots at a drive-in movie theater, but he and Starscream were sent packing when they got a taste of Cliffjumper's glass gas. |The Beginning| Thundercracker then participated in the Decepticon strike on the Harrison Nuclear Power Plant, heralding the assault with one of his ear-splitting sonic booms. After the villains constructed a base of operations from stolen portions of the power plant, they learned that the Autobots' new human ally Sparkplug Witwicky had developed a conversion process that would allow Earth fuels to be used by the Transformers. Thundercracker took part in the attack on Sparkplug's auto repair shop, and although he didn't fare too well in the battle, being blinded by one of Sideswipe's flares, the skirmish ended with the successful abduction of the human. |Power Play|

The three jets were then unleashed upon the human military forces (begrudgingly in Thundercracker's case) who attempted a hopeless attack on the Decepticons' base. The Autobots soon joined the fray, but while Thundercracker and his comrades took potshots at them, they failed to realise that Gears and Spider-Man were using the battle as cover to sneak through and rescue Sparkplug. |Prisoner of War|

Afterwards, Thundercracker helped transport energy gathered from a Decepticon raid on Boulder Dam. |Decepticon Dam-Busters|

Refuelled with fuel created through Sparkplug's conversion formula, Thundercracker was one of the first Decepticons to enter what promised to be the final battle with the Autobots, jetting into their volcano headquarters and using his sonic booms to bring parts of the mountain down around them. Little did Thundercracker and his fellows know, Sparkplug had poisoned the formula, causing them all to collapse at the climax of fight. |The Last Stand| Decepticon logician Shockwave then took command of the crippled Decepticon forces and the Ark shortly thereafter and nursed Thundercracker and his comrades back to full health. |The New Order| They all swore loyalty to Shockwave after he defeated Megatron in combat. |The Worst of Two Evils|

Post Arc 1

Following the disappearance of both Megatron and Shockwave, the Decepticons fell under Soundwave's leadership, and Thundercracker aided in his plan to capture Bumblebee for use as bait in a trap for Optimus Prime. Though Thundercracker's initial sonic attack disoriented Prime, the Autobot leader soon overpowered all three Decepticon jets. |Crisis of Command|

The jets were dispatched to England to investigate a Cybertronian signal that they soon discovered was emanating from an spaceship that had crashed there centuries before. Reports of this mission are contradictory; one account had Thundercracker seriously wounded by a bomb from Bluestreak during an early attack on the Autobots, but another stated that Thundercracker crashed to the ground after his sensors were scrambled by the Autobot Mirage, and still another identified him as the killer of the craft's occupant, the Man of Iron. |Man of Iron|

When Starscream fired upon his teammate Ravage for eavesdropping on his plot to overthrow Megatron, Thundercracker teamed up with Skywarp to capture the Decepticon Air Commander. Starscream argued for a trial by combat, and the subsequent proceedings were manipulated to suggest treachery by the Autobots, prompting the Decepticons to forget his misdoings and launch a vengeful attack on the Ark. |The Enemy Within| That battle was ended prematurely when Aunty, the Ark's computer system, magnetized the walls, immobilizing both factions. |Raiders of the Last Ark|

Trivia

• Graham McTavish reprises his role as Thundercracker.