Thundercracker, the most Underutilized Decepticon
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2024
- #transformers #starscream #toys #thundercracker
Thundercracker, one of the very first Transformers, has never amounted to anything in any TV series. But Thundercracker has the hidden keys to bring back a very popular character archetype.
ToysDownUnder
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Out of the seekers, Thundercracker is my favourite. Nowadays whenever a new Starscream toy is released and I like the look of the mould, I'd wait for the Thundercracker repaint.
I'm doing that with the Armada Starscream mold right now. :D Ironically also waiting on Skyquake to be redone as Starscream...
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder You mean Machine Wars Starscream? That'd be cool to see!
I should confess, I did go through a 'Starscream phase' several years ago, and as a result I have a LOT of Starscream toys. Which I guess is why he's become easier to skip. Also, even though Thundercracker is my favourite jet; Skywarp's a close second. Basically, I just skip Starscream and get Thundercracker and/or Skywarp (whichever is first after 'screamer).
IDW Thundercracker is straight up Daddy material. They knew what they were doing.
With the amount of time spent on him, they definitely had an end goal.
I've never read the comics but had heard of Thundercracker's development. Bad guys turning good is my jam.
I wouldn't say Armada Starscream hasn't had an impact, since every iteration of Starscream post Armada has been at least somewhat sympathetic, at least until Skybound Starscream came along. I do agree it would be nice if more Transformers media took advantage of Thundercracker's original toy bio though.
Can you be a bit more specific on sympathetic Starscreams? I don't really recall Cybertron, Animated or Bayverse Screamer being sympathetic. I've only seen the first seasons of Prime and RID15, I don't recall it there either.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Well, okay, I realized after I typed that, that not every Starscream after Armada was sympathetic. XD; I kind of forgot about those others since I didn't watch any of those.
@@Troublethecat Honestly, after Animated? You're not missing much at all.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnderI think OP was thinking more along the lines of the IDW comics, Earthspark, Cyberverse (to an extent), and the Netflix shows. He was also played as more pitiable than usual in Prime, though not outright sympathetic.
Of the three original seekers, to me, Thundercracker had a compelling personality: a transformer who believes in air superiority, yet, as a Decepticon, he became increasingly insecure. The G1 cartoon did him no justice (though I loved Stephenson's voice acting), but the IDW comics exploited his personality, even to the point of preferring Earth to Cybertron. This is why I prefer Thundercracker to both Starscream and Skywarp.
Def the screenwriter thundercracker is my fav version, it’s a side of the war/post war that isn’t explored as often in mainstream media: the outliers who don’t side with either faction. And with him trying to spare the humans (even if our of pity) in one of the latest skybound issues, I really hope that they push more into. Tbh the comic so far is damn near god-tier in terms of storytelling and character portrayal. Prolly the first time in a while that I’m excited for media outside of the movies.
I really need to get around to reading the current run. Not one for Transformers comics, but I hear nothing but good things.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder 100% would recommend, it’s genuinely fantastic so far 🫡
Loved Thundercracker, he was the first Transformer toy I ever got when I was a kid. I agree, he was so underrated & under-utilized in the series. I'm currently writing an essay on him called "The Silent Decepticon Warrior".
Sounds interesting. Going to post it around the community?
Same here, first year of the availability I got Thundercracker, Sunstreaker, Cliffjumper, Windcharger, hound and Soundwave for my birthday, it was the most I'd ever received as a gift, I was only 6 but me and all my friends were crazy for Transformers
Always loved Thundercracker and wished they had done more with him, let him make movies again!
Him and Five Faces of Darkness Blitzwing would be more compelling if they used them more.
New cartoon coming soon, hopefully they do something there.
Thundercracker and Skywarp deserved WAY better. I’d have way rather not have had those dumb cone heads so we can have more of these two
Oh I absolutely agree. I think there is some really, really cool stuff you can do with Skywarp and eventually I'll make a video about him too ;)
I love what IDW did with Thundercracker.
Interesting take on Thundercracker. He and Skywarp are kind of underutilized, to be honest. I'm working on making some stop motion G1-esque retellings, and I think I'm going to use this video to help me characterize Thundercracker, at least till he gets recycled into Scourge and Skywarp into Cyclonus.
Skywarp is strange to me. I think there is potential and the TFCC kind of referenced how you'd use him, but he's vastly less interesting than Starscream or Thundercracker. Probably still a lot of fun to use though.
Thundercracker would make an ideal FOV character, that is he would be perfect to see the Decepticon perspective in a story from.
I'd like to see that honestly. Probably not marketable right now to do outside of a comic miniseries though.
Love what they’re doing with him in Skybound.
dreadwing in prime could have been thundercracker
One day I will have to force myself through Prime for the channel.
great stuff , TC is hands down my favorite Con . He was my very first Transformer back in 84 .
Thanks! When I got into buying a bit of G1 in the mid 00s, me being a G2 kid, TC was one of my first too. That was what got me to research his bio and he's been one of my favorites since. Coincidently, Thundercracker was my first Armada toy too. What drew you to TC as a kid?
The closest we had to Thundercracker's true bio in the G1 cartoon was Fire on the Mountain (S01E09), where he hesitates to kill Skyfire, but then that's really only in a hope that the fall out will be on Starscream and not just for saving Skyfire's life. I think Thundercracker has a small cutscene in Transformers: Devastation too, where he briefly helps Prime after being shot down.
Thundercracker was my very first Transformer when I was a kid in the 80s.
Still got him?
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder unfortunately no
@@silvershelbygt500 Bummer. 😔 Makes me appreciate I still have my childhood Transformers.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder all of my transformers were lost in a house fire. I had a ton of them including Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, and Galvatron😩
@@silvershelbygt500 that's heartbreaking. Not just the toys, but losing everything like that.
Thundercracker's story about his reform is great writing. They should incorporate it with Thundercracker in anime.
I want Transformers anime again in general.
Thundercracker is my favorite among the seekers, basically for his color scheme. I didn´t know that story arch in IDW comics. Now I think i like him more.
I got most of the G1 toy on a lot in the early 2000s. I felt the exact same way when I found his original file card online.
He coiced Windcharger as well
To be honest I feel like Transformers: EarthSpark would've been the perfect opportunity to adapt IDW Thundercracker to a TV show. The IDW take on Thundercracker just seems to really fit in with this show and they could've also added Marissa Faireborn and Buster as well. That would've been awesome and made Transformers: EarthSpark even better.
To be honest I seen a few people say that Armada Starscream could've just been Thundercracker through and through and not a variant of Starscream (Kind of like how people say TFP Arcee should've been Chromia instead of Arcee), mainly because Thundercracker's G1 Bio stated that he was the least convinced of the Decepticons' cause which ended up being the case for Armada Starscream. But I'm glad Armada Starscream is actually Starscream and not Thundercracker for 3 reasons:
1: Armada Starscream is awesome and my favourite version of Starscream, not just in terms of complexity but also because he's quite a competent fighter and not a weasel like TFP Starscream is (His friendship with Alexis also touching and really adds layers and complexity to Starscream).
2: I don't really see Thundercracker doing half the stuff the Armada Starscream does like sure Armada Starscream did technically have a change of heart but he still had some violent tendencies which I can't really see working on Thundercracker. I like to think that Thundercracker despite being on the Decepticons side is at heart a gentle giant, Armada Starscream while arguably the nicest version of Starscream we've had so far, I wouldn't call him a gentle giant, maybe to Alexis and the Mini-Cons but not to anyone else.
And 3: If Armada Starscream was a variant Thundercracker rather than a Starscream variant I don't think we would've gotten IDW Thundercracker which I think did far more justice to Thundercracker than Armada ever would've or any
continuity for that matter.
Armada Starscream is a curious case on a part of the Animation staff actually. The toy was Starscream as Hasbro was trying to get back all the old names and both update and reintroduce old characters, but the animation was left in the hands of Takara. Aaron Archer has said as much. Now why he turned out the way he did? Either they were really keen on the character archetype, it's standard anime fair, or BW Dinobot made a big impression on them. The fact Energon Starscream has a character beat similar to Dinobot 2 is a bit interesting if you want to go down that path.
Starscream as the “Decepticon with Honor” character arc WAS revisited recently in the first season of the Earthspark cartoon. Gotta keep up, bud.
He was actually my favourite because he was the first transformer I had
Its always interesting to hear who was everyone's first. What drew you to him or was he a gift?
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder technically g1 wheeljack was my first but I had no idea what it was and it was missing everything even the car canopy. G1 Thunder cracker was the one that was complete and I loved the jet mode. My parents got it for me.
Still got him all these years later?
I thought Thundercracker was Black Panther's nickname for Thor.
video game wfc thundercracker was good even with like the 4 lines he has
What about war for cybertron?
The toys or the netflix series?
Ed Asner as Thundercracker?
?
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Well, the way he (rarely) talks in G1 sounds like Ed Asner ("Up" grumpy old guy).
@@dubuyajay9964 Ah ok, I get ya.
Starscream was & always will b the main seeker the other 5 r just side chars
Oh that's true, but for Thundercracker and Skywarp it's leaving a lot of potential content underutilised.
bro - you really need to check out the TF: The Movie wiki and see how many autobots he is credited with killing