Prisoners of War: Windcharger

Featured Cartoon Appearances: “The Ultimate Doom,” “A Prime Problem”
Featured Comic Appearances: None, really
Featured Fanfics: Unfortunately, none

Here’s a shocker: the tech specs that come with the toys don’t always match exactly with what we see in the cartoon. That shouldn’t really be a huge surprise to any one. Different people thinking of the different characters differently will just kind of naturally lead to this. However, I think the tech specs are much better than some might give them credit for. One could find hints of Thundercracker’s doubts, Shockwave’s belief that Megatron is an inferior leader, Bluestreak’s hatred of war, Bumblebee’s insecurities, and so on if you interpreted the show in different ways. Most of them can sort of act like a Cliff’s Notes version of the characters’ personality and often times can be quite enlightening. But among the first season regulars, people always go on about how differently Soundwave is written from his tech spec. I tend to agree with these people, but I must now point out that there is another that rivals Soundwave’s. That would be Windcharger.

He’s sort of a forgotten Transformer, even among the show’s writers. Among the regulars in the first season, he probably had the fewest lines of any character. He was, by my estimation, the only character that didn’t have a speaking part in the “More Than Meets the Eye.” The first time I remember him having a line is in “The Ultimate Doom.” Given this, it really isn’t surprising that he probably received the least amount of characterization of all the Autobots. So how could I possibly say that Windcharger is the Autobot version of Soundwave when it comes to tech spec discrepancies?

Mostly it comes from the fact that Windcharger, unlike Soundwave, has at least had some sort of showcase episode, “A Prime Problem.” And, quite frankly, I don’t think Soundwave, even with all his screen time, really received much in the way of characterization. Everything we know about him we learned in “More Than Meets the Eye.” He is loyal to Megatron and feels concern towards Ravage, both of which we see in some form later. And that’s about where the characterization ends for Soundwave as far the show’s concerned. Compare this to more robust characterizations of other Transformers over the course of the series, especially Starscream, and the show-by-show characterization of the Autobots, especially in the second season, and Soundwave barely registers, in my opinion. Still, people like him. It’s probably the voice.

Anyway, back to Windcharger, of whom I think has a cool voice as well. Because I’ll be referring to it a lot (and because this essay will probably be shorter than others… hey, I’m just getting going with these again!), here is Windcharger’s tech spec:

Function: Warrior
“Quick action equals quick victory.”

Windcharger is the fastest Autobot over short distances. Good in situations requiring fast, decisive action. Enthusiastic but impatient. Short attention span. Casts powerful magnetic field which can attract or repel large metal objects. Smashes them at closer distances. These abilities use up tremendous energy. Often burns himself out due to carelessness.

That’s it. What probably stands out to most people is the magnetic field part. After all, he used this at least three times in the show (“The Ultimate Doom,” “Autobot Run,” and “Masquerade”). Again, similar to Soundwave’s tech spec, the abilities part is fine with what we see on the show. Both media display this ability of Windcharger’s. The problem as I see it is the description of his character. His tech spec makes him out to be a careless, impatient, reactionary Autobot with a short attention span. I simply don’t see it that way.

Let’s take the careless part, for example. As I mentioned, Windcharger has used his magnetic field abilities a couple of times in the show. In “Masquerade,” he used it to keep the Autobots pretending to be the Stunticons held together in such a way that, with help from Mirage, they appeared to be Menasaur. Using it in this case did not seem to drain his energy down too much, though he did toss out a warning to Optimus Prime about it (which, if he’s taken the time to check his reserves, is far from careless). Even still, this is not a careless use of the ability. It was a tactically sound use for it that kept the Decepticons confused for that much longer. In “The Ultimate Doom,” he used his magnetic field abilities to rescue Bumblebee. This time his energy was sapped, but was it a careless act? Heck no! He did it because he cared. He did not want to give up without finding his friend and he didn’t. In fact, after he stated he was out of energy, he managed to keep the field going a couple of seconds longer until Bumblebee was retrieved. This wasn’t careless. It was heroic. It was selfless. He gave everything he had and then some to rescue a friend.

Next we’ll look at the impatient and reactionary parts. In “A Prime Problem,” he, along with Spike, is the only Autobot to express doubts about Prime’s doppelganger when he couldn’t interface Teletraan properly and when he called Ironhide by Bumblebee’s name. Did he react instantly and jump to conclusions? Nope. He continued to watch the situation unfold, took in the evidence, suspected and noticed Decepticon involvement, and ended up saving the Autobots collective hides. He showed patience and problem solving ability. He didn’t lose interest in figuring out what was going on. He simply sat back, shut up, and watched. And when it seemed that he’d fall to his death, his sharp mind weighed the possible scenarios for his survival and deduced that his rubber wheels might protect him from the corlonium crystals in the canyon.

I’m not saying he’s an Autobot that relies on logic or anything. What I think he is, though, is a solid, dependable Autobot to have around. He thinks quickly and clearly under high stress situations, like falling to his death in “A Prime Problem.” Under any given situation, he’s smart, pragmatic, level-headed, and any number of similar adjectives. He doesn’t jump to conclusions when he doesn’t have all the information available to him. The writers of the show gave that trait to Cliffjumper. He is willing to give everything he has and then some for his cause and his friends.

In short, if I were to pick any Transformer to watch my back, Windcharger would definitely be at the top of that list.