Tidal Wave (Unicron Trilogy)


 * Tidal Wave is a Decepticon from the Unicron Trilogy continuity family. He took the name Mirage after he took a new body.



Tidal Wave is a powerhouse, one of the largest Decepticons under Megatron's command. His power is backed up by a brain that doesn't exactly run at optimal speeds; he's not so much stupid as he is single-minded and easily frustrated. In battle he is merciless, an unyielding engine of destruction.

He is unquestionably loyal to Megatron and his ideals, and will quickly sign up with anyone that promises power to the Decepticon cause.

Tidal Wave's Mini-Con partner is Ramjet


 * Japanese Armada name: Shockwave
 * Japanese Energon name: Shock Fleet (Mirage body)

Armada
Voice actor Doug Parker (US), Jin Yamanoi (Japan)



Tidal Wave was originally brought to Earth by the Decepticon strategist Thrust in an attempt to bolster the Decepticon forces so that they could obtain the Requiem Blaster. Thrust claimed Tidal Wave was a general that led Decepticon forces to a victory, an unsubstantiated claim that seems rather out of place considering Tidal Wave's... lack of grace. This was exemplified when Hot Shot and Blurr capsized the huge warship and sent it to the bottom of the deep. However, Tidal Wave quickly recovered and transformed into his massively powerful robot mode, quickly sending the Autobots scrambling for cover.

Pounding the Autobots with firepower, Thrust called out to Tidal Wave to initiate his party piece. Tidal Wave transformed and split into three component vehicle sections (which also somehow shrank in size), headed for Megatron and Powerlinked with him. Megatron declared that "The Power is Mine!" before setting off in pursuit of Jet Optimus. Tidal Wave gave Megatron flight capability and an overwealming amount of firepower, which kept Jet Optimus at bay long enough for Megatron to slice the connection point between Optimus Prime and Jetfire with the Star Saber.

After Starscream cracked and attacked Megatron, Tidal Wave was sent after him to Earth when the rogue Decepticon jet escaped their moon base with the Star Saber in his possession. The Autobots initially assumed both Decepticons were part of a combined attack, but eventually came to Starscream's assistance against Tidal Wave when the Decepticon shot him down. Hot Shot nailed Tidal Wave in the eye with his axle cannon, but the powerful Tidal Wave recovered quickly and caused problems for Jet Optimus. This prompted Starscream to toss the Star Saber to the Autobot leader, which he used to slice off one of Tidal Wave's chest guns and forced the Decepticon to retreat.

Tidal Wave was present at the meeting between the Autobots and Decepticons during the Unicron Battles in which the two sides formed a temporary truce, notably shaking hands with Jetfire.

Energon
Voice actor Doug Parker (US) Jin Yamanoi Japan

After the end of the Unicron Battles, Tidal Wave loyally followed Galvatron's last request - that the Decepticons remain at peace with the Autobots. During the ten year period that followed, Tidal Wave somewhere along the line changed not only his color palette but his occupation - instead of being a warrior, he was now a guardian of the energon mines in the Sol system's asteroid belt.

Tidal Wave's post was one of the first targets of the Terrorcon hordes. After being attacked and abducted, he was brought to Scorponok and Alpha Quintesson's base of operations, where they convinced him to side with them by promising to revive Megatron. Although he clearly disliked Scorponok, Tidal Wave carried out orders in attacking other energon reserves run by the Autobots until Megatron returned. Following this, he continued raiding Autobot bases, only under Megatron's orders.

Tidal Wave would later show disdain for the madman Decepticon recruit Shockblast. During a battle on Cybertron, an energon tower collapsed on top of Tidal Wave due to a shot from Shockblast. Megatron called for a retreat and hauled Tidal Wave's damaged body back into space, where the giant Decepticon was reformatted into "Mirage".

Mirage traded his gigantic, hulking body for a smaller, sleeker, and speedier form. He also apparently gained an upgrade in intelligence, although he also started to buddy up with Demolishor and Snow Cat to form a comedy relief trio. He continued to serve Megatron throughout the war for energon, even gaining what appeared to be a romantic infatuation with him.

When Galvatron flung himself into the energon sun to destroy Unicron's spark, Mirage loyally followed after him and seemingly ended his life.


 * (Note: Throughout the Armada and Energon cartoons, Tidal Wave/Mirage had the habit of repeating his name as a sort of battle cry. This, unsurprisingly, did not help deter his reputation as an idiot.)

Armada
Tidal Wave was little seen in the Armada comic from Dreamwave, appearing only in a panel or two in the final story.

Energon
In Energon, Tidal Wave was recruited by Scorponok, joining the Terrorcons. While he went on several raids and missions with the Terrorcons, it became clear to him that he wasn't the most respected of the team. Alpha Quintesson, however, saw something in him, and reformatted him into Mirage, noting as he did so that Scorponok had fallen out of Unicron's favor.

Playstation 2 Video Game


Tidal Wave, in his combined battleship mode, was stationed as a relay and refuel point off a small chain of islands in the Mid-Atlantic. The Autobots made their way inside him to take out the Decepticlone platoons inside and destroy him, but discovered that Tidal Wave wasn't merely a transport. They escaped just in time to avoid being crushed as Tidal Wave transformed into his titanic robot mode.

Tidal Wave walked around the island chain in the deep waters, unloading volleys of missiles, lasers, and the occasional Jet Sniper on the tiny-by-comparison Autobots. Despite his impressive size, firepower, and nigh-impenetrable armor, the Autobots managed to do enough damage to Tidal Wave's one weak point -his face- to cause a chain reaction that caused multiple explosions inside him, sending him falling face-first to the ocean floor.

Armada

 * Tidal Wave with Ramjet (Ultra-Con, 2003)
 * Japanese ID number: MD-06




 * Tidal Wave is a robot that is made up of three different aquatic vehicles; an aircraft carrier, a double-bowed battleship, and a troop-landing craft. All three can combine to form a single gigantic warship, which from there can transform to robot mode without having to separate. Each smaller craft has its own gimmick; the carrier has a working storage elevator for Tidal Wave's Mini-Con partner Ramjet, the battleship has Mini-Con Powerlinx-activated swiveling cannons (also usable in robot mode), and the landing craft opens up to reveal seats for Mini-Cons to sit on.




 * Tidal Wave can also combine with Megatron (and the Galvatron redeco), with Tidal Wave's aircraft carrier and battleship clipping onto Megatron's arms and his troop transport clipping onto Megatron's back (after the turret has been positioned in Full Blast Mode configuration) as a jetpack.


 * The Takara and Hasbro versions are considerably different. Takara's "Shockwave" replaces all the green plastic with purple, darker grays, and several of the paint colors are altered.  These changes were made to align the toy more closely to the cartoon's appearance, hough they're not completely accurate.

Energon

 * Tidal Wave with Ramjet (Ultra, 2004)
 * Japanese ID number: SD-04




 * Tidal Wave's Armada toy was redecoed for the early part of Energon, with "energy" patterns resembling stylized lightning bolts painted across it. Several portions of his body were cast in transparent green plastic, suggesting that his body was now infused with Decepticon-energy energon.


 * Tidal Wave retains his ability to combine with Armada Megatron/Galvatron, as well as Universe Megazarak.


 * Mirage (Mega, 2004)
 * Japanese ID number: SD-15




 * Later, Tidal Wave was released under the name Mirage as a sleek assault speedboat with multiple spring-loaded missile launchers, as well as fold-out wings for his "Hyper Mode". The initial releases of Mirage were one-per-case, and part of a wave that saw limited distribution due to a glut of early product on the shelves. However, Mirage was later put into "Mega-Buy" multi-packs at a buy-one-get-one-free price at numerous chains, including Toys 'R' Us and Wal-Mart, relieving much of the demand for the item.


 * This mold was also redecoed into Dreadwing.