Megatron
|
|
Allmegs.jpg
Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons in fictional Transformers Universes. In several versions of the Transformers storyline he was later modified into Galvatron.
| Contents |
|
|
G1 Megatron
Megatron is incredibly powerful and ruthless. His primary weapon is his arm-mounted fusion cannon, capable of levelling a city block in one blast, which he can sub-dimensionally link to a black hole, generating even more powerful antimatter blasts. He has a secondary weapon barrel mounted on his back, and can retract and replace his right hand with an energy mace. Megatron transforms into a Walther P38 pistol, delivering more focused energy blasts. He can shrink as he transforms, assuming sizes that comfortably allow either another Transformer or a human to wield him. In one instance, he retained his full size and connected to jet-mode Starscream's underside. According to his original tech spec, Megatron has no known weaknesses. This does not, however, prevent him from losing the majority of the battles that he fights - for all his famed battle prowess and tactical ability, Megatron seems to rarely see the bigger picture, and frequently calls retreat at the smallest failure.
Animated Series
Megatron2.jpg
Megatron is a Decepticon, one of the lineal ancestors of the military hardware robots created by the Quintessons on their factory world of Cybertron. Following a war between the Decepticons and the other robot race, the Autobots, the Decepticons were defeated by the Autobots' invention of transformation, which allowed them the advatange of stealth. The Autobot victory in the war began the Golden Age of Cybertron, but a viper lurked within this paradise, as the Decepticons too eventually developed transformation, eventually leading to the creation of Megatron. Gathering a small number of troops together, Megatron made a small strike on an outer city, killing the current Autobot leader. However, this event was not made public knowledge, and young robots like the naive Orion Pax still looked up to Megatron and his followers because of their new robot-mode flight powers. However, Pax soon learned the error of his ways when Megatron duped him into allowing him access to Energon warehouses, and Megatron fatally injured him in a scuffle. However, the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion, reconstructed Pax into a battle hardy configuration - now, he was Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, and Megatron's sworn opponent as the civil war erupted again.
Eventually, the war drained Cybertron of most of it's energy, necessitating that both factions seek out new worlds and new sources of power. Megatron and his elite forces pursued the Autobot craft, The Ark in their star cruiser, the Nemesis, and attacked and boarded the craft, causing it to crash on a prehistoric planet, entombing all on the ship in emergency stasis as it crashed into a dormant volcano.
Four million years later, a volcanic eruption reactivated the Transformers and the war began on the new, energy-rich world they found themselves on - Earth. After their first series of battles, the Autobots believed Megatron and the Decepticons destroyed when their new space cruiser crashed into the Pacific ocean, but in reality, they survived, and reconstructed the cruiser to serve as a sub-oceanic staging base and bunker. Megatron re-established contact with Cybertron, and began construction of an intergalactic transporty system called a "space bridge," although the early tests nearly resulted in his destruction when he was sucked into the portal and teleported to Cybertron. The technology was eventually stabilised, however, and used in a grand scheme to transport Cybertron through space into Earth's orbit, where the natural disasters its gravity wreaked created tremendous energy that Megatron and the Decepticons gathered. The Earth was saved, however, when Megatron's stockpiles of energy were detonated by the Autobots, the explosion forcing Cybertron out of orbit. Again, however, Megatron was able to cheat death, and was forced to team up with Optimus Prime in order to stop the machinations of his treacherous lieutenant, Starscream.
In his next scheme, Megatron absorbed all the separate powers of the other Decepticons into himself, and challenged Optimus Prime to one-on-one combat. With the added abilities of all his minions, Megatron easily defeated Prime in the battle, but when his deception was revealed, he and his followers were defeated in a group attack.
Over the following years, Megatron's schemes to obtain Earth's energies continued. His assorted plans included various attempts to harness the power of Earth's core, thefts of several unstable energy devices from human scientists, the draining of energy from a time-lost prehistoric island, and partnership with a human politician that allowed him to force the Autobots of Earth, and actually allowed him to conquer Central City... among many, many others.
Eventually, however, Megatron turned his attention away from Earth, and succeeded in completely conquering Cybertron by the Earth year 2005. Learning the Autobots were preparing a strike against the planet, Megatron and the Decepticons intercepted the shuttle sent to Earth to acquire energy to power the raid, and unleashed a mighty assault on Autobot City.Supermegs.JPG
On the return trip to Cybertron, it became necessary to jettison excess mass, or the Decepticons would be uanble to reach the planet. The wounded Decepticons were voted out, and set adrift in space, including Megatron. But this was not to be the end for the great slag-maker, as the world-devourer, Unicron, found him and recreated him... into Galvatron.
Megatron was voiced by prolific voice actor Frank Welker in America, and by Seizo Kato in Japan.
Battlestars: Return of Convoy
With his transformation into Galvatron, Megatron departed from the animated continuity, until five years later, in the Japanese-exclusive storyline, Battlestars: The Return of Convoy, which, although not animated itself (told instead through one chapter of manga and colour magazine spreads), continues the tale of the cartoon universe. In the previous Japanese-exclusive animated series, Headmasters, Galvatron had been apparently destroyed when he was buried on an iceberg. In the Return of Convoy storyline, a new evil force named Dark Nova recovers Galvatron's body, and restores him to life as Super Megatron, pitting him against Star Convoy (the reborn Optimus Prime) and his Autobots. Super Megatron subsequently gets an upgrade to Ultra Megatron, and for the final battle, merges with Dark Nova himself, becoming Star Giant.
Marvel Comics
Comicmegs.gif
Four million years later, in 1984, the Transformers were reawakened, and Megatron immediately set about trying to locate a source of fuel for the Decepticons. Unable to ingest common Earth gasoline, the Decepticons kidnapped Sparkplug Witwicky and forced him to develop a conversion process, but this only afforded him the chance to poison their fuel, deactivating them all. The Autobots were not saved, however, as Shockwave then defeated them all and brought the Decepticons back online to serve him - including Megatron. Chaffing under his command, Megatron battled Shockwave, but was soundly defeated, forcing him into an alliance with Ratchet, who located and reactivated the Dinobots, who had defeated Shockwave in the past. However, Ratchet loosed them on Megatron, and was willing to sacrifice himself to knock Megatron off a cliff. While Ratchet survived, Megatron disappeared for some time.
Soon, however, Megatron re-emerged, trapped in pistol mode, his higher brain functions disconnected. Used as a weapon by wannabe gangster, Joey Slick, Megatron eventually restored himself, and was impressed enough with Slick for standing up to him that he allowed him to live. But at this point, Megatron was desperately low on fuel, and attacked a coal mine, attempting to locate some, when he eventually completely run out, and froze in place. He was soon located by Soundwave, who brought him back online, and they subsequently entered into an alliance with the human Donny Finkleberg, who used the alias of "Robot Master" to con humankind into thinking the Transformers worked for him. Shockwave and Megatron entered into a period of shared leadership, but when a two-pronged attack by the Autobots saw Megatron defeated by Omega Supreme, and Shockwave allowing the Autobots to capture the secrets of Devastator, Megatron was able to spin the situation and reclaim his leadership.
In order to attain possession of a new superfuel, hydrothermacline, Megatron battled Optimus Prime in a video game duel, using a cheat code to continue the fight after he had lost. Prime defeated him again, but at the expense of some of the game's characters, and ruled himself the loser because he would not have committed such an act in real life. Prime was destroyed, and Megatron's elation soon turned into paranoia, as he had not killed Prime with his own hands, and believed he could still be alive. Eventually descending into insanity, Megatron boarded the spacebridge to Cybertron and detonated it with his fusion cannon, apparently killing himself.
Megs_ratch.jpg
The stage was now set for Megatron's return in the US comics, as he had his Micromaster Sports Car patrol capture the Autobot medic, Ratchet, and forced him to recreate Starscream as a Pretender). Ratchet did so, but also restored Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee in the same manner, thwarting his scheme. When Megatron then attempted to flee through a trans-time dimensional portal, Ratchet tackled him as his base then exploded around them, apparently killing them both.
Soon after, however, Autobot detective Nightbeat discovered that the explosion had actually blown them through the portal, and he dispatched a probe to pull them back from the gaps between reality. However, when they rematerialised, it was revealed that the explosion had fused the two enemies together, into a hideous, twisted mockery of a being, which ran rampant through the Ark. The half that was Ratchet begged Optimus Prime to kill them, but Prime could not, and had the Micromaster, Fixit, separate their bodies. Unfortunately, Fixit could not separate their minds, as the two discovered when they were reactivated with Nucleon - sharing each other's thoughts, feeling, sensations and sights, Ratchet attempted to break the cycle by crashing the Ark on Earth.
G2megs.gif
Generation 2
A few years later, Transformers was given a shot in the arm with the launch of the Generation 2 toyline and comic book series. Toy safety laws had changed, and it was now no longer legal to sell realistic toy guns, like the original Megatron figure, so for Generation 2, Megatron became a huge tank, and Marvel Comics told the tale of how it happened...
Although thought dead for a year or two, Megatron had actually survived the Ark crash, and had quietly worked to repair it, concealing it beneath the ground (apparently, Ratchet died in the crash, as their shared mind does not come up in the story). Tracking a transforming signal mistakenly believing it was another Transformer, Megatron came across the shape-shifting castle of the terrorist organisation, COBRA, and entered into a bargain with its leader, Cobra Commander, offering him the technology of the Ark in exchange for the new weapons his organisation was developing. Reconstructed into a new tank body, with a powerful rail gun, Megatron defeated a sqaud of Autobots sent to stop him, and then turned on COBRA, capturing the scientist who had developed his gun, Doctor Biggles-Jones, and escaping in the airborne Ark. Following a climactic battle with Fortress Maximus, Megatron then battled and soundly defeated Bludgeon, reclaiming leadership of the Decepticons and stealing the Matrix from Optimus Prime, using it to bring his newest warriors online - only to have his faction bested by the forces of Jhiaxus and his second-generation Cybertronians. Megatron then entered into an alliance with the Autobots to both defeat Starscream, who had seized control of the Decepticon ship, the Warworld, through the power of the Matrix, and stop Jhiaxus. The tale ended with the Autobots and Decepticons uniting.
Other Comic Stories
In the course of its run, the UK comics produced several stories which do not fit into the continuity of the G1/G2 storyline, branching off in their own direction. For example, after the first disappearance of Ratchet and Megatron, a disparate continuity of storylines based around the "Earthforce" - a team of Autobots based on Earth - began, which saw Megatron and Shockwave established a joint leadership of the Decepticons, only to be both betrayed by Starscream and Shockwave.
Also, after the end of the G1 comics, the final UK annual printed a text story entitled "Another Time And Place", which followed up on the events of the Ark crash, and saw Bludgeon and his followers locate Megatron's body and revive it with Nucleon, only for him to be defeated by Optimus Prime and Grimlock. This, of course, clashes with the G2 comic - but it does not clash in with the rewritten UK G2 comic, in which Megatron simply attributes his new body to human scientists, with no further explanation to contradict the events of "Another Time and Place".
Beast Wars & Beast Machines
- Main article: Megatron (Beast Wars)
Megsdisk.jpg
Upon arrival on prehistoric Earth with his small number of troops, and pursued by a small contingent of Maximals (with only Megatron aware of where and when they truly were), both sides adopted beast mode transformation, which would shield them from the high levels of Energon radiation that blanketed the planet. Megatron adopted the fearsome form of a tyrannosaurus rex. Later, as the toyline produced more variants, Megatron changed into a mechanical, "Transmetal" form, and then - through a merging of his spark with that of the original Megatron's - into a dragon. Unfortuntately for Megatron, he failed in his agenda, and was captured by the Maximals. However, on the return trip to Cybertron, Megatron escaped his shackles and exited the timestream before the Maximals, returning to Cybertron some time before the Maximals' intended arrival point. Wasting no time, Megatron unleashed a virus across the globe, paralysing transformation, leaving the Cybertronians easy pickings for his newly-constructed army of lifeless, mechanical Vehicon drones. Extracting the sparks of every inhabitant of Cybertron, Megatron established his position as the unquestioned ruler of the planet, seeking to turn it into a single, elegant machine with his consciousness at the heart of everything. Following the return of the Maximals to Cybertron, Megatron engaged in a heated campagain against them as they sought to bring a balance of technology and organic to the world.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise (Car Robots)
Ridmegs.jpg
Megatron is a Six-Changer, powerful enough to transform into five additional modes besides his robot form - twin-headed dragon, gargoyle, race car, jet and claw (GigaDragon, GigaBat, GigaFormula, GigaJet and GigaHand in Japanese). Each form has its own different frightening personality, making Megatron a very unstable and unpredictable fighter.
Some time into the campaign on Earth, Megatron sought to bolster his forces, locating six Autobot protoforms in a crashed Cybertronian spaceship, bestowing them with military vehicle modes and corrupting them with his own Spark energy, creating the Decepticons. However, their leader, Scourge, happened to scan Optimus Prime along with the tanker that would form his alternate mode, and as a result became something of an "evil clone" of Prime, whose cruelty and cunning eventually extended to plotting against Megatron.
In the pursuit of his greater agenda, Megatron began seeking the mysterious O-Parts, which led to the Orb of Sigma, in a subterranean pyramid. The orb would lead to Cerebros, the power key to the huge Autobot battle station, Fortress Maximus, who, it was revealed, he had actually come to Earth to obtain. When Megatron was buried in the ruins of the pyramid following a failed attempt to steal the orb from the Autobots, he underwent his most startling transformation of all, as the energies of the pyramid resurrected him as the vampiric Gavatron (Devil Gigatron), able to enhance his own strength by draining the life energy from others. As Galvatron, he possessed four additional transformations - a hydrofoil, a griffen, a pteranodon and a mammoth, used to terrifying effect when he drained the energy of Fortress Maximus and engaged Optimus Prime in a final battle at the Earth's core. Thankfully, Prime was able to defeat him with the gathered energy of Earth's children, courtesy of Fortress Maximus, and he was sent back to Cybertron for imprisonment.
This incarnation of Megatron is voiced by Daniel Riordan (US) and Yoichi Koyariyama (Japan).
Modern Cartoon Universe
This new alternate-universe incarnation of Megatrno is voiced by David Kaye in all English-language versions.
Transformers: Armada (Micron Legend)
Armadamegs.jpg
In the world of Transformers: Armada, Megatron leads his Decepticons to Earth in the year 2010, in pursuit of a small race of power-enahcing Transformers known as Mini-Cons. Establishing a base in the ruined hulk of the Mini-Con ship on Earth's moon, Megatron waged a generally successful campagain against the Autobots, regularly capturing Mini-Cons and successfully combining the first two Mini-Con weapons, the Star Saber and Skyboom Shield. Through the machinations of his tactician, Thrust (who was at the time indirectly being manipulated by Unicron), Megatron then acquired the final weapon, the Requiem Blaster, which was combined with the other two to yield the Hydra Cannon. The destructive force of his weapon was unleashed against Earth, but Optimus Prime took the blast to save the planet, killing himself in the process.
Prime's death plunged Megatron a deep depression, having lost his greatest opponent without the chance to finish him with his own hands. Thankfully for all concerned, the Mini-Cons were able to resurrect Optimus, restoring Megatron to his former self - but he soon went another change that allowed him to surpass all he had been, when he was among the Transformers who had their powers boosted by their Mini-Con, becoming Galvatron (Megatron Super Mode) and returning to Cybertron with a renewed vigour for conquest. However, the emergence of the threat of Unicron was ignored by Galvatron, forcing Starscream to sacrifice himself to make his leader see the truth, and Galvatron again came to fear the end of his war in the face of Unicron's power. Galvatron entered Unicron's body along with Optimus Prime, and was absorbed into the demi-god's body and mind, but when the Autobots' human allies freed the Mini-Cons from Unicron's thrall, Galvatron too was freed, and, believing the threat of Unicron to be over, challenged Prime to a final duel. However, the energies released in the battle reawakened Unicron, and Galvatron saw that the only way to end the circle was to destroy himself - sacrificing his life rather than live in an era of peace, Galvatron plunged himself into Unicron's maw, and in a flash, the two seemingly ceased to exist.
This incarnation of Megatron/Galvatron transformed into a tank and was partnered with the Mini-Con, Leader-1 (Barrel) (when upgraded to Galvatron, the American toy renamed the repainted Leader-1 Clench, treating him as a new character, whereas the cartoon continued to treat him as the same character, now called Spark Barrel in Japan).
Voiced by Yanada Kiyoyuki in Japan.
Transformers: Energon (Superlink)
Enmegs.jpg
Although he was believed dead by both the Autobots and Decepticons, Megatron, like Unicron, had survived the final battle, his body now a decayed husk, absorbed into the equally damaged body of Unicron, where it lay for ten years. But when the being called Alpha Q began his plan to re-energise Unicron, Megatron saw his opportunity, syphoning off some of the Energon that Alpha Q's Terrorcons stole, working towards his own rebirth. To turn the Decepticons to his side, Alpha Q forged a sword from Megatron's Spark, but when an enraged Scorponok stabbed Megatron's corpse with the blade, Megatron was born anew, with a powerful new body that transformed into a gunship, armed with Hyper Power cannons. Taking the sword for his own, he proceeded to take over Unicron's body, sending Alpha Q fleeing in Unicron's head, and restarted his campagain against Earth and the Autobots, seeking Energon to reactivate Unicron, who he would use as the ultimate weapon.
Megatron eventually succeeded in bringing Unicron to the vicinity of Cybertron and transforming the planet-eater to robot mode. However, in an attempt to stop him, Alpha Q rammed Unicron's head, charged with the positive Energon of Earth, into Unicron's body, interacting it with the negative Energon within. The resultant reaction tore a rupture in reality that led to a new region of space where Alpha Q had recreated all the planets Unicron had consumed, which Megatron immediately saw as a target to acquire more Energon from. After another series of attacks, Megatron successfully reanimated Unicron, but the chaos-bringer's consciousness invaded Megatron's body, taking over his mind. Although Optimus Supreme was able to destroy Unicron's body, his mind lived on in Megatron, directing him to attack Cybertron and uncover a reservoir of Super Energon beneath the planet's surface. Megatron immersed himself in the powerful liquid, once again becoming the mighty Galvatron (Galvatron G) and quickly asserted control of the planet, forcing the Autobots underground with Energon gas. Using Energon Towers, Galvatron had Cybertron relocated to Alpha Q's region of space, where he once again soaked himself in Super Energon, growing to a colossal height. However, as he did so, Unicron's influence totally seized control of his mind, directing him out into space to re-merge with his Spark. Optimus Prime forced him into a battle, knowing that Galvatron's hatred of him would force his consciousness to surface again, and when it did, Prime drained Unicron's influence from Galvatron, sealing it within himself. Galvatron then intended to destroy Unicron's Spark, but wound up being possessed by it once more, and rather than fight Optimus Prime, plunged himself into the foundling sun created by Primus, igniting the star and seemingly destroying himself, rather than allow himself to be controlled by Unicron.
Voided by Junichi Endou in Japan.
Transformers: Cybertron (Galaxy Force)
- Master Megatron in Japan.
Leader of the Decepticons, Megatron stole a holographic map containing locations of Cyber Planet Keys. With this ,he seeks to obtain all of the keys and become immensely powerful. He is a triple changer who has the ability to change into an F-1 racer reminiscent of the Batmobile and a jet plane.
He is voiced by Jouji Nakata.