Megatron

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Megatron

This article is about The Transformers' leader of the Decepticons, for other meanings, see Megatron (disambiguation).

Megatron is the name of several fictional characters from the numerous Transformers Universes, all of which are the leader of their respective universes' incarnation of the evil Decepticons or Predacons. In several of these universes, Megatron is later recreated or powered up to become Galvatron.

Generation 1

The Megatron toy is based on the earlier MC-12 Gun Robo, a toy released as part of the pre-Transformers Microman line. The Microman toy was in turn based on a customised Walther P38 handgun used in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a popular 1960s television spy series. ^* Megatron was more specifically based on a special edition of the MC-12, called the "MC13 Gun Robo - P38 U.N.C.L.E", which included a mock telescopic sight, barrel extension / silencer, and a shoulder stock.

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 flail. Megatron transforms into a Walther P38 pistol, delivering more focused energy blasts. He can shrink and reduce his mass as he transforms, assuming sizes that comfortably allow either another Transformer or even a human being to wield him. In one instance, he retained his full size and connected to jet-mode Starscream's underside.

There have been several interpretations of his character; some see Megatron as a strategic leader who calls the shots from afar, whilst others see Megatron as a tactical battlefield commander who leads by brutal example. All agree on one thing - he is cunning, ruthless and without mercy. Unlike many other villains in popular fiction, Megatron was not generally depicted as overly chaotic or insane. He was highly aggressive and megalomaniacal, but there was usually a consistent rationale behind his actions, albeit that Megatron was often the only one who could perceive this. That said there have been occasions where he seems to have his own personal sense of fair play and a times even a visible sense of honor to his person. There have been times where he could quite easily have taken the life of his lifelong adversary - Autobot commander Optimus Prime - but has actually spared him his life. In this regard Megatron has shown some form of earned mercy to Prime in those cases where the two were forced to fight alongside one another as allies for a time against a far greater mutual threat ( for example the Combaticons). He does seem to gain some slight enjoyment out of fighting Prime whom he has come to respect as being a worthy adversary and in some unspoken way an equal to Megatron. Each knows the other as well if not better than each knows themselves and far better then any other could know either one of them. Were it not for their enmity and differences in idealogy and views each could quite possibly complement the other perfectly as a potential teammate and fellow warrior. This has been seen in multiple incarnations of the character, from the alliance between the two to defeat a Matrix-possessed Starscream, to the Gen 1 Dreamwave series where Megatron actually wanted Prime to join him (even going so far as to describe him as the second greatest warrior he knew). Each of them are quite possibly the purest living embodiment of their resepective views, beliefs, and societies' idealogies and that may very well be the greatest tragedy in their shared existence. These two leaders, who each know one another every bit as well as two individuals who are the best and closest of friends would , must instead find themselves in the role of lifelong enemies to one another rather than as allies instead.

According to his original tech spec, Megatron has no known weaknesses (some fans believe that, due to certain episodes and comics like US Transformers #21, he is incapable of firing himself in his gun form, but he has done it several times). 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 often overlooks some significant detail, and has a bad habit of ordering a retreat when tables start to turn against him. However, despite his lust for galactic domination, one of Megatron's key priorities remains the safety and health of Cybertron – and the best way to accomplish that is for him to conquer it.

Animated series

Megatron is a Decepticon, one of the lineal descendants 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 advantange 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 its energy, necessitating that both factions seek out new worlds and new sources of power. Megatron and his elite forces pursued the Autobots' craft, (referred to as the Ark in Beast Wars, following the ship's name from the G1 Marvel Comics) in their star cruiser (referred to as the Nemesis in Beast Wars) 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.

In 1984, a volcano eruption jarred the Ark's computer, Teletraan I, back to life, and it proceeded to repair the Autobots and Decepticons, re-igniting the war began on the 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 transport 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 off 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. In the course of the conflict, word was sent to Optimus Prime, who arrived the following morning after the slaughter and confronted Megatron in another one-on-one struggle. Megatron appeared beaten, but spying a discarded pistol, stalled for time by pleading for mercy as he attempted to reach it. The young Autobot Hot Rod then intervened, tackling Megatron, but the Decepticon was too powerful for him, seizing him and using him as shield as he grabbed the pistol and opened fire on Prime. The wounds were fatal and led to Prime's death - but not before Prime delivered his own final blow to Megatron, seriously damaging him and forcing the Decepticons to flee.

On the return trip to Cybertron, it became necessary to jettison excess mass, or else the Decepticons would be unable 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, offered Megatron a new body and new troops in exchange for Megatron's cooperation in hunting down the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Thus, Megatron was reborn as Galvatron, while the rest of the wounded Deceptions became Galvatron's new warriors.

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 (who transformed into a flying cannon), 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

Megatron's beginnings are much simpler in the world of Marvel Comics - here, rising from his beginnings as a gladiator for the city-state of Tarn, Megatron and the Decepticons were the ones who developed transformation first, using it to begin the war against the Autobots, who fought back by mimicking the technology. In time, the war grew so fierce that Cybertron itself was shaken from its orbit, and set adrift in the cosmos. Eventually, four million years ago, the planet fell into the path of an asteroid cluster in the Sol system that threatened to destroy it, and so Optimus Prime led a contingent of his troops in the Ark to reduce the asteroids to rubble, saving Cybertron. The plan was a success, but immediately afterwards, Megatron and his troops attack, forcing Optimus Prime to crash the Ark into prehistoric Earth.

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. Chafing 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 after convincing him that the recordings of their previous battle with Shockwave were the real thing. But even not at full strength Megatron easily defeated the Dinobots, forcing Ratchet to attempt a near suicidal move 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 ran 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. After a communication from Lord Straxus on Cybertron, 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 energy-generating device, the 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.

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. When the Ark was stolen by Shockwave and Starscream (as well as a stowaway Galvatron from an alternate universe) in order to escape Cybertron's destruction both Megatron and Ratchet were reactivated. A confused and disorientated Megatron soon encountered Galvatron and the two attacked each other - Galvatron wanting to end the madness of Megatron buried within himself, while Megatron thought he was fighting Ratchet. But the mental link with Ratchet nearly proved his undoing - Ratchet's return to consciousness and the horror of his previous bond froze Megatron and nearly allowed Galvatron to kill him. Galvatron realised just in time that killing Megatron could mean he was, in effect, killing himself. Shockwave then appeared and attempted to kill Megatron, but a hiding Galvatron stopped him, as Galvatron and Megatron teamed up once again. But matters were soon taken out of their hands, as Ratchet, desperate to escape the cycle of death and insanity being bonded to Megatron brought him, and eager to stop a renewed Megatron/Galvatron alliance, crashed the Ark on Earth, supposedly killing all aboard.

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 an LeClerk 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 squad 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 defeat Starscream, who had seized control of the Decepticon ship, the Warworld, through the power of the Matrix, stop Jhiaxus and halt the spread of the The Swarm . The tale ended with the Autobots and Decepticons uniting.

"Why? That's what they all asked me. Why him -- why Starscream? Why, of all Decepticons, did I decide to revitalize the one whose record of deceit and betrayal is legendary? Because I'm an idiot, that's why!" - Megatron, after Starscream's latest betrayal resulted in their base being discovered and attacked by Jhiaxus' forces.

Dreamwave Comics

In the 21st Century reimagining of the Generation One universe by Dreamwave Productions, Megatron was envisioned as an ancient gladiatorial combatant in the depths of Cybertron’s underworld. As victory upon victory mounted he began to realize that the games were nothing more than an elaborate attempt by the Cybertronian elders to hide the truth of Cybertron’s history from the masses. When Megatron attempted to gain access to that knowledge through exploration and research, the Cybertronian elders attempted to have him assassinated - a plan that only resulted in stirring up even more discontent among Cybertronians which allowed Megatron to begin recruiting for the Decepticon movement.

Megatron's forces began a civil war of Autobot against Decepticon in order to mask his reactivation of the ancient planetary engines buried beneath Cybertron’s surface, as part of this ultimate intent for the planet - it would transformed into a massive Warworld that would cut a swathe of destruction through the galaxy. This plan initially failed as during a conflict with Optimus Prime, Megatron's Lieutenant Starscream activated the planet mechaforming process too soon resulting in the destruction of the machinery.

Roughly 7.4 million years BCE, Megatron and Optimus Prime disappeared in an early test of the new unstable Spacebridge matter-transport system. Spending an undisclosed time on the planet Quintessa, Megatron returned with an overwhelming army of lifeless seeker clones, quickly subjugating Cybertron. However this story was never finished due to the closure of Dreamwave.

Four million years BCE, when Cybertron was threatened by a massive approaching asteroid, Optimus Prime led a contingent of Autobots aboard the Ark to blow the rock to fragments, which were transported away by an orbital Spacebridge network. When this task was completed, Megatron chose this moment to strike, attacking the Ark with his troops. Crippled, the craft flew through one of the Spacebridge portals, and was transported to prehistoric Earth, where it crashed, entombing the occupants in stasis for four million years.

The Autobots and Decepticons were reactivated in 1984, but specific details of the battles were unrecorded until 1999, when an Autobot/Human military alliance succeeded in capturing and deactivating the Decepticons. However, the Ark II, spaceship carrying them back to Cybertron, exploded shortly after liftoff, and the Transformers were believed destroyed - but in actuality, they had been scattered back to Earth, where they lay in Stasis lock across the globe for three years. This slumber was brought to an end when Adam Rook, a rogue military scientist who had devised a method of controlling Transformers, salvaged many of the fallen Cybertronians and reprogrammed them as mass killing machines, which he then attempted to sell on the black market. Megatron was first to break free of the human's control, overriding the new programming and capturing Rook during an auction. Megatron forced Rook to watch as he unleashed a technorganic virus designed to transform all of Earth into a new Cybertron. It also served to lure Optimus Prime and the Autobots, also now reactivated, to his location, where Megatron, tired of the war, continuously asked Prime to join him. After his first failed attempt, Megatron unleashed Devastator on San Francisco in a mass slaughter, in an attempt to show Prime the humans were not worth fighting for. However, the selfless sacrifice of several firemen restored Prime's faith in humanity and allowed him and the Autobots to beat back Megatron.

Several months later. Megatron was subliminally summoned to a remote area in Alaska along with the other Earthbound Transformers. There they battled until Megatron's former second-in-command, Shockwave, arrived and revealed that in their absence, the war on Cybertron had ended, arresting Megatron, Prime and their troops as war criminals. Megatron, weakened by battle, was quickly defeated by Shockwave and loaded aboard his shuttle for return to Cybertron, only to have Starscream seize the opportunity to be rid of him by jettisoning him into space on the return trip. Megatron used the time floating in space in stasis lock to contemplate his existence and the Decepticon goal. Realizing that he had wasted millennia in his feud with Prime, Megatron resolved to once again conquer Cybertron as a means to enhancing the Transformer race and strengthening it from outside threats. It seemed as through he would not live to accomplish this goal, however, as death closed in on him... only for him to be retrieved by the Junkion Wreck-Gar, who took him to the planet of Junk and repaired and re-armed him, only to be killed in return.

Travelling to the Planet Beest, Megatron defeated the exiled Decepticon warlords, the Predacons, and rebuilt them into the mightiest of all combiners, Predaking, to serve as his ace in the hole in his quest to reclaim leadership of the Decepticons. Moving in stealth on Cybertron, Megatron defeated Shockwave, severing his arm and forcing him into servitude. He then returned to Earth to collect the remaining Decepticons under Starscream's command, and to teach Starscream a lesson long in coming.

While it was alluded that Megatron had a grand goal in mind that also included the subjugation of the Quintessons, the remainder of the story has yet to be told due to the closure of Dreamwave. However it has been stated by representatives of IDW publishing, the current holders of the Transformer comic license, that once Dreamwave has exited bankruptcy court, they intend to finish the story.

Megatron would also appear in Dreamwave's Transformers/G.I Joe Miniseries. Unlike many of the other Transformers (who were given World War 2 vehicle alternate modes) Megatron would keep his basic Walther handgun transformation.

Other appearances

In the exclusive Japanese toyline, Robot Masters, whose story began in the timeline of the G1 animated series, but branched off at some point in the twenty-year interim between seasons 2 and 3, Megatron was lost in an undisclosed accident, leaving his time-displaced Beast Wars descendant to take his place as Decepticon leader (the toyline applied the qualifying titles of "G1 Megatron" and "Beast Megatron" to the characters to distinguish them). As events progressed, it was revealed that G1 Megatron's consciousness took possession of the body of a "Convoy" (an Autobot leader) known as Reverse Convoy, leader of the planet Vehicon, and then used it to pose as an ally to the Autobots, only to betray them by revealing himself as the aptly-named "Rebirth Megatron."

The Reverse Convoy/Rebirth Megatron toy is a remolded version of the Generation 2 "Hero Megatron" figure, with a new cannon and gun, and two interchangeable heads - one Convoy, one Megatron.

Devil's Due Comics

In the Transformers comics printed by Devil's Due, Megatron was again among the Decepticons who crashed on in the Ark on Earth, but this time the Ark was discovered by the terrorist group Cobra, who reformatted the Autobots and Decepticons inside into weapons and vehicles for themselves called Battle Android Troopers controlled by the Televipers.

Megatron was locked in gun mode, and kept by Cobra Commander as his personal sidearm, and it amused him to allow Megatron to speak and advise him. When Optimus Prime broke free of the controls Cobra had placed on him and attacked Cobra Commander, Megatron convinced his keeper to free him and fight Optimus. While Megatron did fight Optimus Prime, he also attempted to take over the Cobra installation and use it to manufacture Energon cubes to power the other Decepticons and eventually take over the Earth. Wounded by the Autobots and a malfunctioning orbiting weapons system, Megatron was eventually defeated and believed destroyed. In reality much of his body remained and the U.S. government studied his workings to advance their own projects in military super computers.

In the third volume, the android Serpentor (or, as he is called here, Serpent O.R), created with computer systems salvaged from Megatron, downloaded information on the history of Cybertron from Soundwave. Mentioned among that information was the Quintessons, Alpha Trion, Megatron and Soundwave, the planet of Junk, a warrior named Optimus Primal and the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Seeing himself as Megatron's son and heir, he set out on a quest to gain the Matrix for himself, believing it would grant him the power he needed to rule. Journeying to Cybertron, he used Megatron's memories to convince the Predacons and Seacons to become his first troops.

He manages to capture a group of G.I. Joes and Autobots, killing Bumblebee in process. It is explained that the program of Serpentor was overridden by the elements of the programming that were Megatrons (the scientists using Megatron's personality template to base Serpentor's on) .Calling all the surviving Decepticons (including the Stunticons, Terrorcons, Triple-Changers and Sixshot ) together, Serpentor is at first mocked due to his size but convinces the Decepticons to rally against the Autobots using Megatron's memories. His attack comes during the Autobots' celebration of peace following the Decepticons defeat.

Optimus Prime notes that only Megatron was capable of launching such an effective and coordinated Decepticon attack. It is interesting to note that the Decepticons here venerate Megatron as a almost mythical heroic figure.

IDW Comics

After Dreamwave's closure, the rights to the Transformers comics were taken over by IDW publishing who, in addition to aiming to finish off the Dreamwave storylines one day, have produced a range of original Transformers material, including the mini-series Infiltration. During the events of this miniseries, Megatron emerges and appears to be in command of the Decepticons on Cybertron. However, angered by the 'breaking cover' of Starscream and his troops, Megatron journeys personally to Earth at the end of issue 4. He is attacked by Blitzwing and Skywarp, both of whom he soundly defeats. Unlike previous incarnations of Megatron on Earth, this Megatron is still in his Cybertronian tank mode (although it should be noted that it is of a different design than The War Within).

Evolution

Megatron is also set to appear in the new IDW mini-series Evolution: Hearts of Steel. Setting the Transformers in the Industrial Revolution, early sketches indicate Megatron shall be a cannon. link

Convention Comics

Megatron would also appear in several Botcon comic sagas, written principally by Simon Furman. His story Reaching the Omega Point indicates that the Autobot-Decepticon alliance established in the Generation 2 comics didn't last and that he eventually became Galvatron. In a prelude story The last days of Optimus Prime , Prime, feeling that there is no longer a place for him within the new Cybertron journeys to J'nwan, a quasi-mystical realm and is greeted peacefully by Megatron. In the Beast Wars future in which the story takes place the greatest Autobots and Decepticons have passed on to J'nwan, a quasi-mystical realm where they can finally live in peace. A Predacon called Sandstorm, one of the Covenant of Twelve created by Primus, journeyed to this realm in order to get them to help against Shokaract, an evil being created from a Predacon fusing with Unicron's essence who was attacking the Beast Wars Transformers including Optimus Primal and ruled the universe in their future. They refuse, but later in the story a group of these Transformers including Megatron, Optimus Prime, Grimlock and Soundwave distracted Shokaract long enough for Primus to deal the killing blow.

He also featured prominently in Alignment, Simon Furman's take on what happened after the G2 comic. In this story Megatron was defeated for command of the Decepticons by Galvatron 2 (the U.S comics version) and left for dead. Galvatron then constructed a fleet of Warworlds and attacked the Autobots before being killed by Optimus Prime. The Decepticons then retreated to their base, a conquered replica of Cybertron, before being attacked by the Liege Maximo's troops. Unbeknownst to all Soundwave had retrieved his master's body and had it rebuilt and improved on, finally resurrecting Megatron's Spark via Unicron-inspired dark science with his fellow conspirators Direwolf, Ramjet and Ravage. Megatron then killed the entire Decepticon High Council for their failure to lead, save for the Insecticon Shrapnel who pledged his allegiance once more. Megatron then made a sacrifice play, destroying the now evacuated planet and annihilating the Liege Maximo's fleet with it. Taking a fleet of scavenged Warworlds to face the Liege Maximo and thwart his plan to become a god, Megatron was finally destroyed for good when he unleashed a massive energon fueled blast that actually hurt the Liege Maximo. In retaliation, the Maximo used his arm cannon to obliterate Megatron. However his sacrifice was not in vain, as this caused the Liege Maximo to flee too soon and be destroyed when his energy gateway collapsed, shredding him between the physical realm and the realm he wanted to ascend to. This sets up the Pax Cybertronia and the evolution of the Autobots and Decepticons into Maximals and Predacons. Whether this story is reconcilable with Reaching the Omega Point, or whether it is even part of the Transformers canon is unknown.

Generation 2

While the original tank version was the only version of Generation 2 Megatron to appear in the comics, several other incarnations of the character were released in the toyline itself, including Hero Megatron - a smaller, purple tank with a bellows-operated missile launcher and more-articulated robot mode also sold under the name Archforce - and Go-Bot Megatron; the Go-Bots were Transformers made to the same scale as Hot Wheels toys and had free-spinning axles which conserved momentum, allowing these Transformers to be compatible with Hot Wheels launchers, race tracks etc. Go-Bot Megatron was a repaint of a previous figure named Blowout and transformed into a silver Porsche.

There were also two unreleased versions of Megatron in Generation 2. The first was a remold of Generation 2 Dreamwing which turned into an Advanced Tactical Bomber - this toy would later become Beast Wars Second BB. The second was a smaller fighter jet flip changer, which would be used for Megatron in the Machine Wars series.

Machine Wars

In 1997, the small KB Toys exclusive Transformers toyline, Machine Wars included an unusual new incarnation of Megatron - a teal and grey basic-size jet originally created as a prototype for the Generation 2 toyline. The lack of any supporting fiction for the line makes its place in continuity hard to define, but in all other regards, this Megatron seemed very much to be the Megatron of old. Taking the skies in disguise, Megatron's new body is composed of stealth deflector shields for invisible attacks, and can attain speeds of 600mph via twin turbo thrusters.

Machine Wars Megatron toy is 12cm long. An actual F-18 Hornet is 1710 cm long. This gives us a scale of 1:143. With a robot height of 10cm this means Megatron stands 46.9 feet tall.

Megaplex

This figure was also redecoed within the Machine Wars line itself, simply swapping the teal and grey around, and released as Megaplex, a clone of Megatron designed to serve as a decoy for the Decepticon leader in battle. Megaplex also later inspired an E-hobby exclusive redeco of the original G1 Megatron toy in 2003, with blue plastic instead of red and without Megatron's chrome. Claimed to be one of numerous dopplegangers created to dupe the Autobots and protect Megatron against Decepticon traitors, Megaplex has the same abilities as Megatron, although they are restricted by a failsafe device. He is armed with a yellow version of Megatron's energy mace (included with the 2003 reissues of the Megatron toy), and in pistol mode, fires freeze shells loaded with liquid helium. There is no indication that Megaplex is related to or inspired by the Straxus-Megatron clone from Marvel Comics, but exists as a pleasant coincidence nonetheless.

Beast Wars and Beast Machines

In the original, short-lived storyline for Beast Wars, presented through the toy's tech specs and a pack-in comic book, the Predacon Megatron was, in fact, intended to be a new incarnation of the classic G1 Megatron. With the advent of the Beast Wars animated television series, however, the writers of the series opted instead to present the Beast Warriors as a new generation of original characters, who simply happened to share some older characters' names. So it was that Beast Wars Megatron became a new character. Later, when the connection between Beast Wars and the G1 series was established, the original Megatron put in appearances, first as a recording of himself which he had encoded on the Golden Disk which directed his namesake to the crashed Ark on prehistoric Earth. When the Ark was uncovered by the Maximal and Predacon factions, the original Megatron's deactivated body was seen, and later had its spark removed by Beast Wars Megatron, which he took into his own body and used to transform himself into a Transmetal 2 dragon. When Megatron was defeated, the original Megatron's Spark was returned in a deleted scene from the show.

Although the producers attempted to get Frank Welker to reprise the role, he was unavailable. As a result, during his cameo appearance in Beast Wars, G1 Megatron was voiced by Paul Dobson.

Transtech

After the conclusion of the Beast Machines series and toyline, Hasbro's initial plans were for a follow-up series entitled Transtech, which would supposedly bring back some deceased Beast Wars characters, as well as some older Generation 1 characters, all in new, more organic-looking bodies, except with vehiclular alternate modes instead of the animal forms which had dominated the two recent series. Although the idea was eventually scrapped in favor of Armada (with Robots in Disguise being imported for the "filler" year in between), Toronto-based design studio Draxhall Jump produced many concept sketches (from which even a few toy prototypes were produced), among which was a new incarnation of Megatron. Precisely which Megatron - G1 or Beast Wars - is not clear, but it is generally accepted that the design ultimately inspired Transformers: Armada's Megatron.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Unicron Trilogy

for the Megatron of Armada, Energon and Cybertron.

Robot Masters

Megatron would return in the Robot Masters series as a remold of his Generation Two form, under the name Reverse Convoy, also known as Rebirth Megatron. Accoding to the fiction on the box Reverse Convoy had an extradimensional link to a black hole similar to that of Megatron, and this link allowed the spirit of G1 Megatron to possess him. Rebirth Megatron and Beast Megatron would combine forces to become Double Megatron.

Transformers: Classics (2006)

In the upcoming Transformers Classics toy line ^*, Megatron will once again be a gun (called a "blaster" by Hasbro). Due to laws regulating the appearance of toy guns in the United States, his colour scheme will include some brightly coloured parts (making him almost looking like a Nerf gun), but otherwise his appearance is a homage to the G1 Megatron.

Transformers: 2007 film

In the upcoming live-action film, Megatron will allegedly appear as an alien jet. The apparent explanation for the departure from his gun form is that director Michael Bay does not want to include any sort of size changing in the transformations. It is unknown if this Megatron will be reformated into Galvatron like many other versions of the character.

Remolds & Redecos

At various points in time throughout the numerous Transformers toylines, several of the Megatron toys have been remolded and/or recolored into new, non-Megatron (and non-Galvatron) characters.

Generation 2 Megatron was released exclusively in Japan with a slightly modified paint job (grey camouflage instead of purple and darkened rings around his eyes) as Megastorm in the Beast Wars Second line.
Generation 2 Hero Megatron was slightly altered for his release in Europe (his chest sticker did not display his name), and given the new name of Archforce. It was later recolored in yellow, green and grey for Robots in Disguise as the Destructicon, Bludgeon.
Generation 2 Go-Bot Megatron was recolored in black and translucent plastic for Robots in Disguise as the Autobot Hot Shot.
The aborted Generation 2 Megatron and Starscream toy was eventually released in G2 as Dreadwing and Smokescreen. Later, it was redecoed in purple and black for the Japanese Beast Wars Second line as BB and Starscream, then again in green and grey for Robots in Disguise as Dreadwind and Smokejumper, and once more in various shades of blue for the Japanese-exclusive Robot Masters line as Gigant Bomb and Smokesniper.
Machine Wars Megatron was redecoed in yellow and black as Thrust for Beast Wars Second, in purple as black as Wind Sheer for Robots in Disguise and in black, grey and orange as Air Hunter for Robot Masters.

External links

Megatron | メガトロン (トランスフォーマー) | Мегатрон (персонаж мультфильма) | 威震天

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Generation 1

Animated series

Battlestars: Return of Convoy

Marvel Comics

Generation 2

Other comic stories

Dreamwave Comics

Other appearances

Devil's Due Comics

IDW Comics

Evolution

Convention Comics

Generation 2

Machine Wars

Megaplex

Beast Wars and Beast Machines

Transtech

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Unicron Trilogy

Robot Masters

Transformers: Classics (2006)

Transformers: 2007 film

Remolds & Redecos

External links