Megatron

For other uses, see the Transformers character and Megatron (disambiguation).

Megatron is a character from the various Transformers universes, being the evil leader of the Decepticons and the primary antagonist of the series. Wizard Magazine rated him the 68th greatest villain of all time.

Transformers: Generation 1

Template:Transformers character Megatron is a Transformer robot, the original "alternate mode" being a custom Walther P38. He has large exposure in the comics and television series as well as his function as the leader of the villainous Decepticons, opposite the heroic Autobots.

Bob Budiansky, the writer for the Marvel Comics series stated in an interview that the name "Megatron" is a portmanteau derived from "Megaton" and "Electronic." Originally Hasbro took issue with the name, saying it sounded too dangerous, like an atomic bomb. Budiansky responded that as the lead villain, that was the whole point. Hasbro saw his reasoning, and approved the name.

Megatron is very powerful and utterly ruthless. His imposing robot form is dominated by his primary weapon - his arm-mounted fusion cannon, capable of leveling a city block in one blast. He can also sub-dimensionally link the weapon to a black hole, generating even more powerful antimatter blasts (capable of destroying a small planetary body). However, this ability is almost never used, as it leaves him extremely weak and vulnerable.

He has a secondary weapon barrel mounted on his back, and can retract and replace his right hand with an energy flail. He can fire electrical blasts from his hands, laser blasts from his eyes on at least one occasion (The Autobot Run) and can reprogram computers with a port in his head.

Megatron transforms into a Walther P38, 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 (the episode Dinobot S.O.S.), 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 him as a tactical battlefield commander who leads by brutal example. Unlike many other villains in popular fiction, Megatron was not generally depicted as overly chaotic or insane. He was highly aggressive and a megalomaniac, but there was usually a consistent rationale behind his actions, albeit that Megatron was often the only one who could perceive this.

There have been some sparing occasions where Megatron displays a personal sense of fair play and even honor, a complexity that is most evident in his complicated relationship with Optimus Prime. There is an unspoken mutual respect between the two leaders, born of each knowing the other better than anyone else. Megatron at times seems to derive enjoyment from the perpetual conflict that exists between them — the pleasure of ending the life of Optimus Prime will be Megatron's and Megatron's alone, and to ensure this, he has aided Prime in the face of greater threats, such as the Combaticons or Jhiaxus's second generation Cybertronians. In instances such as these, the two have come to face the fact that were it not for their diametrically opposed ideology and views, in another life, the two could be comrades — a fact that Optimus Prime views as a tragedy, but which provides Megatron with amusement.

According to his original tech spec, Megatron has no known weaknesses. This does not, however, spare him from defeat at the hands of his enemies. For all his famed battle prowess and tactical ability, Megatron's complacent overconfidence often causes him to overlook some vital strategic detail. Also, he has a bad habit of ordering a retreat at the first sign that the tables have turned against his side in battle (even when the Decepticons still maintain the overall strategic advantage). Another factor that could contribute to his losses is his rough relationship with some of his own troops (most specifically Starscream). Despite his lust for galactic domination, one of Megatron's key priorities remains the safety and health of Cybertron; and from his viewpoint, 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 advantage 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, 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. Pax soon learned the error of his ways. However, the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion, reconstructed Pax into Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots as the war erupted again ("War Dawn"). 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 forces pursued the Autobots' craft (referred to as the Ark in Beast Wars) and attacked and boarded the craft, causing it to crash on prehistoric Earth, entombing all on the ship in emergency stasis as it crashed into a dormant volcano.

In his next scheme in "Heavy Metal War", Megatron absorbed all the separate powers of the other Decepticons into himself, and challenged Optimus Prime to one-on-one combat and won, 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. Fed up with the Autobots ruling the roads, Megatron ordered the creation of the Stunticons. Megatron even made a number of temporary alliances with the Autobots, although most of these alliances ended in double crosses.

Eventually, however, Megatron turned his attention away from Earth, and succeeded in conquering Cybertron by the Earth year 2005 in Transformers: The Movie. Optimus Prime arrived there confronted Megatron. Megatron killed Prime — but not before Prime delivered his own final blow to Megatron, almost fatally damaging him and forcing the Decepticons to flee. On the return trip to Cybertron, it became necessary to jettison excess mass, or else Astrotrain, the Decepticons' space transport, would be unable to reach the planet. Wounded Decepticons were set adrift in space - including Megatron. The world-devourer Unicron offered him a new body and new troops in exchange for cooperation in destroying the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Thus, Megatron is reformatted as Galvatron, while the rest of the wounded Deceptions were also recycled into Galvatron's new warriors. Megatron would later appear in flashbacks, during the season three episodes "Five Faces of Darkness" Part 4, and "The Return of Optimus Prime" Part 1.

Although this would be the end of Megatron in the U.S. animated series, he would make several more appearances in the animated segments of various Transformers toy commercials, where it was depicted that he became an Action Master, and eventually a CGI sequence of him in his first Generation 2 form and Combat Hero forms.

Megatron made a cameo in the pilot of the Transformers: Animated series on a historical video being viewed by Optimus Prime. This historical video was stock footage from the original animated series.

Japanese Manga

In the Japanese exclusive manga stories accompanying Transformers: The Headmasters Megatron would make a number of appearances. On one occasion Galvatron used a massive army of Megatron clones to overwhelm the Autobots, only being defeated when Rodimus Prime destroyed Galvatron's control over them. Rodimus and Galvatron would also even team up to battle Guiltor, a hybrid of both Optimus Prime and Megatron.

With his transformation into Galvatron, Megatron departed from the Japanese G1 continuity (which took a different direction after the end of series 3, opting to replace the events of The Rebirth with those of Headmasters), until five years later, in the manga-exclusive storyline, Battlestars: The Return of Convoy, which, although not animated itself (told instead through one chapter of manga and color magazine spreads), continues the tale of the cartoon Universe.

In the previous Japanese-exclusive animated series, Transformers: The 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 futuristic jet), 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. In the Japanese Generation 2 manga, he was shown to have survived and, in a body resembling his "Hero" toy, once again opposed Optimus Prime.

Beast Wars

The Predacon leader known as Megatron from the Beast Wars and Beast Machines animated series is a separate character from the original Generation 1 Megatron. However, this was not the original intent for the character, as the original pack-in mini-comic and biographies released with the earliest Beast Wars toys indicate that the character was supposed to be the original Megatron, in a new body. With the advent of the animated series, however, the fiction of Beast Wars was re-imagined and eventually applied to the toy line, establishing this Megatron as an independent character. But that is not to say that the original Megatron did not play a role in his namesake's rise to power.

At some undefined point during the Autobot-Decepticon war, the original Megatron acquired the Voyager probe's Golden Disk and inscribed a secret message onto it, intending for future generations of Decepticons to uncover it and follow its instructions should he fail, to use transwarp technology to travel back in time and kill Optimus Prime while he lay in stasis aboard the Ark, thus ending the great war early with the Decepticons the victors. Around three centuries after the eventual end of the "Great War," the Predacon that would become Megatron uncovered this message and quickly stole a Predacon transwarp cruiser called the Darksyde with the aid of a small like-minded army, heading to prehistoric Earth. This Predacon took the moniker "Megatron" in honor of the original Decepticon.

Pursued by a crew of Maximals, both ships crashed on the planet, with only Megatron truly aware of when and where they were. Megatron, however, found himself unwilling to carry out the instructions of his ancestor, instead attempting to amass power through the huge reserves of energon and portions of mysterious alien technology that littered the planet. Systematic defeat by the Maximals eventually left all his options exhausted, and he proceeded to strike at Optimus Prime, only to be once again thwarted by his enemies.

This would not be the last time G1 Megatron's influence would be felt. Observing how Primal boosted his own strength and form by holding the spark of Optimus Prime within his body, Beast Wars Megatron made the same move, purloining the spark of his ancestor and taking it into his own body, transforming as a result into a monstrous dragon.

When he was finally defeated by the Maximals, the original Megatron's spark was returned to his body (in a deleted scene from the television series, that is available on the Season 3 DVD 2 in the "Scene Selection" menu), and history carried on as before.

Although the producers attempted to get Frank Welker to reprise his role as Megatron for his recording on the Golden Disk, he was unavailable. As a result, during his cameo appearance in Beast Wars, G1 Megatron was voiced by series regular Gary Chalk, who also provided the voice of the heroic Maximal leader Optimus Primal.

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. Megatron is known to have competed with Sureshot and Optimus Prime in a sharpshooting competition some time in his past.

In time, the war grew so fierce that Cybertron 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 was defeated twice by Prime.

That would be all the U.S. comics saw of Megatron for quite some time, but their sister title in the UK, which produced its own material, interspliced with the U.S. stories, soon brought back the great slag-maker for more adventures. Prior to Megatron's seeming death, there had been a story in Marvel UK #99 which after being attacked by the Predacons had seen both him and Prime transported to Cybertron. There Prime was accused of being a Decepticon spy and hunted down by the Wreckers and Ultra Magnus thanks to misinformation spread by Megatron. However, the disembodied local Decepticon leader, Lord Straxus, attempted to possess Megatron's body as his own had been mostly destroyed in a battle with Blaster. The attempt failed as Prime and Magnus defeated Megatron as the two minds warred for dominance. With the now insane Megatron threatening to destroy Polyhex with his antimatter powers, Ratbat teleported him back to Earth with amnesia in time for his U.S. "death" in issue #25.

However, unbeknown to all, Straxus made another attempt with a specially-crafted clone of Megatron created from a regular trooper, which was transported to Earth soon after the real Megatron vanished. The clone believed itself to be the real thing — as did the comics' readers, thinking that the space bridge explosion had transported Megatron elsewhere on Earth — and after a battle with the mechanoid, Centurion, it was salvaged by Shockwave, who brainwashed the clone and unleashed it on Galvatron, a recreated future version of Megatron who had traveled back in time from the year 2006 and posed a threat to Shockwave's leadership. The clone Megatron, however, saw a possible partner in Galvatron, and the two teamed up to battle Autobots and Decepticons from both present and future in the apocalyptic "Time Wars". Subsequently, the clone returned to Cybertron, where it defeated the ruling Decepticon triumvirate, but was then confronted with the real Megatron — the Space bridge explosion had deposited him in the Dead End region of Cybertron, where he had wandered with no recollection of who he was, until he had saved a Decepticon from Autobots and regained his memories. The clone Megatron subsequently destroyed itself to prevent Straxus, buried inside its mind, from taking over.

The stage was now set for Megatron's return in the U.S. comics, as he had his Micromaster Sports Car patrol capture the Autobot medic, Ratchet and forced him to recreate Starscream as a Pretender with his personality reprogrammed to serve Megatron without question. Ratchet did so, but also restored Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee as Pretenders in the same manner, as well as arranging for Starscream's old personality to resurface, thwarting Megatron's 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, ordering the Micromaster Fixit to 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, feelings, sensations and sights. When the Ark was stolen by Shockwave and Starscream (as well as a stowaway Galvatron from a parallel 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. 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 stopped just in time, however, coming to the realization that killing Megatron could mean he was in effect killing himself. Shockwave then appeared and attempted to kill Megatron, but a hidden Galvatron stopped him and Galvatron and Megatron teamed up once again. Matters were soon taken out of their hands, though, as an eager and desperate Ratchet crashed the Ark on Earth to escape the cycle of death and insanity of being bonded to Megatron as well as stopping a renewed Megatron/Galvatron alliance. This supposedly killed everyone on board.

Transformers: Generation 2

A few years later, the Transformers franchise was given a shot in the arm with the launch of the Generation 2 toy line and comic book series.

To go along with his return to the toy line with a new M1A1 Abrams tank alternate mode, Megatron also returned in the comics despite his seeming demise. 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 (Ratchet apparently 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 organization 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 organization was developing. Reconstructed into a new tank body with a powerful railgun, 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 which saw the destruction of the Ark, Megatron then battled and killed Bludgeon, reclaiming leadership of the Decepticons. He then stole 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 Warworld through the power of the Matrix, stop Jhiaxus, and halt the spread of the Swarm. The tale ended with the Autobots and Decepticons uniting.

The final page implies that Megatron is in fact a direct offspring of the Liege Maximo through the same replication process that created the Generation 2 Cybertronians of the story.

Fun Publications

The Transformers Classics comics published in the Official Transformers Collectors Club magazine is set in the Marvel Comics continuity, but in a timeline where the events of Generation 2 did not occur. The story occurs fifteen years after Megatron was presumed dead in the crash of the Ark. Megatron survived, and eventually upgraded his body (based on his Classics toy) and gathered many other Decepticons to him. Soundwave helped him in recovering the body of Astrotrain, who was then used to help locate the placement of other fallen Decepticons around the globe. Those who joined Megatron included Laserbeak, Ramjet, Ravage, Skywarp, Soundwave, Starscream and the Constructicons). Megatron also reactivated Thrust, Dirge and Thundercracker, but the three left him to join up with Bludgeon's troops - mostly because they couldn't work with Starscream, who had killed them once. Megatron's based his command from the wreck of the Ark in the Yukon, where he keeps the fallen body of Ratchet as a trophy and the severed, but living, head of Shockwave as an advisor.

In Crossing Over, when Skyfall and Landquake were presumed killed in the midst of a bloody Mini-Con civil war and attack by Unicron (set concurrently with the events of Transformers: Cybertron), they were, in actuality, transported across universes, from the world of the Unicron Trilogy into the Marvel Comics timeline. Unclear what had happened, they then found themselves staring down the barrel of Megatron's cannon. The two were saved when a group of Robot Hunters in battle suits attacked Megatron. Megatron slaughtered them, only to be confronted by a team of Autobots led by Optimus Prime. Skyfall went with the Autobots, while Landquake was taken by Megatron. Back at the Ark Landquake was interrogated and swore loyalty to Megatron. Scrapper detected an unusual energon reading similar to that of Landquake and the Decepticons went to investigate, only to be confronted by the Autobots again.

In Games of Decepticon Megatron detects the arrival of Bugbite's ship on Earth and sends Starscream, Skywarp and Ramjet to investigate. The Decepticons capture the Autobot spy Mirage. Returning to the Ark the Decepticons fall under the sway of Bugbite, who is using cerebro shells he stole from the Insecticon Bombshell. Megatron overcomes the shell and destroys Bugbite, as the Autobots under the command of Grimlock raid the Ark, destroying the computer and saving Mirage.

Transformers Battle Circuit

The Classic line appeared in a simple Flash-based video game on the Hasbro web site. In this one-on-one fighting game you press the right and left arrow keys to try to overpower your opponent. In the came you can play Rodimus, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Jetfire, Starscream, Astrotrain, Trypticon or Menasor. Optimus Prime and Megatron each appear as the boss you must defeat to win the game.

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 conclusion of the Generation 2 comics didn't last and that Megatron 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, where they can finally live in peace.

Megatron also featured prominently in Alignment, Simon Furman's take on what happened after the Generation 2 comic. In this story Megatron was defeated for command of the Decepticons by Galvatron II (the U.S. comics version) and left for dead. Soundwave had revived his master. Megatron took a fleet of scavenged Warworlds to face the Liege Maximo. He was destroyed by Maximo's arm cannon; he unleashed an energon-fueled blast which destroyed the Maximo. 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 debatable.

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, instead 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 establishing a joint leadership of the Decepticons only to have command usurped by Starscream and Soundwave.

Also, after the end of the Generation 1 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 (reflecting the release of Megatron as an Action Master figure in 1990). The process only barely succeeded — Megatron was deranged and animalistic, and was ultimately defeated by Optimus Prime and Grimlock. This conflicts with the Generation 2 comic but does not conflict with the rewritten UK Generation 2 comic by Fleetway, in which Megatron simply attributes his new body to human scientists, with no further explanation to contradict the events of "Another Time and Place". This tale, somewhat concurrent with the Earthforce tales, has Optimus Prime arriving on Earth in response to a distress call from Grimlock. Bludgeon has attacked Earth in order to draw Prime into the open. The Decepticons, low on energon, are defeated. Megatron then arrives and battles Prime. He is attacked by both Autobots and Decepticons, holding them off until Starscream arrives to bail him out. After this point it switches to reprints of the U.S. material. The most notable difference between the two is that Bludgeon is not killed by Megatron, and Bludgeon and Prime actually meet (although Bludgeon would later be killed by Megatron in the U.S. reprints).

Voice actor plays

Megatron appeared in the 2006 TransformersCon voice actor play. Voices in the play were performed by a variety of volunteers and the actual voice actors attending the convention. The play itself should be considered unofficial, but was notable because it featured several original voice actors reprising their Transformers rolls.

In this voice actor play various Transformers from different timelines and realities were swept up in a repeat wave and transported along with Unicron to Earth. The Transformers included Generation 1 Tracks, Ariel, Cosmos and Megatron, Beast Wars Tarantulas, Robots in Disguise Sky-Byte and Beast Machines Tankor. Upon arrival, Ariel found herself enamored with Megatron for his ability to fly. Sky-Byte, ever loyal to Megatron, any Megatron, pledged himself to his new leader. Although Megatron initially attempted to ally himself with Unicron, Tracks and Cosmos, who were from a later timeline than Megatron, warned him of his fate in their future. Eventually, the Transformers were able to learn that the death of Unicron in 2005 was what created the repeat wave. They defeated Unicron by tricking him into Transforming and using up his power, then using the Key to Vector Sigma program (which Tankor had brought with him) to tap into the power of Vector Sigma itself, and through it the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. With Unicron's energy severely drained the various Transformers faded back to their original timelines. Megatron, enraged at being bounced around the time stream, decided to take out his anger on Starscream.

Books

Megatron was featured in the 1985 Transformers audio books Autobots' Lightning Strike, Laserbeak's Fury, Megatron's Fight for Power, Autobots Fight Back and Satellite of Doom.

Dreamwave Productions

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. It is known that at one point Megatron attempted to recruit Grimlock as one of his inner circle, but the fellow gladiator refused the position, eventually joining the Autobots.

Approximately 7.4 million years ago, 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 ago, when Cybertron was threatened by a massive approaching asteroid, Optimus Prime led a contingent of Autobots aboard the Ark to blow the rock. 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.

In 1999, an Autobot/human military alliance succeeded in capturing and deactivating the Decepticons. However, the Ark II, the spaceship carrying them back to Cybertron, exploded shortly after liftoff (sabotaged by rogue elements of the military, unwittingly being manipulated by Shockwave), and the Transformers were believed destroyed — but in actuality, they had been scattered back to Earth, where they lay in stasis-lock for three years. Adam Rook, a rogue military scientist, 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 Rook's control and captured Rook. 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 that humans were not worth his protection. However, the selfless sacrifice of several firemen restored Prime's faith in humanity and allowed him and the Autobots to beat back Megatron.

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.

The Dreamwave version of Megatron would also appear in a trilogy of iBooks by David Cian set in the main Dreamwave G1 universe: Hardwired, Annihilation and Fusion. In the series, Megatron and Prime were abducted by the alien Keepers and forced to fight in gladiatorial battles. They began working together to return to Earth, where Megatron would predictably attempt to seize their power for himself by uniting with the Autobots to stop the Keepers in return for a favor — which turned out to be asking Optimus to make him the next Prime. While this trilogy is set in the same universe as the Dreamwave stories, whether they fit into the continuity is unclear.

Transformers/G.I. Joe

Megatron would also appear in Dreamwave's Transformers/G.I. Joe limited series. Unlike many of the other Transformers (who were given World War II vehicle alternate modes) Megatron would keep his basic Walther P-38 handgun transformation, which was indeed a WWII German handgun. Forming an alliance with Cobra Commander due to their similar natures, Megatron nonetheless had a bitter personal rivalry with the tyrannical Cobra leader, resulting in Megatron killing several of his troops and Cobra Commander having to use the Matrix to keep him in line. Later, Megatron refused to help the Commander as Bruticus tried to crush him, and allowed the Baroness to use him in gun mode to shoot the helpless Cobra Leader. After battling Optimus Prime, he was deactivated when Snake-Eyes opened the Matrix, deactivating all the Transformers.

Devil's Due Publishing

In the G.I. Joe vs The Transformers comics printed by Devil's Due Publishing, 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 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, as 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 to fight Optimus. While Megatron did battle 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.

Although Megatron was deactivated, his legacy would still come back to haunt the Autobots and G.I. Joe. In the third volume of the series, it was revealed that the US Government had created the android Serpentor (or, as he is called here, Serpent O.R., standing for Organic Robot) using DNA from great historical war leaders and parts from Megatron. Freed by a raid by Cobra Commander, he then downloaded information on Cybertron and the Autobot Matrix of Leadership from the deactivated Soundwave and escaped to Cybertron via the Space bridge, uniting the various Decepticon factions.

Serpentor managed to capture the group of G.I. Joes and Autobots pursuing him from Earth, killing Bumblebee in the process. It is explained that the program of Serpentor was overridden by the elements of the programming that were Megatron's (the scientists using Megatron's personality template upon which to base Serpentor's personality). 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. The attack was successful and Serpentor succeeded where Megatron had failed, and captured Optimus Prime. But Serpentor's exposure to the Matrix, possession by Cobra Commander and subsequent destruction left Megatron's legacy unfulfilled.

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 an almost mythical heroic figure. Also, the information Serpentor downloads from Soundwave indicates that Megatron's pre-Earth form is similar to his Dreamwave universe War Within form. In addition, Serpentor refers to himself as Megatron's "son" at one point.

IDW Publishing

After Dreamwave's closure, the rights to the Transformers comics were taken over by IDW Publishing. IDW would take the opportunity to reboot the Transformers universe, including a revised origin for Megatron detailing how he came to power. Here, Megatron was originally a lowly energon miner. He also formed an uneasy truce with Starscream.

In the IDW continuity, Megatron retains his role as supreme commander of the Decepticon army, although in this continuity, they are no longer based on Cybertron (which was rendered uninhabitable by Thunderwing) and are fighting to conquer multiple worlds simultaneously. In fact, he barely seems to care about Cybertron and was willing to order its total destruction to stop the reanimated Thunderwing. Having now ingested Ore-13, Megatron is able to easily manage mass-displacement and thus turn into an Earth handgun (in Escalation #2), and the newfound power appears to have affected his actions- he personally went on the Brasnya mission and is confident enough to transform & battle Optimus in front of human witnesses, actions that Optimus finds out of character. His instability is also what leads the other Decepticons to awaken Starscream to stand up to him in Devastation.

Kiss Players

Although Megatron himself would not make an appearance in the Japanese exclusive Kiss Players line, he would nonetheless have a small role to play. When Rodimus Prime hurled Galvatron out of Unicron at the climax of The Transformers: The Movie, Galvatron hurtled through space, out of control, until he eventually crash-landed in Tokyo, devastating much of the city. Although comatose, Galvatron's Unicron-corrupted cells spread throughout Earth and fused with various creatures. The resultant hybrids, known as the Legion, bore a marked resemblance to Megatron and would menace the Earth Defense Command on several occasions.

Toys

Through the years, there have been many toys representing the original Generation 1 incarnation of Megatron, some of which have appeared in fiction, others of which have not.

• Generation 1 Megatron (1984)

The original Megatron toy was based on the MC-12 Gun Robo, a robot doll released in Japan as part of Takara's Microman line of the late 1970s. The doll was designed to transform from a robot into a model of a Walther P38 handgun. In particular, Megatron was specifically based on a special edition of the MC-12, called the "MC-13 Gun Robo — P38 U.N.C.L.E". This was in turn based on a customized Walther P38 handgun that featured prominently in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a popular American television spy series from the 1960s. The MC-13 Gun Robo included a hollow plastic telescopic sight, a barrel extension/silencer, and a shoulder stock, which could be combined together to form a static gun emplacement, or a giant over-shoulder mounted laser weapon for the robot doll. These extras were not included with the standard MC-12 model. [1] The toy could be made to fire small plastic pellets, a feature that was removed from the international version of Megatron, when he was incorporated into the Transformers line. In U.S. Airports this toy is on a list of banned items on planes.

This toy was used to represent Megatron when he appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Werewolf vs. Unicorn", where he was voiced by Frank Welker.

Megatron was reissued in Japan in 2000, and included all the components and features of his western and Japanese releases (all extensions, sword weapon, chrome surfacing, and pellet-firing mechanism), as well as a second firing mechanism that allows the combined gun emplacement or shoulder laser to fire the plastic pellets also. The "Collection" version of Megatron, issued again in 2003, included yet another new accessory, his energy flail from the animated series. This reissue was recolored into Megaplex as an exclusive for the online retailer, eHobby.

• Decoy Megatron (1986)

A small, purple rubber model of Megatron, part of a large number of similar figures of other Transformers that were packaged as promotional items with figures in the 1986–87 toy line. Japanese in origin, the sculpt of the figure did not include the character's fusion cannon, and had him brandishing his Japanese-only sword accessory.

• Action Master Megatron (1990)

Part of the new sub-line of Transformers figures which did not actually transform, Action Master Megatron is a poseable action figure resembling his animated appearance. Instead of transforming himself, he came packaged with the Neutro-Fusion Tank, a large tank which could transform into a battle station and an aircraft. This figure lacked a fusion cannon on the arm, instead it was part of the tank.

• Generation 2 Megatron (1993)

With the advent of new toy safety laws, Megatron's return in the Generation 2 toy line meant that, unlike Optimus Prime, he could not simply be a slightly modified version of his old Generation 1 toy. Reimagined with an entirely new body, Megatron was now a huge Abrams tank with lots of gimmicks, including an auto-loading, missile-launching cannon with lock-and-load electronic sounds, laser noises, rumbling treads, and speech — when the figure's head was pressed, it would drawl "Megatron attack!" Since M1 Abrams tank is 7.92 meters long and this toy is 28 cm tall, it would have a scale of about 1:28 scale. With the robot form standing 27 cm tall, this would make a real G2 Megatron about 25 feet tall.

This figure was slightly redecoed to become Megastorm for Japan's Beast Wars II in 1998.

• Generation 2 Combat Hero Megatron (1994)

The primary feature of this new figure was an air-pressure cannon that shot rubber-tipped missiles by pressing a small plastic bellows, but for many, its more notable decoration is the loud-and-proud sticker on its chest which reads "MEGATRON RULES!" A redeco of the figure in a white and gray camouflage deco was planned, but was ultimately never released. Since an M1A1 tank is 7.92 meters long and the toy is 14 cm long it would have a scale of about 1:47. With a robot form standing 19 cm tall, this Megatron would be 29 feet tall.

In Europe this toy was released as Archforce, with only the sticker on his chest changed to remove the words "MEGATRON RULES".

Hero Megatron was later redecoed in yellow and green for the Transformers: Robots in Disguise line as Destructicon Bludgeon, and remolded to create Reverse Convoy for Transformers: Robot Masters (see below).

• Generation 2 Go-Bot Megatron (1995)

Part of the large sub-line of simplistic free-wheeling "Go-Bots" figures, Megatron was a repaint of an earlier figure named Blowout, and transformed into a silver Porsche. The Japanese version of the toy featured a blue Transformers logo across the figure's chest. Like all Go-Bots toys, Megatron is a 1:64 scale toy.

This figure was later redecoed in black and translucent plastic to become the Autobot Hot Shot for Robots in Disguise.

• Generation 2 ATB Megatron (unreleased)

A proposed redeco of Generation 2 Dreadwing in gray, black, purple and yellow, this figure would have featured Starscream as the redecoed Smokescreen. This mold would next be released as BB, a Japanese exclusive Predacon. BB is almost identical to ATB Megatron, with the exception of his stickers. This has led to fan-made sticker sets which make BB look like ATB Megatron. A B2 Bomber has a 52.12 meter wingspan while this toy has a 30 cm wide wingspan. This makes it have a scale of about 1:173. With an 18.5 cm tall robot mode, he would stand about 104 feet tall in real life.

• Beast Wars Megatron (1996)

Although as discussed above, the later storyline of Beast Wars would go on to depict its Megatron as a different character than the original holder of the name, the comic which shipped with the original Beast Wars toy versions of Optimus Primal and Megatron depicted them as new incarnations of their Generation 1 versions. Presumably, these forms — Primal as a bat and Megatron as a crocodile — were to be their new bodies post-Generation 2.

This toy was redecoed in purple and black for an exclusive release in Japan as Megalligator.

• Machine Wars Megatron (1997)

Originally proposed for release during the Generation 2 line, this unusual incarnation of Megatron was eventually made available through the small KB Toys exclusive Transformers toy line, Machine Wars. Megatron was now a teal and gray basic-size jet, and although the lack of any supporting fiction for the line makes its place in continuity hard to define. 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 600 mph via twin turbo thrusters. An actual F-22 Raptor is 1890 cm long, while this toy is 12 cm long. This gives him a scale of 1:157. With a robot height of 10 cm this means Megatron would stand 51.7 feet tall.

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 the above-mentioned redeco of the original G1 Megatron toy in 2003. 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.

This toy was redecoed several times: into Thrust' for Beast Wars II in 1998, Wind Sheer for Robots in Disguise in 2001, and Air Hunter for Transformers: Robot Masters in 2004.

• 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime with Megatron (2004)

Released in 2004 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Transformers franchise, this 12" tall version of Optimus Prime strives to reproduce his cartoon appearance in the most intricate detail, he even carried a gun-mode Megatron. When this figure was repainted as Ultra Magnus in Japan, it also came with Megatron but this time the silver was replaced with black and the black handle was now brown. The re-release of the figure in 2006 for the 20th anniversary of the 1986 movie also included Megatron.

• Smallest Transformers Megatron (2004)

A miniature, two-inch-high version of the original Megatron figure was sold in the second wave of the blind-packaged Smallest Transformers series (often incorrectly called "World's Smallest Transformers," or "WSTF").

• Robot Masters Megatron (2005)

In the exclusive Japanese toy line, Transformers: Robot Masters (begins in the time line 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. Robot Masters 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.

• Transformers: Titanium Generation 2 Megatron (2006)

A 6" tall transforming figure composed heavily of die-cast metal, this incarnation of Megatron is a brand new design by artist Don Figueroa. Equipped with a new tank alternate mode, the tech spec on the packaging of this figure credits the body as the work of COBRA, in a reinterpretation of the Generation 2 Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover.

• Transformers Classics Megatron (2006)

Megatron returned to his roots for the Transformers Classics toy line, which rendered him as a fully transformable gun for the first time since his original toy. Unlike that figure, however, he is not based on any real firearm, and is instead rendered as a Nerf-like blaster in the character's traditional blacks and grays, with added patches of purple, green and orange to conform to U.S. laws regulating the appearance of toy guns. The toy retains Megatron's distinctive arm-mounted fusion cannon, which, as on his original toy, forms a scope for his gun mode, complete with translucent viewing holes and crosshairs. His spring-loaded trigger clicks when pulled.

• Ultimate Battle Optimus Prime vs. Megatron (2006)

Having already re-imagined the original Megatron for the Classics line, Hasbro took the next step and re-interpreted his Generation 2 tank body for this two-pack. This Deluxe-sized figure is armed with a spinning battle blade action. The set also includes an Ultimate Optimus Prime and a DVD narrated by Optimus Prime himself. The disk features a photo gallery slideshow with photos of the first two waves of Classics figures. It also features 22 minutes of clips starting with the Transformers: Cybertron theme song over a montage of various Cybertron scenes and a story of what the Transformers are, what they can do, what Mini-Cons and Planet Keys are, etc.

Later releases of this pack included two random bonus Mini-Cons chosen from Cybertron line Longarm, Overcast and Deepdive.

In late 2007 this set was repackaged in Transformers: Universe packing without the DVD available at Dollar General stores.

Many (possibly all) units of this figure have Megatron's splayed feet assembled backwards, a fact which is not immediately apparent as the "heel" half of his feet are actually larger than the "toe" half (this is the opposite of most splay-footed transformers), and the situation is not helped by promotional images (such as the one above) and the box-art photography displaying an identically misassembled figure. However, examination of the instructions and any attempt to transform Megatron into tank mode immediately demonstrate the mistake, which is easily corrected by unscrewing the halves of his lower legs and reversing the foot pieces.

• Masterpiece Megatron (2007)

Released in late March 2007, this toy is, like the 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime figure, a new figure based on Megatron's original animation model, and returns him to his original Walther P38 form, although considerably larger. The scope, which becomes the arm cannon, holds a red LED light that forms a spotlight shape. Special accessories packaged with the toy include Megatron's energy mace from More Than Meets the Eye, Part 2, the laser sword and pistol used in his climactic battle with Optimus Prime in The Transformers: The Movie, and a figurine of the energy imp, Kremzeek, from the cartoon episode of the same name.

After much debate over whether or not the figure would be able to pass through US customs due to its appearance as a realistic firearm, online retailers opted to insert an orange or yellow plug onto the barrel of the gun in order to comply with the current standards. So far, images of the plug from two online retailers have surfaced online. However, depending on the retailer, not all the plugs installed will be permanently attached to the barrel with an adhesive.

• Revoltech Megatron (2007)

The third Transformers character in the Japan-exclusive non-transforming Kaiyodo Revoltech line, and second original mold, Megatron has the arm cannon permanently affixed, two different heads (Normal and grin), and five hands (Two fists, two open hands, and one trigger hand to hold a gun even though it does not have one included). He was released in April, 2007 as Revoltech set #25.

• Transformers: Titanium War Within Megatron (2007)

A 6" tall transforming figure composed heavily of die-cast metal, this incarnation of Megatron is based on the form he had in the Dreamwave Productions War Within series, and transforms into a Cybertronian tank. It was fist seen on display at BotCon in 2006.

• Attacktix Generation 1 Megatron (2007)

Part of a 4 pack starter set for Attacktix, Megatron comes with Generation 1 Optimus Prime, Energon Landquake and San Diego ComicCon inspired Skywarp.

• Super Laser Gun (2007)

An unofficial Chinese remake of Classic Megatron produced by MYM. This figure is slightly remolded to remove the Decepticon symbols and is redecoed in red, white, black and gold.

• Megatron feat. Nike Free 7.0 (2007)

A special collaboration with Nike and Takara Tomy called "Transformers: Sports Label" features both Megatron and Optimus Prime with the ability to transform into life sized versions the "Nike Free 7.0" shoe. Megatron's shoe form is colored black, silver, and white and retains his silver, black, and red markings in robot form. Keeping with the shoe theme, he is come packaged in a Nike shoebox and his feet are patterned after the very shoe he transforms into.

• Transformers: Universe Classic Series Legends Megatron (2008/unreleased)

A small figure based on the appearance of Generation 2 Megatron.

Popular culture

File:Scrubs-transformers.jpg

Megatron and Optimus Prime on Scrubs

• Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson was given the nickname 'Megatron' by teammate Roy Williams.
• Megatron and Optimus Prime made a cameo on the television series Scrubs. In episode "His Story III" J.D. and Turk paint a mural on the baby's room wall of Powermaster Optimus Prime and Generation 1 Megatron fighting each other.
• The chief competition for the Transformers as a toy line and television series in the 1980s was the Go-Bots. Ironically, Frank Welker, who voiced Megatron, the most powerful Decepticon, also voiced Scooter on the Go-Bots, the least powerful Guardian.
• When 3H was designing the BotCon exclusive character which would eventually become Megazarak, they originally intended for the toy to be a future version of Megatron, but Hasbro didn't want them to use the name for a convention exclusive, so they changed the character to Megazarak.
• The character of Battle Ravage from the Energon line comes with an energon weapon which looks like Megatron's scope/cannon and a flail weapon which looks like Megatron's energon flail in the animated series pilot.
• In a popular joke, Dane Cook says he would like to name his children after Transformers. One being Megatron the other Optimus Prime, with him addressing himself as Cobra Commander.
• Megatron is mentioned on the song 'Hellrider' by Judas Priest, Hellrider also refers to the rest of the decepticons as "these Gods of steel".
• In World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, there is a robot named Negatron who attacks Area 52.
• Megatron's helmet in the live-action film resembles the face of Dann of Thursday from Gunxsword
• Megatron makes a cameo in the Robot Chicken episode "Junk in the Trunk" where he and the Decepticons are using a dam to stockpile Energon Cubes. Frank Welker reprises his roles of Megatron and Soundwave in the episode "Werewolf vs. Unicorn" where he sends Soundwave to obtain the Ultimate Deathray. When Soundwave has been missing for a week, he and Shockwave find him on eBay where Shockwave asks Megatron "Request permission to buy it now."
• Megatron makes an animated cameo in the Drawn Together episode "Nipple Ring-Ring Goes to Foster Care". When Foxxy uses the Foster Care system to look for Ling-Ling, Megatron threatens her to transform.
• A cameo in the 2008 comedy movie Meet The Spartans
• In The Dr. Dre song "Light Speed" the lyrics say "Making fools retreat like Megatron and Starscream"

Controversy

The Megatron toy has been seized by Customs in Sydney because it can be mistaken for a real weapon. Customs seized more than 50 MP-05 Masterpiece Megatron Transformers in inbound foreign mail.

This may also be the reason why Classics Megatron was designed as a much more pretend gun, as opposed to his Walther P-38 form in G1.

US Customs has also forbidden imports of Generation 1 Megatron toys unless the boxes are opened by the seller and an orange muzzle cap is placed on the toy. [2] Imports without the cap are liable to be seized by customs upon entry. [3]

Other incarnations

As the Transformers franchise has grown, more characters bearing the name of Megatron have come into existence, some existing in separate continuities to the original G1 iteration of the character:

• Megatron for Beast Wars and Beast Machines
• Megatron for Transformers: Robots in Disguise (Originally Gigatron in Japan)
• Megatron for Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon and Transformers: Cybertron

2007 Transformers movie

Template:Transformers character In the 2007 live action Transformers film, Megatron appears as a Cybertronian 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, which the writers described as "cheating". (This significant change in size is known in Transformers fan communities as "mass shifting".) In one of the special features on the DVD, G1 Megatron's transformation was likened to Darth Vader turning into his own lightsaber to be wielded by someone else.

Hugo Weaving provides the voice of Megatron in the film. His voice in the film seems to have been digitally altered to give it a deeper, growling tone as well as the other voice actors. The original voice of Megatron, Frank Welker, provides his voice for the official videogames of the movie, along with the exclusive animated prequel.

Like all characters in the film, Megatron was heavily redesigned for purposes of realism and focus on an alien aspect of the Transformer race. He appears very bio-mechanical. Nonetheless, he is still silver, has a helmet, heavily built shoulders and large legs, characteristics that mirror the G1 look. It can also be reasoned that because there was no advanced mechanical technology on earth at the time of his arrival, Megatron never gained a "earth form" as did the rest of the Autobots and Decepticons, and stayed in his cybertronian form. As shown in the film, he can transform his right hand into a gun and fire energy blasts. or combine both of Megatron's arms to form his iconic fusion cannon , and can transform his right arm into a steel flail, both helping keep some resemblance to his original G1 form.

According to an early interview with Michael Bay Megatron stands at 34 feet tall , but according to his profile in the second issue of the Transformers UK comic Megatron stands "over 35 feet tall" and weighs 5.7 tons. Additionally the magazine states he is powered by a self-regenerating dark matter power core. His alternate mode is a Cybertronian stealth jet capable of firing wing-tip lightning generators and a tractor beam. He is capable of creating localized foldspace to transverse interstellar distances. The official guide to the Transformers video game says also he's 35 feet tall.

BotCon Malaysia 2007 featured a parking space which was "Reserved for Megatron". A car parked in the space had been totaled, presumably by the Decepticon leader for taking his spot.

IDW Publishing

In issue #1 of the Transformers: Movie Prequel comic, set before the events of the live-action film, Megatron is revealed to have co-ruled Cybertron together with Optimus Prime, serving as Lord High Protector. He soon desired power over the Allspark, and thus life itself. To this end, he gathered an army of like-minded separatists — the Decepticons. The Autobots attempted to hide the Allspark in Tyger Pax, but Megatron saw through the ruse and launched a full scale attack. A squad led by Bumblebee offered valiant resistance, but in the end, they fell and were captured. Megatron's forces tortured them, with Megatron eventually intervening personally. However, Bumblebee had refused to talk just long enough for Prime's plan to go ahead — the Allspark was launched into space. Megatron prepared to pursue in his jet mode, but was stopped by Bumblebee, who delayed him as the Allspark vanished beyond his reach. An irate Megatron then crushed Bumblebee's vocal circuits beyond repair, and promising that the Allspark would be his, pursued it into space.

Megatron had almost caught up with the Allspark as it landed on a planet 10,000 years ago — Earth. In his reckless desire to possess it, Megatron pursues it right into Earth's atmosphere, losing contact with it in the process. His body is red-hot from atmosphere re-entry as he lands on the Arctic ice sheets; his body mass and temperature causes the ice, a substance he was unfamiliar with since Cybertron has no water, to give way beneath, sending him into the ocean waters. The rapid temperature change and low energon supply forces Megatron into stasis lock and he becomes frozen in ice beneath the surface. At the turn of the 20th century, Captain Archibald Witwicky discovers the Decepticon during an Arctic expedition. A crew of men later take his body, dubbing him the "Ice-man" (officially referring to him as N.B.E.-1 - Non-Biological Extraterrestrial), and keep him in storage up until the present day, eventually relocating him to Nevada.

This incarnation of Megatron has a near obsession with the Allspark, and is able to sense it even from afar. He cares little about Cybertron or his minions, as long as they allow him to achieve his goal of conquering the universe.

He also appeared in the official movie sequel comic called "The Reign of Starscream".

Titan Magazines

In Titan Magazines' UK Transformers magazine, the UK-originated strips (written by Simon Furman) revealed Megatron's actions between issues #1 and 2 of the IDW comic. Pursuing the Allspark into space following the events of Movie Prequel #1, Megatron was delayed in his pursuit by a tractor beam from Cybertron. Breaking free and attacking the culprits - Jazz, Ratchet and Ironhide - Megatron realised that if he engaged them, he would be delayed further. Summoning Devastator to deal with them, he resumed his pursuit - but the desperate gamble had worked and he (temporarily) lost the Allspark's trail.

The character profile the magazine provided shed a little more light on Megatron's desire to possess the Allspark. He believed that while Cybertronians could already transform into other forms via a scanning process, the Allspark could allow Transformers to simply imagine the form they wanted and change accordingly. Interfacing with the Allspark directly, Megatron gained his deadly jet mode. and now began his plans to obtain it permanently.

Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday

Megatron appeared in the prequel novel Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday, where it was revealed that reverse engineering of his body had produced a spacecraft called "Ghost-1", which was sent into space in 1969, where they encountered the Autobots and Decepticons. It was also revealed that the humans keep Megatron in stasis by maintaining his body at a very low temperature: any higher and he begins to reanimate.

In 1969, Megatron (here referred to throughout as the "Ice Man") was moved from the Arctic to Southern Nevada for ease of study. However, the convoy was sabotaged by KGB operatives hoping to capture Megatron's body. The cooling conditions that allowed Megatron's stasis lock were damaged in the ensuing crash, and he began to reanimate. Regaining consciousness in the middle of a pitched battle between the Americans and Russians, Megatron was once again put offline by the sacrifices of Colonel Kinnear, the convoy commander, and Colonel Nolan, who managed to knock Megatron down first with a snow truck and then with explosives, and then refroze him with liquid Nitrogen even as Megatron killed them.

Transformers: Meet the Decepticons

The children's book, Transformers - Meet The Decepticons by Jennifer Frantz, had a slightly different ending than the movie. This book had all six Decepticons leaving Earth together after being defeated by the Autobots, instead of having most of their numbers die.

Movie toys

• Movie Legends Megatron (2007)

A simple Micro class version of the movie figure. This toy is 7.5 centimeters tall. With movie Megatron's official height of 35 feet (1067 centimeters), that makes this toy about 1/142 scale.

• Movie Jollibee Megatron (2007)

A kids meal toy promotional item available at Jollibee restaurants from June to July of 2007. This toy was a slightly enlarged and simplified version of the Movie Legends mold.

• Movie Fast Action Battlers Fusion Blast Megatron (2007)

A Deluxe class toy with a simplified transformation for younger children. This toy is 15 centimeters tall. With movie Megatron's official height of 35 feet (1067 centimeters), that makes this toy about 1/71 scale.

• Movie Voyager Class Megatron (2007)

A version of Megatron that is of the same size as Voyager Class Optimus Prime. Features Automorph technology and is decorated with ice particles. This toy is 18 centimeters tall. With movie Megatron's official height of 35 feet (1067 centimeters), that makes this toy about 1/59 scale.

A Best Buy exclusive version, released simultaneously with the DVD/HD-DVD versions of the film, featured a metallic paint finish.

• Movie Leader Class Megatron (2007)

The largest version of Megatron. It is approximately the same size as both Leader Optimus Prime and Leader-class Brawl. Features Advanced Automorph technology exclusive to the Leader-class toys, which incorporates lights and sound along with mechanical movement during transformation. It does include a flail and fusion cannon in robot mode. Unlike Optimus Prime (whose head is limited to side rotation) and Brawl (whose head is connected with a ball joint), Megatron's head is permanently fixed. This toy is 23 centimeters tall. With movie Megatron's official height of 35 feet (1067 centimeters), that makes this toy about 1/46 scale.

• Movie Legends Ice Megatron (2008)

A repaint of Legends Megatron with blue on several parts to repersent ice particles. Comes in a 2-pack with Battle Jazz.

• Premium Movie Leader Megatron (2008)

A redeco of the Movie Leader Megatron with metallic paint.

Non-transforming merchandise

• Movie Robot Replicas Megatron (2007)

A poseable, non-transforming action figure that comes with a Fusion Cannon that can be attached on both arms. This toy is 13.5 centimeters tall. With movie Megatron's official height of 35 feet (1067 centimeters), that makes this toy about 1/79 scale.

• Movie Robot Replicas Optimus Prime vs. Megatron (2007)

A Wal-Mart exclusive gift pack of Robot Replicas Prime and Megatron. [4]

• Movie Unleashed Turnarounds Megatron (2007)

A non-posable, non-transforming sculpture featuring Megatron's robot mode on one side and his Cybertronian jet mode on the other.

Transformers Animated

Template:Transformers character In the Transformers Animated series in 2008 (Where he was not the Main Antagonist for the early part of the first season, that role was given to Starscream) But in Season two he took back the role of the primary Antagonist, Megatron's Cybertronian design hearkens to the movie version but with more human-like features, while his Earth design bears similarities to his G1 version and his Earth mode is a homage of Super Megatron. He wields his trademark fusion cannon (which is much larger in this version), and carries two swords. His alternate mode is a Cybertronian fighter Jet (very similar in design to the movie Megatron's vehicle mode), and later a tiltrotor aircraft. Also like the movie version, he is portrayed as larger and more powerful than many other Transformers in the series.

Animated Megatron, in an Earth-based tiltrotor mode, appears as a hidden character in the Transformers Netjet video game by Hasbro.

In this series, Megatron has his own catchphrase: "Decepticons, transform and rise up!", contrasting Optimus Prime's classic "Autobots, transform and roll out!" line.

Animated series

Megatron spent 4 million solar cycles in search of the Allspark. But though he found it, Megatron was betrayed at the beginning of the series by Starscream. Though he survived the explosion that cripples the Autobots craft, Megatron's right arm was severed by the Autobot Prowl before the rest of him was forced out the ship as it entered Earth's orbit. Megatron's lifeless body crashed on earth while his disembodied head was found by a young Isaac Sumdac, who used the technology it was composed of as a keystone of Sumdac Tower's various creations. Sari's key accidentally reactivated Megatron, whose link showed him that the Autobots are on Earth with the Allspark and that Starscream was to blame for his current condition.

Being hooked up to Sumdac's mainframe, Megatron could control any non-transformer robot on Earth and the automated plants that construct them, intent to recreate his body by giving Sumdac the means to accomplish it while keeping the human in the dark of his true nature. These attempts resulted in the creation of the Dinobots.

As he fell from the Autobot's ship, Megatron contracted "space barnacles," and later under the barnacles influence attacked Prowl, Bumbleebee and Sari on a camping trip to find a strange Cybertronian energy signature. Megatron's lifeless body was recovered by Professor Sumdac much later while tracking the same signature. After becoming frustrated with Proffesor Sumdac's delays in repairing his body he contacted Lugnut once more, an event which finally allowed him to gain possesion of the Sari's AllSpark key and repair his body, reformatting it into his Earth Mode form. Gathering his Decepticons and attacking the Autobots' ship, Megatron seemed to have achieved victory as he captured the AllSpark and added its power to his own. However, Optimus Prime used Sari's key to disperse the AllSpark, forcing a damaged Megatron to retreat, taking Professor Sumdac as his captive. Once repaired, Megatron uses the carbon mine his body was hidden in as his base of operations as it's an ideal area for evading Autobot detection. Looking at the factors that led to his defeat, he considers to create his own Space Bridge to Cybertron and force Sumdac to build it. Later, Megatron discovers that the Allspark has been shattered and placed in different forms of machinery. After having the professor develop energy dampening devices to shield their energy signatures, Megatron sends his cronies to steal the Elite Guard's tachyon transmitter in order to contact his Decepticon legions to divert all Autobot forces away from Cybertron, contacting his double agent to ensure the Autobots leave Cybertron defenseless once the Decepticons' Space Bridge is completed. Furthermore, Megatron uses the transmitter to set up a bounty on Starscream's head when the traitor kept coming at him in spite of his apparent demises by Megatron's hand. Megatron later convinces the newly-created Scrapper and Mixmaster into helping build his Space Bridge, plying them with oil, and giving them the collective name "Constructicons".

In the "A Bridge Too Close" two-parter, Megatron captures Bulkhead, and forced to complete the Space Bridge, with the threat of a Headmaster unit being used on him if he refused. During a battle between the Autobots, Decepticons, and Starscream's clones, Starscream's head was cut off by the Isaac Sumdac-piloted Headmaster unit. Sumdac attempted to use Starscream's body to defeat Megatron, to no avail. Megatron used Starscream's head, with it's Allspark fragment, to boost the Space Bridge's power, intending to use Optimus Prime as a test subject. He was foiled by Prowl who disabled Prime's stasis cuffs and saves him. Prime then used the same stasis cuffs to immobilize Megatron, causing him to be sucked into the malfunctioning Space Bridge, along with Starscream's head, leaving them trapped, immobile, in an unknown region of space with nothing to do but argue with each other.

Toys

• Animated McDonalds Happy Meal Megatron (2008/unreleased)

A small, simple transforming Megatron toy packaged as a prize with McDonalds Happy Meals.

• Cybertron-mode Megatron (2008)

A Voyager class toy.

• Cybertron-mode Megatron Battle Damaged (2008)

A Deluxe class toy with painted battle damage and silver paint.

• Animated Leader Megatron (2008/unreleased)

A Leader sized version of Megatron was announced at the UK Toyfair in 2008.

Transformers: Timelines

Template:Transformers character This Megatron is a good version of the Generation 1 character from the BotCon exclusive "Shattered Glass" comic, in which the Decepticons are on the side of good and the Autobots on the side of evil.

According to his tech specs Megatron was once a young mathematician who lectured at one of Cybertron's most prestigious universities.

Toys

• Timelines Megatron (2008)

Megatron is a remold of Energon Megatron with the colors of Generation 1 Megatron and a new head. He came packaged with the Decepticon Mini-Con Divebomb and the Autobot Rodimus.

Transformers: Transtech

Template:Transformers character The Megatron of the Transtech world works together with his world's Optimus Prime. Transtech Shockwave is one of his chief scientific researchers.

Fun Publications

in Withered Hope Megatron and Optimus Prime heard the pleas of six Gobots whose home dimension was being destroyed, but he wasn't interested in helping them.

In Transcendent Shockwave kidnapped Breakaway to examine him under the orders of Megatron. After Shockwave discovered that certain systems in Breakaway were unique and might be useful Megatron requested permission from Transtech Ratbat to take the Autobot apart, even if it may kill him.

Toys

• Transtech Megatron (unreleased)

After the conclusion of the Beast Machines series and toy line, 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 vehicular alternate modes instead of the animal forms which had dominated the two recent series. Although the idea was eventually scrapped in favor of Transformers: Armada (with Transformers: 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 inspired the Megatron of Transformers: Armada.

External links

• Template:Imdb character
• The MC-12 Gun Robo, Megatron's pre-Transformers incarnation as a Microman figure
• Original Patent for the MC-12 Gun Robo toy by Takashi Matsuda