Megatron

For other uses, see Megatron (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Pegatron, Metatron, or Megaton (disambiguation).

Megatron is a fictional character from the Transformers franchise, created by Hasbro, and based on a toy design by Takara. He is a sentient robotic lifeform from the planet Cybertron. He is also the Supreme leader of the villainous faction (primarily the Decepticons) and primary antagonist in most works of Transformers fiction. He has the ability to transform between his robot shape and various weapons or vehicles, depending on which "universe" he is seen in. Within the fiction, he is often said to have named himself after the legendary Megatronus, and similarly inspired the name of a later villainous character.

Transformers: Generation 1

Megatron/Galvatron

Generation 1 Megatron art.
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Action Masters, Go-Bots, Combat Heroes, Voyagers, Basic Beasts
Function	Decepticon Leader, Emperor of Destruction, Decepticon Supreme Commander, Strongest Emperor of Destruction, Dark Emperor of Destruction
Rank	10
Partner	Skywarp, Starscream, Kremzeek
Motto	"Peace through tyranny!" "Everything is fodder" "Lesser creatures are the playthings of my will." (Classics)
Alternate Modes	Walther P38 U.N.C.L.E. Special, various tanks, various jets, Nerf N-Strike Maverick REV-6, Porsche, Cybertronian mobile weapon platform, Nissan 370Z
Series	Transformers: Generation 1 Transformers: Generation 2 Beast Wars Smallest Transformers Transformers: Robot Masters Transformers: Titanium Transformers Classic Transformers Attacktix Transformers: Universe Transformers: Masterpiece Transformers: Sports Label Transformers: Alternity
English voice actor	Frank Welker (The Transformers, most other appearances) Gary Chalk (Beast Wars - Golden Disk recording) Leonard Nimoy (The Transformers: The Movie - as Galvatron)
Japanese voice actor	Seizō Katō

Megatron is the founder of the Decepticon uprising and their most feared leader. Bob Budiansky, the writer for the Marvel Comics series, stated that originally Hasbro took issue with the name, saying it sounded too frightening. Budiansky responded that as the lead villain, that was the point. Hasbro later agreed with his reasoning, and approved the name "Megatron". The name itself probably comes from the Greek word megas (meaning great, grand), although in one of his interviews Budiansky claimed that it is in fact a portmanteau of electronic and megaton (megaton is a scientific term describing an explosive force equal to that of one million tons of TNT).

Megatron is able to transform into a Walther P38, delivering more focused energy blasts than he could in his robotic form. He can adjust his size and mass as he transforms, to comfortably allow another Transformer or even a human being to wield him.

His robot form has an arm-mounted fusion cannon. He can retract and replace his right hand with an energy flail. He can fire electrical blasts from his hands, laser blasts from his eyes, and can reprogram computers with a port in his head. Sometimes, Megatron, upon being reformatted into a new body, renames himself Galvatron.

I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. I am that which is, which was, and is yet to come... and you will know my name is Megatron when I lay my vengeance upon you!

—The Covenant of Primus, "Nemesis Part 2"

Animated series

The Transformers season 1

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 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 Ark in their star cruiser, the Nemesis, 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 1984, a volcanic eruption jarred the Ark's computer, Teletraan I, back to life, and it proceeded to repair the Autobots and Decepticons, re-igniting the war on the energy-rich world they found themselves upon: Earth. After their first series of battles, the Autobots believed Megatron and the Decepticons were 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 stabilized, 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 which Megatron and the Decepticons gathered. The planet 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 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. 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.

The Transformers season 2

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, recovering the "Heart of Cybertron" power core from the derelict Nemesis, the draining of energy from a time-lost prehistoric island, forming a partnership with a corrupt human politician that allowed him to force the Autobots off Earth and briefly conquer Central City, co-opting Earth technologies, and reprogramming the robotic ninja Nightbird in "Enter the Nightbird".

Fed up with the Autobots ruling the roads, Megatron ordered the creation of the Stunticons, four Decepticon cars and a truck. He even traveled to Cybertron and stole the key to Vector Sigma to give them full cybernetic personalities. Megatron used the Stunticons in many schemes, including sending the Stunticons to sabotage a race in the Middle East to obtain the power source to control weather. Megatron even made a number of temporary alliances with the Autobots - including stopping the Insecticons and his own mind controlled troops, stopping the Combaticons from destroying Cybertron and forcibly making Perceptor cure him of a plague of Cosmic Rust (although most of these alliances ended in double crosses).

The Transformers: The Movie

Megatron had conquered Cybertron by 2005 in the animated film, The Transformers: The Movie. After hearing of an Autobot supply run, Megatron proceeded with an attack on Autobot City on Earth. Optimus Prime arrived there and confronted Megatron. Megatron mortally wounded Prime, but not before Prime delivered his own final blow to Megatron, severely damaging him and forcing the Decepticons to flee. On the return trip to Cybertron, it became necessary to jettison excess mass. Wounded Decepticons were set adrift, including Megatron. The end seemed to be near for Megatron—but it was not to be, as he was summoned by Unicron, who made him an offer - in return for Megatron's service, he would give him a new body and new troops to command. Facing with him as his only alternative, Megatron agreed Unicron's offer, and was reformatted as Galvatron. Commanded by Unicron to destroy the Matrix of Leadership, Galvatron first returned to Cybertron to settle a score with Starscream, who had set him adrift in space and was now being crowned as the new Decepticon leader in a pompous ceremony. Demonstrating his new power, Galvatron obliterated Starscream with a single blast from his new cannon mode. The other Decepticons quickly accepted Galvatron as their leader. Unicron's subsequent consumption of Cybertron's moons enraged Galvatron, but when Unicron mentally tortured him to put him in his place, Galvatron submitted. Leading another attack on Autobot City, he pursued Ultra Magnus and the Autobots to the Planet of Junk, where he seized the Matrix from Ultra Magnus, and attempted to use its power against Unicron. Unable to open the Matrix, Galvatron was powerless as Unicron transformed and attacked Cybertron with his bare hands. Unicron swallowed Galvatron in contempt, while swatting away Cybertron's Decepticon defenders like flies. Shortly thereafter, a group of Autobots entered Unicron's body, where the youthful Hot Rod encountered the humiliated Decepticon leader. Although Galvatron initially proposed an alliance with the Autobot against Unicron, he was once again tortured mentally by Unicron, who tells him to destroy Hot Rod otherwise Galvatron himself will be obliterated. Galvatron weakly agrees, still accepting Unicron as his master, and then engaged Hot Rod in battle. Galvatron quickly attained the upper hand over the smaller Autobot. However, when Hot Rod seized the Matrix from Galvatron, he was reformatted into the much larger and more powerful Rodimus Prime. Rodimus easily defeated Galvatron and hurled him through Unicron's armor and into the void of space, before unleashing the power of the Matrix and destroying Unicron.

The Transformers season 3

Now leaderless and forced off Cybertron by the Autobots, the Decepticons retreated to the ruined world of Chaar, where they bickered and fought amongst each other over their limited energon resources. Galvatron's Unicron-created lieutenants, Cyclonus and Scourge set out to find their leader's body using the information stored in Unicron's memory banks and traced him to the planet Thrull. They found Galvatron immersed in a pool of lava-like plasma, and rescued him only to discover that the plasma had seeped into Galvatron's head casing and the heat had permanently damaged his "metaprocessor", causing him to go irreversibly insane.

After attacking his own minions, he then returned with them to Chaar, only to discover that the Decepticons had sided with the Quintessons in an attack on the Autobots in exchange for Energon. Heading for the planet, Galvatron opened fire on his own forces, and then confronted the Quintessons themselves, who tricked him into an alliance with the promise of leading him to the fictitious "Decepticon Matrix of Leadership". A joint Decepticon/Quintesson attack on both Cybertron and Earth almost allowed the Quintessons to claim ultimate victory when they activated a switch that nullified all Transformers, but when Spike Witwicky reversed the effect, Galvatron turned on the Quintessons, who only just managed to escape his wrath.

Galvatron subsequently installed himself as Decepticon Leader proper, waging a campaign against the Autobots on Earth and Cybertron throughout 2006. Further team-ups with the Quintessons ensued, which almost always resulted in the Decepticons being double-crossed. Galvatron's madness ensured that his own troops suffered harshly under his rule, subjected to beatings, blastings, and exiles for even the smallest of infractions. Galvatron did occasionally have moments of lucidity, and in them formed some functional plans, including the construction of a death crystal cannon on the planet Dredd, the bluff threat of an "ultimate weapon" and the takeover of the pacifist planet of Paradron, but the insanity would always return to consume his mind. With Galvatron's madness at a particularly high point, coupled with concerns expressed by several Decepticons, Cyclonus was forced to take his leader, against his will, to the asylum world of Torkulon. Galvatron was held and underwent various therapies, each successively less effective than the last. With no remaining options, the therapists chose to remove the damaged portion of Galvatron's brain. To accomplish this, Galvatron's mind was patched into the neural web of the living world, but so strong was his resolve that his madness actually infected the world itself, allowing Galvatron the chance to escape.

When the Hate Plague began to sweep the universe, Galvatron was able to avoid infection initially, teaming up with the resurrected Optimus Prime in order to recover a protective alloy that would shield the user from the plague's effects. Somewhat ironically, when Galvatron first saw the effects of the Plague at the Morgans' lab, he uttered that the infected Autobots and some of his fellow Decepticons had "all gone mad," and that said lab with the infected Transformers was no place for him. However, he became infected in the process of recovering the alloy, but was eventually cured along with all the other victims of the plague when Optimus Prime unleashed the power of the Matrix. It also seemed that Galvatron may have actually been cured of his own inherent insanity, as he refused to continue the conflict there and then, and shook Prime's hand, saying that he had earned his respect.

The Transformers season 4

A year later, however, in 2007, the short truce ended as Galvatron formulated a new plan. Although appearing quite coherent throughout the scheme, it was truly his most insane yet - rejecting notions of conquest, Galvatron now sought the utter destruction of both Cybertron and Earth. To this end, he dispatched his troops to Cybertron, in order to recover the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber. Failing to do so, a plasma energy explosion sent the Autobots—possessing the key—and his Decepticons to the planet Nebulos. While the Cyclonus-led Decepticons sought to reclaim the key and return to Cybertron, he led the main attack force on Cybertron. Victorious on Cybertron, Galvatron had a colossal rocket engine constructed on the planet's surface, which propelled Cybertron into Earth's orbit (for the second time during the Transformers television series). His troops soon returned from Nebulos with the key, but in their absence, they had become binary-bonded to the planet's organic inhabitants as Headmasters and Targetmasters - a union which Galvatron thoroughly objected to, threatening to destroy the Nebulons immediately. Nebulon leader Lord Zarak, however, was able to stay Galvatron's hand, as he now possessed the Plasma Energy Chamber key. Galvatron then used the key to open the chamber, releasing the energy with the intent of driving the Earth's sun supernova, destroying both planets. Galvatron and the other Decepticons then attempted to flee inside Scorponok, but a tendril of plasma energy struck the giant craft, sending the Decepticons hurtling off into deep space. Spike Witwicky and the Autobot-allied Nebulons were subsequently able to foil Galvatron's scheme and use the excess solar energy to re-energise Cybertron, restoring its Golden Age, but Galvatron was not finished yet, and began his plans for the future, proclaiming that the Decepticons would build a more powerful planet and use it to rule the galaxy. However, as this was the end of the American cartoon series, Galvatron's future plans never came to light.

The Transformers: The Headmasters

While the American series ended with the three-part miniseries, The Rebirth, featuring Galvatron's scheme with the Plasma Energy Chamber, it was decided in Japan to continue the series in a different direction. Disregarding the events of The Rebirth, they began to produce a collection of animated series exclusive to Japan, the first of which was Transformers: The Headmasters, taking place a year after the Hate Plague incident from The Return of Optimus Prime. Of all the previously seen Transformers to appear in Headmasters, Galvatron received the most attention, effectively remaining as the Decepticons' leader for 26 out the series 35 episodes.

After the Hate Plague incident, the Decepticons kept a low profile. At some point over the next year, Galvatron came into contact with Zarak from the planet Master (a world colonised by diminutive robots who had previously fled Cybertron during the wars). They entered into an alliance, which came to fruition when, as a result of the release of the Matrix's energy, Vector Sigma began to destabilise, allowing the Decepticons to return to Cybertron undetected. Backed up by Zarak's Headmaster warriors, Galvatron had the upper hand in the ensuing battle, until Fortress, another of Master's robots, and his own team of Autobot Headmasters arrived to fend them off. However, Galvatron went on to confront Optimus Prime in Vector Sigma's chamber, only to be defeated when Hot Rod recovered the Matrix from where it was recharging on Earth and became Rodimus Prime, battling alongside Optimus. Optimus Prime then sacrificed himself to stabilise Vector Sigma by merging with it.

Not long after this, Galvatron discovered that the Autobots had produced a new metal compound called Cybertonuron, and, seeking to claim the metal for his own, led another attack on Cybertron. However, Zarak feared that with the metal, Galvatron would be too powerful, and arranged for bombs to be planted in Vector Sigma's chamber, before proceeding to lure Galvatron there just as they detonated. Galvatron was caught in the blast and was perceived dead for a short period of time, before it was revealed that he had survived, and returned just as Zarak was crowning himself as Decepticon leader. Galvatron, rationally, pretended to trust the surprise of Zarak as he and his Headmasters would prove useful in the ensuing quest for Energon, and the Decepticons subsequently set out across the galaxy, attacking planets to harvest their energy. Using the amassed energy, Galvatron planned to actually incorporate the planet Earth into his own body, becoming a colossal being of incredible power. Learning of this plan, the Autobot Headmasters engaged him in battle in Alaska, and were successfully able to bury him under an iceberg, which then exploded, apparently killing Galvatron.

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.

Generation 1 Megatron in Beast Wars.

At some point during the Great Autobot-Decepticon War, the original Megatron acquired the Voyager probe's Golden Disk and inscribed a hidden message onto it. His intention was for future generations of Decepticons to uncover it and, following its instructions, complete the task he set himself: to use transwarp technology to travel back in time and kill Optimus Prime while he lay in stasis aboard the Ark, thereby prematurely ending the Great War with the Decepticons the victors.

Three centuries after the "Great War" ended, the Predacon that would become Megatron uncovered this message. He quickly stole a Predacon transwarp cruiser, the Darksyde, and, with the aid of a small, like-minded army, travelled to prehistoric Earth. In honor of the plan's originator, he took the moniker "Megatron".

Pursued by a crew of Maximals, both ships crashed on the planet, with only Megatron truly aware of when and where they were. However, Megatron, 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 Generation 1 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, Generation 1 Megatron was voiced by series regular Gary Chalk, who also provided the voice of the heroic Maximal leader Optimus Primal.

Galvatron was briefly mentioned in the episode Possession, in which the ghost of Starscream spun a lie that he had been killed by Unicron while defending him, only to have Blackarachnia reveal the truth.

Another being addressed simply as Megatron is an apocalyptic figure said to bring about death and destruction through alteration of the time stream. Possible interpretations in the book of him are "Alpha and Omega" and "The Great Dragon".

Beast Wars II movie

In the interim between the first and second seasons of the Beast Wars animated series, the Beast Wars II anime was produced in Japan to fill the gap, and produced a feature film entitled Beast Wars II: Lio Convoy, Close Call! In this film, the Predacons of the series discover a mysterious transwarp device. The Predacons' leader, Galvatron, attempted to use the time-and-space-warping gate to summon a "Megatron" to his aid. It is unclear whether he was searching for the original Megatron or the Predacon who went by the same name, but regardless, Galvatron's brother Gigastorm screwed up the calculations and instead summoned the titanic Majin Zarak, whom Galvatron proudly declared to be far superior to Megatron.

Robot Masters

The short-lived Transformers: Robot Masters line released exclusively in Japan saw the Beast Era Megatron transported through the mysterious "Blastizone" to Earth in the early 21st Century, where he sided with the Decepticons, currently led by Starscream after the disappearance of the original Megatron. Dubbed "Beast Megatron" to distinguish him from his predecessor, Megatron bested Starscream and took leadership of the Decepticons until the original Megatron returned in the form of Reverse Convoy, and the two Megatrons merged their energies to create the "Double Megatron Tornado". This power, however, was thwarted by the "Triple Convoy Tornado Link Attack" formed from the energy of Optimus Prime, Optimus Primal and Lio Convoy.

Transformers: Universe

Megatron appeared in the short-lived online Universe cartoon, where he plots to steal gasoline in order to produce Energon. Notably, his alternate mode of a jet is exactly the same as that of Cyclonus, and he incorporates several elements from his live-action movie design, such as both arms fusing together to form his fusion cannon.

Transformers Animated

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.

Books

Megatron appeared in the following books:

• The Revenge of the Decepticons written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books in 1984.
• The 1985 audio story Sun Raid and Satellite of Doom.
• The Ladybird Transformers audio books Autobots' Lightning Strike, Laserbeak's Fury, Megatron's Fight for Power and Autobots Fight Back.
• The 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Dinobots Strike Back by Casey Todd.
• The 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel.

Megatron was featured in the 1993 Transformers: Generation 2 coloring book "Decepticon Madness" by Bud Simpson.

Comics

Japanese manga

In the Japanese manga "Big War" #2, the Autobots Rodimus Prime, Grimlock, Kup and Wheelie, along with their human allies Spike Witwicky and Daniel Witwicky send Computron into battle against Galvatron's new warrior combiner Abominus. The Terrorcons spit "corrosive control liquid" against Computron, taking control of him and turning him into a Decepticon. Spike luckily uses his new Exosuit to free Computron with "defense spray." Defeated, Galvatron retreats.

In the Transformers Manga #5, Galvatron and his Decepticons attacked the Prime Energy Tower. Galvatron ordered the Decepticons to form Menasor, Devastator and Bruticus and attack. Rodimus Prime counted this move by ordering in Superion, Omega Supreme and Defensor. Galvatron then ordered in Predaking, knowing that Sky Lynx was elsewhere and couldn't counter them. Rodimus ordered the Omnibots to attack Predaking's legs. Tripping up the giant he fell into the other Decepticon giants, winning the day for the Autobots.

Galvatron also appeared in a series of Japanese Manga comic strips set in continuity with the Headmasters series, where he attempted to destroy the Autobots with such schemes as creating his own army of Megatron clones, attempting to destroy Fortress Maximus and creating a hybrid of the original Megatron and Optimus Prime named Guiltor to destroy Rodimus Prime, although he ended up teaming up with his enemy to destroy it after it went rogue.

After Galvatron's seeming destruction in Headmasters this was all that was heard from Galvatron in the animated continuity for several years until the Battlestars: The Return of Convoy storyline (although not animated in itself, consisting of one chapter of manga and a selection of magazine spreads, it continues the storyline of the animated series). Buried and deactivated beneath the ice, Galvatron was recovered by the evil entity, Dark Nova, and reformatted into Super Megatron, going on to battle Star Convoy (a similarly reborn Optimus Prime).

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.

Marvel Comics

In the world of Marvel Comics, Megatron begins by 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. Eventually, Cybertron was shaken from its orbit and fell into the path of an asteroid cluster. This would result in the Ark venturing out and then crashing into prehistoric Earth. Four million years later, in 1984, the Transformers were reawakened, and Megatron was defeated twice by Optimus Prime.

Although Megatron became absent from U.S. comics at this point, he continued to appear in the U.K. comics, which would eventually tie in to the U.S. storyline. Prior to Megatron's apparent death, there had been a story in Marvel UK #99 showing that after being attacked by the Predacons Megatron was transported to Cybertron. The disembodied local Decepticon leader, Lord Straxus, attempted to possess Megatron's body. The attempt failed but led to an insane Megatron threatening to destroy part of Cybertron with his antimatter powers. Ratbat teleported him back to Earth, with amnesia, in time for his U.S. "death" in issue #25.

Straxus secretly made another attempt with clone of Megatron, which was transported to Earth soon after the real Megatron vanished. The clone believed itself to be the real thing and was salvaged by Shockwave, who brainwashed the clone and unleashed it on Galvatron. However, the clone and Galvatron 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 was confronted with the real Megatron—the Space bridge explosion had deposited him in the Dead End region of Cybertron. The clone eventually destroyed itself to prevent Straxus, buried inside its mind, from taking over.

At this point, Megatron reappeared in the U.S. comic. He captured Ratchet and forced him to recreate Starscream as a Pretender, 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 attempted to flee through a trans-time dimensional portal, Ratchet tackled him as his base then exploded around them. Although both were presumed dead, an effort by Nightbeat to locate Ratchet discovered them both alive, but fused together. They were separated, sedated, and placed in storage, though the two's lifeforces were now linked; should one die, the other would not survive for long. Soon after, The Ark was stolen by Shockwave and Starscream (as well as a stowaway Galvatron from a parallel universe). Grimlock, unaware of Megatron's presence in storage, reactivated the Ark's store of Transformers, including Megatron. The latter promptly reunited with Galvatron. During their battle with Shockwave, the Ark crashed on Earth and supposedly killed all on board.

Megatron returned in the G.I. Joe comic book series as a lead-in to the upcoming Generation 2 series. Having survived the crash of the Ark, he temporarily joins forces with Cobra, and is retrofitted to transform into an M1 Abrams tank with a railgun as his primary weapon. Megatron went on to kill Bludgeon and resume leadership of the Decepticons, and came into conflict with Jhiaxus and the Cybertronian Empire, before allying with Optimus Prime to defeat Jhiaxus, Starscream (who had gone renegade yet again), and the Swarm. There is no mention of Ratchet's connection to Megatron in this series.

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.

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. The Decepticons, low on energon, are defeated. Megatron then arrives and battles Optimus Prime. He is attacked by both Autobots and Decepticons, holding them off until Starscream arrives to provide additional support. 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).

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.

TFcon comics

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 roles. 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.

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 Autobots aboard the Ark saved Cybertron from an asteroid, Decepticons invaded. 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, and the Transformers then lay in stasis-lock on Earth for three years. Adam Rook, a rogue military scientist, salvaged many of them 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. He captured Rook and unleashed a technorganic virus designed to transform all of Earth into a new Cybertron. Megatron unleashed Devastator on San Francisco in a mass slaughter but was defeated by Autobots.

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.

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. When Optimus Prime broke free of the controls, Megatron convinced his keeper to free him to fight Optimus. 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 of the series, it was revealed that the U.S. 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. 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.

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.

Megatron appears in At Fight's End talking to Ratchet.

Megatron defeated Deathsaurus in combat for leadership of the Decepticons. He orders the combiner technology that he caputures from Deathsaurus to be used on the Constructions. Megatron then attacks Iacon with his new weapon, Devastator.

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.

Megatron features prominently in Transformers: Regeneration One, Simon Furman's continuation of the original Marvel series in which the events of Generation 2 did not occur. Here, Megatron's lifeforce is still linked to Ratchet's, and after waking up on Earth in 1994, he has built what's left of Ratchet into a battle sled. Megatron also creates a zombie army from the mostly-Decepticon victims of the Underbase-empowered Starscream, while lobotomizing the still-living Starscream himself. Megatron proceeds ot devastate the Earth, turning its nuclear arsenal against the population, and destroys Fortress Maximus. The Wreckers discover what Megatron's done in the year 2012, prompting Optimus Prime to bring an assault team from Cybertron. Megatron is defeated when Kup destroys Ratchet, stopping Megatron in his tracks and permitting Optimus to destroy him once and for all.

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.

In keeping with the sexual nature of Kiss Players, the Legion possessed phallic tongues, which became the subject of much controversy among the Transformers fandom.

Binaltech

Megatron is largely "off-screen" for most of the Binaltech saga, reflecting the absence of a Megatron figure in that toyline.

Due to the interference of Ravage (the same future Ravage who appears in the Beast Wars), most of the events of the original animated feature do not transpire; most importantly the Battle of Autobot City does not occur, and Optimus Prime and Megatron do not have their final showdown, meaning that Optimus Prime does not die, and Megatron is never reformatted into Galvatron.

Already in control of Cybertron proper, Megatron took advantage of Swindle's release of the modified "Cosmic Rust" pathogen on Earth to launch an assault on the Autobot resistance on Cybertron's moons. With their numbers weakened, they would easily be defeated. However, Ravage's machinations interrupted this assault, by trapping Megatron and a large army of Decepticons in a spacial rift. Ravage, equipped with knowledge of the future, intended protecting the Decepticons from Unicron, and forcing the Autobots to face the planet-eater unaided. The Decepticons would then be in a position to conquer whoever was the victor of that battle...

Per Ravage's original plan, once the Autobots had defeated Unicron, Megatron and the Decepticons returned. The Autobots, spread too thin across multiple initiatives, retreated from Cybertron, and Megatron resumed his control of the planet. However, Optimus Prime planned for this event, and sent Mirage to press a switch, buried deep within Cybertron, that would render all Transformers inert. (This was seen at the conclusion of the "Five Faces of Darkness" story arc from the original animated series.) Optimus hoped that although all the Transformers would be rendered inoperative, the war would be stopped, and that the humans would be able to reactivate the Autobots in the future.

As Megatron prepared his assault on Earth, he met Nemesis Prime for the first time, and was furious that an Optimus Prime look-alike, one created on Earth, no less, would dare to wear the Decepticon symbol. The confrontation came to nothing, however, as Mirage accomplished his mission. But this plan had the surprising side-effect that only those with original Cybertronian bodies were deactivated — those with Earth-made Binaltech bodies continued to function. And thus, the Autobots effectively won the war, with the large army of Binaltech Autobots outnumbering the few remaining functional Decepticons who had obtained Binaltech bodies. Nemesis Prime and Shockwave escaped with the deactivated Megatron and as many other inert Decepticons as they could.

Games

Megatron has appeared in numerous Transformers video games.

Megatron appeared as a final boss in Transformers Battle Circuit, a simple Flash-based video game on the Hasbro web site.

Megatron appeared as a playable character in the fighting games Transformers Battle Universe, a Net Jet game in which four incarnations of the character are playable, and DreamMix TV World Fighters, a crossover between various franchises including Transformers.

The Generation 1 version of Megatron is offered as a downloadable character for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game. Despite being a distinct playable character, he is also summoned in gun mode by Generation 1 Starscream as an attack move.

Toys

The original Megatron toy in gun mode

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. Additionally, some toy makers have made unlicensed toys in his image, or accessories for the existing toys.

The original 1984 Megatron toy was released in Japan as part of Takara's Microman line under the name "MC-12 Gun Robo". The toy's characteristics such as the head design and Fusion Cannon have been incorporated in other variants and incarnations of Megatron toys. Today, this toy is on a list of banned items on planes in the U.S., and a special license is required to own this toy in Australia. Despite this, Takara Tomy has reissued this toy numerous times in Japan; mostly to commemorate the anniversary of the Transformers franchise.

Due to stricter laws on toys resembling real weapons, toys of Megatron have undergone different forms of alternate modes such as tanks, cars and jets. In 2006, Hasbro released the Classics Voyager Megatron figure, which transformed into a Nerf Maverick REV-6 replica — the first Megatron toy in over two decades to have a gun mode.

In 2007, Takara Tomy released Masterpiece MP-05 Megatron. While retaining the original concept of a transforming gun, this die-cast figure incorporated modern toy manufacturing techniques for improved detail and articulation, while at the same time, captured the look of the cartoon character.

Megatron, Shockwave and Ravage are the three Decepticon figures available to play in the Monopoly Transformers Collectors Edition game.

Cultural impact

Megatron has been parodied by such shows as Frank TV, Scrubs, Robot Chicken, Drawn Together, Family Guy and MAD. Frank Welker reprised his role for some of Megatron's parodic appearances.

In the novel World War Z by Max Brooks, an expandable pistol for use against zombies is called the "Meg"; a footnote points out that it is named after the Megatron toy.

American football player Calvin Johnson is nicknamed "Megatron".

Honors

At BotCon 2010, Hasbro named Megatron as one of the first five robot inductees in the Transformers Hall of Fame.

Wizard Magazine rated Megatron the 68th greatest villain of all time.

Beast Wars

Megatron

Decepticon/Predacon/Vehicon
Information
Sub-group	Deluxe Beasts, Transmetal, Transmetal 2, Ultra Beasts
Function	Predacon Commander, Vehicon Leader, Emperor of Destruction
Rank	10
Partner	Arachnid, Waspinator
Motto	"What does not destroy me makes me strong . . . what attempts to destroy me shall be obliterated." (Beast Wars) "Purification is the key to our salvation!" (Beast Machines)
Alternate Modes	Tyrannosaurus rex, European dragon, wolf/dragon, head/spaceship, diagnostic drone, Jet and Land assault vehicle (As Optimal Optimus clone), Hypersonic Attack/Ground Assault vehicle, Missile launcher truck similar to a BTR-80 APC
Series	Beast Wars Beast Machines Transformers: Robot Masters Transformers: Universe Transformers: Titanium Transformers: Timelines
English voice actor	David Kaye
Japanese voice actor	Shigeru Chiba (Beast Wars and Beast Machines) Toshitsugu Takashina (Robot Masters)

The Beast Wars and Beast Machines version of Megatron is the main antagonist from the aforementioned parts of the Transformers animated series, toy lines, and multiverse. In the past, a few fans have referred to him as Megatron II to distinguish him from the original character of the same name; in the Japanese Transformers: Robot Masters series, he was named Beast Megatron for this purpose.

His ultimate goal is the conquest of Cybertron, where he was branded a criminal.

Few pieces of information exist about Megatron before the Beast Wars. The Japanese Beast Wars II toy catalogue claims that he had battled and lost to Galvatron (the villain of that series) in the past, while the 2006 BotCon comics claimed he was previously a commander in the Predacon army who had developed many of the Predacons' tactics.

According to the 2007 CGI movie "Theft of the Golden Disk" Megatron was Cryotek's pupil. It was Cryotek who masterminded the theft of the Golden Disk, but Megatron betrayed his mentor and fled Cybertron with his prize, leaving Cryotek and Dirge to be arrested by Maximals.

In a 2010 interview with Shogun Gamer, David Kaye said that Megatron is the role he's more likely to be remembered for.

Reception

Megatron was named the best upgrade in Beast Wars history Topless Robot.

Animated series

Beast Wars

Three centuries after the end of The Great War, when Maximal and Predacon had risen to replace Autobot and Decepticon, one Predacon in particular was discontented with the Maximals' control of Cybertron following the Autobot victory in the war. Studying the ancient Cybertronian text called the Covenant of Primus, the Predacon took the name Megatron from a great destroyer of the same name that the book foretold (which may or may not have been also in direct homage to his namesake, the Decepticon Megatron). Searching for energon to power his takeover bid, he stole the legendary artifact known as the Golden Disk, but discovered amongst its data more than the mere location of an energon source - encoded onto the disk was a message from the original Megatron, which contained the co-ordinates of the prehistoric planet Earth. Using transwarp technology this would allow a user to travel back in time and alter history - specifically, to destroy Optimus Prime as he lay in stasis within The Ark, thereby preventing the Autobots from winning The Great War.

Although respected by the ruling Predacon Triumvirate, the Tripredacus Council, Megatron was considered a rogue and a loose cannon who would disrupt their own long-term plans for regaining power. To this end, when Megatron assembled a crew of like-minded Predacons to embark on his voyage to prehistoric Earth, they installed within his group Tarantulas, a mole from the Predacon Secret Police, to examine his operation from the inside. Megatron proceeded to steal the Darksyde, a transwarp cruiser, and embarked on his mission, but was pursued through the transwarp portal by the Maximal exploration ship the Axalon, and both ships crashed on the planet, with only Megatron truly aware of when and where they were. Prehistoric Earth soon proved to be saturated with energon radiation, which threatened to overload the Transformers' systems, and so they adopted organic-skinned "beast modes" to block it out; by scanning dinosaur fossils, Megatron adopted the form of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Following the dispatch of his traitorous sub-commander Dinobot, who went on to join Optimus Primal's Maximals, Megatron immediately began planning for the future. The discovery of vast reserves of energon on the planet, plus his hesitation to actually tamper with the timeline, left Megatron unwilling to actually follow through with the plan laid out by the original Megatron. He did locate The Ark, but decided to blast the tunnel he had dug closed, and began his own plans to amass power through the collection of energon. Megatron then tried a variety of schemes to gather energon and eliminate the Maximals in a series of conflicts dubbed the "Beast Wars" by Optimus Primal.

Megatron's leadership was not universally popular, however. Tarantulas, Terrorsaur, Blackarachnia and a brainwashed Rhinox would all attempt to overthrow Megatron at some point, although none succeeded for long. Even Waspinator dreamed of overthrowing his commander. Megatron would even face a challenge from the most unlikely of sources - the spark of the ancient Decepticon Starscream, thought long dead, would possess Waspinator and with the aid of Blackarachnia attempt to take over the Predacons. Predictably, he failed due to the efforts of the Maximals and Blackarachnia's own treachery, and his spark was cast out once again.

Some time into the Beast Wars, a third factor came into play - a race of mysterious aliens known as the Vok, who were, in actuality, responsible for seeding the planet with the excesses of energon, and whose technology Megatron coveted as another method of achieving the conquest of Cybertron. After some encounters with remnants of their technology left on the planet, and the discovery of a second Golden Disk of alien origin, which foretold their coming to Earth, Megatron entered into an alliance with the Maximals in hopes to stopping the Vok's plan to sterilize the Earth with a massive heat beam. Over time Megatron discovered Tarantulas' plan to use a stolen transwarp cell, along with a stasis pod from inside the Maximal ship, the Axalon, in order to flee the planet before destruction. Megatron hacked into the transwarp cell in order to trap Tarantulus within the pod and use it to destroy the alien device. However, Optimus Primal eventually came to pilot the stasis pod, equipped with the transwarp cell from Megatron's ship, which he would overload and create a transwarp explosion to destroy the Vok weapon, but ultimately Megatron's original plan to sacrifice Tarantulus to destroy the device, ended up playing more into his hand as he discovered Primal in the pod, sealing Primal within it leading to his believed demise.

The subsequent explosion destroyed Primal, and bathed the planet in a quantum surge that mutated the superstructures of several of the Transformers, Megatron included. Megatron lost Terrorsaur and Scorponok in the surge, but also gained a more powerful transmetal form. With Primal's spark soon restored in a new transmetal body by Rhinox the Beast Wars continued. It was during this time that Dinobot mentioned that a "madness" was growing with Megatron and over the course of the rest of the Beast Wars, his plans became more and more dangerous as well as insane. This trend would continue all the way into its sequel series, Beast Machines. Megatron once again attempted control of an alien structure through the Golden disk. Planning to take the ship back to Cybertron, he was thwarted by an unlikely alliance between the Maximals and Tarantulas, which succeeded in destroying both the ship and the second Golden Disk.

With his attempts at amassing energon and Vok technology consistently foiled, the would-be tyrant attempted more dangerous means of victory - though still unwilling to fully implement his namesake's plan, he attempted to alter history in another way, by killing off the early humans before they could multiply into efficient numbers to cover the Earth, thereby stopping the race from aiding the Autobots in The Great War. The plan was foiled, however, by Dinobot, who single-handedly fought off the entire Predacon force and destroyed the Golden Disk (at the cost of his own life) with his eye beams, leaving Megatron with no remaining options.

However, before he could take any further steps, the transwarp wavefront from the explosion that had destroyed the Vok weapon reached Cybertron, alerting the Tripredacus Council to the location of Megatron. They dispatched their agent Ravage, a former Decepticon rebuilt in a Predacon body (however retaining this original Decepticon mode of a cassette), through time to eliminate all those involved in the Beast Wars - Predacon or Maximal. Masquerading as a Maximal ally, Ravage successfully captured Megatron, but when he bore witness to the recording made by the original Megatron, his old commander, on a shattered fragment of the Golden Disk, he promptly switched sides and aided in an attack on the Maximals that ended with his apparent death. Megatron, meanwhile, played his hand and returned to The Ark, unleashing a full-force point-blank blast upon the deactivated body of Optimus Prime.

With this fatal injury, time began to destabilize, until Optimus Primal took Prime's spark into his body to protect it while repairs were made. The timeline was preserved, but Megatron was now more determined than ever to claim victory.

After a series of experiments in creating new transmetal upgrades using the alien Transmetal Driver - yielding a transmetal 2 clone of Dinobot Megatron sought to duplicate the upgrade that Optimus Primal had undergone when he internalised Optimus Prime's spark. Stealing aboard The Ark once again, Megatron took the spark of the original Megatron into his body, only to find the process was not as smooth as that which had created Optimal Optimus, as his ancestor's spark proved difficult to assimilate into his body. As he struggled to survive, Tarantulas betrayed Megatron by having Quickstrike (who was using a device to control the massive power of Optimal Optimus) hurl the helpless Megatron into a lava pit. Shortly after, as Tarantulas exited The Ark, Megatron rose from the pit, the power of his ancestor's spark having mutated him into a powerful fire and ice breathing dragon form. After throwing the astonished traitor into a lava pit he engaged and almost defeated Optimus Primal, before the arrival of the other Maximals drove him away. However, it is heavily implied that Megatron had received an additional powerboost while he held the G1 Megatron's spark, for he told Primal- "Did you think you could stand against the fury of BOTH Megatrons?"

The Predacons then suffered a crippling blow when their base was destroyed by Tigerhawk, a Vok-created hybrid of Airazor and Tigatron with control over the elements sent to stop Megatron interfering further with the timeline. Even Megatron's mighty dragon mode was defeated, but Megatron was saved by the most unlikely transformer of all - Optimus Primal, who viewed the damage that would be done to the timeline by the destruction of the original Megatron's spark (housed in Megatron's body) as just as bad as the damage caused if Megatron was successful in murdering Optimus Prime.

Despite this setback, Megatron then began his most daring scheme yet and seized the power of the crashed Decepticon space cruiser, the Nemesis, after discovering that the recently deceased Tarantulas had been repairing it for his own purposes. He attempted to unleash its power on The Ark as well as dispatching most of his remaining troops to destroy the early human settlement. He would engage Optimus Primal in a final battle as his own troops fell all around him (some, ironically, by his own hand) or, in the case of the Dinobot clone and the long-suffering Waspinator, betrayed him. Before the final blow could be struck, Rhinox, tipped off as to its location by the Dinobot clone, crashed an Autobot shuttle into the bridge of the Nemesis, crippling the ship and forcing it to crash. Megatron's plans had finally been thwarted and he was at last captured by the Maximals. After returning the original Megatron's spark to his body (in a cut scene from the final episode), the Maximals chained Megatron to the upper hull of their craft, as they blasted off from Earth and entered transwarp space, heading back to Cybertron.

Although the Beast Wars show would establish Megatron as a smooth, manipulative villain always thinking a step ahead, the Japanese dub of the show and the later Beast Wars Metals (seasons two and three) would change Megatron's personality completely. To inject more humor into the show, the dub made Megatron out to be little more than a bumbling idiot whose main characteristic was screaming in a high-pitched voice whenever someone attacked him, a move that did not go over well with the Japanese audience.

Beast Machines

In Beast Machines, Megatron's personality underwent a change to become a much darker character. Losing many of his previous personality quirks, he developed a hatred of organics and free will, but oddly saw himself as a savior of Cybertron. His sense of humor vanished, replaced with "Machine Precision" and his plans had evolved to galactic conquest. He even developed some sense of honor, keeping his word to Rattrap in one case where he would have formerly taken advantage of an opponent. However, he still retained his strategic brilliance and manipulative abilities, outwitting the Maximals and other enemies with his plans on nearly every occasion.

Part-way into the journey back to Cybertron after the end of the Beast Wars, Megatron was able to break free of his bonds and exited the timestream early, returning to Cybertron a considerable time before his Maximal captors. Once there, he adopted a new, zealous philosophy, determining that both Maximal and Predacon alike were threats to the integrity of Cybertron. Megatron came to believe that individuality was the root of all disorder, and envisioned all of Cybertron united as one perfect, technologically precise entity whose destiny was to conquer and consolidate the universe—under his control, of course. Megatron used a virus to hinder transformation and paralyze Transformers, leading to their deaths or their spark's being extracted. From their bodies he created Vehicon Drones, all under his control. The process went on until nearly all the Transformers had been wiped off the face of Cybertron, leaving only the Vehicons, and Megatron himself, using a control harness to interface with all of Cybertron's systems and his Vehicon Armies.

In conjunction with his new scheme to erase individuality, Megatron has also developed a fervent hatred of organics, and in his quest to remake Cybertron as the perfect technosphere, dedicated him to the extermination of any and all organic influences on the planet, including his own beast mode. His attempts to purge the organics from his body repeatedly met with failure, and in moments when he would lose control of his emotions, the beast within him would take over, forcing him to detach from his harness and revert into the remnants of his dragon mode. This would render all Vehicons inert. Unable to fully purge the last vestiges of his beast mode from his body, Megatron stubbornly refused to render himself vulnerable even for an instant by simply moving his spark to another body (although he did this several times later in the series), therefore leaving him trapped in the very thing he hated the most, a partially organic beast form.

When the Maximals emerged from the timestream at their intended point in time, they found the planet under Megatron's control, and were immediately devolved to their original beast modes by the virus. The Vehicons captured Rhinox and Silverbolt, while Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Blackarachnia and Rattrap were able to escape, and were reformatted into technorganic forms by the Oracle shell program of the legendary Vector Sigma computer.

With his technological purity shattered by the arrival of the technorganic Maximals and the revelation that Cybertron had formerly been organic and still possessed an organic core, Megatron bestowed three of his drones with the reprogrammed sparks of Rhinox, Silverbolt and Waspinator, in order to allow them to better combat the Maximals, becoming Tankor, Jetstorm and Thrust respectively. This, however, led to Rhinox's memories and intellect being brought back to the surface by Primal, but, corrupted by Megatron's programming, Rhinox now agreed with Megatron's vision, and set about concocting his own schemes. Duping Megatron and Optimus Primal into using the power of the key to Vector Sigma and the Plasma Energy Chamber, respectively, Rhinox hoped they would destroy each other, leaving him to rule, but when his deception was exposed and the opposing energies released, it only resulted in his destruction. Additionally, when these two energies met in Megatron's citadel, Megatron took a chance and once again attempted to separate his organic and technological sides—only to wind up trapped in the organic half.

Wandering Cybertron in a purely organic body that transformed from humanoid wolf to dragon, Megatron took the name Noble, feigned innocence, and was taken in by the unwitting Maximals, and then exploited them to enable him to return to his citadel, where he transferred his spark into a new, purely technological body, a massive fortress in the shape of his own head, which transformed into a space cruiser. However, his Noble body did not die, remaining purely organic and sparkless, it developed its own primitive intellect.

Floating above the planet's surface, Megatron began anew his scheme for control by acquiring a portion of the Oracle's data from Primal and absorbing the captive sparks into his own, in an attempt to create one, unique intelligence. During this attempt, the Maximals attacked and Megatron killed Noble, destroying his organic half, resulting in a sonic scream of rage from the Maximal, Nightscream. This scream depolarized Megatron's spark, leaving it wildly flitting around Cybertron, seeking out a new body. Leaping from shell to shell, it found itself unable to remain in a body for long, until Rattrap realized the truth of the matter and repolarized it, trapping it in the frail body of a Diagnostic Drone.

Even as a Diagnostic Drone, Megatron could still access a number of weapon and defensive systems, and he escaped with the help of Strika and Obsidian. Then, his options expended, Megatron submitted to the procedure that would transfer his spark into a new body. Since there was no time to build a new one, he decides on a template. His sense of irony intact, the body he chose was based on one of Primal's "Optimal" forms — minus the beast mode and with a face resembling Megatron's previous incarnations instead of Primal's. (An interesting note is that Megatron was the only Transformer to keep the same 'face' throughout the Beast Wars and Beast Machines) With the immense strength and firepower this granted him, he easily managed to fight off Optimus- the only Maximal left standing after the titanic final battle with Megatron's forces-, and, with his long-time enemy unable to do anything but watch, Megatron began the absorption of Cybertron's sparks, growing to three times his size. Opening a tunnel to the planet's center, Megatron threatened to activate the key to Vector Sigma at its core, transforming the whole world into a perfect technosphere and he would then transfer his consciousness into the planet and then go forth to conquer the universe. Fortunately Megatron could not access the Key while Primal still controlled half of the Oracle, but the massive Megatron simply attempted to separate Primal from the Oracle completely and began to convert Cybertron's organic core. However Primal fought back, overcoming Megatron's power and turning Megatron's throne into organic matter, trapping the Vehicon Leader. Telling Megatron that he needed to find the balance not only between the organic and the technological, but the balance between eternal enemies like him and Megatron, Optimus eventually pushed his foe off-balance, sending the two combatants tumbling down the shaft into Cybertron's organic core. There, together, these two seeds of the future were buried in the past, and, in death, Primal used the Oracle to reformat the entire world into a technorganic paradise.

Robot Masters

The short-lived Transformers: Robot Masters line released exclusively in Japan saw Megatron transported through the mysterious "Blastizone" to Earth in the early 21st Century, where he sided with the Decepticons, currently led by Starscream after the disappearance of Megatron. Dubbed "Beast Megatron" to distinguish him from his predecessor, Megatron bested Starscream and took leadership of the Decepticons until the original Megatron returned in the form of Reverse Convoy, and the two Megatrons merged their energies to create the "Double Megatron Tornado". This power, however, was thwarted by the "Triple Convoy Tornado Link Attack" formed from the energy of Optimus Prime, Optimus Primal and Lio Convoy.

Oddly, the Robot Masters series depicted Megatron standing as tall as original Decepticon characters, when Maximals and Predacons were much smaller. Additionally, he is capable of robot-mode flight, and breathes fire in dinosaur mode, none of which he could do in the Beast Wars TV Series.

Beast Wars II Movie

In the interim between the first and second seasons of the Beast Wars animated series, the Beast Wars II anime was produced in Japan to fill the gap, and produced a feature film entitled Beast Wars II: Lio Convoy, Close Call! In this film, the Predacons of the series discover a mysterious transwarp device. The Predacons' leader, Galvatron, attempted to use the time-and-space-warping gate to summon a "Megatron" to his aid. It is unclear whether he was searching for the original Megatron or the Predacon who went by the same name, but regardless, Galvatron's brother Gigastorm screwed up the calculations and instead summoned the titanic Majin Zarak, whom Galvatron proudly declared to be far superior to Megatron.

Comics

3H Enterprises

Megatron's sudden development of a transformation-freezing virus, spark-extraction and Vehicon technology and drones went without explanation in the animated series, with the large time gap between his return and the Maximals' left to serve as a grey area in which these innovations occurred. The comics exclusive to the BotCon convention, however, shone some light on this period of time, and revealed that upon his return to Cybertron, Megatron met his former mentor, Cryotek. Cryotek offered to free Megatron of his beast mode by transferring most of it to himself, only to have the transfer send him into a period of stasis lock. Megatron went into seclusion, using Cryotek's plundered inventions to develop the technology that he used to enslave Cybertron.

Megatron featured in several of the comics available exclusively at the BotCon Transformers convention, appearing in each of his different forms. He made his first Botcon appearance in a brief role in the 1997 comic in his original form where he was impressed by Fractyl's seeming new vigor in fighting Maximals.

He reappeared in his transmetal body in the 1998 play (voiced by Kaye) and the subsequent comic, where he defeated, captured and tortured the mysterious Transformer Antagony. Megatron realized she was from the future, and determined to acquire the secrets of his own destiny from her mind, but she activated a failsafe device that wiped her memory, denying Megatron what he sought.

Megatron returned in BotCon 2000s "Reaching the Omega Point", now in his dragon form, as the Maximals and Predacons came under attack first by Windrazor, a powerful Fuzor that Megatron was able to defeat, only to have it fuse with Unicron's essence, then from Shokaract, a future Predacon that had merged with the essence of Unicron. A spate of time anomalies, including Windrazor's fusion, threatened to ensure this union never happened and Shokaract wanted to ensure his own future, but Megatron used this situation to his advantage, destabilizing Unicron's essence in order to blackmail Shockaract into revealing Megatron's future. Megatron battled Shokaract, but even he was overpowered as Shokaract anchored Unicron's essence in his timeframe. However, even Megatron joined the final battle against Shokaract, aided by a group of Transformers legends, including the original Megatron.

In the BotCon exclusive Transformers Universe - Wreckers storyline Megatron developed a number of Vehicons with sparks not seen in the television series to counter the growing threat of not just Primal's Maximals, but the Mutants, Dinobots and the Wreckers. However, while Quake, Blastcharge and Spy Streak served him loyally, Cyclonus, Skywarp, Devcon and Rotorbolt openly rebelled against him and joined the Wreckers. The Vehicon Mirage was also mentioned in Apelinq's war journals.

Dreamwave Productions

Megatron's earliest fictional depiction in comics was in a two-part short story told in Dreamwave's Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye series of character profiles. The tale started and finished the series, showing a mysterious figure (who would be revealed at the story's close as Megatron) and his accomplice accessing the supercomputer Vector Sigma through a node in an ancient Autobot library and viewing the profiles of the Autobots and Decepticons of the Great War (in reality the character profiles of the series). As the accomplice dispatched a Maximal security agent his leader obtained the Golden Disk and announced he wished to be addressed as Megatron from now on, implying he took the name after viewing the profile of the original Megatron.

In addition to his surprise appearance in Dreamwave's More Than Meets The Eye series (see above) Megatron was also set to appear in Dreamwave's unpublished Beast Wars comic. Although the company's bankruptcy meant that no issues were released, released art and information have revealed that the second issue would have dealt with Megatron's trial on Cybertron at the hands of Magmatron.

IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing's 2006 comic book, Beast Wars: The Gathering, saw Megatron's old rival from Cybertron, Magmatron, travel back to the time of the Beast Wars (shortly after Megatron's failed attempt at killing Optimus Prime) at the behest of the Tripredacus Council. Activating all the remaining stasis pods on the planet, Magmatron quickly assembled a Predacon army of his own, including a reanimated Ravage. Although Magmatron had ambitions to stage a coup like Megatron, he did not want to reveal his intentions to the Tripredacus Council yet, and aimed to capture Megatron for them as his mission required, to divert suspicion. Revealing himself to Megatron, the two would-be tyrants battled, but Megatron was captured when Magmatron's lackeys Iguanus and Drill Bit managed to knock Megatron out. Magmatron aimed to send him back to Cybertron, but due to the intervention of Razorbeast, Optimus Minor and Grimlock, Magmatron was sent back to Cybertron instead. Razorbeast left the unconscious Megatron on Earth, fearing an alteration to the time stream if he captured him.

Megatron's presence would be felt in IDW's second Beast Wars series as well, as Ravage (resurrected as a Transmetal by Magmatron) aimed to capture Razorbeast's chronal armband, which would allow him to interfere with the "main" timestream (the Beast Wars of the TV show). He planned to free Megatron from his imprisonment on the Autobot shuttle and ally with him to kill all the Maximals on the planet. His plan was thwarted by Razorbeast. However, in the very last panel of the series, Megatron is seen overlooking a ravaged Cybertron, presumably having just arrived from his long transwarp journey before his Maximal rivals.

Megatron had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.

Fun Publications

Megatron was featured in the 2006 BotCon tale Timelines: Dawn of Futures Past, which picked up where the Dreamwave story left off. Much more of the background surrounding his theft of the Golden Disk artifacts was revealed. A feared general in the Predacon army, he went rogue from the Predacons after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia, and took the name of Megatron. He swiftly gathered a crew of like-minded individuals and, while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole a ship, he, Dinobot and Scorponok stole the disk, battling the guards and destroying one, leaving the other to commandeer a ship to pursue them. Picked up by their ship, they fled and were pursued by two ships - one of which was the Axalon. Tarantulas was able to decode enough information from the Golden Disk to set a course through transwarp space. With a little help from Laserbeak and Buzzsaw (secretly sent by Divebomb to ensure Megatron's plan to change history succeeded) they destroyed one of their pursuers, and the newly christened Dark Side fled into Transwarp space, with the Axalon in pursuit - thus beginning the Beast Wars. To marry the visual appearance of Megatron's pre-Beast form seen in the first episode of the Beast Wars animated series (indeed, Megatron was the only character whose entire body was depicted, albeit briefly, prior to reformatting into a beast mode) with the toy of the character available exclusively at the convention, the story notes that Megatron adopts a detachable suit of armor that transforms into a missile tank, similar to a Pretender Shell or Ultra Magnus' outer armor in Dreamwave's series. The tank is his toy; the profile given for the character in the widespread release of the comic notes that his original body transforms into a hover tank. Notably, Timelines presents a slightly different version of the disk's theft to the story presented in Dreamwave comics. In Timelines, Megatron seems to already be known to other characters by that name, whereas in Dreamwave's story, he only takes the name after taking possession of the disk. Whether the two are reconcilable is unknown.

Megatron appeared in the 2008 BotCon voice actor play "Bee in the City", voiced by David Kaye. After losing Optimus Prime and Sari to the Transtech incarnation of Shockwave, Bumblebee and Flareup meet Megatron, who goes by the name of "Joe" to avoid any attraction. Learning of the Allspark key on Sari's person, Megatron offers his aid. Once Bumblebee frees his friends, Megatron reveals himself as he uses the key to bring an army to life. However, when his army realize the consequence of their coming to being within Transtech Cybertron, a mutiny ensures as Megatron is dragged off while vowing revenge.

Megatron's story continued in the pages of the biography printed by Fun Publications for the 25th Anniversary Optimus Primal toy. Even his death at the conclusion of Beast Machines would not be the end of Megatron's villainy. Due to the inextricable link that had been forged between himself and Optimus Primal when Cybertron was reformatted, Primal's return to life to lead the "Children of Primus" against the machinations of Unicron meant that Megatron was also brought back to the land of the living. This time, however, the two old enemies found themselves in an uneasy alliance, travelling from universe to universe to wherever the multiversal conflict had spread.

Games

Megatron appears in the 1999 Game Boy Color video game Ketō Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Senshi Saikyō Ketteisen. He is a playable character in the fighting games Transformers Battle Universe, a Net Jet game. He is among the licensed characters in the PC video game Beast Wars Transformers.

TFcon comics

Megatron appears among the characters in Re-Unification, the 2010 TFCon voice actor play prelude comic.

He was featured in the Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game by Parkr Brothers.

Toys

• Beast Wars Basic Optimus Primal vs. Megatron (1996)

The very first Megatron toy was a flip changer alligator, packaged alongside a bat version of Optimus Primal. The pack-in comic book, however, indicated that this Megatron and Primal were in fact new incarnations of the original Megatron and Optimus Prime -- when the Beast Wars animated series began and established its fiction, this idea was dropped, and all subsequent toys had profiles written in-line with the show. Another dropped idea was an imagining of Megatron and Optimus Prime being able to shapeshift from the alligator and bat bodies to their famous ultra-sized forms (making them "quadri-changers"). The figure was later redecoed in purples for a Japanese-exclusive release as Megalligator.

This Beast Wars alligator Megatron is often referred to as "Gatortron" by the fans.

• Beast Wars Ultra Megatron (1996)

Megatron's original "Ultra" size class T. rex body, equipped with several special gimmicks. The toy features a pair of spring-loaded missile launchers in its hips (used only once in the show, against Terrorsaur in "Power Surge"), and a gear-operated claw-shield for a left arm (missile launcher in the show, however). His right arm - the T. rex head - contains a pressure-activated water gun which squirts streams of liquid through a bellows when the mouth is opened. The largest individual Predacon toy released in the pre-transmetal era, Megatron was not entirely identical to his animated counterpart, primarily due to the presence of a "mutant mask" that formed an alternate face for the figure (although early animation tests showed Megatron looking more like the toy). This toy was repainted as the Dinobot T-Wrecks in the Beast Machines line. This version of Megatron features all 10s on his tech specs.

• According to DVD extras from one release of the Beast Wars animated series a working name for this toy was "Galvatron".

• Beast Wars Micro Megatron (1997)

A small, non-transforming Megatron toy that came with the Arachnid MicroVerse playset. This toy looked like a tiny version of alligator Megatron in robot mode.

• Beast Wars Red Ant Megatron (plans altered) (1997)

Beast Wars' story editor Bob Forward revealed in an interview that "For a while there Hasbro was planning to make the Inferno toy the new Megatron. We were going to kill Megatron and bring him back as Inferno." [2] For unknown reasons, Hasbro changed their minds and released Inferno as a separate character.

• Beast Wars Transmetal T. rex Megatron (1997)

Megatron's new transmetal form, released in the "Mega" size class. Transmetal Megatron is armed with a flexible claw weapon formed from the tail of his T. rex mode, and possesses a third "transport" mode involving two hip-mounted VTOL engines and wheels that deploy from his feet, acting like roller skates.

Transmetal Megatron was later remolded as the Decepticon named Predacon for the Transformers: Armada toyline in 2003.

Transmetal Megatron was voted the 4th strangest Transformers Beast Wars figure by Topless Robots.

• Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Dragon Megatron (1998)

In his new body, Megatron now transforms into a monstrous red dragon. With a push of the switch on his back, his wings fan outward, and a lever in his dragon-mode neck allows the flexible rubber to be moved, posed and locked in a straight position. The toy is armed with three missiles, two of which can store under his wings, while the third can be fired from either the dragon mouth or a launcher above the robot mode head. The toy features "transport mode" in which wheels and turbines deploy from the dragon mode legs.

This toy was repainted in icy blues and purples to become Cryotek for the Transformers: Robots in Disguise toyline, with the character then incorporated into Megatron's history by the BotCon comics.

• Beast Machines Megatron (2000)

Although released in the "Mega" size class, the solitary Beast Machines Megatron figured released in the American toyline is in fact smaller in stature than the next size class down, a Deluxe. The figure transforms into a pale imitation of the character's dragon mode, reflecting Megatron's attempts to purge his organic beast mode in the show. (As Beast Wars' transmetal II dragon Megatron was still found on shelves when this version of Megatron was released, it was not quite as well received, and mainly used as a low-budget substitute to the transmetal II.)

This figure was based on drawings by Hasbro designer Tim Bradley.

• Beast Machines McDonalds Megatron (2000)

A smaller version of the Beast Machines toy, given away with McDonalds Happy Meals.

• Robots in Disguise Megabolt Megatron/Megahead Megatron (2004)

Although designed to be part of the Beast Machines toyline, this figure of Megatron's fortress/spaceship body was aborted, and then revived for the Robots in Disguise toyline in 2002, where it was reimagined as a new body for that universe's Megatron. As an added feature, fans and collectors discovered that if the spider-like legs of the toy's "giant head mode" were removed, it would fit perfectly into Fortress Maximus's head cavity, which matched allusions made on Megabolt Megatron's RiD file card profile. When Beast Machines was then released in Japan in 2004 as Beast Wars Returns, the figure was redecoed and released as the character it was originally intended to represent, under the name "Megahead Megatron."

Although no proper name is offered for this body in the animated series, beyond the flippant use of "Megahead" by Cheetor, a later short story by Beast Machines writer Robert N. Skir dubbed the body the "Grand Mal" for unknown reasons. That name also featured in the scripts for the show.

• Robot Masters Beast Megatron (2004)

A newly-designed body for the Robot Masters line based on Megatron's original T. rex form, though smaller. Most notably, the T. rex tail/shield/claw arm, which was non-removable on the original figure, is a separate piece on this figure, with a full arm sculpted to which it attaches. This toy was only released by Takara, not by Hasbro. A black repaint of this toy was released in limited numbers as well.

• Disco Duck (2005)

A Dairycon 2005 exclusive collectible available only to attendees, this toy such was inspired by Megatron's rubber duck.

• Universe Megatron (unreleased)

A proposed exclusive for a future BotCon, this Megatron would have been a remolded version of Transformers: Robots in Disguise Megatron in the colors of Megatron's transmetal dragon body, with a new headsculpt based on Megatron's traditional head design (as well as remolded dragon heads) and a new accessory in the form of his famous rubber duck. Although the toy never materialized due to 3H Enterprises' loss of the license to the convention, the appearance of Megatron's glowing eyes within shadow in the Transformers: Universe comic books was intended to foreshadow the figure.

• Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Deluxe Megatron (2006)

In commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Beast Wars line, a series of show-accurate redecoes of original Beast Wars figures were released. Megatron and Optimus Primal, however, received entirely new sculpts with Jungle Planet Cyber Planet Key gimmicks. Inserting the key into Megatron's tail reveals a firing missile launcher. The toy came packaged with a small model of the Darksyde. The Transformers: Cybertron fiction published exclusively in the newsletter exclusive to the Transformers Collector's Club established Primal's 10th Anniversary body in continuity, suggesting that Megatron's return to life in the Universe comics was in his own 10th Anniversary form. The back of the box of this version of Megatron had a printing error which referred to the included "Predacon" ship, so Hasbro placed a correcting label over it.

This figure was based on drawings by Hasbro designer Tim Bradley.

This figure was quickly redecoed in the color scheme of the above-mentioned Armada Predacon for the Transformers: Cybertron toyline itself, presented as a new, Jungle Planet body for that universe's Megatron.

• Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Ultra Megatron (2006)

Japan's take on the tenth anniversary of the Beast Wars franchise saw them remold and recolor the original Megatron and Primal toys in a two pack with more show-accurate appearances after demands from the fans. Megatron received a new head mould removing his "beast face" and several other modifications to his paint applications. This version was released with this version of Primal in a two-pack as a Toys-R-Us exclusive in 2006.

• Titanium 3 inch Megatron (2006)

A three-inch tall non-transforming die-cast representation of Megatron's original body, including a translucent Decepticon-symbol display stand.

• Timelines Megatron (2006)

An exclusive toy available only at BotCon 2006, this incarnation of Megatron is a recolor of the Transformers: Cybertron Cybertron Defense Red Alert figure. It is considered the most coveted of the exclusive Botcon toys to date due to the character's popularity and the fact that the figure was limited to a run of only five hundred figures making it extremely rare. With a new headsculpt of Megatron's traditional design, representing Megatron in his original Cybertronian body before acquiring his Tyrannosaurus mode, the figure transforms into a rocket-launching armored vehicle and, with the insertion of the toy's "Golden Disk holder" key (a redecoed Cyber Planet Key) into its port, the rocket splits open to reveal a launching missile. This Megatron and the accompanying Timelines Dinobot are the first Predacon toys to feature Mini-Con ports.

• Transformers 3D Battle-Card Game Predacon Megatron (2007)

Produced by Wizards of the Coast, wave 2 of their Transformers 3D Battle-Card Game included a Predacon Megatron card.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Megatron/Galvatron

Predacon
Information
Sub-group	Six Changers, Ten Changers, Ultra Beasts
Function	Decepticon/Predacon Leader, Dark God of Destruction/Ultimate God of Destruction, Predacon Emperor of Destruction
Rank	10
Motto	"My power is unequaled. My strength is unmatched. My opponents are unworthy. And my presence is that of death."
Alternate Modes	Dragon/gargoyle/car/spaceship/hand/jet/twin-headed dragon Dragon/drill tank
Series	Beast Wars II Transformers: Robots in Disguise
English voice actor	Daniel Riordan, Tetsuo Komura

This version of Megatron (known as Gigatron in Japan) is a six-changer, powerful enough to transform into five additional modes besides his robot form - twin-headed dragon, bat-gargoyle creature, race car, spaceship and claw (GigaDragon, GigaBat, GigaFormula, GigaJet and GigaHand in Japanese). Each form has its own different frightening capabilities, making Megatron a very unstable and unpredictable fighter. Unlike his namesake, Megatron would often sit back from a conflict and allow his subordinates to do the dirty work. Like his counterparts, he is arrogant, but unlike them, he also was incompetent, as most of his schemes were badly planned and badly executed. Upon his upgrade into Galvatron, he gains additional forms, and gains the ability to absorb energy from other lifeforms.

Animated series

Car Robots

In the original Car Robots series, the character was developed as a new, unique villain character called Gigatron; however, the name "Megatron" was used in the US dub due to recognition, as well as maintaining ownership of the trademark. In Korea, the character has been established as being the same character as Beast Wars II Galvatron. In this version of the series, each of Gigatron's modes had its own personality.

Robots in Disguise

A Predacon warlord before coming to Earth, Megatron is believed to have decimated numerous planets in his quest for energy. Optimus stated that Megatron left entire planets as "lifeless barren rocks". Needing ever more energy, Megatron targeted Earth's energy; to that end, he kidnapped the human energy-research expert, Doctor Kenneth Onishi, using his psycho-probe to drain information on Earth's energy sources from his mind. But even his subordinates were unaware that Megatron had a greater scheme in motion...

His attempts to amass energy thwarted by the Autobots and the incompetence of his own troops, Megatron sought to bolster his forces, locating six Autobot protoforms in a crashed Cybertronian spaceship, bestowing them with military vehicle modes and corrupting them with his own Spark energy, creating the Decepticons. However, their leader, Scourge, happened to scan Optimus Prime along with the tanker that would form his alternate mode, and as a result became something of an "evil clone" of Prime, whose cruelty and cunning eventually extended to plotting against Megatron.

In the pursuit of his greater agenda, Megatron began seeking the mysterious O-Parts, which led to the Orb of Sigma, in a subterranean pyramid. The orb would lead to Cerebros, the power key to the huge Autobot battle station, Fortress Maximus, who, it was revealed, he had actually come to Earth to obtain. When Megatron was buried in the ruins of the pyramid following a failed attempt to steal the orb from the Autobots, he underwent his most startling transformation of all, as the energies of the pyramid resurrected him as the vampiric Galvatron (known in Japan as DevilGigatron), able to enhance his own strength by draining the life energy from others. As Galvatron, he possessed four additional transformations - a hydrofoil, a gryphon, a pterodactyl and an elephant, used to terrifying effect when he drained the energy of Fortress Maximus and engaged Omega Prime in a final battle at the Earth's core. Thankfully, Prime was able to defeat him with the gathered energy of Earth's children, courtesy of Fortress Maximus, and he was sent back to Cybertron for imprisonment.

Beast Wars II

A character called Gigatron Z (known as Galvatron in Japan) would play a big role in Japanese fiction relating to the Beast Era. This character appeared in the Japanese exclusive Beast Wars Second line, unrelated to the G1 character called Galvatron. In the years that followed the end of The Great War, the factions known as the Maximals and Predacons arose to replace the Autobots and Decepticons. In this time, a Transformer called Galvatron was the leader of a group of Predacons who landed on Planet Gaia (a future version of Earth) in search of the power of the Angolmois energy to rule the universe. After many battles, he brought in his Fortress Nemesis to finish the extraction of the energy from the planet. Confronted by the Maximals Lio Convoy and Lio Junior, merged as the Lion of Gaea, Galvatron was defeated, but as the Angolmois energy was sealed in capsules to prevent further use, Galvatron revived, intending to use the self-destruct device in his chest to destroy his foes. With a final blow, Lio Convoy shattered Galvatron's chest, causing a cataclysmic explosion that seemed to kill both of them off and scattered the Angolmois capsules across the galaxy.

Galvatron was a Triple Changer, using a Gaian computer to give him the most powerful forms the planet had to offer. These were an ancient drill tank and a monstrous dragon. This made Galvatron the first Predacon in the series to gain a beast mode, although his was made into a Transmetal-like form because of his tank mode. Galvatron had immense power, to such an extent he often lapsed into stasis until he managed to amass enough Angolmois Energy to be permanently active in the second half of the series.

Beast Wars Neo

In the course of the Beast Wars Neo sequel series, it is revealed that the Angolmois energy is actuality the life essence of Unicron himself, which his minions the Blendtrons seek to recover. The Blendtrons also recover Galvatron's lifeless shell, which was then possessed by Unicron as he attempted to transform Cybertron into his new body, only to be defeated by Maximal leader Big Convoy, aided by Lio Convoy and his Maximals.

Comics

Dreamwave Productions

The character of RiD Megatron made one appearance in Dreamwave comics Summer Special issue before the company went under, sending his bickering lieutenants Scourge and Sky-Byte to steal a nuclear generator while he led the other Decepticons and Predacons to distract the Autobots. There was a contest in the issue as to whether RiD or Beast Wars would be the next Dreamwave comic series, which Beast Wars won. But Dreamwave went bankrupt before the series begin.

Manga

In "The Maximal Brainwashing Project" Starscream and BB were able to capture Diver and the Tasmanian Kid, brainwashing them into serving the Predacons. Meanwhile Leo Prime, Apache and Scuba were able to capture Dirge and Thrust. The shock of being damaged in capture had the side effect of making the Predacons think they were Maximals. Diver and the Kid were able to ambush the Maximals, allowing Galvatron to gain the upper hand on Lio Convoy, but the Maximals were aided by Dirge and Thrust. Furious that Lio had seemingly stolen his brainwashing idea Starscream had BB attacked the Maximals. Megastorm found the whole turn of events amusing and planned to use his main cannon to destroy all the Maximals and Predacons in the conflict, becoming the leader of the Predacons. His attack took so long to charge Diver was able to ruin it with a water geyser. The explosion was enough to shock the brainwashed Maximals back to their senses. Galvatron and the Predacons retreated with Dirge and Thrust in tow.

IDW Publishing

Galvatron had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.

Fun Publications

Beast Wars Second Galvatron, Megastorm and the technorganic Predacon Waspinator appeared together in the story Wreckers: Finale Part II by the Transformers Collectors Club in 2007. During the invasion of Cybertron by the Quintessons the Predacons worked together to ambush a Quintesson contingent commanded by Overseer Vashik. Vashnik's troops were caught in a pool of molten magma and destroyed.

Video games

Galvatron appears in the 1999 Game Boy Color video game Ketō Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Senshi Saikyō Ketteisen.

Toys

• Beast Wars Second Galvatron (1998)

Galvatron transforms into a dragon and a drill tank. The beast mode's wings unfold into a set of clawed pincers for the robot to wield, while his tail launches two pronged missiles disguised as a forked tip. The figure was available both individually, and in a two-pack with his opponent, Lio Convoy. On an interesting side note, the Galvatron toy was colored purple, as a homage to his G1 namesake, though for reasons unknown animators rendered him pink in the Beast Wars II anime.

• Car Robots Gigatron (2000)

An Ultra-sized figure that transforms from robot to two-headed dragon (GigaDragon), bat-gargoyle (GigaBat), Cybertronian race car (GigaFormula), Cybertronian jet (GigaJet) and giant hand (GigaHand).

• Car Robots Devil Gigatron (2000)

A white redeco of Gigatron retooled to transform into four extra modes: hydrofoil, gryphon, pterodactyl and elephant.

• Robots in Disguise Ultra Megatron (2001)

In Japan, Car Robots Gigatron has 6 modes, while Devil Gigatron has retooling to support 10 modes. However when the line was brought to the US, RiD Megatron was based on the retooled Devil Gigatron mold, but with the black Gigatron color scheme, and is therefore capable of the same 10 modes as RiD Galvatron.

This figure was also remolded as the BotCon 2005 exclusive figure Deathsaurus.

• Robots in Disguise Ultra Galvatron (2002)

The US version of Devil Gigatron.

• Car Robots Ultra Gigatron Z (2003)

The Korean version of Beast Wars Second Galvatron.

• Robots in Disguise Megabolt Megatron/Megahead Megatron (2004)

Although designed to be part of the Beast Machines toyline, this figure of Megatron's fortress/spaceship body was aborted, and then revived for the Robots in Disguise toyline in 2002, where it was reimagined as a new body for that universe's Megatron. As an added feature, fans and collectors discovered that if the spider-like legs of the toy's "giant head mode" were removed, it would fit perfectly into Fortress Maximus's head cavity, which matched allusions made on Megabolt Megatron's RiD file card profile. When Beast Machines was then released in Japan in 2004 as Beast Wars Returns, the figure was redecoed and released as the character it was originally intended to represent, under the name "Megahead Megatron."

Although no proper name is offered for this body in the animated series, beyond the flippant use of "Megahead" by Cheetor, a later short story by Beast Machines writer Robert N. Skir dubbed the body the "Grand Mal" for unknown reasons. That name also featured in the scripts for the show.

Unicron Trilogy

Megatron/Galvatron

Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Deluxe Beasts, Leaders, Micro Vehicles, Triple Changers
Function	Decepticon Leader
Rank	10
Partner	Clench, Hardtop, Leader-1, Soundwave
Motto	"My power is your doom!" (Armada) "Join me and I will send you to battle. Defy me, and I will send you to oblivion." (Energon)
Alternate Modes	Cybertronia Tank resembling a M808B Scorpion, Cybertronian Jet, Cybertronian Racer/Jet, Robotic T-Rex
Series	Transformers: Armada Transformers: Energon Transformers: Cybertron Transformers: Titanium Transformers Attacktix
English voice actor	David Kaye
Japanese voice actor	Yanada Kiyoyuki (Micron Legend) Junichi Endou (Superlink) Jouji Nakata (Galaxy Force)

The Megatron of the "Unicron Trilogy" (Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon and Transformers: Cybertron) is the leader of the evil Decepticons in that universe of the Transformers mythology. In all three animated series, he is modified into Galvatron, reverting to his Megatron name at the beginning of each series. He is voiced by David Kaye, who also voiced the Beast Wars and Beast Machines version of Megatron.

Animated series

Transformers: Armada

Megatron is a refined, focused general of the Decepticons. He is extremely cruel, ruthless and cunning as well as incredibly strong and intelligent. Only Optimus Prime can be compared with him in force. Megatron will stop at nothing in order to achieve his ultimate object, that is to say, to rule over all the Mini-Cons and over the entire Universe, in the end.

Megatron won't be disobeyed or contradicted. He is extremely severe and captious commander. He hardly ever praises his subordinates but often punishes them cruelly for their mistakes and failures (and for his own blunders, too). He is capable even to treat them unjustly: for example, he simply takes the Mini-Con away from Demolishor ( see episode #8 "Palace") and defraudes Starscream of the Star Saber(see episode #17 "Conspiracy"). As the matter of fact, Megatron considers all the other Decepticons to be mere tools in his hands. So he is ready to sacrifice anyone of them if considers it necessary. Yet in most cases he still infuses them with genuine respect for him.

Although usually stern and unflappable on the outside, there were many conflicting emotions with Megatron - he had dedicated his life to war, to the extent that he knew nothing else, and the suggestion that his days of fighting could be over caused him much dismay. Megatron took the form of a tank in Armada, and his weapons include missiles, an anti-matter cannon and a retractable knife (although he only used the knife in one episode).

Megatron led his Decepticons to Earth in the year 2010, in pursuit of the Mini-Cons. Establishing a base in the ruined hulk of the Mini-Con ship on Earth's moon, Megatron waged a generally successful campaign against the Autobots, regularly capturing Mini-Cons and successfully combining the first two Mini-Con weapons, the Star Saber and the Skyboom Shield. Through the machinations of his tactician, Thrust (who was at the time indirectly being manipulated by Unicron), Megatron then acquired the final weapon, the Requiem Blaster, which, with the other two, served to power the newly-built Hydra-Cannon. The destructive force of his new weapon was unleashed against Earth, but Optimus Prime took the blast to save the planet, killing himself in the process.

Prime's death plunged Megatron into a deep depression, having lost his greatest opponent without the chance to finish him with his own hands. Thankfully for all concerned, the Mini-Cons were able to resurrect Optimus, restoring Megatron to his former self - but he soon went another change that allowed him to surpass all he had been, when he was among the Transformers who had their powers boosted by their Mini-Cons after being attacked by Nemesis Prime, becoming Galvatron (Megatron Super Mode in Japan) and returning to Cybertron with a renewed vigour for conquest. However, the emergence of the threat of Unicron was ignored by Galvatron, forcing his lieutenant Starscream to sacrifice himself to make his leader see the truth, and Galvatron again came to fear the end of his war in the face of Unicron's power. Having no other choice, Galavtron rallies all the Decepticons to form an alliance with Optimus and the Autobots to stop Unicron for good. Galvatron entered Unicron's body along with Optimus Prime, and was absorbed into the demi-god's body and mind, but when the Autobots' human allies freed the Mini-Cons from Unicron's thrall, Galvatron too was freed, and, believing the threat of Unicron to be over, challenged Prime to a final duel. However, the energies released in the battle reawakened Unicron, and Galvatron saw that the only way to end the circle was to destroy himself - sacrificing his life rather than live in an era of peace, Galvatron plunged himself into Unicron's maw, and in a flash, the two seemingly ceased to exist.

Transformers: Energon

In Micron Legend (the Japanese version of Transformers: Armada) Megatron did not rename himself Galvatron when he received his power boost. Instead, he renames himself when he is reborn in Superlink, using the name "Galvatron" throughout the series. In the American version, on the other hand, he reverts to using the name Megatron again, changing it to Galvatron once more towards the end of the series.

Although he was believed dead by both the Autobots and Decepticons, Megatron, like Unicron, had survived the final battle, his body now a decayed husk, absorbed into the equally damaged body of Unicron, where it lay for ten years. When the being called Alpha Q began his plan to re-energise Unicron in Transformers: Energon, Megatron saw his opportunity, syphoning off some of the energon that Alpha Q's Terrorcons stole, working towards his own rebirth. To turn the Decepticons to his side, Alpha Q forged a sword from Megatron's spark, but when an enraged Scorponok stabbed Megatron's corpse with the blade, Megatron was born anew, with a powerful new body that transformed into a gunship, armed with Hyper Power cannons. Taking the sword for his own, he proceeded to take over Unicron's body, sending Alpha Q fleeing in Unicron's head, and restarted his campaign against Earth and the Autobots, seeking energon to reactivate Unicron, who he would use as the ultimate weapon.

Megatron eventually succeeded in bringing Unicron to the vicinity of Cybertron and transforming the planet-eater to robot mode. However, in an attempt to stop him, Alpha Q rammed Unicron's head, charged with the positive Energon of Earth, into Unicron's body, interacting it with the negative energon within. The resultant reaction tore a rupture in reality that led to a new region of space where Alpha Q had recreated all the planets Unicron had consumed, which Megatron immediately saw as a target to acquire more energon from. After another series of attacks, Megatron successfully reanimated Unicron, but the chaos-bringer's consciousness invaded Megatron's body, taking over his mind. Although Optimus Supreme was able to destroy Unicron's body, his mind lived on in Megatron, directing him to attack Cybertron and uncover a reservoir of Super Energon beneath the planet's surface. Megatron immersed himself in the powerful liquid, once again becoming the mighty Galvatron (Galvatron G in Japan) and quickly asserted control of the planet, forcing the Autobots underground with Energon gas. Using Energon Towers, Galvatron had Cybertron relocated to Alpha Q's region of space, where he once again soaked himself in Super Energon, growing to a colossal height. However, as he did so, Unicron's influence totally seized control of his mind, directing him out into space to re-merge with his Spark. Optimus Prime forced him into a battle, knowing that Galvatron's hatred of him would force his consciousness to surface again, and when it did, Prime drained Unicron's influence from Galvatron, sealing it within himself. Galvatron then intended to destroy Unicron's Spark, but wound up being possessed by it once more, and rather than fight Optimus Prime, plunged himself into the foundling sun created by Primus, igniting the star and seemingly destroying himself, rather than allow himself to be controlled by Unicron.

Transformers: Cybertron

Ten years later, Primus's plan to imprison Unicron's spark at the heart of the sun ultimately failed, leading the star to collapse, creating a black hole which threatened the existence of Cybertron, and the rest of the universe. Escaping his confinement within the sun, Megatron (now known as Master Megatron in Japan) enhanced his powers by merging his body with the remnants of Unicron's shattered form, increasing his power with the dark god's own. In this new form, Megatron became a Triple Changer with the ability to change into a monstrous racing vehicle and a Cybertronian jet plane. His primary weapons consist of two rear-mounted missile launchers and the ability to unleash energy streams from his palms in the shape of lightning bolts. In addition, he can call upon a Cyber Key to activate high speed thrusters in vehicle mode, as well as a battle claw (Named as Death Claw in Japan) in robot mode.

As the Autobots prepared to evacuate Cybertron in the wake of disasters caused by the black hole, Megatron struck, approaching the unprotected ancient Transformer Vector Prime, and stealing a holographic map containing locations of the Cyber Planet Keys that could be used to seal the Black Hole. Operating out of a fiery pocket dimension, Megatron schemed to used the power of the world-shaping Cyber Planet Keys and their focal Omega Lock to accelerate the universal degeneration created by the black hole, destroying the universe and using the keys to remake it in his own image.

Leaving Starscream and Thundercracker to search for the Omega Lock on Earth, Megatron located the resting place of the first Cyber Planet Key on Velocitron, the Speed Planet. Recruiting the native troublemakers Ransack and Crumplezone to do his bidding, he deduced that the planet's racing trophy was the key. After failing to defeat planet ruler Override in a race to learn more, however, he left Ransack and Crumplezone to compete in tournaments and win the trophy and turned his attention to the Jungle Planet, home of the second Cyber Planet Key, where he ingratiated himself with planet ruler Scourge. Both missions ultimately ended in failure, however, when the Autobots acquired the keys.

Attempting to find the third key, Megatron discovered that he had been betrayed by Starscream when the planet map - in reality, a duplicate switched out by Starscream - led him to a dead sector of space and sealed him within a metallic sphere. Scourge was able to liberate him a short time later, but in that time, Starscream had obtained the third Cyber Planet Key, from Earth, for himself, along with the Omega Lock and other keys. Megatron made a beeline for his treacherous lieutenant, but was intercepted by the Autobots Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot, who intended to hold him off until the other Autobots could stop Starscream. Starscream's attempts to harness the Earth Key, however, caused a release of its energies which endowed Megatron with a new Cyber Key power - the Death Machine Gun, which he used to mow down the Autobots in his path.

The Autobots managed to retake the keys from Starscream, but a further attack from Megatron saw the Decepticon leader steal them out from under Optimus Prime's nose and retreat into his pocket dimension. Prime pursued him through the portal and defeated him in a pitched battle, reacquiring the lock and returning to Cybertron. As Megatron attempted to follow him, Vector Prime combined his portal-opening powers with the Cyber Planet Keys and collapsed Megatron's dimension in upon itself, destroying the villain.

This was not to be the end for Megatron, however, as the power of his Unicron armor sustained him as a ghost-like entity composed of pure darkness. In this state, he rematerialized on Cybertron and used Unicron's reformatting powers to upgrade the injured Crumplezone into Dark Crumplezone. As he came under attack from the Autobot Leobreaker, his regeneration completed and his physical body was restored, even as he used the remainder of the lingering darkness to create an evil doppelgänger of Leobreaker, Nemesis Breaker, out of the Autobot's own dark thoughts. Merging with Nemesis Breaker to form Dark Claw Mode, Megatron battled Optimus Prime and Leobreaker's Savage Claw Mode and made a further play for the Omega Lock, until news of the location of the fourth and final Cyber Planet Key led him to withdraw.

Guided through a spatial warp by the mysterious Soundwave to Gigantion, the Giant Planet, home of the final key, Megatron engaged the world's leader, Metroplex, in battle. Much to his surprise, however, he was utterly defeated in seconds, and Nemesis Breaker was destroyed. Consumed with rage, the power of Unicron within his armor reached out and detected the energies of the Giant Planet's Cyber Planet Key, drawing upon them and infusing Megatron's body with them. Attacking the Autobots in a dark, shadowed form, he decimated most of their forces before being confronted by Optimus Prime and completing his transformation - once again, Megatron had become Galvatron (Master Galvatron in Japan).

After taking revenge on Metroplex, Galvatron joined the race to acquire the Giant Planet key, which included a rematch with the reborn Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot. Yet again, the Autobots were able to acquire the key, but Galvatron then stole the completed Omega Lock, only to be attacked by Starscream, who battled with Galvatron for possession of the artifact. Galvatron ultimately claimed victory in the battle, with the sheer amount of energy released in the clash actually blasting Starscream into another universe. With the lock and keys now in his hands, Galvatron returned to the Black Hole, where he was eventually confronted and finally defeated by the five planet leaders regardless of his new powers that supersized himself and his troops.

Having had ultimate power torn from his grasp, Galvatron contemplated giving up, but when Starscream's spirit reached out to him and goaded him into continuing his vendetta, he challenged Optimus Prime to one epic final duel. The battle was long, and eventually ended on Cybertron's moon. Galvatron almost won when he generated a massive blade of dark energy, which Prime countered with Vector Prime's sword. As the two old enemies charged towards each other in a final strike, Optimus Prime impaled Galvatron, whose body crumbled and dissolved as he met his end once and for all.

In a montage sequence at the conclusion of the series, however, Galvatron's evil proved eternal, as, beyond the veil of time and space, his spark battled with that of Vector Prime.

Galvatron's power in this series was very inconsistent. He was clearly more powerful then Optimus in his first appearance, but was evenly matched with him in their final battle.

Dreamwave Productions

Transformers: Armada

Armada Megatron kills Generation One Galvatron with the Star Saber in Dreamwave comics.

The story of Megatron in the Armada comics would be similar to his animated counterpart, but with an expanded backstory. Attacking various Mini-Con villages to draw the Autobots away, Megatron's forces then declared war and invaded Cyber-City, crushing all resistance and announcing himself as its new leader. The Autobots returned but were no match for the Mini-Con-enhanced Decepticons. However, a handful of Mini-Cons broke into Decepticon headquarters, freed most of their comrades and evacuated the planet. Despite this setback, the few Mini-Cons that Megatron had left were still enough to allow him to conquer Cybertron.

One million years later, both Megatron and his rival Optimus Prime would receive a signal from Earth — from the Mini-Con ship that had escaped his grasp at Cyber-City. Megatron was addressing the Decepticons when the location of the Mini-Cons had been discovered. Leading his forces across the Space Bridge to Earth, Megatron attacked the Mini-Cons, but they escaped thanks to their human friends. Megatron would then be reformatted into a new alternate mode by Starscream — a gigantic tank — and then battled the newly arrived Autobots. With the Mini-Cons, the Decepticons had the upper hand, but a new team of Mini-Cons arrived during the chaos and bonded with the Autobots. The powered-up Autobots outmatched the Decepticons and Megatron fled back to Cybertron. (Transformers: Armada #5)

Establishing a new base in Nebraska, Megatron vowed to capture more Mini-Cons and later managed to convert Jetstorm, Runway and Sonar into the Star Saber. It was at this point that Megatron's story in the Transformers: Universe storyline took place (see below).

Later, all the Mini-Cons — Autobot and Decepticon aligned — would be summoned in a trance-like state to a monolith-like spacecraft and depart for the Earth's moon, where the other half of the Mini-Cons' ship had originally crashed. In the interim, the Mini-Cons there had rebuilt the remains of their ship into a base. Reinforced by Thrust, the Decepticons ventured to the moon in pursuit and launched an all-out attack on the Mini-Con base. Stiff resistance forced Megatron to burrow under the Moonbase and gain access that way, deactivating the defenses, but was betrayed by his personal Mini-Con, Leader-1, who turned the base's defenses on the Decepticons. Striking a deal with the remaining Mini-Cons — their assistance in return for full autonomy — Megatron created a new orbital attack-satellite and had it orbit the Earth, but it was later knocked-out by Skyblast. However, both groups would soon have a bigger problem to deal with...

Learning of a mysterious Space Bridge anomaly, Megatron sent his troops to investigate, and was surprised when they brought back Over-Run's dimensional pod. He then sent his troops to capture him and the Mini-Con Matrix he possessed — only for them to get severely beaten by a mysterious Transformer. Despite this setback, Megatron then proceeded with a full-scale attack on the Autobot base when he learned Prime was missing (he had been teleported to an alternate Universe Cybertron), severely injuring Smokescreen in the process, only to have his troops beaten one-by-one. Investigating, Megatron then came face-to-face with the Transformer who had decimated them — Generation One Galvatron (who is not named). Galvatron and his fellow Heralds of Unicron had been sent to the Armada universe to eliminate any threats to Unicron before his arrival — including Megatron. The two battled, and even enhanced by Leader-1's power, Megatron was severely outmatched. However, just as Galvatron was about to finish him off, the Mini-Con Air Defense Team, judging Galvatron to be the greater threat, merged into the Star Saber, allowing Megatron to kill Galvatron.

Realizing that the threat Unicron posed was too great to be overcome on his own, Megatron agreed to co-operate with Optimus Prime by pooling resources. Megatron's Decepticons and the Autobots came to a truce for their final battle with Unicron. Megatron returned the Mini-Cons and joined the battle against Unicron, but secretly planned to let the Autobots die and then strike a bargain with Unicron. In the final battle with Unicron, Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scavenger attacked Megatron and knocked him into Unicron's mouth, where he was devoured alive.(Transformers: Armada #18 )

Transformers: Energon

The origin of Energon Megatron was different in the Dreamwave comics. Although Megatron appeared dead, seemingly devoured by Unicron at the end of the Armada comics, it was later revealed that Megatron's mind was trapped within Unicron's bulk, where he existed undetected by Unicron, slowly building himself a new body. However, he could not move his consciousness into the body without being detected by Unicron.

Ten years after his "death" the answer to Megatron's problems would be presented to him — ironically, in his old foe Optimus Prime. Megatron diverted Prime's Space Bridge so that he arrived in Unicron's body instead of Cybertron. Megatron then revealed himself to Optimus, attempting to convince Optimus to move Megatron's spark into his new body. Optimus refused — until Megatron showed him what was happening on Earth. The Terrorcons, a group of former Decepticons given immense power by Unicron's agent Alpha Q in return for finding enough energon to resurrect his master, and led by Megatron's old rival Scorponok (in flashback Starscream would be seen warning Megatron of Scorponok's ambitions) — had attacked Earth, threatening to overwhelm its Autobot defenders and crush Earth to obtain its energon.

Megatron offered Prime a deal — if Prime would help him resurrect himself then Megatron would aid the Autobots in fighting off the Terrorcons. Out of options, Prime agreed, disabling an internal sensor to allow Megatron's rebirth to go unnoticed and battling Unicron's internal defense. Prime succeeded and Megatron was reborn in a new body and teleported to Earth.

Energon Megatron vs. Scorponok

Somewhat surprisingly keeping his end of the bargain, Megatron aided Thrust and the Autobots, defeating the clones of Divebomb in Toronto. Teleporting to Tokyo, he aided Blurr, Downshift and Prowl against Cruellock and his clones before heading to Moscow and helping Inferno against Battle Ravage and his clones. In Los Angeles he turned back the Insecticon clones before advising Jetfire as to Prime's location. Although he had almost singlehandedly defeated the Terrorcons thus far, their commander Scorponok would prove more of a challenge as the two clashed in the Canadian Yukon, battling physically and verbally. Neither Unicron-enhanced combatant had the upper hand, with Megatron's tank drone and ability to teleport negating the advantage of Scorponok's hyper mode. Eventually Megatron defeated Scorponok with a sword through the chest, before ominously informing Ironhide to tell the Autobots that he was back.

Issue 31 of Dreamwave Comics Transformers: Energon series was never published as the company had closed, but art from the issue has appeared on the internet. In it, Megatron can be seen ascending to the leadership of the Decepticons once again.

Megatron would also appear in the Dreamwave Summer Special (somewhat oddly published before his return in the Energon comic). Now in command of the Decepticons, Megatron sends Snowcat, Slugslinger and Sharkticon each on missions to steal copies of the plans for Omega Supreme from the Autobot's Ocean City. Snowcat failed when he was confronted by Omega Supreme himself. Slugslinger failed to get in because he tried to sneak in a waste disposal unit and was flushed out. Sharkticon was overpowered by underwater defenses and then tossed out by Kicker and the Mini-Cons Skyboom, Wreckage and Scattor. Each of the three made up stories to Megatron as to why they failed. After consideration Megatron decided that Slugslinger's story was the more impressive lie and appoints him as his lieutenant.

Megatron would also appear in the Energon promotional comic. On Earth, Megatron, with the aid of Snowcat, Shockwave, Mirage and Demolishor, has cornered Optimus Prime and a wounded Hot Shot. Optimus refused to give up despite the odds. The other Autobot reinforcements were over ten minutes away when Wing Saber arrived. Megatron was shocked to learn the power of Optimus Prime when he Powerlinked with Wing Saber and turned back all the Decepticons, and then Megatron himself. The Autobots then arrive and Optimus thanked Wing Saber for his help.

3H Enterprises

Plucked from his timeline by the power of Unicron immediately after building the Star Saber, Megatron was thrust together with Grimlock and Optimus Primal to battle Striker and Reptilion. Although not specifically shown, it can be safely assumed that Megatron was returned to his own timeline after the end of the conflict.

Pack in comics

In the second Transformers: Energon pack in comic Prowl, Inferno and Landmine discover some hills on Earth that are rich with energon and call in to Optimus Prime that they should put an energon tower up. Optimus warns the Autobots that Decepticon activity has been scanned nearby. Megatron attacks with a horde of Divebomb Terrorcon clones. The Autobots attempt by fight back by having Mirage and Inferno Powerlinx while Landmine goes into brute mode, but they are overwhelmed when Insecticon Terrorcon hordes join in the attack. The Autobots retreat and Megatron takes the energon for himself.

Video games

Megatron is among the characters appearing in the 2004 Transformers video game for the PlayStation 2 as a boss.

Other media

Megatron (in his Cybertron form) appears among the characters in Re-Unification, the 2010 TFcon voice actor play prelude comic.

Toys

• Armada Megatron with Leader-1 (2002)

Released in the first wave of Transformers: Armada toys, Megatron was packaged with the Mini-Con Leader-1 (Barrel in Japan), who transformed into a missile truck and a laser-pistol that Megatron could wield. Packed with the largest number of action features and Mini-activated gimmicks in the entire line, Megatron featured multiple extending and flip-out platforms on his shoulders that the small robots could mount on and a ramp and claw to grab them and a "prison cell" in his legs. Plugging a Mini-Con into his turret activates a twin firing missile launcher with electronic sounds, while mounting the Mini-Con on the turrets other Powerlinx point activates machine gun noises. His left robot mode arm features a flip-out knife blade that does not require a Mini-Con to activate, and his main turret cannon fires pressure-activated missiles accompanied by electronic noises. His missiles and Leader-1 can also store in his shoulders in robot mode. Finally, Megatron features an additional transformation that involves rotating his tank turret around to the front of his robot mode; by cranking a hidden handle on his midriff, the turret spins and unleashes a stream of electronic noises, and even speech, as Megatron intones "Decepticons, attack!"

Armada Megatron is supposed to stand 22 feet 11 inches tall (698cm) according to the Armada video game, and his toy is 19cm tall (at the head). That's a scale of 1:37.

• Armada McDonalds Megatron (2002)

A greatly simplified version of the Armada Megatron figure, given away with McDonald's Happy Meals.

• Armada Galvatron with Clench (2003)

A purple, gray and maroon re-deco of Armada Megatron, Galvatron retains all the original toy's features, except it now says, "The power is mine!" This figure is called Megatron Super Mode in Japan. Galvatron is packaged with the Mini-Con, Clench, a re-deco of Leader-1. American fiction treats Clench as a new character, a relative of Leader-1, whereas Japanese fiction present the character, there known as "Spark Barrel," as an upgraded version of Leader-1. Some "Bonus Pack" releases of this toy came with the Mini-Con Night Attack Team: Broadside, Fetch and Scattor as additional Mini-Cons.

This figure was later re-decoed in black, red and blue as the Official Transformers Collectors Convention 2004 figure Megazarak.

• Energon Megatron (2004)

In his new Energon body, Megatron transforms into a heavily armed jet-ship that can transform into "hyper mode" by pulling on the translucent green sections of his wings. He is packaged with a large electronic tank accessory, designed to resemble his original Armada body (except in black), which fires a single missile from its cannon with an electronic blast. A removable sword blade made of clear plastic is stored in Megatron's own nosecone; by inserting the rear end of the tank into the nosecone and pressing the release button, the blade snaps into a connector on the tank and is extracted. Pushing the blade (by striking another toy while playing, for example), yields a metallic clang and a flashing light that illuminates the sword. The tank can mount on the back of Megatron's jet mode, or can clip to either of his robot mode arms, with either cannon or sword pointed forward.

It is no surprise that this figure was known as "Galvatron" in Japan, given that it is specifically sculpted to resemble the original 1986 animated Galvatron incarnation, with such defining features at the three-pronged helmet, hexagonal kneecaps, four-squared midriff and "belt buckle." The translucent green cannons mounted on his shoulders are designed in homage to Galvatron's arm-mounted particle cannon. In Japan, there is also a purple version of the toy known as "Galvatron G".

• Energon Voyager Megatron (2004)

The Hasbro version of Energon Megatron is a "Leader" size-class figure ($40), whereas Takara released a downsized version of the toy at a cheaper price. This figure was then imported by Hasbro and released in a two-pack with the deluxe-sized Optimus Prime figure, neither available from Hasbro through any other means. The toy is essentially the same as the larger Hasbro version, albeit with a lighter, more show-accurate paint scheme and a translucent green sword blade. The electronic noises made by the tank accessory are still a cannon-firing and sword-slashing noise, but are different actual sounds.

A black and orange version of this toy was released as a Lucky Draw special in Japan.

• McDonald's Energon Megatron (2004)

A simplified version of the Energon Megatron figure, available only in Europe with McDonald's Happy Meals.

• Energon Galvatron (2005)

A re-deco of the Energon Megatron figure in the colors of the original Generation 1 Galvatron's cartoon appearance—purple with gray portions and black highlights. His translucent parts are now molded in orange, a call-back to the original Galvatron's orange cannon, and the tank was cast in gray plastic.

The Japanese version of the Galvatron figure, known as Galvatron G, was naturally a repaint of the smaller Megatron figure, as the larger one was not released there. Although more show-accurate, with paler colors, a blue-gray crown and a purple tank, the color scheme was generally not as popular with fans as the darker, more vibrant Hasbro figure, and the smaller Japanese Galvatron was not released in Hasbro markets.

• Cybertron Leader Megatron (2005)

The original Japanese version of Transformers: Cybertron is known as Transformers: Galaxy Force and is not intended to be a follow-on from Armada and Energon (hence "Master Megatron" is not the same character as the Armada and Energon individual). Megatron is a Triple Changer, transforming into a Cybertronian race car reminiscent of the Batmobile and a jet fighter. Megatron is packaged with a unique Cyber Planet Key, which, when inserted into the slot on his back, pops up two turbine engines with an electronic powering-up noise. Inserting the key into his left shoulder pod pops out his "Death Claw" shield, which fitting into the right shoulder snaps the pod open, revealing the "Death Machine Gun," which can be removed and placed in the robot mode's hand; turning the crank on the gun spins the barrel. Megatron is also equipped with two firing missiles above his turbines, which shoot out with an electronic firing noise and a flashing LED light.

Released some time after the Japanese version of the figure, the Hasbro toy made a few adjustments to the color scheme, unifying the two shades of purple on the Japanese figure and painting in the nose. In Japan, a gold chrome edition of this toy was released as a Lucky Draw special.

Some bonus packs of Cybertron Megatron came with the Decepticon Hardtop as a bonus item.

• Cybertron Burger King Megatron (2005)

A simplified version of the Cybertron Megatron figure available only at Burger King restaurants, which transforms only into jet mode. The picture on the left actually has paint applications added onto it that are not official: the legs have black added onto the vents, the fists are painted black, the wings are tipped with black, there is red added to the waist, there is a decepticon symbol added onto the chest with blue on the sides, and there is blue added to the forehead.

• Cybertron Leader Galvatron (2006)

A redeco of the Cybertron Megatron figure, in the colors of the Generation 1 Megatron's animated appearance—white with red and black highlights.

• Cybertron Legends Megatron (2005/2006)

A simplified version of the Megatron figure, which transforms only into car mode. Unfortunely, the wheels do not move due to the way the figure transforms. Since the figure is in legends class, it should have less paint applications than the larger leader class figure. Strangely, it has one paint application that the leader class version does not: on top of the chest in robot mode, the vents are painted red, whereas on the leader class figure, they are left unpainted. This makes the figure less show-accurate, because in the cartoon, the vents are left gray.

In 2007 a Target store exclusive value pack of four Voyager class Cybertron toy was released. It included Jetfire, Megatron, Optimus Prime and Soundwave. All identical to their original releases. Another Target exclusive contained Cybertron Optimus Prime and Megatron, along with the 2007 film versions of both characters.

The figure was later re-decoed into Galvatron.

• Cybertron Jungle Planet Deluxe Megatron (2006)

Released near the end of the Cybertron line, this Deluxe-sized figure is a repaint of 10th Anniversary Beast Wars Megatron. This figure's color scheme is a homage to Armada Predacon. It is supposed to represent Megatron mutated by the power of the Jungle Planet Cyber Planet Key into a beast form.

This figure was based on drawings by Hasbro designer Tim Bradley.

• Attacktix Megatron (2006)

A small non-transforming Megatron looking like his Cybertron form was released as a figure in the Attacktix collectible game. It holds his "Death Machine Gun" which fires as a large missile.

• Attacktix Galvatron (2006)

A repaint of Attacktix Megatron in the color of Galvatron.

Transformers

Megatron

Megatron as he appears in Dark of the Moon.
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Fast Action Battlers, Leaders, Micro Vehicles, Voyagers, Triple Changers
Function	Decepticon Leader
Rank	10
Partner	The Fallen, Starscream, Soundwave, Blackout, Barricade, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Rampage, Scrapper, Dylan Gould, Sentinel Prime and Shockwave
Alternate Modes	Cybertronian Jet/Cybertronian Flying Tank/Mack Titan Tank Truck
Series	Transformers film series Transformers (2010)
English voice actor	Hugo Weaving (Transformers films and leader class figures) Frank Welker (animated prequel, 2007 video game, 2009 video game) Fred Tatasciore (2011 video game) Tony Gialluca II (Cyber Missions)
Japanese voice actor	Kotaro Nakamura

In the 2007 live action Transformers film, Megatron's alternate mode is a Cybertronian jet. He serves as the main antagonist of the first movie and secondary antagonist of the two sequels. 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" & "mass displacement".) 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. Additionally, Bay states in the DVD that Megatron's face was originally different from the one shown in the film, but he asked it to be redesigned due to fans reacting with strong opposition to it once Megatron's design was unveiled before the film was completed.

In the second film, Megatron gains a different alternate mode, that of a flying Cybertronian tank. In the third film, Megatron receives another different alternate mode, that being a Mack 10-wheeler tanker truck (a demented version of Optimus Prime's alternate mode) with a tarp which may act as a cowl to partially hide Megatron's face due to extensive damage he received in the second film.

Actor Hugo Weaving provides the voice of Megatron in the films. His voice in the series seems to have been modulated 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 video games of the movies (with Dark of the Moon as the exception, where he was voiced by Fred Tatasciore), along with the exclusive animated prequel.

Like all characters in the film, Megatron was redesigned for purposes of realism and focus on the alien aspect of the Transformer race. However, he still retains some minor aspects of his Generation 1 design. As shown in the film, he can transform his right hand into a gun, combine both of his arms to form his iconic fusion cannon, and can transform his right arm into a steel flail. In the second film, after Megatron's resurrection, his right arm can transform into the fusion cannon in its entirety, coupled with a lobster claw-like blade/crushing device. In the third film, Instead of using a fusion cannon integrated into his arm, he uses a handheld version of it, which resembles a human shotgun, specifically a Lupara.

According to an early interview with Michael Bay, Megatron stands at 41 feet(11.0M) tall, but according to his profile in the second issue of the Transformers UK comic Megatron stands "35 feet (10.6 m) tall" and weighs 8.6 tons. Additionally, the magazine and the Movie Guide states he is powered by a self-regenerating dark matter power core. Hasbro have now said that Megatron officially stands 35 feet and weighs in at 5.7 metric tons.

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.

Animated series

Cyber Missions

After the events of the Revenge of the Fallen film, Megatron goes into hiding, orchestrating the events from Soundwave getting into NEST headquarters to Lockdown being pursued by Ratchet. Megatron finally reveals himself in Cyber Missions 4, when Optimus and Sideswipe track his spark's signal, which leads them to an abandoned warehouse. The two realize that Megatron is always one step ahead of them, and Megatron slashes at Sideswipe from behind. Megatron starts dueling Optimus, then Sideswipe joins in with him. Realizing that he is outnumbered, Megatron transforms into tank mode and shoots the roof, which collapses on Optimus and Sideswipe. Megatron gets away, but he leaves a trail of tank tread marks that lead out of the warehouse.

Megatron returns 8 episodes later in Cyber Missions #12, where he and Starscream scheme in the Arctic. He reveals to Starscream that he is aware of his ambitions and will punish him if he ever shows it again. Optimus Prime, who tracked them, soon arrives and combats them. When the rest of Optimus' team arrive, Megatron orders Starscream to take care of them, which Starscream agrees to, but not without complaint. Megatron and Starscream are simultaneously defeated, and the Decepticon commander flees after Optimus grants him mercy.

Most of the Decepticons return for the final mission, Decepticons Attack. After receiving a signal from Soundwave emitting from a bullet train, Megatron arrived on the other side of the tunnel the train was emerging from, and derailed it. Ripping open one of the cars, Megatron berated Soundwave for being captured so easily, until it was revealed it was simply a hologram of his communications officer. Megatron declared it a trap, to which Optimus replied that it was a moment later. The Autobots and Decepticons battled for one last time, with Optimus telling Megatron that his alliances were made out of fear, not friendship. The Decepticons are then cornered by the human troops. Optimus Prime then demands that all Decepticons leave Earth. All of the Decepticons, including Megatron, leave Earth, but not before the commander declares that he will return.

Books

Megatron appears in the prequel novel Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday, where it is revealed that reverse-engineering of his body has produced a spacecraft called Ghost-1. The spacecraftt is sent into space in 1969, where the humans on board encounter Megatron (here referred to throughout as the "Ice Man"), who is briefly reanimated in the middle of a battle between the Americans and the Soviets. However, he is placed in cryo-stasis once again.

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

The novelization for Transformers: Dark of the Moon ends with Megatron laying down his weapons and calling for a truce in earnest. Optimus Prime spares him and the Decepticons leave Earth to rebuild Cybertron.

In the novel, comic and video game adaptations of Revenge of the Fallen, the slightly different ending gives more depth to Megatron's relationship with The Fallen. As The Fallen prepares for the final battle with Optimus Prime, it is revealed that The Fallen's promises of power to his apprentice were lies. Out of anger, Megatron betrays the Fallen and allows Optimus to kill him for good. He then flies back aboard the Nemesis to take command of the remaining Decepticon army. In the novel version of Dark of the moon, Optimus and Megatron work together and defeat Sentinel Prime. Though a fight was teased, Megatron reveals to Optimus he is tired of fighting, and is sueing for peace. He declares he will work to restore Cybertron to its previous glory, and will send for the autobots, so that they may rebuild their planet, as brothers.

Comics

IDW Publishing

Megatron and his brother Optimus Prime

The back story of Megatron is told in both Transformers: Defiance and issue #1 of the Transformers: Movie Prequel comic. In the comics, Megatron is revealed to have co-ruled Cybertron together with Optimus Prime, serving as Lord High Protector. Megatron and Optimus learned of an alien force coming to their planet for the All Spark, just as a mysterious artifact was unearthed. Megatron is gravely injured, but the artifact (containing the Fallen) awakens and heals him, swaying him with promises of power. Megatron soon desires power over the All Spark, and under the Fallen's influence, forms the Decepticons, sending the bulk of his soldiers in a craft, the Nemesis.

The Autobots attempt to hide the All Spark, but Megatron sees through the ruse and launches a full-scale attack, during which the All Spark is launched into space. Megatron almost catches up with the All Spark as it lands on Earth. In his reckless desire to possess it, Megatron pursues it right into Earth's atmosphere and falls into the icy waters, resulting in his being frozen in stasis lock. In the late 19th century, Captain Archibald Witwicky discovers the Decepticon during an Arctic expedition. At the turn of the 20th century, a crew of men later take his body — dubbing him the "Ice-man" - and keep him in storage up until the present day, eventually relocating him to Hoover Dam in Nevada.

In a flashback in the movie sequel comic Transformers: The Reign of Starscream, Megatron's negative relationship with Starscream is shown to be a result of Starscream failing on a mission.

Titan Magazines

All events that take place in the alternate reality where Megatron won the battle at Mission City are in italics.

In Titan Magazines U.K. Transformers magazine, the U.K.-originated strips (written by Simon Furman) reveal Megatron's actions between issues #1 and 2 of the IDW comic. Pursuing the All Spark into space following the events of Movie Prequel #1, Megatron is delayed in his pursuit by a tractor beam from Cybertron. Breaking free and attacking the culprits — Jazz, Ratchet and Ironhide - Megatron realizes that if he engages them, he would be delayed further. Summoning Devastator to deal with them, he resumes his pursuit — but the desperate gamble works and he (temporarily) loses the All Spark's trail.

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

In "Twilight's Last Gleaming" part 3, Bumblebee attempts to take on Megatron in the Sector 7 base as Mikaela attempts to free Optimus Prime, but she is attacked by Frenzy. In part 4, Mikaela frees Prime and freezes Frenzy just as Autobot reinforcements arrive and assist Bumblebee in fighting Megatron.

Films

Main articles: Transformers (film), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Megatron as he appears in the Transformers 2007 film.

Megatron appears in Transformers as the main antagonist. Several years after being discovered by Captain Archibald Witwicky, Megatron's frozen body is transported from the Arctic Circle to Hoover Dam to be guarded by Sector 7, a secret government organization that studies Non-Biological Extraterrestrials (N.B.E.'s), as well as other alien-related activities. Sector 7 Agent Seymour Simmons explains that the Earth's magnetic field may have interfered with Megatron's telemetry, causing him to crash during the Ice Age. He also explains that his technology was reverse-engineered, producing the world's modern technology. Megatron's location, as well as the All Spark's, is located by a group of Decepticons led by Starscream. After sneaking into Hoover Dam Frenzy thaws out Megatron, who escapes outside and learns from Starscream that the humans and the Autobots have taken the All Spark. Megatron pursues the Autobots and their allies to Los Angeles, where he quickly disposes of Jazz before battling Optimus Prime. He defeats Optimus and then pursues Sam Witwicky up a condemned building, attempting to taunt and threaten the human into giving him the All Spark. Sam declines, prompting Megatron to knock the boy off the roof of the building with his flail. Optimus saves Sam and battles Megatron again. Towards the end of the battle as Megatron and Optimus are fighting, Blackout attempts to help Megatron kill Optimus Prime however, Blackout is killed by Captain Lennox and his team, Megatron attempts to seize the Allspark once again, only to have it shoved into his exposed spark chamber by Sam, killing him. Megatron's body is then dumped in the Laurentian Abyss with the other deceased Decepticons.

Megatron tank mode in Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen. Note that the final film design differs slightly.

Megatron returns in the sequel film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, as one of the secondary antagonists of the film. In the film, he is revealed to be The Fallen's disciple, and the second commander of the Decepticon armies, as The Fallen is the true commander of the Decepticons. Megatron is revived by Scalpel and the Constructicons with an All Spark shard and now takes on the form of a Cybertronian winged tank. He then flies to the Nemesis, where he is greeted by Starscream (whom he briefly pummels and berates for deserting him on earth). He then reunites with The Fallen, telling of the All Spark's demise before being told by his master that its knowledge (which has been passed on to Sam) is the key for providing Energon, which is needed by the Decepticons in order to awaken their protoform armies. Sam, his girlfriend Mikaela Banes and his dorm mate Leo Spitz are abducted by Grindor into an abandoned factory where Megatron meets them. Pinning down Sam, threatening to torture him after acquiring what he needed, Megatron orders Scalpel to extract the Energon information from Sam's brain (ordering him to actually remove his brain), but they are quickly stopped by Optimus Prime. Megatron and Prime have a brief fight in the warehouse and then have a major battle in a forest, with Starscream and Grindor joining in. The fight ends with Megatron killing Prime by stabbing and shooting him with his fusion cannon, but then being forced to escape due to the intervention of Autobot reinforcements. Megatron then declares to Starscream that the Decepticons must reveal themselves to the humans in order to flush out Sam, and assists The Fallen in ordering the world's humans to find Sam and bring him to the Decepticons. Megatron and Starscream soon arrive in Egypt, and he commands his Decepticons (including several Constructicons and Starscream) to prevent Sam from getting the Matrix of Leadership to Optimus and retrieve it for The Fallen's machine. He then summons Devastator, who destroys the top part of the Great Pyramid of Giza, revealing the Star Harvester. The Fallen soon arrives after Devastator's destruction (see Devastator for more info.), and takes the Matrix of Leadership from a recently revived Optimus. Megatron then greets him, but is blown away by an upgraded Optimus Prime (using the parts of Jetfire to fly). Megatron and his master then battle Optimus. In one brutal move, Optimus grabs Megatron's arm cannon and forces it to fire on Megatron's face, destroying half of it, and then tears off his right arm and shoots him through a wall with Jetfire's afterburners. After seeing The Fallen defeated, Starscream advices that they should retreat, and Megatron vowed that it wouldn't be over.

Megatron returns in Transformers: Dark of the Moon as a secondary antagonist. Michael Bay described Megatron's vehicle mode as the demented version of Optimus Prime. In the three years since Revenge of The Fallen, Megatron has been hiding out in African jungles healing his wounds. In the film Megatron allies himself with Sentinel Prime in an attempt to revitalize Cybertron. He hides out in Africa, recovering from his wounds while taking care of some of the hatchlings by giving them what Energon he can. Soundwave and Laserbeak inform him of the Autobot's discovery of the Ark ship on the moon, and orders them to kill their human allies. When Sentinel reveals his true intentions to the Autobots, Megatron arrives in Washington D.C. to meet with him. After blasting the statue of Abraham Lincoln and using it as a throne, he witnesses Sentinel activate his Space Bridge to bring his Decepticon forces to Earth. During the invasion of Chicago, Sentinel demoralizes Megatron after Megatron makes a suggestion of how they will rule Cybertron together after it has arrived through the Space Bridge, who realizes he's no longer in charge. When Cybertron appears in Earth's atmosphere, Megatron shows a rare example of sadness and regret. Towards the end of the battle, Megatron is convinced by Carly that Sentinel will take all of the power and credit for revitalizing Cybertron for himself. Megatron turns on Sentinel, declaring that Earth is his planet to rule, and severely damages him, allowing Optimus to finish him off. As Cybertron's trip through the Space Bridge fails, Megatron proposes a truce to Optimus, so long as he remains in charge of the Decepticon forces. But the Autobot leader, knowing what Megatron has in mind, denies the offer and attacks him. Megatron proves to be too slow, as he misses a shot with his gun, allowing Optimus to pin him to the ground and embed his Energon axe in his face. Optimus rips Megatron's head off, and drops it to the ground, finally killing him. Shortly after, Optimus uses Megatron's shotgun to execute Sentinel.

Recently, some reports revealed that Megatron may be reborn as Galvatron for the fourth film.

Games

Megatron appears in the first film's video game adaptation, Transformers: The Game.

• In the Autobot Campaign, Megatron appears at the last cut scene on level three being released from Hoover Dam in the Autobot campaign. He later appears as the final boss and is killed when Optimus Prime shoves the Allspark into his Chest.
• In the Decepticon Campaign, Megatron is freed by Starscream and Blackout at the last cut scene when he goes on a rampage through the city looking for Optimus Prime, Sam and the All Spark. He is also playable on the last mission where Optimus Prime is fought as the final boss. At the end, Optimus appears dead, but is then seen sneaking up towards the All Spark. Megatron stops him in his path and kills him with his flail. He then appears in the last cut scene where he rules Earth and orders Barricade, Starscream, Blackout and Brawl to kill off the rest of the human race.

Megatron is among the playable characters in the 2009 Revenge of the Fallen video game by Activision. In the game, he has two modes, Megatron (tank mode) and Megatron Flight (jetpack mode), the latter of which is only used in his fight against The Fallen after being betrayed.

Megatron appears as a playable character in the fighting games Transformers Battle Universe, a Net Jet game.

Megatron is among the characters who appear in the TRANSFORMERS CVBERVERSE Battle Builder Game.

Other media

Megatron is one of the Decepticons featured in Transformers: The Ride at Universal Studios theme parks. In the ride, Megatron and the Decepticons invade N.E.S.T. headquarters to steal the AllSpark shard, but the Autobot Evac acquires it and rushes across the city to keep it away from the Decepticons. Ultimately, in a scene similar to the end of the first film, Evac stabs Megatron in the chest with the AllSpark shard, killing the Decepticon leader.

Toys

All Dark of the Moon toys of this character are officially licensed from Mack Trucks.

• Transformers Legends Megatron (2007)

A simple, small-sized version of Megatron from the first movie. It transforms into his Cybertronian jet mode. This figure was later re-painted with blue parts as "Ice Megatron".

• Transformers Jollibee Megatron (2007)

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

• Transformers 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 (1,067 centimeters), that makes this toy about 1/71 scale.

• Transformers Voyager Class Megatron (2007)

This medium-sized version of Megatron features several "ice chunks" attached to the figure. The wings of Megatron's jet mode appear to be made out of translucent ice as well. The toy was repainted and re-released several times, often with other figures.

• Transformers Leader Class Megatron (2007)

The largest version of Megatron from the first movie's toyline. The toy features "Advanced Automorph" technology exclusive to the Leader-class toys, which incorporates lights and sound along with mechanical movement during transformation. Megatron features a flail and fusion cannon in robot mode. This toy was re-released in a movie-accurate "Premium Series" version, with its mechanical screeching sounds replaced with the transformation sound effect from the original TV series.

• Revenge of the Fallen Legends Class Megatron (2009)

An all-new mold of the Legends figure.

• Revenge of the Fallen EZ Collection Battle Damage Megatron (2009)

A Japan-exclusive redeco of the Legends figure with battle damage effects.

• Revenge of the Fallen Fast Action Battlers Cannon Blast Megatron (2009)

A new Deluxe Class toy for younger children that transforms into a tank. Due to the transformation, unlike with the other toys, Megatron's head is not visible in alternate mode.

• Revenge of the Fallen Voyager Class Megatron (2009)

An all-new Voyager toy of Megatron, painted greenish gray rather than silver. This color scheme depicts Megatron awakened from the bottom of the ocean, wherein the greenish color represents the corrosion and ocean sediments on his body. Unlike the Leader Class toy, this Megatron has wings in his alternate mode, increasing his accuracy to the final film design. A new "MechAlive" feature consists of visible moving gears in the upper torso and a blade that automatically extends when the right arm is straightened from the elbow. The left arm, which forms the tank's barrel, can fire a projectile. Images of an alternately colored, bright green version of this toy have been leaked; it is unknown whether this is a prototype or a recolored version to be released at some point. Green is not the colour for Megatron.

• Revenge of the Fallen Gathering at the Nemesis Voyager Class Megatron (2009)

A Toys "R" Us exclusive gift pack, featuring a silver redeco of the 2007 Voyager Megatron figure with Voyager The Fallen and Deluxe Soundwave (blue redeco).

• Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Megatron (2009)

An all-new toy of Megatron. In contrast to his Cybertronian jet mode from the first film, this Megatron transforms into a Cybertronian tank that features lights and sounds. His right arm is a cannon that fires projectiles and that also features a flip-down claw with a spring-loaded sword. The figure yells, "I am Megatron!" when a lever on the chest is pressed down. This figure was was repainted in purple and black and resold in late 2012 as a Transformers: Dark of the Moon Asia-exclusive figure by Takara-Tomy, labelled as "Dark Energon Edition" Leader Class Megatron.

• Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Shadow Command Megatron (2009)

A black/silver redeco of Leader Class Megatron. The phrase, "There is no command but mine!" replaces the recorded phrase of the original figure.

• Revenge of the Fallen Unite for the Universe Voyager Class Megatron (canceled)

A movie-accurate silver redeco of the 2009 Voyager Megatron figure. Takara Tomy canceled the figure before it hit production. However, it appears that this variant will eventually resurface in the Megatron Rising gift set.

• Transformers: RPMs Battle Chargers Megatron (2010)

A toy tank with pull-back action. When it hits an object, the top portion pops open and transforms into the robot's upper torso.

• Transformers Activators Megatron (2010)

A Deluxe-sized toy designed for younger children that features instant transformation at the push of a button. This sub-line replaces both the Fast Action Battlers and Gravity Bots from the movie toy lines.

• Transformers The Victory of The Fallen Legends Class Megatron (2010)

A Kmart Exclusive 5-pack, featuring A silver/gray redeco of the Legends figure. Bundled with other Legends figures of Fallen, Starscream, Optimus Prime and Jetfire.

• Transformers Megatron Rising Voyager Class Megatron (not yet released)

A movie-accurate silver/gold redeco of the 2009 movie Voyager figure. bundled with Legends Class Constructicons Long Haul, Mixmaster, Rampage and Scrapper.

• Dark of the Moon Burger King Flip Out Megatron (2011)

A BK Kids meal toy available at Burger King restaurants in the U.S. The toy consists of a detailed head that opens to reveal a small robot body, giving the overall figure a Bobblehead look. It also has a battery-operated sound feature, wherein the transformation noise plays at the push of a button.

• Dark of the Moon Robo Power Activators Megatron (2011)

A small transforming toy of Megatron aimed at younger children. This toy automatically transforms from truck to robot when placed upright, as a button on the rear end deploys the robot parts when pressed against a flat surface.

• Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Commander Class Megatron (2011)

A new Commander Class (formerly Scout Class) mold of Megaton.

• Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Commander Class Megatron with Blastwave Weapons Base (2011)

A gift set that includes Commander Class Megatron and a tanker trailer. The trailer can unfold to become a weapons base with a missile launcher and two laser cannons. In addition, the trailer can also transform into a jet pack that attaches to Megatron's back.

• Dark of the Moon Voyager Class Megatron (2011)

An all-new Voyager Class mold for Megatron, featuring his alternate mode as a Mack tanker truck. His Mech Tech weapon is a Fusion Cannon formed from the front end of the tanker trailer, with a retractable claw as its gimmick. The figure also comes with a rubbery "cloth" that acts as Megatron's cloak in robot mode and a tarp in vehicle mode.

Non-transforming merchandise

• Transformers Robot Replicas Megatron (2007)

A poseable, non-transforming action figure that comes with a Fusion Cannon that can be attached to both arms.

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

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

• Transformers 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.

• Revenge of the Fallen Power Bots Megatron (2009)

A non-transforming figure with posable legs, arms and head with lights and sounds.

• Revenge of the Fallen Robot Replicas Megatron (2009)

An all-new mold featuring Megatron's appearance in the 2009 sequel.

• Revenge of the Fallen RPMs Megatron (2009)

A diecast replica of Megatron's tank mode in the same size as Hot Wheels cars.

• Revenge of the Fallen RPMs Battle Chargers Megatron (2010)

A toy tank with pull-back action. When it hits an object head-on, Megatron's upper torso pops out of the tank's roof.

• Transformers Speed Stars Stealth Force Megatron (2010)

A non-transforming Cybertronian tank that mechanically opens its panels and reveals hidden weapons at the push of a button.

Transformers Animated

Megatron/Galvatron

Animated Megatron.
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Activators, Deluxe Vehicles, Leaders, Voyagers
Function	Decepticon Tyrant, Ultimate Cybertronian Intergalactic Tyrant, Emperor of Destruction
Rank	10 (Takara)
Partner	Lockdown
Motto	"The Allspark will be mine, and Cybertron will tremble at my feet.", "Crush the Autobots!", "Peace through tyranny!!"
Alternate Modes	Cybertronian Fusion Jet Fighter, Tiltrotor gunship
Series	Transformers Animated
English voice actor	Corey Burton
Japanese voice actor	Norio Wakamoto

In Transformers Animated, Megatron was not the main antagonist for much of the first season, 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 the "Super Megatron" form of his G1 incarnation. He wields his trademark fusion cannon (which is much larger than usual in this series), and carries a pair of swords. The swords do not resemble the katana in the image at right, taken from an earlier design. His original alternate mode is an unknown Cybertronian space vehicle, but becomes a tiltrotor aircraft once he is rebuilt to blend in with Earth.

In this series, Megatron has his own catchphrase: "Decepticons, transform and rise up!", contrasting Optimus Prime's classic "Autobots, transform and roll out!" line. A marked contrast between this and other series is that Megatron and Optimus Prime's antagonism is not personal: before their first battle, they had never met, and they continue to clash on the basis that they are on opposite sides rather than on any particularly personal hatred. Megatron does not even bother to remember Optimus's name until the series finale. Unlike several other series, Megatron does not upgrade into Galvatron, he remains as Megatron for the full three seasons.

This version is less tolerant of Starscream's treachery: after gaining his new body, he uses Sari Sumdac's key to slay Starscream, and takes great pleasure in killing him several times once he discovers that Starscream has become immortal due to a shard of the Allspark embedded in his head, and he would later destroy Starscream's replacement body, moments after he got it, once the treacherous Decepticon had outgrown his usefulness.

Megatron is also the most cool-headed among his other adaptations, despite being just as arrogant as his predecessors. Furthermore he doesn't consider Optimus of any actual importance until the climactic final battle on Earth, where Megatron finally acknowledged him as a threat by name. In the end, Megatron is captured and brought to Cybertron.

The scale chart released for the series indicates Megatron stands about 35 feet tall.

In the Japanese translation of Transformers: Animated, the story has been changed to make it a prequel to the 2007 Transformers film. This makes this version of Megatron an earlier version of the film character.

Animated series

As revealed in "Transform and Roll Out", Megatron had spent 4 million stellar cycles (years) in search of the Allspark. Even though he found it, Megatron was betrayed at the beginning of the series by Starscream, who planted an explosive device on his back. Due to the explosion that crippled the Autobots craft, Megatron's lifeless body crashed on Earth, contracting "space barnacles," while his disembodied head was found in rural Michigan by a young Isaac Sumdac. Megatron's head subsequently became a keystone for Sumdac's various robotic creations, which he used to help convert Detroit into a technological metropolis within the next 50 years.

His head was not reactivated until "Home is Where the Spark Is", when Sari used her Allspark Key to open her father's door to his lab. The surge of the key's power reached Megatron's head, putting him back online. Upon reactivation, he immediately found out that it was Starscream who betrayed him, and immediately plotted payback, but needed a body to do so. When he found out that the Autobots were on Earth, he took control of one of Sumdac's prototype pocket bots and sent it to their hideout — an abandoned automotive plant. Using the pocket bot, Megatron hacked the plant's automated systems to try and kill the Autobots, but his plan failed, and he would have been discovered by the Autobots if it weren't for Bulkhead accidentally destroying the pocket bot.

In "Blast from the Past", he revealed his existence to Prof. Sumdac while he was repairing Sari's tutor-bot and the future Dinobots, which were accidentally destroyed by Bulkhead. Even though Sumdac wanted to tell the Autobots, Megatron convinced him that he was an Autobot and didn't want the real Autobots to see him in his weakened state. Eventually, Sumdac repaired the Dinobots with Megatron's "help". The Dinobots went on a rampage, got their new Cybertronian-like forms, and Megatron got his second taste of what Sari's key could do. He then proceeded to tell the Dinobots that the Earth cars were malevolent fossil feeders and the Autobots were even worse, sending them on another rampage.

In "Nanosec", he told Sumdac to hurry up with building a body and that he required Destronium (a play on the words cybertonium, the stuff all Cybertronians are made of and require in G1, and Destron, the Japanese name for the Decepticons), but the only Destronium available was across town, and if it wasn't delivered in under 10 minutes, then it would be futile. Upon hearing this, and seeing a test run with a super-speed suit developed by Sumdac Systems, Megatron secretly bailed petty thief Nino Sexton out of jail and supplied him with the super-speed suit, paying him to deliver the Destronium to him. Both Megatron and Sexton (now calling himself Nanosec), however, were unaware that if Destronium were moved at high speeds, it would become unstable, volatile, and catastrophically explosive. At the same time, Nanosec was unaware that the side effect of the suit's speed-enhancing ability was the wearer's rapid aging. Within minutes of continuously using the suit, Nanosec aged into an elderly man and was shortly apprehended while Bumblebee, using his rocket boosters and aided by Bulkhead and Prowl, disposed of the Destronium just outside Earth's atmosphere before it could explode and potentially take most of Detroit with it.

During "Sound and Fury", Megatron created Soundwave, originally a musical toy he created for Sari's birthday — even though his actual reason for creating Soundwave was to create a new body when Sari used her key to upgrade it. However, Sari used her key too many times and gave Soundwave a spark, and after hearing about this, Megatron recruited him to destroy the humans, all other organics, and the Autobots, whom Megatron said were "traitors who live to serve the humans."

After Lugnut and Blitzwing arrived on Earth during "Lost and Found", Megatron initially waited to see if they were truly loyal. After Lugnut and Blitzwing's battle, Megatron denounced Blitzwing as unstable and Lugnut truly loyal to the Decepticon cause, and spent the rest of the episode communicating exclusively to Lugnut, who Blitzwing thought was even more insane than himself.

In "Nature Calls", space barnacles wreaked havoc in a mining area outside Detroit, assimilating with a construction vehicle and becoming a techno-organic monster. The monster was defeated by Bumblebee, Prowl and Sari using hot water sprayed from a fire hose in the mine. It was revealed that the space barnacles had latched on Megatron's body, which crashed in the vicinity 50 years ago. Shortly after the space barnacles were destroyed, Sumdac found Megatron's body lying by the river and brought it back to his lab.

During the "Megatron Rising" saga, Megatron got impatient with Sumdac since he hadn't had much progress in repairing his body. Then he tried to communicate with Lugnut again, even though he and Blitzwing were with Starscream, who also thought that Lugnut had gone insane. After having his signal detected, Megatron received an unexpected visit from Starscream, who, even though he had the upper hand, didn't do anything except talk to Megatron. Then when Bumblebee burst in, Megatron used the lab's robotics to throw Starscream and Bumblebee outside and convinced Sumdac that he should complete his body to "help" his so-called "Autobot brothers". Lugnut and Blitzwing then flew in, and Blitzwing found out that Lugnut wasn't insane, then placed Sari's key (which they stole from Ratchet) into Megatron's head, resulting in him being resurrected into his new Earth mode. Upon his reawakening, Megatron defeated the other Autobots, "killed" Starscream and led Lugnut and Blitzwing to Dinobot Island to retrieve the Allspark. When they arrived, Megatron immediately battled Optimus and both combatants ended up inside the Autobots' ship, rekindling their past struggles. When Megatron got hold of the Allspark, he placed it in his own spark chamber, giving him more power. Even though he had the upper hand, Sumdac attempted to take him down by disrupting his equilibrium circuits, which distracted Megatron long enough for Optimus to disperse the Allspark and seriously damage Megatron. But while Megatron failed in his quest to acquire the Allspark, he succeeded in kidnapping Sumdac and downloading an incomplete design spec for a Space Bridge.

In "The Elite Guard", Megatron put in motion his plans to create a Space Bridge, so that his forces could transwarp to Cybertron and conquer the planet from within. During construction, Megatron found an Allspark fragment in one of Sumdac's worker robots. In "Mission Accomplished", the Allspark fragment-revived Starscream repeatedly tried to destroy Megatron, only to be repelled each time. Using a tachyon transmitter stolen from the Elite Guard's ship, Megatron sent a message to his fellow Decepticons, letting them know of his return. In "A Fistful of Energon", upon hearing of Starscream's escape from the Autobot Elite Guard, Megatron put out a bounty on the fugitive Decepticon. In "Rise of The Constructicons" Megatron recruited Scrapper and Mixmaster to build the Space bridge, coercing them with a supply of oil.

During the "A Bridge Too Close" two-part special, Megatron officially initiated the Constructicons into the Decepticon ranks. When he realized that his Space Bridge was still not in spec, he received word from Shockwave that Cybertron's best foremost Space Bridge expert was none other than Bulkhead, whom he kidnapped and threatened with a Headmaster unit. In part 2, he battled Starscream, his clones and the Autobots at the same time, telling the Autobots about his plan to conquer Cybertron while the Autobots are at their weakest. Unfortunately, the Allspark fragment he got from the beginning of season 2 wasn't enough to power the Decepticon Space Bridge, so he used the fragment in Starscream's head for more power, but he overloaded the power core and sent himself, Starscream's head, a revived Omega Supreme, and the Space Bridge equipment through, ending up drifting in space with Starscream's head; the two arguing amongst themselves.

However, during "Transwarped", Starscream freed Megatron from his stasis cuffs by shooting a sonic laser from his mouth. An offline Omega Supreme suddenly appeared and Megatron took control of him by using Starscream's head. He attacked the Autobots after transwarping back to Earth to prevent them from exposing Shockwave's cover. After Prowl severed his control of Omega, Megatron battled and easily defeated Optimus. He was then trapped by Starscream and they, along with Omega, wound up transwarping randomly across the universe, courtesy of the plasma dynamic thruster Bumblebee placed on Omega. By the time they managed to get the thruster off Omega, they found themselves in the middle of space with Lugnut drifting towards them. After picking up Shockwave once he had acquired Arcee, Megatron transwarped Omega to Earth's moon to begin his master plan: the construction of Omega Supreme clones. With Lugnut in possession of the activation codes, Megatron entered one of the clones to personally oversee the destruction of Earth's Autobots before focusing on Cybertron. However, Optimus Prime, wielding the Magnus Hammer, managed to disable the clone Megatron rode in, forcing the Decepticon leader to enter the battle himself. During the course of the conflict, the clones were revealed to have been rigged by Starscream to explode, with Megatron and Detroit ending up caught in the explosion. It was only through Prowl and Jazz's "Processor Over Matter" recovery of the Allspark and Prowl's sacrifice that the explosion caused by the final clone was contained, saving Detroit from total destruction. Surviving in spite of heavy damage to his body, Megatron made a vain attempt to destroy Optimus, only to be knocked to the ground by a swing from the Magnus Hammer. Megatron told Optimus to finish him, but was spared (he only smashed his fusion cannon), so that he would face punishment for his war crimes on Cybertron.

Fun Publications

After the events of the animated series Megatron was placed in detention at the Trypticon stronghold in Kaon city.

IDW Publishings

If Cyclonus is to be believed, Megatron will become Galvatron, under unknown circumstances, and kill Oil Slick.

Video games

Much 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 Net Jet video game by Hasbro.

Toys

• Animated McDonald's Happy Meal Megatron (2008)

A small, simple transforming Megatron toy packaged as a prize with McDonald's Happy Meals.

• Animated Activators Megatron (2008)

A small version of Earth mode Megatron that transforms at the push of a button.

This toy is about 1:99 scale.

Also sold in Japan as part of the "Super Collection Vol. 1" gift set alongside Activators Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Lockdown.

• Animated Deluxe Cybertron Mode Megatron Battle Damaged (2008)

A Deluxe class toy with painted battle damage and silver paint. This figure was also sold in a Walmart exclusive 2-pack with Deluxe Prowl.

• Animated Voyager Cybertron Mode Megatron (2008)

A Voyager class toy which represents Megatron in his Cybertronian form from before the series begins; as seen in the series debut episode. Features a single projectile-launching Fusion Cannon that converts into a bladed weapon.

This toy is about 1:60 scale.

• Animated Leader Megatron (2008)

Released as part of the first wave of toys for the series, it is Megatron as he appears after he gains access to Sari's key card in "Megatron Rising, Pt.1"; as a double-rotor heavy attack helicopter. Features linked main rotors that spin together (and which later transform into swords), a single projectile-launching Fusion Cannon and — as with all Leader-class figures from this series — a light-&-sound function with light-up eyes, chest and cockpit. When the Decepticon symbol button on his chest is pressed, the mouth opens, and his brow drops slightly to one side. In helicopter mode, the button emits a helicopter whirring sound while pressed for an indefinite period of time. In robot mode, Megatron says two lines ("Where is the Allspark?!" and "Crush the Autobots!") and his sinister laugh, as voiced by Corey Burton.

A special Toys "R" Us value pack of Leader Megatron came with Activators Starscream as a bonus.

This toy is about 1:49 scale.

• Animated Leader Shadow Blade Megatron (2009)

A redeco of the first Leader Class Megatron in black and purple colors.

• Animated TA-06 Voyager Cybertron Mode Megatron (Takara Tomy) (2010)

The 2010 Japan version by Takara Tomy sports a metallic silver finish and a purple Decepticon emblem on the chest, as opposed to the original's dull gray finish and gold emblem.

Also bundled with TA-01 Voyager Optimus Prime.

• Animated TA-26 Leader Megatron Light & Sound (Takara Tomy) (2010)

The Japanese version of the Leader Megatron figure sports a metallic silver finish as opposed to the original's matte gray color, and his voice chip is in Japanese (featuring Norio Wakamoto, Megatron's voice). Released on July 2010.

• Animated Mini EZ Collection Megatron (Takara Tomy) (not yet released)

A new mold that stands at 60 mm tall, shorter than the regular Legends/EZ Collection figures.

• Animated VS-F Deluxe Cybertron Mode Megatron (Takara Tomy) (not yet released)

A metallic redeco of the Deluxe figure exclusive in Japan. Bundled with Deluxe Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime.

• Animated Marauder Megatron (canceled)

The Animated reference book AllSpark Almanac II reveals that a resin prototype of a triple-changer Megatron was sculpted for possible production. The prototype transformed into a futuristic jet and tank. By season 3 of the series, however, Hasbro abandoned the proposed design.

Transformers: Timelines (Transtech)

Megatron

Transtech Megatron concept art
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Transtechs
Motto	"Rehabilitation of these rebels will not be a problem. Slaughter them all."
Alternate Modes	Cybertronian Tank
Series	Transformers: Timelines

The Megatron of the Transtech world works together with his world's Optimus Prime. Shockwave is one of his chief scientific researchers. Shockwave used to work for the renegade Decepticon Jhiaxus as a scientist, but after Jhiaxus was destroyed Shockwave was brought in by Megatron as a prisoner. Initially put on trial for war crimes he was freed by Megatron, who argued to Sentinel Prime that Shockwave's mind would be an invaluable asset to them.

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. When Alpha Trion's forces raided the lab to free Skyfall Megatron opposed them, but they escaped to another dimension.

Megatron appeared in Invasion Prologue by Fun Publications.

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.

Transformers: Timelines (Shattered Glass)

Megatron/Galvatron

Shattered Glass Megatron art.
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Club Exclusives, Voyagers
Function	Decepticon Leader
Rank	10
Partner	Divebomb, Rumbler & Thundercracker
Motto	"Peace will come for all Cybertronians.", "Power is nothing without wisdom."
Alternate Modes	Cybertronian jet, rescue helicopter
Series	Transformers: Timelines

This Megatron, later called Galvatron, is a heroic mirror image of the usual Megatron 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. Megatron transforms into a Cybertronian jet. He has a drone partner named Rumbler, who can act act as a cannon for Megatron or form a neutronic blade weapon.

After nearly being killed in an assassination attempt Megatron was rebuilt by Nexus Prime into Galvatron.

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

Fun Publications

In the Fun Publications story "Shattered Glass" Megatron recruits the Autobot Cliffjumper from an alternate reality to aid him against the Autobots of his world. He later leads an attack on the Autobot's Ark launch site.

Megatron appears in the fiction Dungeons & Dinobots, a text based story. He defends the Arch-Ayr fuel dump from an Autobot attack. He later sends several of his troops to capture and reprogram the rogue Dinobots built by the mad Autobot scientist Wheeljack.

Megatron is captured by the Autobot Targetmasters in Do Over, but was freed thanks to help by the Predacons and Whisper. When confronted by Optimus Prime he attempts to use the Autobot Targetmaster Nightstick to shoot the Autobot leader, but Nightstick takes control of Megatron's arm. Megatron then tricks Optimus into using Megatron's own weapon to cut Megatron's hand off, freeing him from Nightstick. Megatron misses the launching of the Decepticon ship Nemesis, which is taken over by Starscream to counter Autobot ship Ark.

In Reunification, Megatron greets a Quintesson and the dimensional travelers Breakaway, Topspin Skyfall and Landquake after their escape from the Autobot combiner Computron. Megatron introduces the travelers to Heatwave, but then is shot by the traitor Cyclonus, who is working for Alpha Trion. The travelers try to combine their powers with Heatwave to return Megatron to life, but instead have a vision of Skyfall and are combined into Nexus Prime. Nexus Prime resurrects Megatron as Galvatron.

Megatron, getting reformatted into Galvatron, appears in a flashback in The Coming Storm.

Toys

• Timelines Voyager Megatron with Rumbler and Divebomb (2008)

Megatron is a remold of Energon Voyager Megatron with the colors of Generation 1 Megatron and a new head sculpt based on a design prior to the release of the original G1 series. He came packaged with the Decepticon Mini-Con Divebomb and the Autobot Rodimus.

• Timelines Voyager Galvatron (2011)

A recolor of Cybertron Evac. This toy was a Botcon 2011 exclusive packaged together with Thundercracker. Only 1800 were produced.

Transformers: Prime

Megatronus/Megatron

Concept Art Megatron for War on Cybertron.
Decepticon
Information
Sub-group	Deluxe Vehicles
Function	Dark Lord
Rank	10
Alternate Modes	Cybertronian Tank, Cybertronian Jet
Series	Transformers: Prime Transformers: Generations Transformers: United
English voice actor	Fred Tatasciore (War for Cybertron video game) Frank Welker (Prime TV series)

The being known as Megatron started out as a nameless worker who took the name Megatronus (after a "mythical" character in Cybertronian history) during his days in the Gladiator ring. His name was shortened to simply Megatron by the chanting crowds at one match, and he took it as his own unique name.

Megatron is leader of the main group of Decepticons in the 2010 computer animated series Transformers: Prime. He believes that Earth-style forms are beneath him, preferring to hold onto his frequently-changed Cybertronian forms. After infusing Dark Energon in his system, Megatron's eyes flicker between red and purple.

Books

Megatron appears in the short story Bumblebee at Tyger Pax By Alex Irvine.

Megatron appears in the novel Transformers: Exodus. It shows that he got his name originally from the original name of the Fallen, Megatronus Prime. Later appears in Transformers: Exiles.

Games

Megatron appears in the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron. In the Decepticon Campaign, Megatron fights to return Cybertron to his version of the "golden age" by any means necessary. He discovers a source of all-powerful dark energon guarded by Starscream in a research station in orbit. Despite warnings from Starscream and his partner Jetfire that dark energon destroys all those who come into contact with it, Megatron obtains it and immerses himself in it. He can now spread dark energon anywhere he wants.

With this new power Megatron plans to infect the core of Cybertron with dark energon as a means of destroying all who resist his rule. For this plan to succeed, Megatron launches a full-scale attack on Iacon, the autobot capital looking for an item called the "Omega Key" which unlocks the gates to the core. They learn that autobot leader Zeta Prime has placed the key under his personal guard. Megatron's forces enter his chambers and defeat him in battle, taking him prisoner. Zeta Prime tells Megatron that the Omega Key is not actually the key, but the means to activate the true key: a giant autobot known as Omega Supreme. Upon activation, Omega Supreme chases and attacks Megatron and his minions relentlessly. Megatron, realizing his impending peril, hatches a plan to lure Omega Supreme to a rooftop defended with heavy turrets, where Omega Supreme is ambushed. Omega Supreme sustains heavy damage and plummets into Cybertron's lower levels.

The Decepticons follow Omega Supreme and engage him in a lengthy final battle, in which Omega Supreme is finally defeated and captured by the Decepticons. Megatron forces Omega Supreme to open the door to Cybertron's core and travels there with his minions. Upon arrival, Megatron infects the core of Cybertron with dark energon, corrupting all of Cybertron.

Megatron then formulates a plan to bring Optimus Prime to Kaon to kill him, but it fails when they release all the Kaon prisoners. Zeta however is too damaged to be saved. Upon learning that the Autobot's must leave their home world, Optimus orders the evacuation of the whole planet, only for Megatron to use his orbital cannon on the ships. Megatron then orders the cannon to target Iacon and is revealed to be 'Trypticon'. However the Aerialbot's disable Trypticon and send him down to Cybertron where he is defeated by Optimus who vows to keep resisting Megatron at all costs.

In the Nintendo DS game War for Cybertron: Decepticons Megatron and Brawl are the initial two characters playable in the game.

Megatron reappears in the sequel game Transformers: Fall of Cybertron where he launches a massive attack on Iacon with the intent on destroying the Ark and preventing the Autobot's from leaving the planet. While the attack almost works, Optimus discovers how to transform Autobot City into the giant Autobot Metroplex and turns the tides. Though Megatron uses a large gun called a "Warp Cannon" to disable Metroplex before he is presented with a captured Optimus Prime. Before Megatron can kill his old foe however, Metroplex reactivates and crushes Megatron under his own fist, killing him and leaving Starscream in charge.

However Soundwave was able to recover his parts and revived him using Dark Energon. Upon waking Megatron retakes his position as leader and banishes Starscream from the Decepticons. Megatron is then informed by Shockwave he has created a space bridge and has found the planet Earth in which they can steal the resources to reboot Cybertron's core. Megatron then heads off the creator where Trypticon crashed to salvage his power core to create a new star ship. However once there he learns that Trypticon is still relativity still intact and instead decides to transform Trypticon himself into the star ship. After battling through countless waves of Autobots and giving a death threat to Optimus, Megatron makes it to Trypticon and transforms him into the Nemesis. However since Trypticon is severely damaged, the transformation becomes permanent. Megatron then entrusts Cybertron to Shockwave who opens the portal. However Grimlock sacrifices himself to destroy the tower and the space bridge becomes unstable. To make matters worse, the Autobots have launched the Ark thanks to Metroplex own sacrifice.

A massive battle between the Ark and the Nemesis ensures as a result. Megatron orders Soundwave to destroy the Ark's weapon systems before ordering Bruticus to destroy the ship's engines before Megatron himself arrives on the ship and battles Optimus. During the battle, Megatron tries to destroy Optimus with a large rocket launcher only for Bumblebee to take the sole remaining shot, much to his frustration. Optimus then declares that he is not holding back anything and the two fight to the death. However the battle is interrupted when the Ark and Nemesis both spin out of control through the portal as it closes.

Reception

The Generations Megatron toy was picked at the 6th best toy of 2010 by Topless Robot.

Animated series

Megatron was a regular character in the Transformers: Prime animates series. As portrayed in the Exodus novel, Megatron was once the gladiator-turned-political revolutionary Megatronus, who was a mentor to the young archivist Orion Pax. However, when the High Council favored Orion's peaceful ways over Megatron's violent intentions, Megatron severed ties with Orion and officially started the Great War with his Decepticons, Soundwave being a chief follower. Megatron's actions eventually corrupted Cybertron, rendering the planet uninhabitable for life. After many failed attempts to kill Orion - who eventually was bestowed with the Matrix of Leadership - including a failed assassination attempt from Skyquake, Megatron vowed that only he would be the one who would slay Optimus Prime. After a skirmish on Earth with Optimus, Megatron leaves the planet for a deep-space mission, and is not heard from for three years, leaving Starscream in command.

As the series opens, Megatron returns to Earth thanks to Soundwave and Starscream, bringing with him a crystal made of the fabled Dark Energon and using it on the lifeless body of Cliffjumper to test its ability to revive the dead. Later, bent on obtaining a means of controlling the dark energon's power, Megatron risks his own life by stabbing himself with a shard of it. Now imbued with his new-found power, Megatron tests the dark energon at a burial site of Cybertronians in preparation of his master plan: using the rest of the Dark Energon on Cybertron via a Space Bridge, turning the planets' Cybertronian dead into an army of Terrorcons to help him defeat the Autobots and take over the Earth. Occasionally, his eyes change colors from red to purple. Though he succeeds in seeding Cybertron with Dark Energon, the Autobots manage to destroy the Space Bridge.

However, Megatron barely survived thanks to the dark energon before his life signal was detected by Soundwave and Starscream was forced to investigate. Finding Megatron, Starscream removes the shard to allow Megatron to die of his injuries, only to be forced to have him medically evacuated when Laserbeak appears. Though he gets Knock-Out as a medic to keep Megatron stable, Starscream bribes him into convincing Soundwave to euthanize their leader. By then, to find a cure for Cybertronic Plague to save Optimus' life, Bumblebee enters Megatron's subconscious mind to find the cure. However, Bumblebee unknowingly made Megatron aware of his condition while he was living his fantasy of killing Optimus Prime. Though he agrees to give the Autobot the cure so he can kill Optimus in the real world in return for being restored, Ratchet scanned the cure as the plug is pulled off by Arcee. Though Starscream was forced to plug Megatron back in at Soundwave's demand, the Deception's body was rendered brain-dead as his consciousness escaped into Bumblebee. Soon, Megatron was able to use Bumblebee to find a shard of Dark Energon (the same one used to create the Terrorcons) and use it to revive his original body, and used the cortical psychic patch used by Bumblebee to enter his mind to transfer it back. The process, though briefly interrupted by Ratchet and Raf, was a success, and the Decepticon leader returned to service, but not before beating Starscream, confining him to the same operating table that he once lie on.

Megatron later reveals that he left Starscream alive because he found the traitor's antics (via watching from Soundwave's video recordings) amusing, but by "Rock Bottom" decides to end the charade, as he no longer finds it amusing. However, an encounter with the Autobots causes a cave-in, trapping Megatron under rubble. Megatron at one point encourages Jack Darby to kill him and seize the glory of the act, but the boy refuses. Megatron eventually frees himself, and coldly watches the similarly trapped Starscream beg for his life once more. With Starscream having been taught his place the hard way, Megatron frees him and allows him to live, but eventually Starscream is abandoned by Airachind. It is here that another reason Megatron allowed Starscream to live becomes apparent: Megatron is furious that his second-in-command is missing, because for all his flaws and treason, Starscream is still a vital part of the Decepticons' war effort. Though initially believing Starscream to be a captive of the Autobots, Megatron eventually promotes Airachnid to Starscream's position and tells his troops to take Starscream into custody if he should ever return.

In the season 1 finale, as his space bridge nears completion, Megatron is plagued by visions of Unicron and Dark Energon. Believing these to be signs of his destiny as the "rising darkness" of a prophecy from the Covenant of Primus, Megatron finds a volcano that he saw in his visions. Megatron then is challenged to a final deathmatch by Optimus, but just as Optimus is to deal the killing blow, Dark Energon erupts from within the volcano, giving Megatron the energy needed to promptly defeat Optimus in turn. Optimus is rescued by the Autobots, but Megatron has the Decepticons harvest the Dark Energon erupting from the volcano. As it becomes apparent that Unicron himself is awakening within the volcano and the Earth, Megatron places Airachind in command, and speaks to Unicron within the volcano, believing he will be employed by the Chaos Bringer since he apparently revived the deity. Unicron reveals that Megatron had no part in his return, and rejects the Decepticon leader's offer. Enraged, Megatron allies himself with Optimus to journey to the Earth's core, where Unicron's Spark lies. Thanks to the Dark Energon within him, Megatron is able to lead them to their destination, and though he is possessed by the Chaos Bringer, Optimus uses the Matrix of Leadership to defeat Unicron for good. However, Optimus has lost his memories and reverted to his Orion Pax persona, and Megatron takes him aboard the Nemesis as a fellow Decepticon.

Megatron reassumes his role as the kind mentor to Orion Pax he was before the start of the Great War, and puts Orion to work on Project: Iacon, to find various ancient Cybertronian relics and artifacts on Earth. Megatron lies to Orion, stating that the leader of the tyrannical Autobots, Ratchet, destroyed Cybertron and that the Decepticons are the benevolent faction. However, Orion begins to see through Megatron's facade after Starscream - who Megatron informed him was dead - plants seeds of doubt into the archivist's mind. Megatron resorts to threatening violence against Orion if he does not complete Project: Iacon, and goes to retake control of his Space Bridge, where the Autobots are working to retrieve the lost wisdom of the Prime's from Vector Sigma. Megatron easily crushes the collective Autobot team in battle, as well as Orion who comes to challenge him, and assumes that Arcee has the restored Matrix with her. However, it is this assumption that costs him Orion Pax when he is too late to stop Jack from restoring Orion Pax to Optimus Prime, much to the Decepticon leader's horror and rage.

In "Alpha: Omega", Megatron ponders over a way to even the odds now that Optimus is in control of the Star Saber. Upon having an epiphany on how to do so, Megatron takes Dreadwing to Cybertron where Megatron claims the arm of an unidentified Prime. Megatron then orders Knock Out to remove his original arm and watches as the Decepticon medic attaches the new appendage so that he can use the Forge of Solus Prime to create his own version of the Star Saber which he calls the Dark Star Saber (forged from a shard of Dark Energon). Megatron then travels to Egypt to claim the first Omega Key in person, and seemingly kills Smokescreen and sends Arcee back to give Optimus the "invitation" of facing him. When Megatron reveals his new arm to Optimus, the Autobot leader is horrified and disgusted at the desecration of his predecessors. In the ferocious battle that follows, Megatron's Dark Star Saber proves to be powerful enough to break Optimus Prime's Star Saber. Before Megatron can finish off Optimus Prime, Smokescreen reappears and saves Optimus with the Phase-Shifter and they claim the first Omega Key as Smokescreen and Optimus Prime escaped through the ground bridge. Though deprived of his prize, Megatron laughs and roars in triumph as he now wields the power to tear earth apart.

In "Hard Knocks" and "Inside Job", Megatron grants Knockout temporary use of Soundwave's Resonance Blaster, which he uses to claim the second Omega Key. Megatron then sends Dreadwing after the third key, but is irritated and confused by its disappearance. Upon Soundwave's decoding the last Project: Iacon entry, Megatron realizes Smokescreen is the keeper of the last Omega Key After the Decepticons kidnap him, Knock Out uses the phase shifter to get the Omega Key out of him. After finding out the purpose of the keys by using the cordical psychic patch on Smokescreen Megatron leaves Knockout alone with him. Smokescreen and Knockout then fight over the phase shifter as Smokescreen breaks free. He sticks Knockout in a wall during the struggle and leaves him. Smokescreen takes the Omega Key the Decepticons had as well as his own and escapes the ship, starting a free fall battle in which Megatron gives chase only to lose Smokescreen's trail. Upon returning to the Nemesis, he decides to leave Knock Out in the wall as an example. Megatron then is surprised by the arrival of Starscream, who uses them as a piece offering to rejoin the Decepticons.

In "Patch" Megatron uses the Cortical Psychic Patch to examine Starscream's memories and intentions. He finds many traitorous and insubordinate thoughts within his head, including many of the lies that Starscream had told to keep Megatron from killing him. However, Megatron's final decision is that for all his treachery, Starscream is better off at Megatron's side than as his enemy.

Dreadwing, angry that Megatron allowed Starscrean to rejoin the Decepticons, gives Optimus the Forge of Solus Prime, and attempts to kill Starscream but Megatron intervenes, and kills Dreadwing with his own cannon when Dreadwing refuses to stand down. Megatron then warns Starscream that he must never make him regret that he spared Starscream instead of Dreadwing. When Knockout and Starscream use the keys and findout the location of the Omega Lock, Megatron leads a large unit of troopers with him to Cybertron, asking Starscream to assume command until he returns, which Starscream enthusiastically agrees to. However, On Cybertron, the Autobots ambush the Decepticons, and defeat them using the Iacon relics. Megatron is bested temporarily By Optimus and is forced to watch as the Spark Extractor kills his troops, though he manages to destroy the weapon. Starscream then gives Megatron the idea of forcing the Autobots to give them back the keys, or they will expose Jack, Miko, and Raf to Cybertron's toxic atmosphere. The Autobots give the Decepticons the keys which Megatron tests by rebuilding the Hall of Records, and then he opens a space bridge, and tries to terraform Earth into a new planet called New Kaon. Optimus, unwilling to see Earth die like Cybertron, escapes being held captive takes his Star Saber and cuts off Megatron's arm and destroys the Omega Lock, leaving Cybertron in its liveless state forever. Despite the loss of his Prime arm, Megatron laughs, saying that while the Autobots can run, they can never again run home. They retreat back to Earth, only to find that Jasper, Nevada has now been changed into a gaint fortress. The Nemesis lands there, and Optimus discovers the Decepticons have found their base. Megatron then damns Optimus and the Autobots for dooming Cybertron, and decides to take control of Earth from the fortress, named New Kaon (later Darkmount). Starscream then attacks the base on his superior's orders. Wheeljack and Agent Fowler try and hold off the new Vehicons, but the overwhelming numbers eventually prove to be too much and Starscream shoots down Wheeljack. Optimus has Team Prime split up to different parts of the country to prevent capture. Optimus then stays behind to destroy the groundbridge, so the Decepticons would not be able to follow. Megatron then uses the Nemesis' cannons to blow up the base with Optimus inside as Agent Fowler and June Darby watch in horror. Megatron and Starscream then go the remains of the base. Laughing about their victory, the screen pans over to see Optimus's arm sticking out off the rubble.

In "Darkmount, NV" Megatron gloats at his victory over the Autobots as he searches the remnants of their base for their remains. However, as Smokescreen has dragged the mortally wounded Optimus from the wreckage, Megatron finds only the unconscious Wheeljack, Airachnid's intact stasis pod with her still inside, and the Forge of Solus Prime. Starscream then alerts him to an army of human soldiers approaching, and Megatron orders that Starscream use the fortress' cannons to defeat them. With his enemies on both factions defeated, Megatron then "negotiates for peace" with Agent Fowler while sending Knockout to Cybertron to search for the Iacon relics that were left behind. Knockout then returns with a familiar ally, much to Megatron's delight: Shockwave.

In "Scattered" Megatron listens to how Shockwave came to earth and establishes a new chain of command; both Shockwave and Starscream are given the post of first lieutenant; of science and military matters respectively, much to Starscream's chagrin. When interrogation of Wheeljack fails and the Autobot escapes, Starscream reveals that he placed a tracking device in Wheeljack's chassis to help locate the scattered Autobots. However, Wheeljack catches on quickly and destroys Starscream's armada with a well-placed grenade. Frustrated by Starscream's failure, he is offered an alternative: Shockwave has cloned and bred a beastly creature in his laboratory on Cybertron. Activating the space bridge, Megatron is greeted by Shockwave and his creation: the ultimate Autobot hunter.

In "Prey" Megatron is introduced to Shockwave's beast: a Predacon (named Predaking): an ancient cybertronian dragon that had been extinct since Cybertronian history began that has been cloned from fossilized remains. Megatron congratulates Shockwave on his creation of the Predacon, and watches as it sets off to track Wheeljack's scent. When Predaking returns, Megatron watches as Shockwave repairs Predaking, and listens to Starscream as he laments on the fact Predaking cannot speak and tell them why he failed to kill the Autobots.

In "Rebellion", Megatron commands the defense of Darkmount when the Autobots assault it to nullify its fusion cannons. He immediately takes on their leader, Ultra Magnus, in a short but fierce battle, quickly gaining the upper hand and insulting the Autobot commander by telling him that he is no equal to Optimus Prime. When the Decepticons capture all present Autobots, Megatron interrogates Ultra Magnus and readies to execute him when Starscream notices an incoming object. The object turns out to be a healed and more powerful Optimus prime, who swiftly pummels Megatron and buries him in the rubble of his throne. Recovering quickly, Megatron chases and battles his newly upgraded nemesis in aerial combat, only to be again defeated by Optimus at full power, who throws him into the fusion cannon core within Darkmount fortress, destroying the weapons and allowing the U.S. Military to destroy the fortress itself. Starscream then has vehicons carry a protesting and defiant Megatron to the Nemesis, and the former reminds megatron that he and the Decepticons must survive in order to win the war with the Autobots.

For the episodes "Project Predacon", "Chain of Command", and "Plus One", Megatron oversees the cloning of new Predacons and reveals that he commissioned a small army of Predacon clones that annihilated the Autobots that were guarding the energon stores on earth millennia before. When the predacons had died off, Megatron was able to locate their remains because Shockwave had microchipped them before sending them to earth. Later, when Predaking breaks free of his icy prison and makes his way back to the Nemesis, Megatron is impressed, and imparts respect towards him from then on, and puts Starscream in military command of Predaking (though it is apparent that Predaking only listens to Megatron's commands).

In "Thirst" Megatron is overseeing Shockwave's progress on Project Predacon when he feels his Dark Energon shard pulsating, and goes to investigate. He immediately blames Starscream for using Dark Energon on himself, but is surprised to learn that Knock Out and Starscream accidentally created an Energon vampire from C.Y.L.A.S. (Breakdown), when they attempted to create a super-soldier for Megatron by mixing Synthetic Energon with Dark Energon. Megatron soon realizes that C.Y.L.A.S. is spreading a plague to his troops, turning them into Energon vampires as well, and puts in effect a lockdown protocol to prevent more outbreaks. However, when C.Y.L.A.S. is killed by Airachnid, she takes control of the Insecticons once again and Soundwave is forced to teleport the Insecticons off the ship, robbing Megatron of more than half of his forces, forcing him to speed up Project Predacon. Megatron then demands that Knockout turn over all his notes to Shockwave, including his formula for Synthetic Energon. Megatron then decides to punish Starscream through a vicious beating for his foolish actions for causing the plague amongst the Decepticon soldiers.

Other appearances

Megatron appears as one of the Hub Carolers in a Christmas themed commercial for The Hub.

Toys

• Generations Deluxe Class Cybertronian Megatron (2010)

A new mold, based on his appearance in the War for Cybertron video game. Transforms into a Cybertronian tank with launching missile. Has two vehicle modes: one as a hovercraft, the other as a tank with treads. This toy was picked at the 6th best toy of 2010 by Topless Robot.

• Prime Deluxe Optimus Prime vs. Megatron Entertainment Pack (2011)

A gift set that includes the Deluxe Optimus Prime and Megatron figures, plus figurines of Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai and Raf Esquivel and a DVD of the first episode of Prime.

• Prime Voyager Class Powerizer Megatron (2012)

A new Voyager Class mold of Prime Megatron. The figure's main gimmick is a fusion cannon that changes into a sword that lights up.

• Prime Cyberverse Commander Megatron (2012)

• Prime: Beast Hunters Voyager Class Sharkticon Megatron (2013)

Remold of Prime Voyager Megatron, shark theme going on his chest and weapon which transforms from cannon mode into sword mode.

External links

• Megatron at the Internet Movie Database
• Megatron pages on the Transformers Wiki
• G1 Megatron on the Transformers Wiki
• 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
• Brief Description of the G1 Megatron toy
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