Galvatron
Encyclopedia
Galvatron is the name of several fictional Transformers, most often the recreated version of Megatron, the Decepticon
leader. He was voiced by Leonard Nimoy
in the 1986 Transformers movie
, and then by Frank Welker
in season 3 and 4 of the animated television series. Since then, other Transformers characters have shared the name Galvatron. Most unique among the characters named Galvatron was the main villain of the anime series Beast Wars Second, who was not a former Megatron, but instead a unrelated Predacon who named himself after the original Galvatron.
) and can, on rare occasions, assume the form of a laser pistol, shrinking as he does so to allow other beings to wield him (an ability never used in the animated series, although it was occasionally used in the UK comic series).
Galvatron's toy tech spec identified him as a city commander, much like the Autobot toy Ultra Magnus
. The bio fails to indicate whether or not he is a recreated Megatron, instead mentioning that he is both "determined to lead the Decepticons" and that he "plots against his allies".
and Scourge
travel back in time from a point during the events of the movie adaptation itself. Desiring to be free of Unicron's controlling influence, Galvatron incapacitated the present-day Megatron and had the Constructicons
assemble a colossal weapon, which would destroy Unicron once was fired in the future. This plan was thwarted by the present-day Ultra Magnus
and three future Autobots Hot Rod, Kup
and Blurr
who convinced Galvatron that he had actually travelled back in time to a parallel universe, forcing him to return to the future.
Galvatron returned to the original future, living out the rest of the events of Transformers: The Movie. However, things quickly diverged from the animated series' telling of events when, after being hurled out of Unicron by Rodimus Prime, Galvatron triggered his time-jump mechanism once more, hurling himself back to 1987, where he materialised above Earth's atmosphere, and hurtled toward the planet at terminal velocity. His explosive landing drew the attention of the piloted mechanoid, Centurion, who Galvatron - his mind addled from the crash to the brink of madness - promptly destroyed, believing him to be Rodimus Prime. After a moment to collect his thoughts, Galvatron fought the madness down, until he wound up in a battle with a group of Autobots led by Blaster
, and the Dinobots
. During the fight, a sonic attack from Blaster unhinged his fragile mind, opening a doorway to insanity that would steadily widen over time. Despite this, Galvatron overpowered the Autobot
s and Dinobots
and would have triumphed had it not been for Shockwave
and his Decepticons, who viewed Galvatron as a threat to Shockwave's leadership.
Galvatron's absence in the original future led Rodimus Prime to place a bounty on his head. This was picked up by Death's Head
, who pursued Galvatron back through time. Fearful of what he had unleashed on the past, Rodimus travelled back with Kup and Blurr to stop Death's Head, only to wind up in a four-way confrontation between themselves, Death's Head, Galvatron and the present-day Ultra Magnus, as Galvatron attempted to siphon the power of Earth's core through a volcano to increase his power even further. Rodimus's team and Death's Head were returned to the future in the course of the battle, while Ultra Magnus
and Galvatron were lost beneath tons of lava when the volcano erupted.
Eventually, Galvatron was able to free himself, and continued with his plans for the future by disrupting Shockwave's leadership of the Decepticons. He was also later confronted by Cyclonus and Scourge, who had been shunted back in time, circumventing the normal mass-displacement procedures, and wanted his time-jump mechanism so they could return to the future and their position as Decepticon leaders.
Shockwave later recovered what he believed was the missing Megatron (but which was actually a clone), brainwashed him, then unleashed him on Scourge and Cyclonus after the latter revealed that they would be responsible for Shockwave's death in the future. This led to Cyclonus's death, causing further disruption to the timeline. "Megatron" was then loosed on Galvatron, but rather than destroy him, he saw a possible partner in him, and the duo teamed up to battle the combined forces of Autobots and Decepticons from the present and the future as a rift in the fabric of spacetime threatened to destroy reality. With his own actions in the present altering the events that Galvatron remembered from his past, his remaining sanity crumbled. As the rift arrived, Galvatron stood before it and defied it... only for his body to be swept up, and utterly destroyed.
Galvatron's time-travelling and the spacetime rift which results causes alterations to the timelines. The original future is replaced by a new timeline in which Galvatron never time jumped and would go on instead to defeat the Autobots and conquer Earth. This Galvatron is commonally referred to as Galvatron II. The events in "Time Wars" had altered the timeline sufficiently that the Transformers: The Movie events would no longer transpire in the comic book universe.
Seeking a "worthy" herald, Unicron reached forward in time, to yet another alternate future. In that timeline, Unicron had succeeded in consuming Cybertron, and the Decepticons, led by Galvatron, now dominated much of Earth. Unicron's agents, Hook, Line and Sinker, forcibly escorted Galvatron back to 1990, where he was dispatched to Cybertron
by Unicron to sow destruction as a portent of his coming, but Galvatron had his own agenda. Having had enough of enforced servitude, he captured Emirate Xaaron, whom he forced to awaken the Transformers' deity, Primus
. Primus then transported all the Transformers to Cybertron, in preparation for the battle against Unicron - just as Galvatron had hoped. However, they were crippled with fear, forcing Galvatron to initiate the attack on Unicron himself. Galvatron's attack inspired the combined Transformer army to fight with everything they had. While they battled - and ultimately defeated - Unicron, Galvatron stole away and secreted himself aboard the Ark
, which was stolen by Starscream
and Shockwave
.
The original Megatron was also aboard the Ark in stasis, and when he awoke, he and Galvatron clashed and madness rose in Galvatron - a lingering kernel of insanity left over from his time as Megatron, that ate away at his mind from within, driving him into a blood-red rage. With Megatron at his mercy, Galvatron regained control of himself, realising that if he killed Megatron, Galvatron might never be created. Saving a weakened Megatron from Shockwave, Galvatron and Megatron joined forces. Autobot medic Ratchet
subsequently crashed the Ark, but Galvatron survived, now apparently driven completely insane by the crash, and wound up in a battle with Fortress Maximus
, who defeated the mad Transformer and buried him in ice.
In a storyline titled "Perchance to Dream...", he entered The Ark and scanned the dreams of several of the inactive Transformers stored within it with a "mind bug," seeking those that would best fit his undefined purpose by searching for moments of anger and dissension in their past. Wheeljack was accidentally reawakened by the process, and brought the other scanned Autobots online to confront Galvatron, who was defeated when they subjected him to his own mind bug, and put him in stasis, where his dreams were haunted by images of Rodimus Prime. This Galvatron specifically identified himself as a different entity to Galvatron I, and while the story itself does nothing else to suggest his identity, later writings by Furman state that this is supposed to be Galvatron II. Given that this strip begins the Earthforce storyline, which takes place in a separate continuity from the ongoing events of the main U.S./U.K. storyline, it would appear that in this universe, rather than go to Cybertron, as he did in the U.S. comics, Galvatron II instead went to The Ark to carry out this mission, leading to the divergence of the timelines.
The return of Galvatron was a major plot point of the TransForce Convention exclusive story, Alignment. Set 300 years after the attack of the Swarm, in this future story Galvatron II (the U.S comics version of the character, referred to as such in the story) defeated Megatron (seemingly at odds with his intention to actively keep Megatron alive at the end of the previous comic) and almost killed him. Taking command of the Decepticons and constructing a fleet of Warworlds, he attacked the Autobots, only to be stopped and killed by Optimus Prime, who was also fatally injured.
s' return journey to Cybertron
following their attack on Autobot City in the Earth year 2005, a mortally wounded, but still functional Megatron was jettisoned into space along with several other fallen Decepticons in order to reduce Astrotrain
's mass to reach Cybertron
. 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. Megatron initially refused, enraged at the thought of being Unicron's servant. However, faced with obliteration as his only alternative, Megatron reluctantly accepted 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 Autobot
s 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
, 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). A common myth among some Transformers fans is that Super Megatron is an independent entity created by Dark Nova, who seeks out Galvatron and kills him, instead of being created from his remains.
Galvatron appeared in the 1986 story book Galvatron's Air Attack by Ladybird Books.
Galvatron appeared in the 1986 Ladybird Books
story Decepticon Hideout by John Grant
.
comics' short-lived Transformers title. He was the leader of the Decepticons in a universe that bore many similarities to season three of the original series, and featured many of the same characters. He would be at the forefront of many schemes, including trying to capture a group of creatures who produced energon naturally (unaware they were working for the Quintesson
s), attacking a space station, building the "Nullification Cannon" and battling the robotic criminals, the Destructons. Galvatron was also shown as having to contend with several takeover attempts by Scorponok
and even his own "pet" Ratbat
. The series stopped after just three issues, so any further tales of this Galvatron will go untold.
Note: In the color cover art Galvatron was presented in toy accurate grey colors, not his animation purple.
In the 21st century release of new Transformers comics by Dreamwave Productions
, the original Galvatron put in an appearance not within the pages of the reimagined title based on the original series, but in the concluding storyline of its sister title, Transformers: Armada
(see below). In this world, the incarnation of Galvatron that appeared (in his original animated series color scheme) was the herald of Unicron
, from a different dimension
, sent to cause destruction prior to Unicron's arrival alongside his fellow heralds, Scourge, Dirge
, Thunderwing
and Bludgeon
(all characters from the original universe, though their names are not mentioned and are not the versions in the other Dreamwave comic).
After defeating Starscream in an attempt to capture the Mini-Con
Over-Run
, and the Mini-Con Matrix he held, Galvatron attacked the Autobot base - only to find that the Armada universe's incarnation of Megatron and his Decepticons had already done the deed. Consequently, Megatron and Galvatron engaged in a colossal battle, with Galvatron clearly possessing the upper hand. Overwhelmed, Megatron was about to be destroyed when the Air Defense Team Mini-Cons arrived and, judging Galvatron to be the greater threat, combined into the Star Saber
for Megatron to wield. Transformed into the Dark Saber in Megatron's grip, the extra power it gave him allowed Megatron to easily slay Galvatron. The remaining heralds were eradicated in an explosion caused by Jetfire
on Cybertron.
Galvatron received a biography page in the Dreamwave comics More Than Meets The Eye series, where it was not mentioned if he was formerly Megatron. While it is generally assumed by fans that Megatron would become Galvatron in this series, the incarnations of Scourge and Cyclonus who did appear in Dreamwave's series were original characters created by Unicron and not recreated Decepticons from the series, so it's not certain how Galvatron would have come to be in this series.
indicated that Galvatron made his first IDW Publishing
appearance in The Transformers: Spotlight issue featuring Nightbeat
. In the issue, Galvatron was never named or even seen in full, instead presented as a briefly glimpsed figure with his distinctive helmet design shown in shadow. Galvatron and his unnamed followers lured Nightbeat to an underground dimensional portal, which resembled a metallic sea, and captured him. They implanted him with a cerebral device and wiped his memories of the encounter, seemingly planning to use him for some unknown purpose. Several pieces of dialog suggested the portal leads to something called the "Dead Universe", which was later confirmed in his own Spotlight issue, released in July 2007.
This incarnation of Galvatron is not a recreated Megatron, but instead a Transformer from the Golden Age of Cybertron who is driven by a belief in having a great destiny. He was one of the crew of the lost Ark-1
, which had secretly been seeking out (under orders from Nova Prime) an anomaly that was "a door to somewhere else... a dark mirror of the Matrix itself". Galvatron deliberately flew the Ark into the anomaly to find out the answers, thus marooning the crew in the Dead Universe. In the present day, he heads for Cybertron to obtain Thunderwing's
body, destroying an alien observation station on the way. On Cybertron, Galvatron killed Leadfoot
and easily overpowered Hound
's unit, though he left them alive as a small act of defiance against his master. He made his first appearance in the main storyline in issue 3 of The Transformers: Devastation
, being sent to Earth by Nemesis Prime
to stop the Reapers from destroying it too soon. He turned the Reaper leader into a dead being able to kill by touch (like himself) and left it to decimate his fellow Reapers. Caught between this and the Ore-13 charged Decepticons, the Reapers were soon annihilated, and Galvatron left with the body of Sixshot
. He then reported back to Prime, who made it clear in conversation with Jhiaxus
that he was not unaware of Galvatron's rebellious ambitions.
Galvatron's ambitions would play out in The Transformers: Revelation
. Crossing over into the real universe with Nemesis Prime
and the other members of the Dead Universe, Galvatron bided his time, waiting until Cyclonus assaulted an Autobot science vessel to depart. Making his way to the Autobot penal facility on Garrus-9, Galvatron witnessed the battle between Nemesis and Optimus Prime
, and observed the Darkness - the sentient force that inhabited the Dead Universe and kept them alive - try to cross over to Optimus. Seizing his chance, Galvatron gunned Nemesis down and tried to get Optimus to transfer its power to him. Optimus did so, and Galvatron used it to finally realized his destiny - as Optimus hurled him into a nearby solar pool. He was thought dead, but he had survived within the pool.
As with the Marvel version of Galvatron, he is seemingly invincible and shrugs off powerful weapons. Unlike other incarnations of the character, he appears to be able to kill and decay others by touch and can even survive being shot through the head at close range by powerful weapons. In Devastation he is shown to be able to confer his touch of death onto others, turning the Reaper leader into an unwilling "giver of unlife". There are hints that he is not actually alive — after surviving his head shot he responded to a cry of "He's not dead!" by thinking "Wrong", and he has referred to the others in the Dead Universe as actually being dead: "I killed them". Further revelation's show that any Transformer that enters the Dead Universe unprotected and exposed to its energy is unable to die when they leave the Dead Universe. So far the only way to kill a Transformer from the Dead Universe is if another Transformer from that Universe takes their life, i.e. when Galvatron blasted Nemesis Prime, or if they are removed from the Dead Universe for a prolonged period of time.
Optimus Prime leads Bumblebee, Drift, Kup, Prowl, Ratchet and Wheeljack in Las Vegas
when a Cybertronian ship crashes containing Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge and an infestation of zombies from another universe. Galvatron attempts to take command of the Autobots, and after fighting them explains his mission to stop an undead infestation. Wheeljack sets up an energy shield around the city to keep the infestation contained, but it will only last for 24 hours. Kup recognizes a Decepticon named Bayonet in Galvatron's command as not being right, and she is revealed to be the extradimensional vampire Britt.
on Earth, devastating much of it. This had major repercussions as it damaged relations between Earth and the Autobots, leading to the formation of the Earth Defense Command to expel Transformers from Earth. This was only the start of their problems, as Galvatron's comatose body continued to release his Unicron-corrupted cells into the atmosphere, where they merged with various local life-forms to create The Legion.
animated series, but was briefly mentioned in the episode Possession or the video Warning From Space, 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.
introduced a new character by the same name. 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 LioJunior, merged together 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.
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.
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.
.
.
, 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. (In Car Robots, each mode even had its own personality.) 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.
In the original Car Robots series, the character was developed as a new, unique villain character (who turned into a modified hand-gun for another Decepticon to fire), rather than a Megatron, however the name was used in the US due to recognition, as well as maintaining ownership of the trademark.
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 Decepticon
s. 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.
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.
s 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.
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 Terrorcon
s 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.
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.
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 )
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 Terrorcon
s, 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.
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.
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.
, 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.
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.
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 resurrect Megatron as Galvatron.
Galvatron appears in a flashback in The Coming Storm.
Even when focusing strictly on Galvatron's most well-known incarnation — the G1 animated series — there has been considerable debate through the years. Some fans believe Galvatron is a psychologically distinct and discontinuous entity from Megatron, almost, or equally, as much as Scourge
and Cyclonus
, who demonstrate no continuity of memory or personality with their former Decepticon selves. This remains a topic of heated debate in some circles, in spite of a fairly unambiguous canon.
However, things are complicated by many appearances by Megatron being retconned as a clone of Megatron. There was no hint the clone was a clone until "Two Megatrons!", so naturally "Megatron" and Galvatron were written as being past and future versions of themselves. Galvatron even remembers events that happened to the clone, and the clone goes on to plot his schemes under the knowledge that he will become Galvatron one day. The memories do not fit with Galvatron's known backstory at all. (One theory is that this Galvatron wasn't the same one as in "Target: 2006" but a different one formed from the clone.)
A possible explanation for why any version of Galvatron retains psychological continuity with Megatron, while his fellow Unicron-creations do not. The others were apparently already dead or in total stasis lock at the time of their reformatting, and thus it is widely speculated that only their bodies were used to create Cyclonus and company. Whether this indicates that they retained their life-essences—or sparks, if you adopt the popular retcon
—and merely suffered total mind-wipes (either as the result of recent death or by Unicron's doing), or if Unicron actually infused their reformatted bodies with new life-forces is unknown. (On the other hand, none of the other Unicron-created Decepticons have faced their past selves or deeds the way Galvatron has.) Megatron, by comparison, was clearly alive and awake at the time of his reformatting and struck a bargain with Unicron for "a new body", a deal which implied that his mind would remain his own.
when Galvatron is poised to crush Hot Rod
's neck, he boasts: "First Prime, then Ultra Magnus, and now you. It's a pity you Autobots die so easily, or I might have a sense of satisfaction now." Again, Galvatron is obviously speaking with no sense of discontinuity of identity or personality as he refers to past and current acts as both Megatron and Galvatron without qualification or distinction.
While some might contrast this statement, however, with his earlier line, "I, Galvatron, shall crush you, just as Megatron crushed Prime", interpreting that such a statement implies a disconnect from his former life, this too can easily be explained by Galvatron's apparent reluctance to allow his troops to know that he used to be Megatron. While Galvatron would have fully expected the knowledge imparted in the later statement to Hot Rod to die with the callow youth, the declaration to Ultra Magnus was made in public, with his troops (and, potentially, other Autobots in earshot) present.
Early story notes for the movie state that Galvatron is "a deadlier version of Megatron. Less bluster, more ruthless action". Further, in an early draft of the script, Galvatron reveals his "true" name — Megatron — to Hot Rod at the film's climax, with the implication that Megatron has merely been playing along with Ingestor's (the early version of Unicron) plans and has only pretended to be his willing servant, while in fact retaining his original identity and plans for conquest. The final version of the film leaves this a bit more ambiguous. Although, as noted, it seems fairly clear in the film that Megatron is playing the role of "Galvatron" that has been imposed upon him (even for his own troops) until such time as he can betray Unicron.
During season three, Galvatron makes little or no further references to his past life as Megatron, though this could be a side effect of lying in a pool of plasma for several months and his increasing insanity. Upon meeting the resurrected Optimus Prime in The Return of Optimus Prime, Galvatron behaves as though simply picking up where he left off with his old nemesis from his Megatron days, as does Prime, saying that he knows Galvatron "all too well". This indicates that the Autobot leader is capable of recognizing his former adversary despite the change in name and appearance. However this may also have been the result of Optimus' time as part of the Matrix, which was in Galvatron's possession twice and was also held by Scourge. These brief times in Decepticon hands could account for how Optimus gained the knowledge of Megatron's rebirth as Galvatron since it is implied that the Matrix generally takes in some information from each individual who carries it, whether or not the individual is actually able to make use of the powers of the Matrix or not. However, there is no conclusive proof to verify or deny this. Furthermore, in "Five Faces of Darkness", Astrotrain states that Megatron and Galvatron are "the same guy", implying that during Galvatron's absence, the other Decepticons (or, at the very least, Astrotrain) figured out what was going on. As nobody appears to contradict him, it appears that the rest of the Decepticons either came to the same conclusion, or else that Astrotrain was able to convince the others of his belief that the two beings were one and the same.
In the episode "Starscream's Ghost", a memorial of Megatron can be seen prominently in the Decepticon Crypt, implying that the Decepticons who built it considered Megatron to be dead. This could possibly be explained by presuming the Decepticons built the marker before Galvatron returned and seized command, though their window of opportunity to do so was rather slim. It is possible that the Crypt may be self-updating, however, since there was even less opportunity to build a memorial for Starscream as Galvatron threw the Decepticons into renewed battle with the Autobots almost immediately after reclaiming his leadership of the Autobots. The fact that a number of Decepticon markers exist in the crypt that were for Decepticons who were still alive at least until the Five Faces of Darkness episode arc seems to imply this idea as well, as the Decepticons had been driven from Cybertron when these Decepticons were seemingly destroyed, yet they exist within the crypt along with the memorial for Starscream.
Early advertisements for the Galvatron toy presented the character as an altogether separate being from Megatron, and in some cases, even being Megatron's underling. The second "Scramble City" OVA was a remake of the original animated version, albeit including the Galvatron toy for promotion. Galvatron appears to fight his nemesis, Ultra Magnus, as Megatron barks orders from the background. This is likely due to Takara wishing to advertise the toy as quickly as possible, without full knowledge of the character's history. To maintain Galvatron's mystique, he was given the function of "City Commander", with no indication that he was an upgraded Megatron. Continuing this trend of unintentional disassociation, very early promotional artwork featured in TV Magazine
and Comic Bom Bom
also presented Galvatron as a separate character.
However, this era was very short-lived. In all official Japanese fiction, including the manga
and the Japanese-exclusive cartoons, Galvatron is locked in as an upgrade of Megatron. A retcon
was created by writer Hirofumi Ichikawa for E-Hobby
in order to explain away the bizarreness of some of these early story pages, detailing that the Galvatron seen there was actually a dimension-travelling Galvatron II.
On the other hand, later incarnations have left it easier to tell that Megatron is Galvatron.
Decepticon
The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers stoyline and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots and the University of California Davis Aggies...
leader. He was voiced by Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
in the 1986 Transformers movie
The Transformers: The Movie
The Transformers: The Movie is a 1986 animated feature film based on the animated series of the same name. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986 and in the UK on December 5, 1986....
, and then by Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
in season 3 and 4 of the animated television series. Since then, other Transformers characters have shared the name Galvatron. Most unique among the characters named Galvatron was the main villain of the anime series Beast Wars Second, who was not a former Megatron, but instead a unrelated Predacon who named himself after the original Galvatron.
Transformers: Generation 1
With vast strength but questionable sanity, Galvatron's primary weapon is his particle accelerator cannon, mounted on his right arm, which can fire blasts of assorted types, including electrochemical energy and particle beams. He transforms into a futuristic laser-cannon emplacement (similar to a HowitzerHowitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
) and can, on rare occasions, assume the form of a laser pistol, shrinking as he does so to allow other beings to wield him (an ability never used in the animated series, although it was occasionally used in the UK comic series).
Galvatron's toy tech spec identified him as a city commander, much like the Autobot toy Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers storylines.-Transformers: Generation 1:The greatest Transformer of them all. A commander could want no finer a soldier than Ultra Magnus...
. The bio fails to indicate whether or not he is a recreated Megatron, instead mentioning that he is both "determined to lead the Decepticons" and that he "plots against his allies".
Reception
Galvatron of the Marvel UK comics was rated the number 5 comic book villain by Lester Wong of GameAxis Unwired magazine.Galvatron I
One of Galvatron's first appearances was in Target: 2006, Galvatron, CyclonusCyclonus
Cyclonus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:The tech spec from the box art of the Cyclonus toy describes him as a compassionless Decepticon air warrior and saboteur...
and Scourge
Scourge (Transformers)
Scourge is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. He first appeared as one of the central villains in the 1986 film The Transformers, voiced by Stan Jones. He also regularly appeared in the animated Transformers series and Transformers comic books. Since then other...
travel back in time from a point during the events of the movie adaptation itself. Desiring to be free of Unicron's controlling influence, Galvatron incapacitated the present-day Megatron and had the Constructicons
Constructicons
right|thumb|Scavenger, Bonecrusher, Longhaul, Scrapper & Mixmaster - five of the original six Constructicons The Constructicons are a group of fictional characters from the various Transformers continuities...
assemble a colossal weapon, which would destroy Unicron once was fired in the future. This plan was thwarted by the present-day Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers storylines.-Transformers: Generation 1:The greatest Transformer of them all. A commander could want no finer a soldier than Ultra Magnus...
and three future Autobots Hot Rod, Kup
Kup
Kup is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universe. All are older Autobots who are members of the Elite Guard. Wired Magazine once nominated him as one 12 most ridiculous Transformers of all time...
and Blurr
Blurr
Blurr is the name given to five different fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He frequently appears as a blue Autobot who transforms into a swift car...
who convinced Galvatron that he had actually travelled back in time to a parallel universe, forcing him to return to the future.
Galvatron returned to the original future, living out the rest of the events of Transformers: The Movie. However, things quickly diverged from the animated series' telling of events when, after being hurled out of Unicron by Rodimus Prime, Galvatron triggered his time-jump mechanism once more, hurling himself back to 1987, where he materialised above Earth's atmosphere, and hurtled toward the planet at terminal velocity. His explosive landing drew the attention of the piloted mechanoid, Centurion, who Galvatron - his mind addled from the crash to the brink of madness - promptly destroyed, believing him to be Rodimus Prime. After a moment to collect his thoughts, Galvatron fought the madness down, until he wound up in a battle with a group of Autobots led by Blaster
Blaster (Transformers)
Blaster is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara Tomy and Hasbro. Due to trademark reasons, he is sometimes called Autobot Blaster...
, and the Dinobots
Dinobots
Dinobots is the name of several teams of characters in the fictional Transformers Universe. The groups are made up of several robots, each of whose transformed mode is that of a dinosaur or similar prehistoric animal. They are called Dinotrons in the Japanese version; and ' in the Japanese dub of...
. During the fight, a sonic attack from Blaster unhinged his fragile mind, opening a doorway to insanity that would steadily widen over time. Despite this, Galvatron overpowered the Autobot
Autobot
Autobot, a faction of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron, are usually the main protagonists in the fictional universe of the Transformers, a collection of various toys, graphic novels, paperback books, cartoons and movies first introduced in 1984. In all but one Transformer story, the...
s and Dinobots
Dinobots
Dinobots is the name of several teams of characters in the fictional Transformers Universe. The groups are made up of several robots, each of whose transformed mode is that of a dinosaur or similar prehistoric animal. They are called Dinotrons in the Japanese version; and ' in the Japanese dub of...
and would have triumphed had it not been for Shockwave
Shockwave (Transformers)
Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers series. Throughout his incarnations, he is usually distinguished by a laser cannon in lieu of one of his hands and his distinctive face, which is featureless save a single robotic eye...
and his Decepticons, who viewed Galvatron as a threat to Shockwave's leadership.
Galvatron's absence in the original future led Rodimus Prime to place a bounty on his head. This was picked up by Death's Head
Death's Head
Death's Head is a fictional comic book character, a robotic bounty hunter appearing in the books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Simon Furman and artist Geoff Senior for the company's Marvel UK imprint...
, who pursued Galvatron back through time. Fearful of what he had unleashed on the past, Rodimus travelled back with Kup and Blurr to stop Death's Head, only to wind up in a four-way confrontation between themselves, Death's Head, Galvatron and the present-day Ultra Magnus, as Galvatron attempted to siphon the power of Earth's core through a volcano to increase his power even further. Rodimus's team and Death's Head were returned to the future in the course of the battle, while Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers storylines.-Transformers: Generation 1:The greatest Transformer of them all. A commander could want no finer a soldier than Ultra Magnus...
and Galvatron were lost beneath tons of lava when the volcano erupted.
Eventually, Galvatron was able to free himself, and continued with his plans for the future by disrupting Shockwave's leadership of the Decepticons. He was also later confronted by Cyclonus and Scourge, who had been shunted back in time, circumventing the normal mass-displacement procedures, and wanted his time-jump mechanism so they could return to the future and their position as Decepticon leaders.
Shockwave later recovered what he believed was the missing Megatron (but which was actually a clone), brainwashed him, then unleashed him on Scourge and Cyclonus after the latter revealed that they would be responsible for Shockwave's death in the future. This led to Cyclonus's death, causing further disruption to the timeline. "Megatron" was then loosed on Galvatron, but rather than destroy him, he saw a possible partner in him, and the duo teamed up to battle the combined forces of Autobots and Decepticons from the present and the future as a rift in the fabric of spacetime threatened to destroy reality. With his own actions in the present altering the events that Galvatron remembered from his past, his remaining sanity crumbled. As the rift arrived, Galvatron stood before it and defied it... only for his body to be swept up, and utterly destroyed.
Galvatron II
The U.K. Time Wars story arc is notable in that it contradicts the continuity of the U.S. comic which would unfold later. In events as they were told later in the U.K. comic, to explain Megatron's presence on Earth (U.K.) at the same time as being in a semiconscious state on Cybertron (U.S.), the "Two Megatrons" story was created. This meant the Galvatron in Time Wars fought alongside Megatron's clone. Galvatron had remembered these events as he had witnessed them through the eyes of the clone, implying that he was not created from the "real" Megatron after all.Galvatron's time-travelling and the spacetime rift which results causes alterations to the timelines. The original future is replaced by a new timeline in which Galvatron never time jumped and would go on instead to defeat the Autobots and conquer Earth. This Galvatron is commonally referred to as Galvatron II. The events in "Time Wars" had altered the timeline sufficiently that the Transformers: The Movie events would no longer transpire in the comic book universe.
Seeking a "worthy" herald, Unicron reached forward in time, to yet another alternate future. In that timeline, Unicron had succeeded in consuming Cybertron, and the Decepticons, led by Galvatron, now dominated much of Earth. Unicron's agents, Hook, Line and Sinker, forcibly escorted Galvatron back to 1990, where he was dispatched to Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
by Unicron to sow destruction as a portent of his coming, but Galvatron had his own agenda. Having had enough of enforced servitude, he captured Emirate Xaaron, whom he forced to awaken the Transformers' deity, Primus
Primus (Transformers)
Primus is the "benevolent" godlike entity in the fictional Transformers comic universe who fought against the Chaos-Bringer Unicron. The Lord of the Light, Primus is the being who created the Transformers to help him defeat Unicron.-Primus and Unicron:...
. Primus then transported all the Transformers to Cybertron, in preparation for the battle against Unicron - just as Galvatron had hoped. However, they were crippled with fear, forcing Galvatron to initiate the attack on Unicron himself. Galvatron's attack inspired the combined Transformer army to fight with everything they had. While they battled - and ultimately defeated - Unicron, Galvatron stole away and secreted himself aboard the Ark
Ark (Transformers)
The Ark is an Autobot spacecraft in the Transformers Universe. It has appeared as a central fixture of the Transformers storyline ever since its creation, as the Autobots main method of transport to Earth and as a base once they arrive....
, which was stolen by Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
and Shockwave
Shockwave (Transformers)
Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers series. Throughout his incarnations, he is usually distinguished by a laser cannon in lieu of one of his hands and his distinctive face, which is featureless save a single robotic eye...
.
The original Megatron was also aboard the Ark in stasis, and when he awoke, he and Galvatron clashed and madness rose in Galvatron - a lingering kernel of insanity left over from his time as Megatron, that ate away at his mind from within, driving him into a blood-red rage. With Megatron at his mercy, Galvatron regained control of himself, realising that if he killed Megatron, Galvatron might never be created. Saving a weakened Megatron from Shockwave, Galvatron and Megatron joined forces. Autobot medic Ratchet
Ratchet (Transformers)
Ratchet is the name of several characters in the Transformers universes. According to the original creator of the Transformers names, Bob Budiansky, Ratchet was named after the character of Nurse Ratched from the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The name Ratchet is almost always portrayed as...
subsequently crashed the Ark, but Galvatron survived, now apparently driven completely insane by the crash, and wound up in a battle with Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus is the name of several fictional characters from several of the various Transformers universes. Fortress Maximus appeared in the season 4 finale of the US Transformers animated series voiced by Stephen Keener. He was one of the stars of the Japanese Transformers: Headmasters...
, who defeated the mad Transformer and buried him in ice.
In a storyline titled "Perchance to Dream...", he entered The Ark and scanned the dreams of several of the inactive Transformers stored within it with a "mind bug," seeking those that would best fit his undefined purpose by searching for moments of anger and dissension in their past. Wheeljack was accidentally reawakened by the process, and brought the other scanned Autobots online to confront Galvatron, who was defeated when they subjected him to his own mind bug, and put him in stasis, where his dreams were haunted by images of Rodimus Prime. This Galvatron specifically identified himself as a different entity to Galvatron I, and while the story itself does nothing else to suggest his identity, later writings by Furman state that this is supposed to be Galvatron II. Given that this strip begins the Earthforce storyline, which takes place in a separate continuity from the ongoing events of the main U.S./U.K. storyline, it would appear that in this universe, rather than go to Cybertron, as he did in the U.S. comics, Galvatron II instead went to The Ark to carry out this mission, leading to the divergence of the timelines.
The return of Galvatron was a major plot point of the TransForce Convention exclusive story, Alignment. Set 300 years after the attack of the Swarm, in this future story Galvatron II (the U.S comics version of the character, referred to as such in the story) defeated Megatron (seemingly at odds with his intention to actively keep Megatron alive at the end of the previous comic) and almost killed him. Taking command of the Decepticons and constructing a fleet of Warworlds, he attacked the Autobots, only to be stopped and killed by Optimus Prime, who was also fatally injured.
Others
In the U.K. Marvel stroies, there were also several characters who shared the name Galvatron, most of these were successors, and their appearances were brief.Animated series
On the DecepticonDecepticon
The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers stoyline and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots and the University of California Davis Aggies...
s' return journey to Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
following their attack on Autobot City in the Earth year 2005, a mortally wounded, but still functional Megatron was jettisoned into space along with several other fallen Decepticons in order to reduce Astrotrain
Astrotrain
Astrotrain is the name of three fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons who can assume the form of a space shuttle.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
's mass to reach Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
. The end seemed to be near for Megatron—but it was not to be, as he was summoned by Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
, who made him an offer - in return for Megatron's service, he would give him a new body and new troops to command. Megatron initially refused, enraged at the thought of being Unicron's servant. However, faced with obliteration as his only alternative, Megatron reluctantly accepted Unicron's offer, and was reformatted as Galvatron. Commanded by Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
to destroy the Matrix of Leadership, Galvatron first returned to Cybertron
Cybertron
Cybertron is a fictional planet, the homeworld of the Transformers in the various fictional incarnations of the metaseries and toyline by Hasbro. In the Japanese series, the planet is referred to as "Cybertron" pronounced as セイバートロン Seibātoron...
to settle a score with Starscream
Starscream (Transformers)
Starscream is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. He is one of the most prolific characters in the Transformers fictional work, appearing in almost all incarnations of the story. Starscream is usually portrayed with the same characterization...
, 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
Ultra Magnus
Ultra Magnus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers storylines.-Transformers: Generation 1:The greatest Transformer of them all. A commander could want no finer a soldier than 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 Autobot
Autobot
Autobot, a faction of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron, are usually the main protagonists in the fictional universe of the Transformers, a collection of various toys, graphic novels, paperback books, cartoons and movies first introduced in 1984. In all but one Transformer story, the...
s 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.
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
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
-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
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
", causing him to go irreversibly insane.
When the Hate Plague began to sweep the universe, Galvatron was able to avoid infection initially, teaming up with the resurrected Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the autobots, a faction of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron. The autobots are constantly waging war against a rival faction of transforming robots called Decepticons...
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.
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
The Transformers (TV series)
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animal-like forms. Written and recorded in America, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea...
). 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
Headmaster (Transformers)
Headmasters are a sub-group of characters from the Transformers meta-series, distinguished by their ability to detach their heads when transforming into their alternate modes, with the heads then transforming themselves into a humanoid form...
and Targetmasters - a union which Galvatron thoroughly objected to, threatening to destroy the Nebulons immediately. Nebulon leader Lord Zarak
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
, 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
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
, 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.
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
Transformers: The Headmasters
is a Japanese anime television series.-Development:Inititally, Takara, the Japanese producers of the Transformers toyline, imported the American Transformers cartoon series from 1985 to 1986...
, 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.
Manga
In the Japanese manga "Big War" #2, the Autobots Rodimus PrimeRodimus
Rodimus is the name of a fictional character from the various Transformers universes. Rodimus is a young Autobot and succesor to Optimus Prime. He was formerly known as Hot Rod, but was reformatted as Rodimus Prime by the Matrix of Leadership and became the leader of the Autobots...
, Grimlock
Grimlock
Grimlock is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He is usually portrayed as a tough leader who turns into a mechanical dinosaur...
, Kup
Kup
Kup is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universe. All are older Autobots who are members of the Elite Guard. Wired Magazine once nominated him as one 12 most ridiculous Transformers of all time...
and Wheelie
Wheelie (Transformers)
Wheelie is the name of two different fictional characters in the Transformers series.-Generation 1:The first Wheelie is a young Autobot who turns into a car. He has a distinctive style of speech, in which he rhymes his sentences while speaking in a high pitched voice, making him sound like a child....
, 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
Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus is the name of several fictional characters from several of the various Transformers universes. Fortress Maximus appeared in the season 4 finale of the US Transformers animated series voiced by Stephen Keener. He was one of the stars of the Japanese Transformers: Headmasters...
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
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
spreads, it continues the storyline of the animated series). Buried and deactivated beneath the ice
Ice
Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
, 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). A common myth among some Transformers fans is that Super Megatron is an independent entity created by Dark Nova, who seeks out Galvatron and kills him, instead of being created from his remains.
Books
Galvatron appeared in the 1986 story and coloring book The Lost Treasure of Cybertron by Marvel Books.Galvatron appeared in the 1986 story book Galvatron's Air Attack by Ladybird Books.
Galvatron appeared in the 1986 Ladybird Books
Ladybird Books
Ladybird Books is a London-based publishing company, trading as a stand-alone imprint within the Penguin Group of companies. The Ladybird imprint publishes mass-market children's books.-History:...
story Decepticon Hideout by John Grant
John Grant (children's author)
John Grant is a Scottish author and illustrator, possibly best known as the author of the Littlenose series of children's stories, which he read on the BBC's Jackanory in 55 programmes from 1968 to 1986....
.
Blackthorne Publishing
Galvatron would also appear in BlackthorneBlackthorne
Blackthorne is a computer and video game, a cinematic platformer, that was developed by Blizzard Entertainment....
comics' short-lived Transformers title. He was the leader of the Decepticons in a universe that bore many similarities to season three of the original series, and featured many of the same characters. He would be at the forefront of many schemes, including trying to capture a group of creatures who produced energon naturally (unaware they were working for the Quintesson
Quintesson
Quintessons are fictional aliens from the Transformers universe. Within the TV series, they are the creators of the Transformers, although in most other fictional universes featuring the Transformers, they have no such status...
s), attacking a space station, building the "Nullification Cannon" and battling the robotic criminals, the Destructons. Galvatron was also shown as having to contend with several takeover attempts by Scorponok
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
and even his own "pet" Ratbat
Ratbat
Ratbat is the name of several fictional characters who appeared in various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:As is the case with many Transformers characters, the various continuities in which Ratbat has appeared have portrayed him widely differently in terms of size, personality,...
. The series stopped after just three issues, so any further tales of this Galvatron will go untold.
Note: In the color cover art Galvatron was presented in toy accurate grey colors, not his animation purple.
Dreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions
Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996 and is best known for their multiple Transformers comic book series...
, the original Galvatron put in an appearance not within the pages of the reimagined title based on the original series, but in the concluding storyline of its sister title, Transformers: Armada
Transformers: Armada
Transformers: Armada, known in Japan as , is a Transformers animated series, comic series and toy line which ran from 2002–2003. It was originally scheduled for 2001, however was delayed until early-2002...
(see below). In this world, the incarnation of Galvatron that appeared (in his original animated series color scheme) was the herald of Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
, from a different dimension
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
, sent to cause destruction prior to Unicron's arrival alongside his fellow heralds, Scourge, Dirge
Dirge (Transformers)
Dirge is the name of several different fictional characters from the Transformers series. He was first introduced in 1985 as a villain in the Transformers series, appearing in the comic book by Marvel Comics and voiced by Bud Davis in the animated television series. Since then the name Dirge was...
, Thunderwing
Thunderwing
Thunderwing is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. Introduced in 1989, he was a major villain in the Marvel Comics Transformers series. Although Thunderwing was created after the US Transformers television series ended, the character of Black Shadow did appear in...
and Bludgeon
Bludgeon (Transformers)
Bludgeon is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. For trademark reasons, he is now marketed by Hasbro as Decepticon Bludgeon. They are all Decepticon warriors who turn into tanks.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
(all characters from the original universe, though their names are not mentioned and are not the versions in the other Dreamwave comic).
After defeating Starscream in an attempt to capture the Mini-Con
Mini-Con
Mini-Cons are a human-sized race and faction of power-enhancing transforming robots in the Transformers: Armada universe and its sequels, one of the assorted universes in Transformers fiction...
Over-Run
Over-Run (Transformers)
Over-Run is the name of three fictional characters from the Transformers series. The third Over-Run was given that name after a controversy over his initial name, Spastic.-Transformers: Generation 1:The original Over-Run is an Autobot Action Master....
, and the Mini-Con Matrix he held, Galvatron attacked the Autobot base - only to find that the Armada universe's incarnation of Megatron and his Decepticons had already done the deed. Consequently, Megatron and Galvatron engaged in a colossal battle, with Galvatron clearly possessing the upper hand. Overwhelmed, Megatron was about to be destroyed when the Air Defense Team Mini-Cons arrived and, judging Galvatron to be the greater threat, combined into the Star Saber
Star Saber
Star Saber is the name of several fictional characters and also a legendary weapon in the Transformers toyline. He is the protagonist in the Japanese exclusive series Transformers: Victory.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
for Megatron to wield. Transformed into the Dark Saber in Megatron's grip, the extra power it gave him allowed Megatron to easily slay Galvatron. The remaining heralds were eradicated in an explosion caused by Jetfire
Jetfire
Jetfire is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers universes. He is nearly always depicted as an Autobot with jet or space shuttle alternate mode.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
on Cybertron.
Galvatron received a biography page in the Dreamwave comics More Than Meets The Eye series, where it was not mentioned if he was formerly Megatron. While it is generally assumed by fans that Megatron would become Galvatron in this series, the incarnations of Scourge and Cyclonus who did appear in Dreamwave's series were original characters created by Unicron and not recreated Decepticons from the series, so it's not certain how Galvatron would have come to be in this series.
IDW Publishing
In an interview, writer Simon FurmanSimon Furman
Simon Christopher Francis Furman is a comic book writer, particularly associated with of a number of notable Transformers comics for Marvel UK, Marvel US, Dreamwave, and most recently, IDW...
indicated that Galvatron made his first IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
appearance in The Transformers: Spotlight issue featuring Nightbeat
Nightbeat (Transformers)
-Transformers: Generation 1:Nightbeat is described as a tough, street-hardened detective who is not above resorting to dirty tricks in order to further his investigations...
. In the issue, Galvatron was never named or even seen in full, instead presented as a briefly glimpsed figure with his distinctive helmet design shown in shadow. Galvatron and his unnamed followers lured Nightbeat to an underground dimensional portal, which resembled a metallic sea, and captured him. They implanted him with a cerebral device and wiped his memories of the encounter, seemingly planning to use him for some unknown purpose. Several pieces of dialog suggested the portal leads to something called the "Dead Universe", which was later confirmed in his own Spotlight issue, released in July 2007.
This incarnation of Galvatron is not a recreated Megatron, but instead a Transformer from the Golden Age of Cybertron who is driven by a belief in having a great destiny. He was one of the crew of the lost Ark-1
Ark (Transformers)
The Ark is an Autobot spacecraft in the Transformers Universe. It has appeared as a central fixture of the Transformers storyline ever since its creation, as the Autobots main method of transport to Earth and as a base once they arrive....
, which had secretly been seeking out (under orders from Nova Prime) an anomaly that was "a door to somewhere else... a dark mirror of the Matrix itself". Galvatron deliberately flew the Ark into the anomaly to find out the answers, thus marooning the crew in the Dead Universe. In the present day, he heads for Cybertron to obtain Thunderwing's
Thunderwing
Thunderwing is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. Introduced in 1989, he was a major villain in the Marvel Comics Transformers series. Although Thunderwing was created after the US Transformers television series ended, the character of Black Shadow did appear in...
body, destroying an alien observation station on the way. On Cybertron, Galvatron killed Leadfoot
Leadfoot (Transformers)
Leadfoot is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. First introduced in 1994, all the characters named Leadfoot have been heroic Autobots who turn into cars...
and easily overpowered Hound
Hound (Transformers)
Hound is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. He is sometimes referred to as Autobot Hound for trademark purposes.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
's unit, though he left them alive as a small act of defiance against his master. He made his first appearance in the main storyline in issue 3 of The Transformers: Devastation
The Transformers: Devastation
The Transformers: Devastation is a six-issue comic book miniseries, published by IDW Publishing, based on the Transformers and following on from The Transformers: Escalation. Issue 1 of Devastation was released on October 3, 2007, with issue 2 following on the 24th of October and was published...
, being sent to Earth by Nemesis Prime
Nemesis Prime
Nemesis Prime is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers storyline. He is often depicted as an evil incarnation of Optimus Prime.-Transformers: Armada:...
to stop the Reapers from destroying it too soon. He turned the Reaper leader into a dead being able to kill by touch (like himself) and left it to decimate his fellow Reapers. Caught between this and the Ore-13 charged Decepticons, the Reapers were soon annihilated, and Galvatron left with the body of Sixshot
Sixshot
Sixshot is the name of two fictional characters from the various Transformers series. Introduced in 1987, Sixshot appeared in the last few episodes of the original US Transformers animated series, voiced by Neil Ross. His defining gimmick was that he had six different forms, not two like a normal...
. He then reported back to Prime, who made it clear in conversation with Jhiaxus
Jhiaxus
Jhiaxus is a fictional character in the Transformers universes. He is an evil Decepticon jet.-Transformers: Generation 2:Unlike most of the notable characters in the Transformers comics, Jhiaxus is not based on a toy...
that he was not unaware of Galvatron's rebellious ambitions.
Galvatron's ambitions would play out in The Transformers: Revelation
The Transformers: Revelation
The Transformers: Revelation is a comic book miniseries, published by IDW Publishing, based on the Generation One Transformers and following on from The Transformers: Devastation...
. Crossing over into the real universe with Nemesis Prime
Nemesis Prime
Nemesis Prime is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers storyline. He is often depicted as an evil incarnation of Optimus Prime.-Transformers: Armada:...
and the other members of the Dead Universe, Galvatron bided his time, waiting until Cyclonus assaulted an Autobot science vessel to depart. Making his way to the Autobot penal facility on Garrus-9, Galvatron witnessed the battle between Nemesis and Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the autobots, a faction of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron. The autobots are constantly waging war against a rival faction of transforming robots called Decepticons...
, and observed the Darkness - the sentient force that inhabited the Dead Universe and kept them alive - try to cross over to Optimus. Seizing his chance, Galvatron gunned Nemesis down and tried to get Optimus to transfer its power to him. Optimus did so, and Galvatron used it to finally realized his destiny - as Optimus hurled him into a nearby solar pool. He was thought dead, but he had survived within the pool.
As with the Marvel version of Galvatron, he is seemingly invincible and shrugs off powerful weapons. Unlike other incarnations of the character, he appears to be able to kill and decay others by touch and can even survive being shot through the head at close range by powerful weapons. In Devastation he is shown to be able to confer his touch of death onto others, turning the Reaper leader into an unwilling "giver of unlife". There are hints that he is not actually alive — after surviving his head shot he responded to a cry of "He's not dead!" by thinking "Wrong", and he has referred to the others in the Dead Universe as actually being dead: "I killed them". Further revelation's show that any Transformer that enters the Dead Universe unprotected and exposed to its energy is unable to die when they leave the Dead Universe. So far the only way to kill a Transformer from the Dead Universe is if another Transformer from that Universe takes their life, i.e. when Galvatron blasted Nemesis Prime, or if they are removed from the Dead Universe for a prolonged period of time.
Optimus Prime leads Bumblebee, Drift, Kup, Prowl, Ratchet and Wheeljack in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
when a Cybertronian ship crashes containing Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge and an infestation of zombies from another universe. Galvatron attempts to take command of the Autobots, and after fighting them explains his mission to stop an undead infestation. Wheeljack sets up an energy shield around the city to keep the infestation contained, but it will only last for 24 hours. Kup recognizes a Decepticon named Bayonet in Galvatron's command as not being right, and she is revealed to be the extradimensional vampire Britt.
Kiss Players
Galvatron would play a small but important role in the Kiss Players storyline. After he was hurled out of Unicron's body by Rodimus Prime he tumbled through space until he impacted on TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
on Earth, devastating much of it. This had major repercussions as it damaged relations between Earth and the Autobots, leading to the formation of the Earth Defense Command to expel Transformers from Earth. This was only the start of their problems, as Galvatron's comatose body continued to release his Unicron-corrupted cells into the atmosphere, where they merged with various local life-forms to create The Legion.
Beast Wars
Galvatron did not make any appearances in the 1990s Beast WarsBeast Wars
Transformers: Beast Wars is a Transformers toyline released by Hasbro between 1995 and 2000, and a Daytime Emmy Award winning full-CG animated television series spawned by it that debuted in 1996...
animated series, but was briefly mentioned in the episode Possession or the video Warning From Space, 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.
Toys
- Generation 1 Galvatron (1986)
- Galvatron transforms into a laser cannon emplacement and a laser pistol. He is one of the few figures from the original line with electronic lights and sound - pressing the toy's "belt buckle" or pulling the pistol mode's trigger activates a white light in its head, which illuminates his eyes in robot mode and his cannon in other modes. The light is accompanied by one of three electronic "laser blast" noises, selectable by moving a switch on the back of the figure's waist to various positions. The sounds are powered by a 9-volt batteryBattery (electricity)An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
. The toy is considerably large, especially when compared to his fellow Decepticons Cyclonus and Scourge. - Like the other new characters introduced in The Transformers: The MovieThe Transformers: The MovieThe Transformers: The Movie is a 1986 animated feature film based on the animated series of the same name. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986 and in the UK on December 5, 1986....
(with the exception of Ultra MagnusUltra MagnusUltra Magnus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers storylines.-Transformers: Generation 1:The greatest Transformer of them all. A commander could want no finer a soldier than Ultra Magnus...
), Galvatron was designed for animation first, with his toy design being based on the movie's concept art. Galvatron's animation design continued to evolve past the earlier designs used for his toy, and consequently, while the toy is predominantly grey/metallic silver, in animated form, his robot mode is predominantly purple. Marvel ComicsMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
also used the earlier design, rendering Galvatron as mostly grey in their pages (although as a result of the limited color palette used in the comics, what was intended to be silver was rendered as a pale blue, except for in his Target: 2006 appearances).
- Generation 1 Anime Galvatron (2005)
- When the Galvatron toy was reissued in 2005, it followed a trend established by some earlier figures, and fulfilled a dream long held by many fans - a version of the toy re-decoed in the purple color scheme of the animated series. But this was not a simple color swap, with different paint applications and stickers made specially for the toy to recreate the animated appearance as best as possible. A new, snarling face sculpt was created, and the toy came packaged with a die-cast metal Matrix accessory. His electronics—now powered by two AAA batteries—were also completely altered. The LED was switched to red and his sounds were brand-new—the first setting became a single laser blast, the second was the classic transforming sound effect, and the third was one of five sound bytes from the Japanese version of the film.
- Galvatron II (2005)
- Released concurrently with the 2005 reissue, this exclusive version of the figure available from online retailer eHobby featured the figure's original gray color scheme, but retained the new face sculpt and electronics of the reissue. The Matrix accessory was now chromed green, in reference to the appearance of the Matrix in the Marvel Comics series. The figure also included a set of exclusive stickers in the form of small golden electricity bolt decals which could be applied to the figure if the owner chose to do so, and which were based on a piece of early artwork of Galvatron from Japan's TV Magazine.
- Titanium 3 inch Galvatron (2007)
- Galvatron was released as a non-transformable 3-inch "Robot Master" in the Transformers: TitaniumTransformers: TitaniumTransformers: Titanium is a sub-line of toys debuted in 2006 from Hasbro as an expansion of their existing Star Wars: Titanium line of die cast action figures....
line. His boots were made of die-cast metal and his color scheme was accurate to his animation appearance.
- Universe Deluxe Galvatron (2008)
- This Deluxe sized toy, was first displayed at the 2008 New York Toy Fair. His alternate mode is now a modern MerkavaMerkavaThe Merkava is a main battle tank used by the Israel Defense Forces. The tank began development in 1974 and was first introduced in 1978. Four main versions of the tank have been deployed. It was first used extensively in the 1982 Lebanon War...
tank. A real Merkava is 372 centimeters wide, while this toy is 8.5 centimeters wide, making it about 1:44 scale. With the robot standing 14 centimeters tall, the real life robot would stand about 616 centimeters (20.2 feet) tall.
- Henkei! Henkei! D-06 Deluxe Galvatron (2008)
- The Japanese version of the Universe Deluxe figure by Takara TomyTakara Tomyis a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies: Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...
sports chrome silver parts on the tank turret.
- Henkei! Henkei! D-06 Deluxe Lucky Draw Galvatron (2009)
- A remold of the Henkei figure completely in gold chrome, limited to five units in TV Magazines lucky draw campaign.
- Universe Challenge at Cybertron Deluxe Galvatron (2010)
- An Asian market exclusive gift set featuring G1-accurate redecos of Universe Deluxe Galvatron, Cyclonus with Nightstick, and Rodimus. Rumors of the set being released in the U.S. as a TargetTarget CorporationTarget Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
exclusive were debunked by Hasbro.
- United Decepticon Set Deluxe Clear Galvatron (2011)
- An eHobby Japan exclusive clear purple remold of Universe Deluxe Galvatron, as part of a Decepticon 3-pack with Cyclonus and Scourge.
Beast Wars II
A new character bearing the name Galvatron appeared in the Japanese exclusive Beast Wars Second line.Animated series
In Japan, the exclusive cel-animated series Beast Wars IIBeast Wars II
refers to the 1998 Japanese Transformers television animated series, and the movie and toyline that resulted from it. While its position in the Transformers continuity has previously been unknown, the IDW Publishing comic book mini-series Beast Wars: The Gathering and comments from Transformers...
introduced a new character by the same name. In the years that followed the end of The Great War, the factions known as the Maximals
Maximal (Transformers)
Maximals are a faction in the Transformers series by Hasbro. They are generally depicted as respecting all life and following a path of peace before war. They follow the tenets of the Pax Cybertronia. The Maximals are opposed by the Predacons...
and Predacons
Predacon (Transformers)
The Predacons usually refer to the name of several fictional Decepticon-like teams led by Megatron, however Transformers: Armada, Predacon is the name of a single character.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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 LioJunior, merged together 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
Triple Changer
Triple Changers are Transformers that can transform from robot into two different alternative modes.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
, 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
Transmetals
Transmetals are a subgroup of the Beast Wars and Beast Machines characters in the fictional Transformers universe. Ordinary Transformers in the Beast Wars universe have a mechanical robot form and a techno-organic animal form, also known as a "beast mode"...
-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.
Manga
In "The Maximal Brainwashing Project" Starscream and BB were able to capture DiverDiver (Transformers)
Diver is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universe and major characters in their respective anime series. Both are heroic characters who specialize in underwater combat.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
and the Tasmanian Kid, brainwashing them into serving the Predacons. Meanwhile Leo Prime
Leo Prime
Leo Prime is a fictional character in the various Transformers universes. He is often referred to by his Japanese name Lio Convoy because his English name Leo Prime wasn't coined by Hasbro until 2006.-Beast Wars Second:...
, Apache and Scuba were able to capture Dirge
Dirge (Transformers)
Dirge is the name of several different fictional characters from the Transformers series. He was first introduced in 1985 as a villain in the Transformers series, appearing in the comic book by Marvel Comics and voiced by Bud Davis in the animated television series. Since then the name Dirge was...
and Thrust
Thrust (Transformers)
Thrust is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. The original character was an evil red Decepticon jet, with most of the following character using the name Thrust being a variation on that concept...
. 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.
Beast Wars Neo
In the course of the Beast Wars NeoBeast Wars Neo
Beast Wars Neo is a 1998 Japanese Transformers television animated series and toy line, and a sequel to Beast Wars II.-Plot:The series focuses on a battle between Maximal and Predacon factions for possession of an energy source called Angolmois. The lone "one-man army" Big Convoy is assigned the...
sequel series, it is revealed that the Angolmois energy is actuality the life essence of Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
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.
IDW Publishing
Galvatron had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW PublishingIDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
.
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 Gameboy Color video game Ketō Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Senshi Saikyō KetteisenKeto Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Senshi Saikyo Ketteisen
is a video game for the Game Boy Color handheld. It was released by Takara on April 2, 1999 in Japan only, and is compatible with the game Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals through the use of the Transfer Pak.- Game play :...
.
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 diguised 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.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise
This version of Galvatron started out as Megatron a six-changer, powerful enough to transform into five additional modes besides his robot form - twin-headed dragonDragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
-gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
creature, race car
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
, spaceship
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
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. (In Car Robots, each mode even had its own personality.) 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.
In the original Car Robots series, the character was developed as a new, unique villain character (who turned into a modified hand-gun for another Decepticon to fire), rather than a Megatron, however the name was used in the US due to recognition, as well as maintaining ownership of the trademark.
Animated series
A Predacon warlord before coming to Earth, he 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
Autobot
Autobot, a faction of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron, are usually the main protagonists in the fictional universe of the Transformers, a collection of various toys, graphic novels, paperback books, cartoons and movies first introduced in 1984. In all but one Transformer story, the...
protoforms in a crashed Cybertronian spaceship, bestowing them with military vehicle modes and corrupting them with his own Spark energy, creating the Decepticon
Decepticon
The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers stoyline and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots and the University of California Davis Aggies...
s. However, their leader, Scourge
Scourge (Transformers)
Scourge is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. He first appeared as one of the central villains in the 1986 film The Transformers, voiced by Stan Jones. He also regularly appeared in the animated Transformers series and Transformers comic books. Since then other...
, 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
Fortress Maximus
Fortress Maximus is the name of several fictional characters from several of the various Transformers universes. Fortress Maximus appeared in the season 4 finale of the US Transformers animated series voiced by Stephen Keener. He was one of the stars of the Japanese Transformers: Headmasters...
, 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
Hydrofoil
A hydrofoil is a foil which operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to airfoils.Hydrofoils can be artificial, such as the rudder or keel on a boat, the diving planes on a submarine, a surfboard fin, or occur naturally, as with fish fins, the flippers of aquatic mammals, the...
, a gryphon
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
, a pterodactyl and an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
, used to terrifying effect when he drained the energy of Fortress Maximus and engaged Omega Prime
Omega Prime
Omega Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers toyline. He is the combined form of Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus.-Transformers: Robots in Disguise:...
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.
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-ByteSky-Byte
Sky-Byte is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. He is usually a Predacon who turns in a mechanical shark.-Transformers: Robots in Disguise:...
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
Beast Wars
Transformers: Beast Wars is a Transformers toyline released by Hasbro between 1995 and 2000, and a Daytime Emmy Award winning full-CG animated television series spawned by it that debuted in 1996...
would be the next Dreamwave comic series, which Beast Wars won.
Toys
- 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 BotConBotConBotCon, briefly known as "The Official Transformers Collectors' Convention" , is an annual convention for Transformers fans and collectors. BotCon has been held annually since 1994...
2005 exclusive figure DeathsaurusDeszarasDeathsaurus is the fictional antagonist of the animated series Transformers: Victory and its accompanying toyline, one of the numerous Transformers series. Wired Magazine once nominated him as one 12 most ridiculous Transformers of all time....
.- Robots in Disguise Ultra Galvatron (2002)
- The US version of Devil Gigatron.
Unicron Trilogy
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-ConMini-Con
Mini-Cons are a human-sized race and faction of power-enhancing transforming robots in the Transformers: Armada universe and its sequels, one of the assorted universes in Transformers fiction...
s 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
Demolishor
Demolishor is the name of several different fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Armada:Demolishor is one of the earliest created Decepticons of the toyline; and in the storyline, also one of the first to come to Earth from his homeworld - the fictional planet...
( see episode #8 "Palace") and defraudes Starscream of the Star Saber
Star Saber
Star Saber is the name of several fictional characters and also a legendary weapon in the Transformers toyline. He is the protagonist in the Japanese exclusive series Transformers: Victory.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
(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
Transformers: Armada
Transformers: Armada, known in Japan as , is a Transformers animated series, comic series and toy line which ran from 2002–2003. It was originally scheduled for 2001, however was delayed until early-2002...
, 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
Star Saber
Star Saber is the name of several fictional characters and also a legendary weapon in the Transformers toyline. He is the protagonist in the Japanese exclusive series Transformers: Victory.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
and the Skyboom Shield
Skyboom Shield
-Transformers: Armada:right|thumb|The Road Assault color Skyboom Shield toyFormed from the combination of the Mini-Con Race Team , it is one of three most powerful weapons in the Universe...
. Through the machinations of his tactician, Thrust
Thrust (Transformers)
Thrust is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. The original character was an evil red Decepticon jet, with most of the following character using the name Thrust being a variation on that concept...
(who was at the time indirectly being manipulated by Unicron
Unicron
Unicron is a fictional character from the Transformers universe and toyline. Created by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie as the film's main antagonist. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also...
), Megatron then acquired the final weapon, the Requiem Blaster
Requiem Blaster
The Requiem Blaster is a fictional device in the Transformers series. Its physical form in some of the Transformers continuities resembles the laser rifle wielded by Optimus Prime in the Generation One era cartoons and comics.-Transformers: Armada:right|thumb|The Requiem Blaster toyFormed from the...
, 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
Nemesis Prime
Nemesis Prime is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers storyline. He is often depicted as an evil incarnation of Optimus Prime.-Transformers: Armada:...
, 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
Transformers: Energon
Transformers: Energon, known in Japan as , is the 2004–2005 Transformers toyline, animated series and comic book series, another co-production between Hasbro and Takara and a direct sequel to Transformers: Armada...
, Megatron saw his opportunity, syphoning off some of the energon that Alpha Q's Terrorcon
Terrorcon
The name Terrorcons refers to several different groups in the Transformers toyline. They are referred to as Terrortrons in Japan.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
s stole, working towards his own rebirth. To turn the Decepticons to his side, Alpha Q forged a sword from Megatron's spark
Spark (Transformers)
Spark can refer to several objects in the fictional Transformers universe. A spark is usually the "soul" of a Transformer. It is also the name of several Transformers characters. An AllSpark is a term for two different objects within the Transformers media franchise. In the Beast Machines...
, but when an enraged Scorponok
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
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 ChangerTriple Changer
Triple Changers are Transformers that can transform from robot into two different alternative modes.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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
Vector Prime (Transformers)
Vector Prime is a fictional character from the Transformers: Cybertron toyline, animated series and comics. In fiction he is an ancient Autobot, one of the first ever created, with powers over time and space, and turns into a spaceship...
, 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
Thundercracker
Thundercracker is the name given to multiple fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Thundercracker is almost always depicted as a blue color Decepticon who turns into a jet fighter.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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
Scourge (Transformers)
Scourge is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers series. He first appeared as one of the central villains in the 1986 film The Transformers, voiced by Stan Jones. He also regularly appeared in the animated Transformers series and Transformers comic books. Since then other...
. 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
Hot Shot (Transformers)
Hot Shot is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are young Autobot cars.-Transformers: Robots in Disguise:In Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Hot Shot is the leader of the Spy Changer team....
, Red Alert
Red Alert (Transformers)
Red Alert is the name of several characters in the various fictional Transformers universes.- Transformers Generation 1:Red Alert is the Autobot security director. He has enhanced senses and is usually depicted as a friend of the Autobot Inferno.- Marvel Comics :Red Alert did not appear in the U.S...
and Scattorshot
Scattorshot
Scattorshot is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Initially spelled "Scattershot" it is believed that Hasbro changed the spelling for the character to more easily trademark the name.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
, 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
Leobreaker
Leobreaker is fictional character in the Transformers Cybertron cartoon series. In Galaxy Force, he is referred to as Liger Jack.-Transformers: Cybertron:...
, 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
Soundwave (Transformers)
Soundwave is the name of several characters in the various series Transformers series. His most famous disguise is that of a microcassette recorder and has an iconic voice done by a vocoder.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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.
Transformers: Armada
The story of Megatron in the ArmadaTransformers: Armada (comics)
Transformers: Armada spawned at least three different comic book titles, the first being a mini-comic supplied with the toys, coming in various languages, that told small side stories relating to the premise, and eventually began leading into the Unicron Battles....
comics would be similar to his animated counterpart, but with an expanded backstory. Attacking various Mini-Con
Mini-Con
Mini-Cons are a human-sized race and faction of power-enhancing transforming robots in the Transformers: Armada universe and its sequels, one of the assorted universes in Transformers fiction...
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
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, 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
Transformers: Universe
Transformers: Universe is a line of toys that consists of re-painted and re-released toys from various Transformers lines of toys. For the comic book series see Transformers Universe .- Toy line :...
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
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
-like spacecraft and depart for the Earth's moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, 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
Thrust (Transformers)
Thrust is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. The original character was an evil red Decepticon jet, with most of the following character using the name Thrust being a variation on that concept...
, 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
Leader-1
Leader-1 is the name of several fictional characters from the Go-Bots, Robo Machines and Transformers toy lines in 1983. The original Leader-1 was voiced by Lou Richards in the animated Challenge of the Gobots series...
, 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
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
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
Smokescreen (Transformers)
Smokescreen is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:Smokescreen is one of the second year Autobot Cars in the Transformers series. His toy was remolded from Prowl and Bluestreak, itself originating from an earlier Japanese line...
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
Star Saber
Star Saber is the name of several fictional characters and also a legendary weapon in the Transformers toyline. He is the protagonist in the Japanese exclusive series Transformers: Victory.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
, 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
Hot Shot (Transformers)
Hot Shot is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are young Autobot cars.-Transformers: Robots in Disguise:In Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Hot Shot is the leader of the Spy Changer team....
, Red Alert
Red Alert (Transformers)
Red Alert is the name of several characters in the various fictional Transformers universes.- Transformers Generation 1:Red Alert is the Autobot security director. He has enhanced senses and is usually depicted as a friend of the Autobot Inferno.- Marvel Comics :Red Alert did not appear in the U.S...
and Scavenger
Scavenger (Transformers)
Scavenger is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Scavenger is usually depicted as a villain who turns into a construction vehicle.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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 Terrorcon
Terrorcon
The name Terrorcons refers to several different groups in the Transformers toyline. They are referred to as Terrortrons in Japan.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
s, 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
Scorponok
Scorponok is the name shared by several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are Decepticons that turn into Scorpoins.- Transformers: Generation 1:...
(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.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Teleporting to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, he aided Blurr
Blurr
Blurr is the name given to five different fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He frequently appears as a blue Autobot who transforms into a swift car...
, Downshift
Downshift
Not to be confused with Downshifting, the social trend.Downshift is the name of three fictional characters in the Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:This Autobot's function is Security Agent, and he transformed into a white Toyota Supra...
and Prowl
Prowl (Transformers)
Prowl is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers series. "Prowl" is one of the most re-used American names in the assorted Transformers series, and its use has become almost synonymous with Autobots who possess a police car alternate mode...
against Cruellock and his clones before heading to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and helping Inferno
Inferno (Transformers)
Inferno is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. Despite having different alternate modes, the character name has been most associated with the form of a fire engine.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
against Battle Ravage
Ravage (Transformers)
Ravage is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. Due to the inability to trademark the common word "ravage", he is sometimes called Battle Ravage, Command Ravage or Tripredacus Agent...
and his clones. In Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
he turned back the Insecticon
Insecticons
Insecticons is the name given to a sub-group of fictional characters in the Transformers Universes, referred to as Insectrons in the Japanese version. The name was also used for several fictional characters in the Transformers Universes...
clones before advising Jetfire
Jetfire
Jetfire is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers universes. He is nearly always depicted as an Autobot with jet or space shuttle alternate mode.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, 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
Ironhide
Ironhide is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers universes. According to the original creator of the Transformers names, Bob Budiansky, Ironhide was named after the television series Ironside.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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
Sharkticon
-Transformers: Generation One:The ravenous Sharkticons, the most famous and deadly of the Quintessons' slaves, are rotund robots capable of transforming into ferocious, amphibious creatures...
each on missions to steal copies of the plans for Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme
Omega Supreme is the name of a fictional character from the Transformers franchise. He is always an Autobot and is often depicted as a gigantic transformer with vast strength and/or overwhelming firepower.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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
Wreckage (Transformers)
Wreckage is the name of three fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Armada:Wreckage was the name of a Mini-Con that transformed into a green missile tank...
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
Cyclonus
Cyclonus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:The tech spec from the box art of the Cyclonus toy describes him as a compassionless Decepticon air warrior and saboteur...
, Shockwave
Shockwave (Transformers)
Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers series. Throughout his incarnations, he is usually distinguished by a laser cannon in lieu of one of his hands and his distinctive face, which is featureless save a single robotic eye...
, Mirage
Mirage (Transformers)
Mirage is any of several distinct fictional characters in the various Transformers series. Mirage is one of the single most re-used names in the Transformers series, and is almost entirely synonymous with characters possessing Formula One racing car alternate modes.-Transformers Generation 1:Some...
and Demolishor
Demolishor
Demolishor is the name of several different fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Armada:Demolishor is one of the earliest created Decepticons of the toyline; and in the storyline, also one of the first to come to Earth from his homeworld - the fictional planet...
, has cornered Optimus Prime and a wounded Hot Shot
Hot Shot (Transformers)
Hot Shot is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. All are young Autobot cars.-Transformers: Robots in Disguise:In Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Hot Shot is the leader of the Spy Changer team....
. Optimus refused to give up despite the odds. The other Autobot reinforcements were over ten minutes away when Wing Saber
Wing Saber
Wing Saber is the name of a fictional character in the Transformers series. He is an Autobot who becomes a jet and can combine with Optimus Prime.-Transformers: Energon:...
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 GrimlockGrimlock
Grimlock is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers universes. He is usually portrayed as a tough leader who turns into a mechanical dinosaur...
and Optimus Primal
Optimus Primal
Optimus Primal is a fictional character from the Transformers toyline, and the leader of the Maximal forces and the main protagonist in the Beast Wars television series. He is sometimes called Optimal Optimus...
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 ProwlProwl (Transformers)
Prowl is the name of several fictional characters in the Transformers series. "Prowl" is one of the most re-used American names in the assorted Transformers series, and its use has become almost synonymous with Autobots who possess a police car alternate mode...
, Inferno
Inferno (Transformers)
Inferno is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. Despite having different alternate modes, the character name has been most associated with the form of a fire engine.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
and Landmine
Landmine (Transformers)
Landmine is the name to several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. He shouldn't be confused with Lander.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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
Terrorcon
The name Terrorcons refers to several different groups in the Transformers toyline. They are referred to as Terrortrons in Japan.-Transformers: Generation 1:...
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
Insecticons
Insecticons is the name given to a sub-group of fictional characters in the Transformers Universes, referred to as Insectrons in the Japanese version. The name was also used for several fictional characters in the Transformers Universes...
Terrorcon hordes join in the attack. The Autobots retreat and Megatron takes the energon for himself.
Video games
- Megatron is a playable character in Transfomers: War for Cybertron
- Megatron is among the characters appearing in the 2004 Transformers video game for the PlaystationPlayStationThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
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.Transformers: Timelines (Shattered Glass)
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
Fun Publications
Fun Publications is a publishing company that runs the Transformers Collectors Club and G.I. Joe Collectors Club under licensefrom Hasbro. Besides releasing comics, Fun Publications releases exclusive toys and runs conventions for their clubs....
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
Quintesson
Quintessons are fictional aliens from the Transformers universe. Within the TV series, they are the creators of the Transformers, although in most other fictional universes featuring the Transformers, they have no such status...
and the dimensional travelers Breakaway, Topspin Skyfall
Skyfall (Transformers)
Skyfall is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers universes. In some cases the name Skyfall is used as a substitute for Skyjack.-Transformers Generation 1:...
and Landquake
Landquake
Landquake is the name to two different fictional characters in the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Energon:In the animated series, Landmine was evolved by Primus into a new form. In Japan, this was an upgrade which was reflected in the show, where he was called Landmine Supermode. ...
after their escape from the Autobot combiner Computron
Computron
Computron is computer hacker jargon, often humorously referred to as a unit of computing power, typically an unspecified informal composite of processing power, RAM, and disk drive space...
. Megatron introduces the travelers to Heatwave, but then is shot by the traitor Cyclonus
Cyclonus
Cyclonus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:The tech spec from the box art of the Cyclonus toy describes him as a compassionless Decepticon air warrior and saboteur...
, who is working for Alpha Trion
Alpha Trion
Alpha Trion is a fictional character in the various Transformers universes. Alpha Trion is one of the Thirteen Primes, thus all his portrayals are considered to be the same individual. He is generally depicted as an ancient mechanoid with a link to Optimus Prime...
. 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 resurrect Megatron as Galvatron.
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 RodimusRodimusRodimus is the name of a fictional character from the various Transformers universes. Rodimus is a young Autobot and succesor to Optimus Prime. He was formerly known as Hot Rod, but was reformatted as Rodimus Prime by the Matrix of Leadership and became the leader of the Autobots...
.
- Timelines Voyager Galvatron (2011)
- A recolor of Cybertron Evac. This toy was a Botcon 2011 exclusive packaged together with Thundercracker. Only 1800 were produced.
Controversy over identity
As the above media summaries show, Galvatron has had wildly differing origins across numerous continuities. Some of this was the result of Galvatron's "intended" identity, popularized in the 1986 movie, having not been known in advance by all the creators of all the international franchise branches at once. However, other cases represent later creators deliberately starting from scratch. Since the conceptual existence of multiple dimensional variants of Galvatron predates — by about 17 years — the development of multiple dimensions of Transformers storytelling within a multiverse, it can be especially hard to neatly separate all his appearances into "main" and "peripheral" storylines / personifications.Even when focusing strictly on Galvatron's most well-known incarnation — the G1 animated series — there has been considerable debate through the years. Some fans believe Galvatron is a psychologically distinct and discontinuous entity from Megatron, almost, or equally, as much as Scourge
Scourge
A scourge is a whip or lash, especially a multi-thong type used to inflict severe corporal punishment or self-mortification on the back.-Description:...
and Cyclonus
Cyclonus
Cyclonus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.-Transformers: Generation 1:The tech spec from the box art of the Cyclonus toy describes him as a compassionless Decepticon air warrior and saboteur...
, who demonstrate no continuity of memory or personality with their former Decepticon selves. This remains a topic of heated debate in some circles, in spite of a fairly unambiguous canon.
Marvel Comics
In the US and UK Marvel comics, the various time-hopping Galvatrons all demonstrate an awareness of having previously been Megatron with no strong indicators of a break in psychological identification. Indeed, at one point, a Galvatron says outright, "Like Megatron? No—I AM Megatron!" The closest that these Galvatrons come to identity crisis are incidents in which a time-displaced Galvatron is confronted by Megatrons (or copies thereof) and does battle with his former self. Although in these instances Galvatron experiences trains of thought that suggest he sees Megatron as a separate being and/or the source of his madness that needs to be destroyed, these are not the musings of a calm, rational mind. In these instances, Galvatron is in the grips of a psychotic episode, which he generally snaps out of by realising that he and his opponent are indeed the same person.However, things are complicated by many appearances by Megatron being retconned as a clone of Megatron. There was no hint the clone was a clone until "Two Megatrons!", so naturally "Megatron" and Galvatron were written as being past and future versions of themselves. Galvatron even remembers events that happened to the clone, and the clone goes on to plot his schemes under the knowledge that he will become Galvatron one day. The memories do not fit with Galvatron's known backstory at all. (One theory is that this Galvatron wasn't the same one as in "Target: 2006" but a different one formed from the clone.)
A possible explanation for why any version of Galvatron retains psychological continuity with Megatron, while his fellow Unicron-creations do not. The others were apparently already dead or in total stasis lock at the time of their reformatting, and thus it is widely speculated that only their bodies were used to create Cyclonus and company. Whether this indicates that they retained their life-essences—or sparks, if you adopt the popular retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
—and merely suffered total mind-wipes (either as the result of recent death or by Unicron's doing), or if Unicron actually infused their reformatted bodies with new life-forces is unknown. (On the other hand, none of the other Unicron-created Decepticons have faced their past selves or deeds the way Galvatron has.) Megatron, by comparison, was clearly alive and awake at the time of his reformatting and struck a bargain with Unicron for "a new body", a deal which implied that his mind would remain his own.
Animated series
In the Generation 1 cartoon continuity, Galvatron evidently still self-identifies as being the same person as Megatron, albeit with greater power and a new name. Although not making a point of revealing this former identity to his troops at large (perhaps to cast off the potential stigma of being a "defeated"/successfully deposed leader), Galvatron makes his sense of self clear when Starscream asks "Megatron? Is that you?" to which he replies, "Here's a hint", before obliterating him. Later in The Transformers: The MovieThe Transformers: The Movie
The Transformers: The Movie is a 1986 animated feature film based on the animated series of the same name. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986 and in the UK on December 5, 1986....
when Galvatron is poised to crush Hot Rod
Rodimus
Rodimus is the name of a fictional character from the various Transformers universes. Rodimus is a young Autobot and succesor to Optimus Prime. He was formerly known as Hot Rod, but was reformatted as Rodimus Prime by the Matrix of Leadership and became the leader of the Autobots...
's neck, he boasts: "First Prime, then Ultra Magnus, and now you. It's a pity you Autobots die so easily, or I might have a sense of satisfaction now." Again, Galvatron is obviously speaking with no sense of discontinuity of identity or personality as he refers to past and current acts as both Megatron and Galvatron without qualification or distinction.
While some might contrast this statement, however, with his earlier line, "I, Galvatron, shall crush you, just as Megatron crushed Prime", interpreting that such a statement implies a disconnect from his former life, this too can easily be explained by Galvatron's apparent reluctance to allow his troops to know that he used to be Megatron. While Galvatron would have fully expected the knowledge imparted in the later statement to Hot Rod to die with the callow youth, the declaration to Ultra Magnus was made in public, with his troops (and, potentially, other Autobots in earshot) present.
Early story notes for the movie state that Galvatron is "a deadlier version of Megatron. Less bluster, more ruthless action". Further, in an early draft of the script, Galvatron reveals his "true" name — Megatron — to Hot Rod at the film's climax, with the implication that Megatron has merely been playing along with Ingestor's (the early version of Unicron) plans and has only pretended to be his willing servant, while in fact retaining his original identity and plans for conquest. The final version of the film leaves this a bit more ambiguous. Although, as noted, it seems fairly clear in the film that Megatron is playing the role of "Galvatron" that has been imposed upon him (even for his own troops) until such time as he can betray Unicron.
During season three, Galvatron makes little or no further references to his past life as Megatron, though this could be a side effect of lying in a pool of plasma for several months and his increasing insanity. Upon meeting the resurrected Optimus Prime in The Return of Optimus Prime, Galvatron behaves as though simply picking up where he left off with his old nemesis from his Megatron days, as does Prime, saying that he knows Galvatron "all too well". This indicates that the Autobot leader is capable of recognizing his former adversary despite the change in name and appearance. However this may also have been the result of Optimus' time as part of the Matrix, which was in Galvatron's possession twice and was also held by Scourge. These brief times in Decepticon hands could account for how Optimus gained the knowledge of Megatron's rebirth as Galvatron since it is implied that the Matrix generally takes in some information from each individual who carries it, whether or not the individual is actually able to make use of the powers of the Matrix or not. However, there is no conclusive proof to verify or deny this. Furthermore, in "Five Faces of Darkness", Astrotrain states that Megatron and Galvatron are "the same guy", implying that during Galvatron's absence, the other Decepticons (or, at the very least, Astrotrain) figured out what was going on. As nobody appears to contradict him, it appears that the rest of the Decepticons either came to the same conclusion, or else that Astrotrain was able to convince the others of his belief that the two beings were one and the same.
In the episode "Starscream's Ghost", a memorial of Megatron can be seen prominently in the Decepticon Crypt, implying that the Decepticons who built it considered Megatron to be dead. This could possibly be explained by presuming the Decepticons built the marker before Galvatron returned and seized command, though their window of opportunity to do so was rather slim. It is possible that the Crypt may be self-updating, however, since there was even less opportunity to build a memorial for Starscream as Galvatron threw the Decepticons into renewed battle with the Autobots almost immediately after reclaiming his leadership of the Autobots. The fact that a number of Decepticon markers exist in the crypt that were for Decepticons who were still alive at least until the Five Faces of Darkness episode arc seems to imply this idea as well, as the Decepticons had been driven from Cybertron when these Decepticons were seemingly destroyed, yet they exist within the crypt along with the memorial for Starscream.
Early advertisements for the Galvatron toy presented the character as an altogether separate being from Megatron, and in some cases, even being Megatron's underling. The second "Scramble City" OVA was a remake of the original animated version, albeit including the Galvatron toy for promotion. Galvatron appears to fight his nemesis, Ultra Magnus, as Megatron barks orders from the background. This is likely due to Takara wishing to advertise the toy as quickly as possible, without full knowledge of the character's history. To maintain Galvatron's mystique, he was given the function of "City Commander", with no indication that he was an upgraded Megatron. Continuing this trend of unintentional disassociation, very early promotional artwork featured in TV Magazine
TV Magazine
TV Magazine is a weekly French television listings magazine, published by Groupe Le Figaro.-Circulation:In 2006 TV Magazine had a circulation of 5,329,711, having suffered a small decline from 5,677,411 in 2002.-Other uses:...
and Comic Bom Bom
Comic Bom Bom
was a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Kodansha and targeted at elementary school boys. Each issue had 700+ pages, with 80 of them being full-color advertisements. Similar to its rival CoroCoro Comic, it featured tie-ins with game makers and toy makers but toward the end of its run had...
also presented Galvatron as a separate character.
However, this era was very short-lived. In all official Japanese fiction, including the manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and the Japanese-exclusive cartoons, Galvatron is locked in as an upgrade of Megatron. A retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
was created by writer Hirofumi Ichikawa for E-Hobby
E-hobby
e-Hobby is an online Japanese retailer that is perhaps best known for creating and selling exclusive repaints of Transformers by Takara. One of the reasons that these figures are so coveted is because they are often new or rare characters...
in order to explain away the bizarreness of some of these early story pages, detailing that the Galvatron seen there was actually a dimension-travelling Galvatron II.
On the other hand, later incarnations have left it easier to tell that Megatron is Galvatron.