"I have no idea! Right now!"
Megatron is a character from the Transformers franchise, created by Hasbro, and based on a toy design by Takara. He is a sentient robotic lifeform from the planet Cybertron and the leader of the Decepticons as well as the archenemy of the Autobot leader Optimus Prime.[2]
History[]
Generation 1[]
Megatron is a Decepticon, one of the lineal descendants of the military hardware robots created by the Quintessons on their factory world of Cybertron. Following a war between the Decepticons and the other robot race, the Autobots, the Decepticons were defeated by the Autobots' invention of transformation, which allowed them the advantage of stealth. The Autobot victory in the war began the Golden Age of Cybertron, but a viper lurked within this paradise, as the Decepticons too eventually developed transformation, leading to the creation of Megatron. Gathering a small number of troops together, Megatron made a small strike on an outer city, killing the current Autobot leader. However, this event was not made public knowledge, and young robots like the naive Orion Pax still looked up to Megatron and his followers because of their new robot-mode flight powers. Pax soon learned the error of his ways when Megatron duped him into allowing him access to energon warehouses, and Megatron fatally injured him in a scuffle. However, the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion, reconstructed Pax into a battle hardy configuration — now, he was Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots and Megatron's sworn opponent as the civil war erupted again.
Megatron had conquered Cybertron by 2005 in the animated film, The Transformers: The Movie. After hearing of an Autobot supply run, Megatron proceeded with an attack on Autobot City on Earth. Optimus Prime arrived there and confronted Megatron. On the Decepticons' return journey to Cybertron, 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. Facing destruction as an alternative, Megatron agreed to 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.
Trivia[]
Animated character biography[]
- Megatron is usually depicted as having risen up from the lowly worker to become a champion in gladiatorial combat. As a gladiator, he took the legendary name "Megatronus" as his own and would similarly inspire a latervillainous character. He called for an end to his planet Cybertron's corrupted governing body and told the downtrodden that freedom of self-determination was the right of all sentient beings, becoming a mentor to the young Optimus Prime. Prime who would later use his teachings against him when he became corrupt. He has the ability to transform between his robot shape and various weapons or vehicles, but these "alternate-modes", his origins and even personality, can vary depending on which "universe" he's seen in. This origin is considered the most consistent between the various incarnations. Further differences are listed in the respective sections below.
- Megatron is often voiced by Frank Welker, who originally voiced the G1 character, and while Hugo Weaving was chosen to voice Megatron in the 2007 movie, Welker voiced Megatron once again in supporting media and would reprise his role as Megatron for later series, such as Transformers: Prime. The second most consistent voice actor may be David Kaye, who originally voiced the Beast Wars Predacon leader and an alternate version of the Decepticon leader in the Unicron Trilogy. A number of other voice actors have voiced versions of Megatron such as Garry Chalk, Daniel Riordan, Corey Burton, and Fred Tatasciore, in Beast Wars as the original Megatron, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Transformers Animated, and Transformers: War for Cybertron and the Transformers: Dark of the Moon video game respectively.
Original Character[]
- Megatron is the founder of the Decepticon uprising and their most feared leader. Bob Budiansky, the writer for the Marvel Comics series, stated that originally Hasbro took issue with the name, saying it sounded too frightening. Budiansky responded that as the lead villain, that was the point. Hasbro later agreed with his reasoning, and approved the name "Megatron".[3] The name itself probably comes from the Greek word megas (meaning great, grand), although in one of his interviews Budiansky claimed that it is in fact a portmanteau of electronic and megaton (megaton is a scientific term describing an explosive force equal to that of one million tons of TNT).[4][5]
- Megatron is able to transform into a Walther P38, delivering more focused energy blasts than he could in his robotic form. He can adjust his size and mass as he transforms, to comfortably allow another Transformer or even a human being to wield him. His robot form has an arm-mounted fusion cannon. He can retract and replace his right hand with an energy flail. He can fire electrical blasts from his hands, laser blasts from his eyes, and can reprogram computers with a port in his head. Sometimes, Megatron, upon being reformatted into a new body, renames himself Galvatron. Sometimes his name is a shortened version of his original name, Megatronus.[6]
Gallery[]
