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For other uses, see Megatron

Megatron is a fictional character from the Transformers series introduced in 1984. Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons in the Transformers fiction.

Transformers: Generation 1

Megatron is a fictional character in the Transformers series and leader of the Decepticons.

Fictional biography

Profile: Love, compassion, mercy are words that have no meaning for Megatron. He has risen to the leadership of the Decepticons by a combination of brute strength, military cunning, ruthlessness, and terror. On Cybertron he was commanding general in charge of all military operations against the Autobots, who referred to him as "The Slag-Maker." It was a title of fear. A title of respect. A title Megatron relished. His banishment to Earth has only made him more bitter and more evil-minded, if that is possible. He aches to return to Cybertron and complete his mission of eradicating the Autobots. But while on Earth he is dedicated to eliminating those Autobots marooned here with him - and his plans go far beyond that. He realizes the Earth is one huge stockpile of metal and fuel resources and means to possess it all, with the aid of his fellow Decepticons. But his plans go even further, plans so grandiose even his fellow Decepticons are unaware: Megatron intends to enslave the entire human race. He allows no exceptions to his motto. Abilities: Megatron is incredibly powerful and intelligent, the equal of Autobot Leader Optimus Prime. His fusion cannon can convert any small amount of matter into large quantities of explosive nuclear energy. The cannon can fire a blast up to 12 miles and release enough energy to flatten a small town. Megatron can use his internal circuitry to connect the cannon interdimensionally with a black hole, where it can draw on anti-matter as its power source. The blast from this is far greater, but it creates a tremendous strain on Megatron to do this for even one blast. Weaknesses: Megatron has no known weaknesses. Weaknesses: Megatron has no known weaknesses.

Generations: MEGATRON is the embodiment of the next Generation of Transformer technology: the Double Pretender! Faced with his own survival and the survival of the Decepticon legacy, MEGATRON upgrades with an impenetrable outer shell that combines cybernetically reinforced superstructure and Cybertronic alloy to ensure victory on the battlefield! : MEGATRON is the embodiment of the next Generation of Transformer technology: the Double Pretender! Faced with his own survival and the survival of the Decepticon legacy, MEGATRON upgrades with an impenetrable outer shell that combines cybernetically reinforced superstructure and Cybertronic alloy to ensure victory on the battlefield! MEGATRON also harnesses the power of his robot partner, the enigmatic Mini-Con SPACEWARP. A displaced explorer, SPACEWARP's innate spacebridge abilities give MEGATRON valuable mobility as well as added firepower as she can connect her Transwarp Blaster mode to any distant singularity in the mapped galaxies. Robots who stand in MEGATRON's way ought to beware, he's in no mood for distractions! Robots who stand in MEGATRON's way ought to beware, he's in no mood for distractions!

Reception

Megatron has been parodied by such shows as Frank TV,[1] Scrubs, Robot Chicken, Drawn Together, Family Guy and MAD. Frank Welker reprised his role for some of Megatron's parodic appearances.

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

American football player Calvin Johnson is nicknamed "Megatron".[2]

At BotCon 2010, Hasbro named Megatron as one of the first five robot inductees in the Transformers Hall of Fame.[3]

Wizard Magazine rated Megatron the 68th greatest villain of all time.[4]

Animated series

The Transformers

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. The Autobot victory began the Golden Age of Cybertron, but the Decepticons too eventually developed transformation, leading to the creation of Megatron. Gathering a small number of troops together, Megatron killed the Autobot leader. However, the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion reconstructed young robot Orion Pax into Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots as the war erupted again ("War Dawn"). The war drained Cybertron of most of its energy, necessitating that both factions seek out new worlds and new sources of power. Megatron and his forces attacked and boarded the Autobots' craft (named the Ark in Beast Wars, paralleling Marvel Comics' Ark.), causing it to crash on prehistoric Earth, entombing all on the ship in emergency stasis as it crashed into a dormant volcano. Upon awakening, Megatron and his Decepticons discovered that Earth was a world teeming with organic life and vast energy resources, more than enough to re-power Cybertron and allow the Decepticons to conquer it and other worlds. Over the following years, Megatron's schemes to obtain Earth's energies continued. Megatron even made a number of temporary alliances with the Autobots, although most of these alliances ended in double crosses.

Megatron conquered Cybertron by the Earth year 2005 in Transformers: The Movie. After hearing of an Autobot supply run, Megatron proceeded with an attack on Autobot City on Earth. Optimus Prime arrived there and confronted Megatron. Megatron mortally wounded Prime—but not before Prime delivered his own final blow to Megatron, severely damaging him and forcing the Decepticons to flee. On the return trip to Cybertron, it became necessary to jettison excess mass. Wounded Decepticons were set adrift in space - including Megatron. The world-devourer Unicron offered him a new body and new troops in exchange for cooperation in destroying the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Thus, Megatron is reformatted as Galvatron, while the rest of the wounded Deceptions were recycled into Galvatron's new warriors. Megatron would later appear in flashbacks, during the season three episodes "Five Faces of Darkness" Part 4, and "The Return of Optimus Prime" Part 1.

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

Beast Wars

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

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

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

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

This would not be the last time Generation 1 Megatron's influence would be felt. Observing how Primal boosted his own strength and form by holding the spark of Optimus Prime within his body, Beast Wars Megatron made the same move, purloining the spark of his ancestor and taking it into his own body, transforming as a result into a monstrous dragon.

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

Although the producers attempted to get Frank Welker to reprise his role as Megatron for his recording on the Golden Disk, he was unavailable. As a result, during his cameo appearance in Beast Wars, Generation 1 Megatron was voiced by series regular Gary Chalk, who also provided the voice of the heroic Maximal leader Optimus Primal.

Transformers Animated

The Generation 1 Megatron made a cameo in the pilot of the Transformers Animated series on a historical video being viewed by Optimus Prime. This historical video was stock footage from the original animated series. However, he is distinct from the Megatron of Transformers: Animated, despite the Animated version of the character being heavily based on the original.

Universe flash cartoon

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

Transformers: Combiner Wars

Megatron appears in Transformers: Combiner Wars as the leader of the defunct Decepticons, having engaged Optimus Prime in a final duel in which the last scene revealed in Optimus' promotional video saw a defeated Megatron encouraging Optimus to finish him off. Optimus refused to do so, which Megatron perceived as cowardice; the ensuing peace treaty saw them both exiled, with Megatron seeing the peace as a lost cause. Despite this, Megatron came to terms with his exile and relished it, defeating enemies in an arena on a planet later described as "dead." After defeating three of the Constructicons in battle, Megatron was surprised to be approached by both Optimus and Windblade; Megatron complimented the former Cityspeaker on her apparent transition from Cityspeaker to killer, angering the once peaceful native of Caminus. Megatron taunted his former rival, claiming that Optimus couldn't live without war and thus sought to reignite their old conflict, which Megatron had no interest in doing.

After briefly fighting with his old foe and taking a few blows from Windblade, during which he continued to taunt the pair, Megatron finally heard something that piqued his interest: the Council of Worlds, including his hated former underling Starscream, possessed the Enigma of Combination. Hating the very idea of Starscream possessing the powerful relic, Megatron agreed to join their cause, though it didn't stop him from mocking Prime's old rallying crying before assuming his tank mode and departing the arena with his unlikely new allies. Seemingly unbeknownst to the trio, however, their conversation had been overheard by the defeated Constructicons. Megatron and his unlikely teammates made their way to the Council palace, with Megatron and Windblade intent on destroying the Enigma and killing the Council while Optimus refused to condone the latter course. Confronting the Council, Megatron shot Starscream and was then forced to join his teammates in facing the palace defenses, which inexplicably malfunctioned during the fight just before Devastator appeared.

Megatron ordered Devastator to stand down, but the Combiner refused, having tired of obeying Megatron's orders and being "torn apart" to suit Megatron's fears; after a brief clash with Megatron, Optimus, and Windblade, Devastator was then engaged by the arriving Victorion. The Council then unlocked the Enigma, which Starscream activated and used to enslave the battling Combiners and the lifeless forms of Menasor and Computron. Megatron applauded his former lieutenant for accomplishing what he himself would have done in Starscream's place: using the Enigma to shape himself "into the most powerful being in the universe." However, Megatron remained determined to kill Starscream, who accused him of not changing while Starscream had evolved; Megatron then realized that Starscream's plan had been to force Windblade down a violent path in order to get all the Combiners together so he could control them. He attempted to flee as Starscream went insane through the sheer power he had attempted to commandeer, and then watched with Optimus as Windblade fell before Starscream's attack before turning his attention to them.

Books

Battle for Earth Megatron, Shockwave and Rumble on the cover of the book

Megatron appeared in the following books:

Ladybird Books

Listen 'n Fun

Megatron appeared in the 1985 Listen 'n Fun story Sun Raid.[7]

Marvel Books

Megatron is featured in the 1984 Marvel Books story Battle for Cybertron.[8]

Megatron appeared in the 1985 Marvel books story Battle for Earth.[9]

Modern Publishing

Megatron was featured in the 1993 Transformers: Generation 2 coloring book "Decepticon Madness" by Bud Simpson.[10]

Comics

3H Enterprises

Megatron would also appear in several BotCon comic sagas, written principally by Simon Furman. His story Reaching the Omega Point indicates that the Autobot-Decepticon alliance established in the conclusion of the Generation 2 comics didn't last and that Megatron eventually became Galvatron. In a prelude story The last days of Optimus Prime, Prime, feeling that there is no longer a place for him within the new Cybertron, journeys to J'nwan—a quasi-mystical realm—and is greeted peacefully by Megatron. In the Beast Wars future in which the story takes place, the greatest Autobots and Decepticons have passed on to J'nwan, where they can finally live in peace.

Megatron also featured prominently in Alignment, Simon Furman's take on what happened after the Generation 2 comic. In this story Megatron was defeated for command of the Decepticons by Galvatron II (the US comics version) and left for dead. Soundwave had revived his master. Megatron took a fleet of scavenged Warworlds to face the Liege Maximo. He was destroyed by Maximo's arm cannon; he unleashed an energon-fueled blast which destroyed the Maximo. This sets up the Pax Cybertronia and the evolution of the Autobots and Decepticons into Maximals and Predacons. Whether this story is reconcilable with "Reaching the Omega Point", or whether it is even part of the Transformers canon is debatable.

Binaltech

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

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

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

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

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

Devil's Due Publishing

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

Megatron was locked in gun mode, and kept by Cobra Commander. When Optimus Prime broke free of the controls, Megatron convinced his keeper to free him to fight Optimus. Wounded by the Autobots and a malfunctioning orbiting weapons system, Megatron was eventually defeated and believed destroyed. In reality much of his body remained and the US government studied his workings to advance their own projects in military super computers.

In the third volume of the series, it was revealed that the US Government had created the android Serpentor (or, as he is called here, Serpent O.R., standing for Organic Robot) using DNA from great historical war leaders and parts from Megatron. Serpentor succeeded where Megatron had failed, and captured Optimus Prime. But Serpentor's exposure to the Matrix, possession by Cobra Commander and subsequent destruction left Megatron's legacy unfulfilled.

Dreamwave Productions

In the 21st Century reimagining of the Generation 1 universe by Dreamwave Productions, Megatron was envisioned as an ancient gladiatorial combatant in the depths of Cybertron's underworld. As victory upon victory mounted, he began to realize that the games were nothing more than an elaborate attempt by the Cybertronian elders to hide the truth of Cybertron's history from the masses. When Megatron attempted to gain access to that knowledge through exploration and research, the Cybertronian elders attempted to have him assassinated—a plan that only resulted in stirring up even more discontent among Cybertronians which allowed Megatron to begin recruiting for the Decepticon movement. It is known that at one point Megatron attempted to recruit Grimlock as one of his inner circle, but the fellow gladiator refused the position, eventually joining the Autobots.

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

Four million years ago, when Autobots aboard the Ark saved Cybertron from an asteroid, Decepticons invaded. The craft flew through one of the Spacebridge portals, and was transported to prehistoric Earth, where it crashed, entombing the occupants in stasis for four million years. The Autobots and Decepticons were reactivated in 1984. In 1999, an Autobot/human military alliance succeeded in capturing and deactivating the Decepticons. However, the Ark II, the spaceship carrying them back to Cybertron, exploded, and the Transformers then lay in stasis-lock on Earth for three years. Adam Rook, a rogue military scientist, salvaged many of them and reprogrammed them as mass killing machines, which he then attempted to sell on the black market. Megatron was first to break free of Rook's control. He captured Rook and unleashed a technorganic virus designed to transform all of Earth into a new Cybertron. Megatron unleashed Devastator on San Francisco in a mass slaughter but was defeated by Autobots.

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

The Dreamwave version of Megatron would also appear in a trilogy of iBooks by David Cian set in the main Dreamwave Generation 1 universe: Hardwired, Annihilation and Fusion. In the series, Megatron and Prime were abducted by the alien Keepers and forced to fight in gladiatorial battles. They began working together to return to Earth, where Megatron would predictably attempt to seize their power for himself by uniting with the Autobots to stop the Keepers in return for a favor—which turned out to be asking Optimus to make him the next Prime. While this trilogy is set in the same universe as the Dreamwave stories, whether they fit into the continuity is unclear.

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

Fun Publications

Megatron has been depicted in numerous stories by Fun Publications in different continuties. He has appeared in their Classicverse and Wings of Honor settings.

Classicverse

Fun Publications comics The Autobots confront Megatron incomics

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

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

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

Megatron appears in At Fight's End talking to Ratchet as he has Bludgeon assassinated by the Seacons.

Beast Wars Shattered Glass by Fun Publications Seawing, Snaptrap, Dirge, Megatron, Skalor and Overbite inby Fun Publications

Megatron appears in Beast Wars Shattered Glass by Fun Publications. In this story Ultra Magnus and the Autobots aboard the Graviton battle Megatron and the Decepticons aboard the Talon. Both ships are pulled through a vortex into the past of Shattered Glass Earth. Crashing they discover that dangerous energon readings outside the ship will place them in stasis lock. The Autobots devise organic alternate modes to protect them from the energon. The Decepticons create energon-absorbing armor for protection. Megatron takes on the alternate form of a tank.[11] Ultra Magnus and his Autobots discover that their ship's high security storage rooms were damaged in the crash and the Autobot bodies in stasis pods were lost. They head out to recover the pods when they are attacked by Dirge and Seawing. They find the pods, but also discover that Megatron has gotten to them first. He's converted the three Autobots into Autojetter, Autolauncher and Scylla, who are loyal to him. The Decepticons attack the Autobots, who are only saved thanks to the intervention of Depth Charge. Ultra Magnus orders the retreat, as there is nothing left for them to recover. Depth Charge informs the Autobots of his mission to save the multiverse.[12]

Wings of Honor

Megatron also appears in the Wings of Honor series stories by Fun Publications. This series is set in the 1980's Transformers animated series setting.

On ancient Cybertron Megatron defeated Deathsaurus in combat for leadership of the Decepticons. He orders the combiner technology that he caputures from Deathsaurus to be used on the Constructions. Megatron then attacks Iacon with his new weapon, Devastator.[13]

Renegade Rhetoric

The Renegade Rhetoric Facebook page later featured a story in which a version of Megatron transformed himself and his followers into the new GoBots after invading an alternate reality. They also turned Optimus Prime into an evil shadow of his former self using a Brainwave Scanner device, only for the new "Nemesis Prime" to turn against his supposed leader.

Of Master and Mayhem

Pretender Megatron in Fun Publication comics

In "Of Master and Mayhem", Megatron becomes a Pretender with Spacewarp as his partner. After the destruction of Cybertron by the Mayhem Attack Squad, Megatron fled to Earth.

IDW Publishing

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

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

Kiss Players

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

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

Manga

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

With his transformation into Galvatron, Megatron departed from the Japanese Generation 1 continuity (which took a different direction after the end of series 3, opting to replace the events of The Rebirth with those of Headmasters), until five years later, in the manga-exclusive storyline, Battlestars: The Return of Convoy, which, although not animated itself (told instead through one chapter of manga and color magazine spreads), continues the tale of the cartoon Universe.

In the previous Japanese-exclusive animated series, Transformers: The Headmasters, Galvatron had been apparently destroyed when he was buried on an iceberg. In the "Return of Convoy" storyline, a new evil force named Dark Nova recovers Galvatron's body, and restores him to life as Super Megatron (who transformed into a futuristic jet), pitting him against Star Convoy (the reborn Optimus Prime) and his Autobots.

Super Megatron subsequently gets an upgrade to Ultra Megatron, and for the final battle, merges with Dark Nova himself, becoming Star Giant. In the Japanese Generation 2 manga, he was shown to have survived and, in a body resembling his "Hero" toy, once again opposed Optimus Prime.

Marvel Comics

The Transformers by Marvel Comics Megatron and Shockwave inby Marvel Comics

Megatron's beginnings are much simpler in the world of Marvel Comics—here, rising from his beginnings as a gladiator for the city-state of Tarn, Megatron and the Decepticons were the ones who developed transformation first, using it to begin the war against the Autobots, who fought back by mimicking the technology. Eventually, Cybertron was shaken from its orbit and fell into the path of an asteroid cluster. This would result in the Ark venturing out and then crashing into prehistoric Earth. Four million years later, in 1984, the Transformers were reawakened, and Megatron was defeated twice by Prime.

Although Megatron became absent from US comics at this point, he continued to appear in the UK comics, which would eventually tie in to the US storyline. Prior to Megatron's apparent death, there had been a story in Marvel UK #99 which after being attacked by the Predacons had seen both him and Prime transported to Cybertron. The disembodied local Decepticon leader, Lord Straxus, attempted to possess Megatron's body as his own had been mostly destroyed in a battle with Blaster. The attempt failed as Prime and Ultra Magnus defeated Megatron as the two minds warred for dominance. With the now insane Megatron threatening to destroy Polyhex with his antimatter powers, Ratbat teleported him back to Earth with amnesia in time for his US "death" in issue #25.

However, unbeknown to all, Straxus made another attempt with a specially crafted clone of Megatron created from a regular trooper, which was transported to Earth soon after the real Megatron vanished. The clone believed itself to be the real thing and was salvaged by Shockwave, who brainwashed the clone and unleashed it on Galvatron, a recreated future version of Megatron who had traveled back in time. However, the clone and Galvatron teamed up to battle Autobots and Decepticons from both present and future in the apocalyptic "Time Wars". Subsequently, the clone returned to Cybertron, where it was confronted with the real Megatron—the Space bridge explosion had deposited him in the Dead End region of Cybertron. The clone subsequently destroyed itself to prevent Straxus, buried inside its mind, from taking over.

At this point, Megatron appeared once again in the US comic. He captured Ratchet and forced him to recreate Starscream as a Pretender, reprogrammed to serve Megatron without question. Ratchet did so, but also restored Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee as Pretenders in the same manner, as well as arranging for Starscream's old personality to resurface, thwarting Megatron's scheme. When Megatron then attempted to flee through a trans-time dimensional portal, Ratchet tackled him as his base then exploded around them. Although both were at first presumed dead, an effort by Nightbeat to locate Ratchet found the two alive but fused together. They were separated, sedated, and placed in storage. Soon after, The Ark was stolen by Shockwave and Starscream (as well as a stowaway Galvatron from a parallel universe). Grimlock, unaware of Megatron's presence in storage, reactivated the Ark's store of Transformers, including Megatron. The latter promptly reunited with Galvatron. During their battle on board with Shockwave, the Ark crashed on Earth and supposedly killed all on board.

In the Generation 2 comic book series, Megatron returned in the comics with an M1 Abrams tank mode despite his seeming demise.

In the course of its run, the UK comics produced several stories which do not fit into the continuity of the Generation 1 storyline, instead branching off in their own direction. For example, after the first disappearance of Ratchet and Megatron, a disparate continuity of storylines based around the "Earthforce"—a team of Autobots based on Earth—began, which saw Megatron and Shockwave establishing a joint leadership of the Decepticons only to have command usurped by Starscream and Soundwave.

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

TFcon comics

Megatron appeared in the 2006 TransformersCon voice actor play. Voices in the play were performed by a variety of volunteers and the actual voice actors attending the convention. The play itself should be considered unofficial, but was notable because it featured several original voice actors reprising their Transformers roles. In this voice actor play various Transformers from different timelines and realities were swept up in a repeat wave and transported along with Unicron to Earth. The Transformers included Generation 1 Tracks, Ariel, Cosmos and Megatron, Beast Wars Tarantulas, Robots in Disguise Sky-Byte and Beast Machines Tankor.

Transformers: Mosaic

Megatron appeared in the Transformers: Mosaic story "Butcher of the Bogs" by Optimutt.[14]

Games

Megatron has appeared in numerous Transformers video games.

Megatron appeared as a final boss in Transformers Battle Circuit, a simple Flash-based video game on the Hasbro web site.[15]

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

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

Megatron, Shockwave and Ravage are the three Decepticon figures available to play in the Monopoly Transformers Collectors Edition game.[16]

Toys

Hasbro Transformers Megatron (1984)

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

Generation 1 Action Master Megatron (1990)

An original mold.

Generation 2 Megatron (1993)

An original mold. Recolored into Beast Wars II Megastorm.

Generation 2 Combat Hero Megatron (1994)

An original mold. Recolored into Generation 2 Archforce and Robots in Disguise Destructicon Bludgeon.

Generation 2 Go-Bot Megatron (1995)

A recolor of Generation 2 Blowout.

Machine Wars Megatron (1997)

An original mold. Recolored into Machine Wars Megaplex.

Smallest Megatron (2003)

An original mold.

Robot Masters Reverse Convoy (2005)

A remold of Generation 2 Combat Hero Megatron released by Takara.

Classic Voyager Megatron (2006)

An original mold released in 2006. Transformed into a Nerf Maverick REV-6 replica - the first Megatron toy in over two decades to have a gun mode.

Classic Deluxe Megatron (2006)

An original mold that turns into a tank. Packaged with the Classic Deluxe Optimus Prime figure.

Masterpiece Megatron (2007)

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

Titanium 6 inch War Within Megatron (2007)

An original mold inspired by Megatron's appearance in the Dreamwave Productions War Within stories.

Universe Legends Megatron (2008)

An original mold that turns into a tank.

Universe Deluxe Special Edition Megatron (2008)

A recolor of Classic Deluxe Megatron in Generation 1 colors.

Universe G2 Megatron (unreleased)

This figure would have been a remold of Universe 2008 Galvatron in an homage to Generation 2 Megatron; it would also have come with a replica of a sword included in the original Takara Megatron figure. [17]

Reveal the Shield Legends Megatron (2011)

An original mold. Turns into a handgun.

Generations GDO Voyager Megatron (2012)

A remold and recolor of Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon. An Asia exclusive.[18]

Generations Deluxe Megatron (2013)

A new mold. Turns from robot to stealth bomber. Comes with a free IDW comic book.[19]

Generations TG-15 Orion Pax vs. Megatron (2013)

A Takara Tomy toy. Includes recolors of Generations Deluxe Orion Pax and Megatron.

Generations Legends Megatron with Chopshop (2013)

A new mold. Megatron turns into a tank, while Chopshop turns from robot to beetle or weapon for Megatron.

Generations TG Megatron with Chopshop and Starscream with Waspinator (2013)

A Takara Tomy toy. Includes recolors of Generations Legenda Megatron with Chopshop and Starscream with Waspinator.

Generations Combiner Wars Leader Megatron

Hasbro Transformers Timelines' Double Pretender Megatron with Spacewarp (2016)

A recolor of the Generations Legends Megatron and Payload. Comes with a recolor of the Grand Maximus Pretender shell. Fun Publications originally intended to use Grand Maximus sword with this toy, but they were told it was unavailable, instead using the a sword from Titans Return.

Titans Return Megatron with Doomshot (unreleased)

A new Triple Changer figure with tank and jet alternate modes and a Titan Master partner.

Several parts for Megatron are available on Shapeways.

Gallery

Generation 1 Megatron and X-Transbots Apollyon in robot mode

Henkei Megatron with Kingbat

Promotional photos of Laser and Buzzer being used by Shadow Commander, Generations Optimus Prime and Henkei Megatron