Megatron (2024)

Megatron is the main antagonist of Transformers and is leader of the Decepticons.

Transformers Cinematic Universe[]

In the 2007 live-action Transformers film, Megatron's alternate mode is a Cybertronian jet. The apparent explanation for the departure from his gun form is that director Michael Bay does not want to include any sort of size changing in the transformations, which the writers described as "cheating".^[1] (This significant change in size is known in Transformers fan communities as "mass shifting" and "mass displacement".) In one of the special features on the DVD, G1 Megatron's transformation was likened to Darth Vader turning into his own lightsaber to be wielded by another person. Additionally, Bay states in the DVD that Megatron's face was originally different from the one shown in the film, but he asked it to be redesigned due to fans reacting with strong opposition to it once Megatron's design was unveiled before the film was completed.^[2]

In the second film, Megatron gains an alternate mode, that of a Cybertronian flying tank. In the third film, Megatron receives another alternate mode, that being a Mack 10-wheeler tanker truck (a demented version of Optimus Prime's alternate mode) with a tarp which may act as a cowl to partially hide Megatron's face due to extensive damage he received in the second film. After his death in the third film, he returns in the fourth movie, where his consciousness possesses Galvatron, a man-made Transformer created by KSI, and transforms into a 2014 Freightliner Argosy cab over truck.

Actor Hugo Weaving provides the voice of Megatron in the first three films. His voice in the series seems to have been modulated to give it a deeper, growling tone as well as the other voice actors. The original voice of Megatron, Frank Welker, provides his voice for the 2007 and 2009 video games, the exclusive animated prequel and The Last Knight.^[3]

Like all characters in the film, Megatron was redesigned for purposes of realism and focus on the alien aspect of the Transformer race. However, he still retains some minor aspects of his Generation 1 design. As shown in the first film, he can transform his right hand into his iconic fusion cannon, and can also transform his right arm into a steel flail. In the second film, after Megatron's resurrection, his right arm could transform into a fusion cannon, coupled with a lobster claw-like blade/crushing device. In the third film, Instead of using a fusion cannon integrated into either of his arms, he uses a handheld version of it, which resembles a human shotgun, specifically a Lupara. In the fifth film, Megatron once again uses a fusion cannon integrated into his right arm as well as utilizing a handheld sword resembling a Congolese short sword.Template:Original research inline

According to an early interview with Michael Bay, Megatron stands at 41 feet (12m) tall,^[4] but according to his profile in the second issue of the Transformers UK comic Megatron stands "35 feet (11m) tall" and weighs 8.6 tons. Additionally, the magazine and the Movie Guide states he is powered by a self-regenerating dark matter power core. Hasbro has now said that Megatron officially stands 35 feet and weighs in at 5.7 metric tons.

BotCon Malaysia 2007 featured a parking space which was "Reserved for Megatron". A car parked in the space had been totaled, presumably by the Decepticon leader for taking his spot.^[5]

Films[]

:Main article: Transformers (film series)

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

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

Megatron returns in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. In the three years since the events of Revenge of the Fallen, Megatron has been hiding out in Africa healing his wounds, and taking care of the hatchlings.^[6] In the film, it is revealed that Megatron allied himself with Sentinel Prime in an attempt to revitalize Cybertron. Soundwave and Laserbeak inform him of the Autobot's discovery of the Ark ship on the moon, and orders them to kill their human allies. When Sentinel reveals his true intentions to the Autobots, Megatron arrives in Washington, D.C. to meet with him. After blasting the statue of Abraham Lincoln and using it as a throne, he witnesses Sentinel activate his Space Bridge to bring his Decepticon forces to Earth. During the invasion of Chicago, Sentinel violently demoralizes Megatron after the latter makes a suggestion of how they will rule Cybertron together after it has arrived through the Space Bridge. When Cybertron appears in the Earth's atmosphere, Megatron shows a rare example of sadness and regret. Towards the end of the battle, Megatron is convinced by Carly Spencer that Sentinel will take all of the power and credit for revitalizing Cybertron for himself. Angered, Megatron turns on Sentinel and severely damages him, declaring that the Earth is his planet to rule. When Cybertron's trip through the Space Bridge fails, Megatron slyly proposes a truce to Optimus, so long as he remains in charge of the Decepticon forces. But the Autobot leader, knowing that Megatron would not give in so easily, denies the offer and attacks him, overpowering him and ripping Megatron's head off with an axe, finally killing him. Shortly after, Optimus uses Megatron's shotgun to execute Sentinel.

In Transformers: Age of Extinction, it is revealed Megatron's mind is actually still alive and in stasis inside his severed head. A few years after the Battle of Chicago, Megatron's remains are acquired by KSI, who are attempting to forge their own Transformers with "transformium". Their CEO Joshua Joyce forces Brains to download information from Megatron's head, which the Decepticon leader silently allows so Joshua will gain the information needed to succeed, which will grant Megatron access to a new body. Megatron then infects and possesses the unit Galvatron. He then pretends to obey orders, only to finally defy his creators at the film's climax and accept his new identity and rebirth.

Megatron returns in Transformers: The Last Knight, reborn, having discarded his identity as Galvatron and having gained new body that resembles a Dark Knight, and taken a new vehicle mode in the form of a Cybertronian jet, though how remains unspecified in the film (though it is hinted that Quintessa, the creator of Cybertronians, is responsible for his new form). He first appears when Barricade reports to him that Cade Yeager has received the talisman carried by the Cybertronian knight Steelbane. He then decides to use the TRF (Transformers Reaction Force) to lead him to Cade. Megatron also kidnaps two CIA agents to bargain for the release of a new "crew" to help him hunt Yeager. Upon meeting with William Lennox, Megatron successfully bargains for the release of Mohawk, Dreadbot, Nitro Zeus, and Onslaught (only settling for the latter after his first choice, the maniacal Berserker, is refused) to hunt Yeager and the Autobots. Megatron then goes after Cade, and attacks his hideout, but Cade and his companions lure Megatron into a trap, killing all the Decepticons except him, Barricade and Nitro Zeus. Forced to retreat, Megatron later sends Barricade after Cade and Bumblebee, but his plan is thwarted and he instead follows Cade, Bumblebee and Viviane Wembly to the submerged ship of the Knights of Iacon, where Quintessa's Staff of Life, once wielded by Merlin, is hidden. When Optimus Prime steals the staff as Nemesis Prime, Megatron steals it himself and takes it to Stonehenge, where he uses it to open a portal that will allow Quintessa to destroy the Earth (revealed to be Unicron) before killing Sir Edmund Burton and facing off against the Autobots and Optimus in battle. Megatron is eventually defeated by Optimus during the melee over the staff when he has his arm sliced off and is kicked out of Quintessa's chamber into thin air.

Transformers: EarthSpark[]

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Megatron appears as a supporting character in the animated series Transformers: EarthSpark, voiced by Rory McCann.

After the war between Autobots and Decepticons is over, Megatron abandons his evil ambitions and forms a truce with the Autobots, Joining the G.H.O.S.T. organization, which is meant to be the bridge between humans and Transformers, alongside Optimus Prime and Elita-1. despite their differences and occasional arguments, Megatron is on good terms with the Autobot leader, he also cares for the Decepticons and concerned for their well-being, despite some of them believing he has betrayed them.

Trivia[]

• The animation design for Megatron in Transformers: Ascension is loosely inspired by his counterparts from Prime, Armada.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Transformers wiki
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Prime#Transformers_film_series_2