Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity
Humiliated but never humbled, Megatron's tale in Marvel Comics is one of survival against all odds!
Marvel The Transformers comics
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Four million years ago, Megatron was a sports hero in the dictator-run city-state of Tarn, both as a gladiator in the Games and a renowned marksman in the IntraFormers Sharpshooting Competition. In both instances, he competed against Iacon's Optimus Prime. State Games Sureshot's Transformers Universe entry Unknown to anyone, he had wider ambitions: he wanted to establish a vast empire in space, with Cybertron as a mobile battle-station! State Games The Transformers
Megatron became famous in the arena for his incredible brutality: instead of a ritualised show, he just kicked the crap out of people and everyone loved it! Most did not spot that Megatron was deliberately working the crowd to gain support. Optimus had to intervene in a Tarn match to stop Megatron from actually killing Sunstreaker with his energy axe. When the Vos-Tarn war broke out, Megatron decided to head for Iacon to further his ambitions and teamed up with Optimus, who was escorting the Overlord to safety. En route, he picked up a fusion cannon from a dead soldier. When Optimus left Megatron to guard the aging figurehead, Megatron left him to die; the Overlord's bodyguard Ravage went with him, seeing him as a future leader in the making.
Once in Iacon, he started the Decepticons out of the war's bitter survivors: he knew they needed someone to blame and pointed them at Iacon. State Games The Autobots initially believed the 'Cons were just cranks Legion of the Lost! but Megatron and the Decepticons developed the ability of transformation, using it to begin the war against the Autobots. The Transformers Many of the Autobots, completely unprepared for Megatron's initial strike, fell in battle. Optimus was barely able to form a cohesive army to fight back in time to save his kind from a total genocide. Once upon a Time... The Autobots eventually managed to fight back by mimicking the Decepticons' transformation technology. Megatron declared his intent to transform Cybertron into a "cosmic dreadnought" to conquer the universe. The Transformers However, he would only get as far as building massive engines deep beneath the planet's surface. Legion of the Lost! His Decepticons included Tarn and Vos's former leaders, Shockwave and Starscream, State Games and that surely could not come back to bite him!
Stanix was one of the first regions Megatron managed to conquer. The Magnificent Six!
Megatron wanted to plunder whatever High Circuitmaster Boltax was working on but the neutral was protected by a treaty. The instant he saw Optimus heading there, violating the agreement, he took the opportunity to storm the Temple of Knowledge. Boltax and all his disciples were killed and the planet's superdatabase, the Underbase, almost taken. In order to keep the Underbase out of Megatron's hands, Optimus Prime destroyed the temple and launched the Underbase into space. The Flames of Boltax!
After the death of Sentinel Prime, Megatron's troops poised themselves around the Autobot capital city of Iacon, slowly disintegrating its defenses. Emirate Xaaron chose Optimus Prime, a warrior, to take the Council of Autobot Elders's place as leader of the Autobot forces. Optimus Prime and Megatron's armies then met in battle, and Megatron's forces were defeated when the Autobots detonated a bridge underneath their feet. This failed to keep Megatron down for long, however. And There Shall Come...a Leader!
In time, the war grew so fierce that Cybertron itself was shaken from its orbit, and set adrift in the cosmos. Eventually, over a thousand years after Megatron's war had begun,<ref>The length of the war is given as "over a thousand years" in Marvel Comics #1, but it's said to be just a hundred years in Marvel UK's Legion of the Lost!, Part 1.</ref> the planet fell into the path of an asteroid cluster in the Sol system that threatened to destroy it, and so Optimus Prime led a contingent of his troops in the Ark to reduce the asteroids to rubble, saving Cybertron. The plan was a success, but immediately afterwards, Megatron and his troops attacked, forcing Optimus Prime to crash the Ark into prehistoric Earth. The Transformers Cold Comfort and Joy!
Four million years later, in 1984, the Transformers were reawakened, and Megatron immediately set about trying to locate a source of fuel for the Decepticons. The Transformers After having his troops construct a fortress out of a nuclear power plant, Megatron found that they were unable to withdraw usable fuel from it. Overhearing the Autobots' plan to have new ally Sparkplug Witwicky develop usable fuel out of Earth gasoline, Megatron's forces engaged the Autobots in a battle which ended in the kidnapping of the human. Power Play! Cold Comfort and Joy! Back at their fortress, Megatron forced him to develop a conversion process. Megatron soon found his Decepticons and his base of operations under siege by the Autobot Gears and a strange super-powered human named Spider-Man. Despite Spider-Man's webbing proving to be of little use against the might of Megatron, the pair escaped with Sparkplug. However, the mechanic had already managed to convert Earth fuel into usable energy for the Decepticons, and given them the means to implement this process. Prisoner of War!
After an argument with Megatron, Starscream left their headquarters and set about on a plan to position himself above Megatron in the eyes of his comrades. Ravage, sent by Megatron to spy on Starscream, was discovered overhearing Starscream's treachery, and so Starscream tried to eliminate the elusive jaguar. This enraged Megatron, who punished Starscream with a Trial by Combat against the Autobot Brawn. The Enemy Within! Soon, Megatron and the full fury of the Decepticons under his command laid siege to the Ark itself, but his attack was stopped short by a malfunctioning Auntie, the Ark's computer system. Captured with Optimus Prime in a stasis field, Auntie's fatal intentions towards them prompted Megatron to activate his rarely-used ability to tap into the power of a black hole. This proved unnecessary after Ravage and Windcharger saved them, so Megatron moved to use his cosmic power on Prime—until Windcharger magnetically launched him out of the Ark and into the stratosphere. Raiders of the Last Ark
At some point, Soundwave devised a plan to create energy by overloading Sherman Dam with a tidal wave. The Autobots arrived to thwart the Decepticons and Megatron faced Optimus Prime in a one-on-one duel on top of the dam. When Prime was distracted by Hound, Megatron knocked him into the river below, then transformed into gun mode and destroyed the dam itself. Decepticon Dam-Busters!
Fully fueled with the fuel developed by Sparkplug, Megatron was able to laugh off a full-scale assault by the US Army. Less amusing were Starscream's continuing attempts to undermine his leadership, which Megatron answered with a nasty fusion cannon blast. With the Autobots lacking their own source of fuel and the Decepticons at full strength, Megatron led a full-scale assault on the Ark. The empowered Decepticons soon overcame the Ark's five remaining defenders; Megatron himself took down Optimus Prime—only to collapse himself a moment later! Though Sparkplug had been forced to develop fuel for the Decepticons, he had also secretly poisoned it, deactivating all the remaining Decepticons. Megatron's last sight before going offline was... the explosive arrival of Shockwave, who defeated the Autobots with a single blast. The Last Stand
Megatron awoke in a repair harness, undergoing restoration at the hands of Shockwave - who now considered himself leader of all Decepticons, including Megatron. Chastened by Shockwave's dissection of his defeat, Megatron just barely managed to restrain his outrage at being casually usurped. The New Order Chafing under Shockwave's command, Megatron impudently broke free from his repair harness before he was fully restored and attacked Shockwave, but in his still-injured state, he was soundly defeated. The Worse of Two Evils!
Megatron was eventually repaired, and assigned to guard duty within the Ark, wherein he stumbled onto Ratchet snooping about. Megatron's first impulse was to simply terminate the Autobot, but Ratchet parlayed with Megatron, claiming he had the means to rid him of Shockwave. Megatron allied himself with the medic, Warrior School! and the latter located and reactivated the Dinobots, who had defeated Shockwave in the past. Shown videos of the Dinobots bringing down and defeating Shockwave, Megatron headed out to a rendezvous with Ratchet, to turn over custody of the Ark—a deal he'd never intended to keep! As soon as he announced his intention to kill Ratchet, however, the Autobot loosed the Dinobots on Megatron. The Decepticon leader quickly dispatched them all, and challenged Ratchet to fight like a warrior himself. To his surprise, Ratchet was willing to sacrifice himself to knock Megatron off a cliff. Though seemingly fruitless, Ratchet's efforts caused the cliff to collapse, taking Megatron with it. He transformed to his smaller pistol mode in an attempt to survive the fall, and vanished. Repeat Performance!
Afterwards, Ratchet related the story of the battle at Sherman Dam to the Dinobots. Decepticon Dam-Busters! By this time, video footage of the Transformers' war became more and more accessible to the humans. Professor Morris showed footage of Megatron to Roxxon Oil executives in an unsuccessful bid to get them to fund his own giant robot research. The Icarus Theory
Despite Megatron's apparent demise, Grimlock became convinced that the Decepticon leader would one day re-emerge, and that he would be the one to down him in combat. He fantasized about such a scenario while dreaming in a coma state. Victory!
Eventually Megatron re-emerged, trapped in pistol mode, his higher brain functions disconnected. Used as a weapon by wannabe gangster Joey Slick, Megatron allowed the human to rise in infamy as a big-time crook with a "magic gun." But Megatron was eventually restored to his full working self after being tossed to the ground, the impact reconnecting his circuitry. Though he prepared to slaughter Slick for having the audacity of using him as a prop, the fleshling declared he was not longer afraid of anything, and stood his ground against the Decepticon. Megatron was impressed enough with Slick that he allowed him to live, and then lumbered away. Shooting Star! At this point, Megatron was desperately low on fuel and attacked a coal mine, finding the coal to be an unsuitable type of nourishment. He eventually completely ran out of fuel and froze in place. He was located by Soundwave, who brought him back online, and they subsequently entered into an alliance with the human Donny Finkleberg, who used the alias of "Robot-Master" to con humankind into thinking the Transformers worked for him. I, Robot-Master!
Megatron temporarily went into hiding, using Soundwave to spy on Shockwave as the Decepticons eavesdropped on Optimus Prime and Buster Witwicky's shared Matrix vision of the Special Teams. Subsequently, he decided that it was time to take back command of the Decepticons and challenged Shockwave to a battle at the Wyoming base—a battle that was narrated by Robot Master and broadcast to the world! When it became apparent that both combatants were too evenly matched, Soundwave interrupted them and their shared indignation at his impudence allowed them to put aside their differences for the time being. Second Generation!
At this time, Soundwave's signal finally reached Cybertron and Lord Straxus discovered that Megatron and the other Earthbound Decepticons were still alive. The Smelting Pool!
After an initial stand-off, Shockwave and Megatron entered into a period of shared leadership after having established contact with Straxus on Cybertron. The Bridge to Nowhere!
Megatron and the Decepticons were having fun rampaging through a human settlement when a strange energy blast reversed all of their personalities! The cruel robots became big softies, who apologized profusely as they did their best to fix up all the damage they had done. Megatron and Shockwave still debated who between themselves should lead the Decepticons, except both insisted the other was more qualified for the job! Once the blast's effects wore off, the Decepticons tracked its origin to England. They headed overseas to retaliate for what they assumed to be an Autobot trick. Though Starscream found the device responsible, a human invention called the "PARD," it was destroyed before he could take off with it. To a Power Unknown!
Megatron and about half of their troops left the Wyoming base expecting to meet a group of Decepticon reinforcements through the space bridge, but found that they had been supplanted by an Autobot resistance cell instead. Preparing to attack them, Megatron was informed that Optimus Prime's Autobots were assaulting the Wyoming base, leaving the Ark apparently undefended. Unable to resist the temptation to take it for himself Megatron instead directed his troops there, only to be utterly defeated by Omega Supreme. However, since Shockwave had allowed the Autobots to capture the secrets of Devastator, Megatron was able to spin the situation and reclaim his leadership. Command Performances!
So feared was Megatron by the Autobots that Skids once had a nightmare about facing off against the Decepticon leader, who laughingly annihilated him with a single fusion cannon blast. Showdown!
When the human reporter Joy Meadows threatened to expose the Decepticons' Robot Master hoax, Megatron led Soundwave and the Constructicons to pursue her, only to find that she was defended by the Dinobots and the human mechanoid Centurion. After a brief battle, Soundwave brought the conflict to a close by destroying all of Joy's incriminating footage. In the National Interest
A mysterious Decepticon called Galvatron, along with his henchmen Cyclonus and Scourge, entered the Decepticon camp and claimed he was the future Decepticon leader from the year 2006. Megatron found this preposterous, but though he tried to destroy the alleged impostor, he and Soundwave were buried under rubble by the powerful newcomers. Megatron was retrieved from the rubble by Ironhide, and he and the Autobots forged an uneasy alliance against Galvatron. This was still not enough, as Galvatron (who was revealed to be Megatron himself from the future) easily disposed of all of them, and was only deterred when he was tricked into believing he had traveled back in time to a past that would not become his own future. Once Galvatron had returned to his own time, Megatron set about calling in reinforcements from Cybertron. Target: 2006
With the space bridge once again operational, the Coneheads and Insecticons arrived from Cybertron to carry out Megatron's plan to steal energy from Hoover Dam. Taking control of the human Ricky Vasquez, the Decepticons had him take the dam's workers hostage, using Megatron in his gun mode as his weapon. While his troops stood guard, Megatron then had Cybertron send over a massive drill to drain out the dam's water, so as to funnel it into turbines which would provide the Transformer homeworld with power enough to last for years. But the newly built Aerialbots ran interference, buying Ricky enough time to break free of his mind-control and use Megatron to destroy the drill instead of the Autobots. Although Megatron was forced to pull back, Bombshell took the opportunity to steal a ride back to the Ark. Aerialbots over America! After Bombshell infected Optimus Prime with a cerebro-shell, Megatron was able to tap into the Autobot leader's connection to the Creation Matrix and use it to give life to his latest creations, the Stunticons. Heavy Traffic! Eager to engage Optimus Prime in a duel, Megatron recruited the Battlechargers from Cybertron to issue his challenge personally but Runabout and Runamuck disregarded their mission and went on a tour of America instead, until they were stopped by Circuit Breaker and her Autobot captives. Decepticon Graffiti!
Megatron summoned the Predacons to Earth with the intention of having them hunt down Optimus Prime, but Shockwave used the opportunity to try and remove Megatron from the picture. After trailing Prime through a forest and bringing him to his knees, the Predacons turned on Megatron, blindsiding him, stealing his fusion cannon, and absconding. Prey! When Megatron came to, he continued hunting Prime, but when the Autobot leader attacked him, he summoned the space bridge in hopes of escaping to Cybertron, only for Prime to be transported with him. On Cybertron, Megatron established contact with local Decepticon commander Lord Straxus, whose body had been destroyed by Blaster, leaving him a head floating in a jar. Megatron then set about leaking false information to the Autobot army, leading them to believe that Prime was really a Decepticon spy sent to infiltrate their ranks. ...The Harder They Die! Distant Thunder! Ratbat was sent out to spy on the Autobots to make sure Megatron's scheme was unfolding as planned, but he returned to inform Megatron that this was not the case; Prime had managed to escape the misinformed Autobots, and was now on the run. Frustrated, Megatron headed out to deal with matters himself. Under Fire!
Straxus soon came to consider the irrational Megatron a liability and sought to dispose of him by transplanting his mind into Megatron's body, giving him mobility again while trapping Megatron in his remains. Megatron resisted the transfer, however, and the process went awry, leaving both Straxus and Megatron's minds trapped in Megatron's body together. Outwardly, Megatron seemed to become more and more unstable as the two personalities inside him battled for control; when attacked by Prime and Ultra Magnus, he even proved desperate enough to use his antimatter manipulation powers, nearly destroying the entire Decepticon complex, until Ratbat activated the space bridge and sent him back to Earth. Straxus's consciousness fled Megatron's body, and Megatron himself was left with no memory of the whole affair. Resurrection!
Megatron saw the Dreadnoks' failed attempt to steal Power Station Alpha on television and set his own plan in motion to steal it for himself. Blood on the Tracks After he had assassinated Optimus, Megatron was confronted by Shockwave about the dangers of his emotional choices. Megatron seemed hardly aware of the conversation however, and strode about as though in a daze. Taking advantage of Megatron's stupor, Shockwave put forth his own plan to steal Power Station Alpha. Power Struggle
In order to attain possession of a new energy-generating device, the hydrothermocline, Megatron led his newly created Combaticons to Energy Futures Industries. Unexpectedly, he was met by Optimus Prime and the Protectobots, who had already evacuated most of the plant's personnel. In order to avoid collateral damage to their surroundings, and at the behest of a humans that had stayed behind, both faction leaders agreed to forego battling in the real world and instead dueled in the video game Multi-World. In order to have the battle have any meaning however, both Optimus and Megatron agreed that whichever one of them were to perish in the game would allow themselves to be destroyed in reality. Using a cheat code to continue the fight after he had lost, Megatron sneaked up on Optimus, and cornered him. Prime defeated Megatron again, but at the expense of some of the game's characters, and ruled himself the loser because he would not have committed such an act in real life. Afterdeath! Prime was destroyed, and Megatron's elation soon turned into paranoia, as he had not killed Prime with his own hands, and believed he could still be alive. Bringing the Predacons back to Earth, Shockwave had them pose as Autobots and attack Megatron in another attempt to remove his threat, but the plan failed when the deranged Megatron defeated even Predaking. Believing (correctly, as it would turn out) that Prime's mind could have been preserved on computer disk, Megatron descended into outright insanity, and boarded the space bridge, vowing to go where Prime could not follow—right before he blew it up with his fusion cannon, apparently killing himself. Gone but Not Forgotten! However, the explosion had merely deposited him in the Dead End region of Cybertron, where he wandered as an empty, with no recollection of who he was. The Resurrection Gambit!
Megatron's absence allowed a contingency plan arranged by Lord Straxus to be put into motion. In the event that his attempt to seize Megatron's body failed, Straxus had had a clone of Megatron created, complete with a copy of his brain patterns, into which his consciousness retreated following the previous debacle. Straxus lay dormant within the clone, which was activated following Megatron's seeming demise, and sent to Earth, to the sewers beneath London. Two Megatrons! There, the clone—believing itself to be the genuine article—battled the Autobots, Action Force, and the mechanoid Centurion, and wound up submerged in the River Thames. Ancient Relics!
Some time later, Shockwave found himself in need of a pawn to be used against Galvatron, a recreated future version of Megatron who had traveled back in time from the year 2006 and posed a threat to his leadership. His thoughts immedietaly turned to his era's Megatron. Enemy Action! The Megatron clone was salvaged by Shockwave, Salvage! who brainwashed it and used it to kill Cyclonus in a test run before unleashed it on his rival. Dry Run! The clone Megatron, however, saw a possible partner in Galvatron, Altered Image! and the two teamed up to battle Autobots and Decepticons from both present and future in the apocalyptic Time Wars. Time Wars Subsequently, the clone returned to Cybertron, where it defeated the ruling Decepticon Triumverate, The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire. but was then confronted with the real Megatron—who was still wandering incoherently through the Dead End until he had saved a Decepticon from Autobots and regained his memories. The Resurrection Gambit! Though Ravage and the Megatron clone at first welcomed the intrusion into their base, both being restless for some action, the pair were confounded when they realized who their visitor was. Ravage found himself unable to strike Megatron, and Megatron likewise found himself unable to harm his old comrade, leaving the Decepticon leader and his clone to sort things out between themselves. Mind Games As they clashed, Megatron revealed to his clone his true origin. Though Ravage balked at the possibility of him working under a false Megatron for months, the words rang true to the clone. At this moment, Straxus's mind made another attempt at taking over the clone's body. Megatron urged his duplicate to fight against the mental usurping, convincing him to destroy himself rather than loose Straxus onto Cybertron once more. Though Megatron was somewhat moved to see another "him" sacrifice himself, he assured Ravage that the Decepticons had achieved a victory in assuring that the true Megatron returned to Decepticon leadership. Two Megatrons!
While Megatron's Micromaster Air Strike Patrol created a diversion which pitted Optimus Prime's forces against Scorponok's, Megatron sent his Micromaster Sports Car Patrol to capture Ratchet from the Ark, bringing him to his base on Cybertron. Back from the Dead Threatening Ratchet with the destruction of the Ark and all of his patients aboard, Megatron forced him to recreate Starscream as a Pretender. The Resurrection Gambit! Ratchet did so, but also set about restoring Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee in the same manner. Unaware of Ratchet's contingency plan, Megatron sent the supposedly mind-wiped Starscream to Earth in order to destroy all of his enemies there, then revealed he planned to destroy the Ark, despite Ratchet's cooperation. By the time Megatron realized what had transpired without his knowledge, Ratchet's allies were fully operational once more, and charged the Decepticon leader together. All the Familiar Faces! Despite their upgrades, the Autobots were still no match for Megatron in terms of brute strength, and he summarily pitched all three of them out of his base. While his minions dealt with the Pretenders, Megatron chased down Ratchet, finding him manning the base's trans-time dimensional portal. Assuming the medic was attempting to escape, Megatron beat him to the ground. At gun-point, Ratchet revealed that he had thrown another spanner in the works: Starscream's personality had only been buried, not erased, and would soon surface once more to ruin Megatron's scheme. Additionally, Ratchet shared that he hadn't been seeking to escape; the portal had been activated to bring the explosives left on the Ark to Megatron's base! When Megatron then attempted to flee through the portal, Ratchet tackled him as the Decepticon's base exploded around them, apparently killing them both. Skin Deep
Soon after, however, Autobot detective Nightbeat discovered that the explosion had actually blown them through the portal, and he dispatched a probe to pull them back from the gaps between reality. However, when they rematerialized, it was revealed that the explosion had fused the two enemies together, into a hideous, twisted mockery of a being, Eye of the Storm which ran rampant through the Ark. The monstrosity toppled down all who got in its way, and severely damaged the Ark's systems before locking itself away in the main engine room. Optimus was forced to confront it alone, but couldn't find the strength to pull the trigger on the wretch. Even when the half that was Ratchet begged Optimus Prime to kill them, Prime could not go through with it, and had the Micromaster Fixit separate their bodies. Unfortunately, Fixit could not separate their minds, as they were bonded at a molecular level; one could not survive without the other. The Pri¢e of Life!
Their separated bodies lay in the Ark's medbay until Grimlock pumped them full of Nucleon, The Void! though the revitalizing effect took some time to help Ratchet and Megatron come to. Megatron awoke to find Galvatron II, another version of him from the future, wandering the halls of the Ark as it returned to Earth. Exodus! Galvatron II, driven to insanity, initially tried to kill Megatron to purge the memory of him that haunted his mind. Megatron was in no state to comprehend what was going on around him, and began interpreting Galvatron II's blows as coming from Ratchet.
Though Galvatron II and Megatron eventually came to terms with each other while beating up Shockwave (he and Starscream had stolen the ship), vowing to join forces and take over the galaxy, Ratchet doomed them all by igniting the Ark's engines and spiraling the Autobot spacecraft into the Earth below. A Savage Circle Megatron was presumed dead among the remains that constituted the crash site in northern Canada. The Last Autobot?
Robo-Capers
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At some point during the conflict on Earth, Megatron questioned why he should fear Swoop. In response, Swoop pooped on him. Robo-Capers, UK issue #87
Later, Megatron broke the fourth wall to introduce readers to the failed Transformers Trax, Goldtop, John, and Chiller. Robo-Capers, UK issue #97
Transformers Annual 1985
[edit]Realizing that their mission on Earth would be infinitely more difficult without capable human allies, Optimus attempted to open a dialogue with the American government. Megatron learned of this meeting through Soundwave's monitoring of Earth's communication network. Planning to sabotage any hope the Autobots had of forming a friendship with the humans, Megatron awakened the Insecticons, and tasked Ravage with guiding them through their test-run. Together, they would pretend to be Autobots and attack the President, leading him to believe Optimus Prime had always planned on betraying him. Plague of the Insecticons!
Upon discovering the existence of rare crystals that he could use to bring new Decepticons to life, Megatron captured an expedition team and put the humans to work excavating these crystals. The whole enterprise went belly-up when a group of Autobots shot Starscream out of the sky, sending the jet crashing down into the mine and destroying it utterly. His operation ruined, Megatron triggered a self-destruct mechanism and fled the scene, the impending explosion forcing the Autobots to rescue the humans instead of pursuing him. Hunted!
Marvel UK future timelines
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At some point in an alternate timeline, Ultra Magnus and Kup managed to evade Megatron while the latter was pursuing them through space near Beta Four by triggering a domino effect within an asteroid field, sending the space rocks hurling at one another until their fragments jammed the Decepticons' sensors. Judgment Day!
In an alternate 1990, Megatron was in control of Decepticon forces on Cybertron, including Bludgeon, Stranglehold, Octopunch, and Warmonger. After they captured a trio of Autobots, the heroes somehow managed to escape custody. They were recaptured, but Megatron realized there must be a traitor in his midst. Accusing Bludgeon of the crime, he attempted to beat the Pretender into confessing. Instead, Bludgeon demanded a Trial by Combat, as was his right as a Decepticon. Megatron agreed, and sent him out into the wreckage surrounding the base, with his three fellow Decepticons chasing after him, eager for the kill. Octopunch and Stranglehold both tried and failed to destroy Bludgeon, but Warmonger managed to get the drop on him. When Warmonger hesitated to kill a helpless foe, however, Megatron executed him as the REAL traitor. He then revealed this was his plan all along, to draw out the traitor by trusting in the sickeningly honorable Autobot Code to make the spy reveal himself. Megatron also made it clear he would have had no regrets if Bludgeon had died in the "testing" process. Aspects of Evil!
Megatron's forces succeeded in conquering all of Cybertron by the year 2005, relegating the Autobots to its two moons. When Laserbeak returned from a spying mission on Moonbase One, with information pertaining to an Energon run being made to Earth, Megatron led a boarding party to attack the Autobot shuttle partway to its destination. Forcing his way into the ship, he had Starscream wield him in gun mode to slay all aboard. Then, taking the shuttle to Autobot City on Earth, the Decepticons launched a surprise attack on the outpost. Megatron's forces were detected before they could infiltrate the city, provoking him into ordering the Constructicons to form Devastator and simply muscle their way in.
Optimus then arrived, barreling through Megatron's soldiers in order to go toe-to-toe with his nemesis. Megatron struck a fatal blow by feigning defeat during the fight, only to pull out a pistol and blast the unsuspecting Autobot. Optimus nonetheless managed to severely injure Megatron, forcing his forces to pull back in defeat. Megatron would have survived his grievous injuries had Starscream not turned on his leader, and cast him out into space upon their journey back to Cybertron. In the void, Megatron encountered Unicron, and the ancient and terrible god offered Megatron an ultimatum; to become his herald and weapon, or to die. Megatron refused at first, but Unicron persuaded him into changing his mind by unleashing some of his corrosive mist upon him. Megatron was coerced into becoming Unicron's servant, and was re-forged into mighty Galvatron. The Planet-Eater! Target: 2006
In yet another similar timeline, Megatron was also cast out into the void of space by Starscream after Optimus Prime had defeated him. Megatron was already insane at this time, but his madness began to fade from his mind as he drifted in the void... until Unicron found Megatron and reformatted him to serve as his instrument of destruction. This Megatron was recreated as Galvatron II, though what remained within his mind of Megatron began "eating away" at him, driving what was meant to be a cold, calculating warrior into a crazed berserker. A Savage Circle
A time-traveller from the distant future, Dicet Alpha-zero, would one day traverse the time-stream to observe several key moments in the Transformers' war, witnessing two of Megatron's attacks on the Ark (one prior to its initial crash-landing on Earth, another after the Decepticons had consumed contaminated fuel provided by Sparkplug Witwicky) and his duel against Optimus Prime in Ethan Zachary's computer game world. The Quest!
Earthforce
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Much later, when Jazz and Sunstreaker were discovered spying on the Decepticons' base early in the Transformers' conflict on Earth, Thundercracker and Skywarp were sent out to deal with the two interlopers. The jets were lured near a military encampment in their strafing run, provoking the humans into attacking them. Megatron called off both of his soldiers rather than continue their attack, as he wished to avoid hostilities against the humans for the time being. ...Perchance to Dream
In early 1990, Megatron had been deposed as Decepticon leader.
Somewhere in the Arizona desert, Megatron and the Constructicons built a satellite that would launch into Earth's atmosphere and detonate, releasing gasses that would cause the Earth's temperature to increase greatly over time. The resulting heat would power energon-collecting devices, but would also melt Earth's polar ice caps, resulting in world-wide devastation. The Decepticons were interrupted by Prowl and Wheeljack, and though Megatron insisted they were too late to stop the rocket, Starting Over! Prowl rode the rocket into the atmosphere, and was able to destroy the satellite the rocket carried before it released its gas canisters. Megatron sent his forces to retrieve the device but they ended up fighting Shockwave's Decepticons instead. Desert Island Risks! Life in the Slow Lane
Now that Grimlock's Earthforce had installed itself to counter Megatron and Shockwave's Decepticons on Earth, Megatron found more and more of his schemes thwarted. When he used a Flashback Doorway to alter time and add the Seacons to his ranks, the Earthforce raided his base and Prowl went after him. Megatron, his mind possessing the past Snap Trap, found himself battling Prowl in... er, Prowl's body, but the Autobot distracted Megatron by pretending to be Optimus and defeated him. Megatron was forced back to the present, but escaped capture upon his return. Flashback!
As a result of the escalating conflict between the two Decepticon factions, Megatron and Shockwave decided to hold an Enclave to foster unity; the Decepticon's rivalry was putting them at risk and they both knew they had to unite against the Autobots. This event was sabotaged by the Earthforce by staging an assassination attempt on Megatron, and Megatron was tricked into renewing his Decepticon Civil War against Shockwave. The Bad Guy's Ball!
After being ambushed at a secret energon drop by Shockwave and the Triple Changers, an enraged Megatron demanded that Soundwave use his mind-reading powers to find the traitor who betrayed his location to the enemy. Of course, Soundwave WAS the traitor, so this proved difficult. He managed to satisfy Megatron, though, by framing the Stunticon named Wildrider for leaking the information, knowing Megatron would destroy Wildrider before he could explain himself. Secrets When Megatron gained information as to Shockwave's whereabouts, Megatron ambushed him, unaware the information had been deliberately leaked by Starscream. Starscream and Soundwave subsequently deposed their respective leaders and when they came under attack from the Autobots (who had been alerted to their position by Starscream) Megatron and Shockwave were forced to join forces to escape. Internal Affairs!
Megatron and Shockwave soon hired a group of inept assassins to attack Starscream, knowing he would believe Soundwave had sent them and thus initiate a confrontation between the pair. Assassins They then hired the surviving members of the Mayhem Attack Squad—Bludgeon, Octopunch and Stranglehold—to kill whichever one of the two survived. However, they found the Earthforce were standing in the way External Forces! as they needed Starscream's help to save Snarl. In the resulting battle, Megatron was lit aflame by Slag, forcing him to retreat alongside Shockwave, who had gotten impaled by Grimlock's sword. The Lesser Evil!
Another Time & Place
[edit]
Trapped in non-transforming Action Master bodies, Grimlock and the Dinobots snuck a shuttle to Hydrus Four, where rumor had it a new, less destructive brand of Nucleon had been developed. However, the allegedly defeated Decepticons were waiting for just such a trip, and followed the Dinobots to the planet's surface, where they were ambushed and captured. Grimlock woke up to hear endless chants of "Megatron! Megatron! Megatron!" as technicians had strung up the late Decepticon leader's body, culled from his supposed doom on Earth, for repairs. Bludgeon would revive him and revive their fallen, and then the war would begin anew.
But Bludgeon wouldn't get the chance. The cavalry arrived, and Optimus Prime's Autobots quickly quelled the Decepticons' would-be resurgence. As Bludgeon was taken to pieces by a vicious repair spider, a partially-restored Megatron, a visual monstrosity, lunged half-alive at Grimlock and Optimus Prime. With a double-teamed punch, Megatron's undead corpse was easily defeated. The war was truly over. Another Time & Place
Transformers Comic-Magazin
[edit]
Megatron held the rank of Headmaster and served as joint leader with his rival Shockwave. Together, they worked out that hijacking the oil reserves of Alaska would make more sense than hitting oil refineries, and battled the Autobots to seize the Alaskan oil. Megatron ordered his forces to ensure not a single Decepticon was downed, or they'd be overrun and forced to retreat. And they did retreat! Attack at Dawn
Megatron and the Decepticons attempted to convert humans into Decepticon slaves by dispersing a radioactive isotope into the atmosphere and exposing the humans who breathed it in to various frequency waves that catalyzed the radioactive material to convert them to unwilling drones. Wanderer Between the Worlds
Megatron had a fiendish plan of making peace gestures to Humanity, and made a public speech in New York City of how the Decepticons would now agree to live peacefully under human laws (adding in the threat that humanity couldn't make them do it). As a gesture, a "statue" of Snaptrap was placed in New York, and he promised Decepticons would help patrol the city, assist in human space programs, and help "secure" oil reserves. Unsurprisingly, once Humanity was off-guard, the Decepticons struck, and the Autobots barely stopped them. The Troy Principle Those events were recorded on a videotape that was later found and watched by Autobots on Cybertron after a nuclear disaster in Kalis. In Memory of Earth
In 1973, Powermaster Optimus Prime - A Robot, a Hero a more standard plan involved seizing an oil tanker, in order to distract the Autobots from sudden blitzkrieg strikes across America. However, Megatron's plan was thwarted, as Optimus had placed Micronaut squads across the continent. A Big Day for Powermaster Optimus Prime Those events would later be observed via log recording by Autobots in the year 2008. Powermaster Optimus Prime - A Robot, a Hero Megatron later tried to seal off New York's harbour with a mine belt but was conned into heading for the Rocky Mountains for fake oil deposits. New York — A City Sinking in Terror
Soon after Darkwing bought three stolen nuclear missiles to a Decepticon hideout, Megatron plotted to use them in his sinister schemes. Save Nevada Alpha They were used in a threat to nuke New York, Berlin, and Moscow if he was not given one million tons of oil! His demands were met...and he threatened to nuke the same cities unless the world's arsenal was handed over! At the same time, he had Starscream made into a Pretender to kill Shockwave for him. The Autobot Classic Pretenders wrecked these plans, though, and Megatron was shot down by the mighty Bumblebee! Megatron's Ultimatum
When both an oil tanker crashed at Alaska and an interdimensional portal ripped open, Megatron—now holding Powermaster rank!—naturally decided the tanker was more important. He got the tanker to surrender to him by threatening to make the oil spill worse. Battle broke out with an Autobot rescue team, and the Decepticons were driven off, all while Megatron politely ignored the extradimensional battle raging in eyeshot. Headmaster of the Dimensions
In a battle with Optimus, Megatron was defeated with "hypnosis-blasts" emitted from his opponent that slowed down his reaction time. Footage of this battle clued Optimus in to the brainwashing plot set in motion before and the Autobots foiled it by spreading a particulate chemical in the air that slowed down the radioactive material's decay. Wanderer Between the Worlds
Megatron sent out his troops to capture the nuclear material being transported by a submarine, but they failed. The Energon Trap
Recordings of Megatron's original attack on Alaska and his oil tanker plot were used in a wayward simulation experienced by Goldbug. Memories of Bumblebee
Marvel Generation 2 comic
[edit]
Although thought dead for a year or two, War Without End! Megatron had actually survived the Ark crash (though his mental link with Ratchet was forgotten), and had quietly worked to repair it, concealing it beneath the ground. From there, Megatron tracked a signal, mistakenly believing it was another Transformer, but instead he found the shape-shifting castle of the terrorist organization, Cobra. Unfoldings! He entered into a bargain with its leader, Cobra Commander, offering him the technology of the Ark in exchange for the new weapons his organization was developing. Realignments Reconstructed into a new tank body with a powerful rail gun, Megatron hung around doing not much but his presence caused G.I. Joe to alert the Autobots. Goin' South War Without End!
He then made it clear that when he said he wanted weapon designs, he actually wanted the weapon designer Doctor Sidney Biggles-Jones (or at least her brain in a jar). The plan went awry when the Joes Sucker Punch and a newly arrived squad of Autobots got in the way. His new powers were too much, however, and all but two of the Autobots died. Megatron escaped in the Ark, leaving a duped Cobra with Cybertronian junk parts they could not use. Final Transformations Both Skydive and Spike Witwicky had sneaked on board, and following a clearly one-sided battle with Spike's Headmaster partner, Fortress Maximus, Megatron was seemingly killed again when Fortress Maximus threw himself into the Ark's power core, destroying it once and for all. All or Nothing!
But Megatron had escaped on a repaired Starscream and challenged the current Decepticon leader, Bludgeon, when the latter attacked Earth. Tales of Earth Part One Bludgeon trash talked Megatron's legacy but in the end he was deposed, fatally Tales of Earth Part Two ... only for Megatron to continue many of the Pretender's ongoing projects as his own, such as calling the attentions of Optimus Prime to Earth by indiscriminately rampaging across it. Tales of Earth Part Three When Prime finally showed up, Megatron's old foe at first attempted to talk and join forces against the new threat of Jhiaxus and his Advanced-Decepticons, but Megatron ignored him, and beat him near-death. He then used a siphon to pilfer Matrix energy from Prime's chest. A squad led by Grimlock arrived in time to save Optimus from Megatron's coup-de-grâce, but with his prize already in hand, Megatron simply sounded a retreat so he could begin infusing a new generation of warriors with life. The Gathering Darkness
His new warriors proved to be highly successful, and helped Megatron secure the galvanizing additive known as Rheanimum. Immediately thereafter, however, Megatron's Decepticons came into conflict with Jhiaxus's forces. Many of Megatron's troops were killed in the resulting battle, and Megatron himself was humbled brutally in battle against Jhiaxus, getting knocked out of space and crashing with immense force into the planet below. He nonetheless clung to life, New Dawn and made his way back to Earth. Tales of Earth Part Four
In order to gain revenge, Megatron entered into an alliance with the Autobots to "put their house in order". When Starscream grumped they could backstab the Autobots, he was told to shut up. But Megatron was forced to deal with Prime's more altruistic streak; upon news reaching them that planet Ethos was under attack, the Autobots left immediately to address the issue. Megatron at first held his troops back, considering the situation to be beneath his notice. Tales of Earth Part Five When he realized it was once more Jhiaxus the culprit behind the carnage, he had his troops join the battle as well. Together, Autobots and Decepticons obliterated the enemy at Ethos. Megatron relished the opportunity to "set the record straight" and show that his Decepticons were better than their "imitators." Escalation! Afterwards, the alliance investigated J'asik, a world already stripped of life... though Megatron suspected that Jhiaxus wasn't responsible; the world had been desiccated at a molecular level, rendering it worthless for cyber-forming. Megatron realized at once that the Transformers would need all resources at their disposal to combat whatever new enemy had reared its head. Swarm
The Autobots' analysis of J'asik's remains revealed that whatever was responsible was yet another off-shoot of the Transformers' race, a "cousin" species that was devouring whole worlds in a search for purpose. Before the subject could be delved into further, The Autobots' base came under attack. Megatron and Optimus rushed out to meet Jhiaxus's forces, who had finally tracked them down to Earth! Tales of Earth Part Six The alliance had been betrayed by Starscream, who joined forces with Jhiaxus's troops, and alerted them to the location of the Autobot/Decepticon camp. Optimus and Megatron fought shoulder-to-shoulder while the latter scolded himself over having brought Starscream to life despite so many warning him not to. Knowing the war would be irrevocably lost if Jhiaxus acquired the Matrix, Optimus asked Megatron if he had the means to reach Warworld and secure the artifact. As Optimus suspected, Megatron had concealed a spaceship nearby in case the need for a hasty getaway presented itself. Total War! Once in orbit, the pair found Warworld firing upon the Cybertronian fleet, despite reports that the enemy had already overrun it. Avoiding detection and sneaking aboard, they found that Starscream had once more turned traitor, and seized the Creation Matrix for himself! Through its power, he had merged with the Warworld, and become a living weapon. Tales of Earth Part Seven Displaying a startling control over the physical nature of the vessel, Starscream took great joys in torturing Megatron as revenge for all of his past humiliations. Though the both of them were nearly dropped into the ship's plasma core, Megatron managed to cling to a cable before his fall, and flung Optimus to safety. He told Prime to find a way to defeat Starscream on his own while he kept his former underling's attention focused on himself. Megatron nearly met his end by getting crushed within a shrinking room, but was saved when Starscream's attention became too divided and his mastery over the ship slackened. Dark Shadows! Ultimately, Starscream relinquished the Creation Matrix to Optimus Prime when it was discovered that the artifact was making him turn nice, allowing Megatron to load a ship with canisters of Rheanimum gas and head back to Earth, where the Swarm was beginning its attack. Megatron arrived just in time to coat the remaining Transformers with the gas, which protected them from the Swarm long enough for Optimus Prime to defeat the Swarm with the Matrix. The Swarm departed, changed into a force for good, leaving both Autobot and Decepticon seemingly united for good. A Rage in Heaven!
Universe comic
[edit]
Alpha Trion and Primus observed Megatron's fight with Brawn just as the latter was transported to the Cauldron. Abduction
Fleetway Generation 2 comic
[edit]
When Bludgeon launched an all-out attack on London to attract the attention of Optimus Prime, Megatron waited nearby, where he encountered and subdued Grimlock. Once Optimus had confronted and defeated Bludgeon, Megatron revealed his presence. War Without End
In a new body (constructed with the aid of human scientists) that was more even powerful than before, Megatron easily knocked Optimus down, but before he could finish the job he was attacked in turn by Bludgeon's Decepticons, Grimlock's Dinobots and Prime's Autobots. Facing so many enemies and dangerously low on energon reserves, Megatron called Starscream and retreated. War Zone
Some time later, Bludgeon attempted exactly the same plan again, bombarding Earth with the Warworld to attract the attention of Optimus Prime. However, this time it was Megatron and Starscream who answered the call and the former Decepticon leader demanded his position back. Tales of Earth Part One Although Bludgeon attempted to put up a good fight, he was no match for Megatron in his upgraded body and was quickly dispatched. Megatron once again assumed leadership of the Decepticons. Tales of Earth Part Two
Classics
[edit]Bug Bite believed that Megatron was a key factor in the splintering of this universe from its core universe. The creation of this universe caused the Cataclysm, which began to replace Bug Bite's home universe. Withered Hope
Fifteen years had passed since Megatron supposedly died along with Shockwave, Starscream, and Ratchet when the Ark crashed violently into the Yukon. The defeated Decepticon army scattered, and the Autobots were able to return to a peaceful Cybertron.
Inexplicably, Megatron returned (in a new body) and once again stalked the Earth, rallying the remaining Decepticons to him. Reflecting on his past failures, Megatron became disgusted with his own weaknesses and dedicated himself to refocusing his mind and becoming once more an unstoppable engine of war. Over several years' time, Megatron's profile in Club magazine #17 Megatron rebuilt many of his Decepticons using altered specifications created by Shockwave, who was now nothing more than a disembodied head summoned by Megatron when he desired counsel. Revelations Part 6 First among the troops he pieced back together was Astrotrain, who required extensive labor on Megatron's part, and the lives of many human-slaves, to be rebooted back into functioning order. Astrotrain's profile in Club magazine #14 With his minion's help, Megatron was also able to revive Ramjet among others. Ramjet's profile in Club magazine #15 He even allowed a surprisingly humbled Starscream to return to the Decepticon ranks when the Seeker came crawling to him, begging to be allowed back into the fold. Starscream's profile in Club magazine #18 Megatron also established a vast business empire on Earth, using false names, dummy corporations, and falsified government contacts to entrench himself the world over. With this network at his disposal, he nearly pushed humanity into a new World War. Megatron's profile in Club magazine #17 Eventually, Megatron happened across Skyfall and Landquake, who had traveled from their universe in a fantastic energon/force field explosion, Revelations Part 6 but his evil intentions for them were interrupted by human-piloted Armored Robot Hunters (or RUNTs) and subsequently a small team of Autobots led by Optimus Prime. Crossing Over, Part 1
Megatron managed to escape with Landquake and return with him to the Decepticons' base of operations, where he had Landquake restrained, interrogated, and inspected. Megatron was intrigued by Landquake's claims of being from another dimension. He was further intrigued by a radiation wavelength signature detected in South America that exactly matched Landquake's readouts, and so Megatron led his Decepticons to the source of the signature. Crossing Over, Part 2 There, he encountered not only a fleet of jet-piloting RUNTs, but also the Autobots again. This time, with the might of his Decepticons behind him, he eagerly engaged in battle. Crossing Over: Part 3
The Autobots and Decepticons continued their struggle while events of cosmic significance took place beneath their feet. Crossing Over: Part 5 Ultimately, Megatron was unable to claim the power he coveted, as an explosion sealed the area from any further recovery efforts. The Decepticons were forced into a withdrawal. Crossing Over: Part 6
Megatron soon received word of a delegation of Decepticons from those loyal to Bludgeon seeking a parley. When Starscream brought Bug Bite and his agents back to the Ark, Megatron was surprised to see all the Decepticon troops turn against him. Bug Bite had a personal vendetta against Megatron, and had modified cerebro-shell technology to amass enough forces to overpower the Decepticon leader. Or...so he thought. Megatron overcame the effects of the cerebro-shell used against him and, even during an Autobot raid, saw fit to behead Bug Bite with his fusion cannon for the pathetic attempt on his life. Games of Deception
In a plot to end the Decepticon civil war with Bludgeon, Megatron distracted him with a space fleet performing Offensive Strategy LV-117 while his mole in Bludgeon's forces, Piranacon, assassinated the Pretender. Assuming leadership of all Decepticons, Megatron shared his philosophy on the nature of the Transformer race with Ratchet before leaving him in a CR chamber for the Autobots to find. At Fight's End
Leading his troops aboard the Talon starship, Megatron reacquired control of many territories previously captured by Bludgeon's splinter faction. When his crew intercepted a curious distress call from the Earth-based Autobots, Megatron ordered his fleet to stay put in orbit around Bludgeon's former stronghold while he investigated the S.O.S. himself. Dirge's profile in Club magazine #50 The Talon arrived in time for the destruction of the universe, and was pulled through the rip in space/time that had swallowed Earth, arriving in the Primax -408.24 Epsilon universe along with the Autobot ship Graviton. Megatron's profile in Club magazine #52 Both ships were shot down during the ensuing battle, and crashed on prehistoric Earth. Megatron sent Tentakil and Nautilator outside to secure the area, only to discover the energon radiation that threatened them. He eschewed Dirge's suggestion of organic beast modes in favor of energon-absorbing armor. Shattered Time
The Decepticons detected three Autobot stasis pods and through careful planning, Megatron was able to reach them first and activate them as Scylla, Autojetter, and Autolauncher. He watched triumphantly as the new Decepticons attacked the Autobots, and when Depth Charge interceded, Megatron blasted the Maximal and prepared to terminate him. By that point, Ultra Magnus had recovered enough to blast the Decepticons with his Blue Bolts cannon. Shattered Expectations
Megatron and his men tracked the Autobots to a chasm, and himself faced Magnus in single combat on a rock bridge. Unfortunately once the Autobots were safe, Magnus shattered the bridge and blasted Megatron, who plummeted to the bottom of the chasm and was covered in rocks. He was dug out by the other Decepticons, and was overjoyed to find they had stumbled on a giant face carved into the rock. Shattered Paths He set to work using the systems in the cavern they'd found. Shattered Hope Constructing a huge saurian mech, he used it to bust into the cavern in which the Maximals had just found the Origin Matrix, and demanded their prize. Shattered Balance The Maximals refused and opened fire but didn't even dent the Gigastorm Armor; Megatron then ordered the Predacons to counterattack. Magnus called out Megatron to come out and fight, but Megatron responded that he couldn't because he was one with the armor. Magnus then tried firing on the armor to damage it to hurt Megatron, but Megatron transformed the Armor to battle platform mode and took out all the other Maximals. Megatron demanded the Origin Matrix again, but Magnus responded by inserting the Matrix into his gun to power up the Matrix Blaster Cannon and firing, opening a hole in space-time that sucked all the Predacons through. Shattered Destiny Timeless
Megatron resurfaced on Cybertron in the modern era of the negative polarity universe after that universe's war ended, eager to begin grabbing for power once more. The Future Buried...
Rallying his Decepticons, Megatron established a power base in New Kaon. Divination
Regeneration One
[edit]
Megatron was sent offline by the crash of the Ark, and, with the other Autobots having withdrawn entirely from Earth, Spike Witwicky and Fortress Maximus took it upon themselves to protect the crashed ship to ensure that he could never be revived. Unfortunately, a group of humans were able to penetrate the ship in 1994, unwittingly causing Megatron's reactivation. Loose Ends, Part 3 Awakening to a world abandoned by Optimus Prime, Megatron immediately set about attempting to get the attention of his old enemy by rampaging across the planet. Loose Ends, Part 2 When Prime did not appear, his swathe of destruction only grew wider, forcing humanity to turn to nuclear tactics—Megatron was able to hack their missiles and redirect them to major population centers, reducing much of the Earth to wasteland. With still no sign of Prime, Megatron's schemes grew even more outrageous: returning to the Ark, he used the technical knowledge gained from his mind-merge with Ratchet to get the ship's computer back online, and to reanimate the various deceased Decepticons and Autobots in the Ark's stasis capsules as lobotomized zombies that would eliminate the last of the human resistance. Loose Ends, Part 3 Only two Transformers were spared the full extent of this process: Ratchet, reduced to a decapitated head on the prow of Megatron's battle sled, whose bond with Megatron meant that the Decepticon would die if he did, and Starscream, kept alive as torture for years of treachery. These two were granted a small spark of consciousness beneath the mental conditioning, allowed to be aware of their hideous plight but entirely unable to do anything. Loose Ends, Part 2 But still, Prime did not appear...
In the year 2012, the Wreckers arrived on Earth, unaware of the planet's fate, merely having been convinced by Kup that they needed to recover the Ark, Megatron, and the other traces of their technology left there. Scanning the planet from orbit, they discovered its grisly fate, and were horrified when Megatron took control of their probe, questioning them from his throne in the ruins of Washington D.C. why they took so long to notice what he had done. Loose Ends, Part 1 After blowing the Wreckers' ship out of the sky, Megatron set his zombie army to track down any survivors and bring them to him so that he could snuff out their sparks utterly. When they captured Kup, Megatron explained that he was allowing the other Wreckers to carry out their plan to contact Cybertron, in hopes that that would bring Prime to him. Loose Ends, Part 2
After the Wreckers had sent their message, Megatron infected Kup with Scraplets from the Ark's mech-hazard lab, and proceeded to use him as bait to lure the other Autobots to Washington. Loose Ends, Part 3 Springer willingly walked into the trap in order to keep Megatron's attention on him while the other members of his team focused on retaking control of the Ark, but before Megatron could finish him off, a familiar voice reached Megatron's ears: Optimus Prime had come to face Megatron at last. Loose Ends, Part 4 Before engaging his eternal foe, Megatron coldly killed Springer, sending Prime into a rage. As they battled fiercely, Megatron gleefully revealed that he had taken steps to ensure that this would be their last confrontation: when their duel reached its end, whatever the outcome, the Ark's computer would launch nuclear missiles all across the world, destroying winners, losers, and everyone else. As Prime prepared to crush him with a huge chunk of rubble, Megatron laughed that doing so would make Prime as bad as he is, forcing the Autobot leader to relent. Megatron seized the opening to stab Prime with a shard of debris, turning the tables and allowing Megatron to lean in for the kill. It was at that point that Megatron's own hubris proved his downfall: fighting against all his conditioning, the small spark of life in Starscream revealed to Kup how to kill Megatron: by killing Ratchet! Kup shot the Autobot medic point-blank, causing Megatron to convulse in agony, and allowing Prime to plunge his fist into the Decepticon's chest, ripping out his spark and killing him once and for all. Circuit Smasher stopped Megatron's final solution by shorting out the Ark's computer systems, shutting down it, the missiles, and the zombie Decepticons. Curiously, just after the death of Megatron, in the frozen wastes of the Yukon... a crack appeared in the ice... and from the frozen depths, Galvatron emerged! Loose Ends, Part 5
To make sure that Megatron would stay dead this time, the Autobots dumped his body into a pit with the rest of his deactivated army, and vaporized the remains from space. Starscream managed to escape, though, as he wasn't quite dead yet. Natural Selection, Part One Starscream returned to the Ark, where he found Galvatron, and showed the time-displaced Decepticon that Shockwave had been integrated into the Ark's computer core, facilitating Megatron's control of its systems. Natural Selection, Part Two As Galvatron was focused elsewhere on the ship restoring its systems, Shockwave regained consciousness, and revealed to an increasingly-cognisant Starscream that he was the one responsible for lifting the blocks Megatron had placed on his mind. Thus, Shockwave had a hand in facilitating Megatron's final destruction. Natural Selection, Part Five
Later, Nightbeat and Bumblebee reviewed footage of Megatron at Ops-Command HQ as they attempted to unravel the mystery of Rodimus Prime's visions during his trip through Zero Space. The War to End All Wars, Part 1
Transformers '84
[edit]
Though Megatron began the Great War with the intent of enacting Project Dreadnought, he became so obsessed with defeating Optimus Prime that he began funnelling resources away from galactic conquest in favour of the war effort. Secrets & Lies #1 Though his sanity degraded, he still wielded his considerable power with such skill that Optimus Prime felt that Megatron represented the greatest threat to Cybertron's future. '84 #0
In his latest questionable decision, Megatron planned an invasion of Stanix, hoping to push Prime towards Kalis, even as his generals protested overworking the troops. Secrets & Lies #1 After personally overseeing the city's conquest, '84 #0 Megatron was informed that one of the incomplete planetary turbines had been damaged, sending Cybertron hurtling towards the Stellae Cimeterium. Unaware that Shockwave had masterminded these events to try and refocus him on building the Decepticon Empire, Megatron refused to act until Prime did. When the Autobots constructed the Ark spacecraft, Megatron commissioned the Nemesis to follow and shoot down the Autobots. When Shockwave's absence threatened to delay the launch, Megatron sent the Coneheads to find, berating the scientist when he arrived. Secrets & Lies #1
What Megatron did not know was that Optimus Prime, viewing Megatron as the lynchpin of the Decepticon army, had deliberately crewed the Ark with Autobot High Command to lure his counterpart off Cybertron. When Megatron inevitably boarded the overworked Ark once it had cleared a path through an oncoming asteroid belt, Optimus would crash the ship onto some alien world and keep Decepticon High Command isolated from Cybertron. Though such an act was a betrayal of his most loyal troops' trust, Optimus reasoned that, without Megatron on Cybertron, the Autobot army would have a fighting chance. '84 #0
As the Nemesis followed the Ark, Megatron, pushed on by Shockwave, blindly took Prime's bait, winding up stasis locked on Earth. As he led the boarding party, Megatron ordered the Coneheads to trail behind the Ark in their alternate modes in the event any Autobots tried to abandon ship. Secrets & Lies #2
With their leader gone, the Decepticon army on Cybertron fractured amongst the various warlords, even if Thunderwing sent a token search party to find Megatron. When Counterpunch convinced him that it was unlikely that Megatron would ever return to Cybertron, Straxus grew confident enough to assume that he was now the Decepticon leader.
On Earth meanwhile, the Ark's supercomputer AUNTIE had been so badly damaged by the crash that it could no longer distinguish friend from foe. When a supercharged Grimlock made his way to the ship, and ripped through the Guardian droids sent to deal with him, AUNTIE responded by reactivating Megatron, charged up on antimatter, and sending him after the Dinobot leader. Secrets & Lies #3
Having to divide her processing power, AUNTIE was unable to properly contain Megatron's abilities, a situation that was only exacerbated when Grimlock managed to impale the Decepticon leader, causing an antimatter leakage. The sight caused the Coneheads to abandon the planet and retreat back to the Nemesis while Grimlock plowed into the Ark and forcibly deactivated AUNTIE, which caused Megatron to fall back into stasis lock. Back on the Nemesis, the Coneheads called Straxus for rescue, a request that the warmonger granted only if the three remained mum on the location of the Ark, and more importantly, Megatron. Secrets & Lies #4
Royal Mail stamp bio
[edit]
Megatron was both a ruthless gladiator and a cunning political agitator. He fomented inter-city unrest to recruit more Decepticons so that he could conquer the Autobots and transform Cybertron into a mobile warworld.
Notes
[edit]- In the Marvel Comics, Megatron was often drawn with his chest insignia off-center to his right. This is probably due to his character model (as seen at the top of this page). In that pose, the insignia is centered with respect to his belly, but because of the way his upper body is drawn, it actually is located farther to one side of his chest. (Compare the distance the insignia is from one side of the line above it to the other.) If he moved to any other camera angle, the insignia would look off-center.
- Megatron once crushed Brawl's head with his bare hands!
- In the UK comics, Dreadwind explains that Megatron is the equivalent of a 'blueblood,' possessing some royal lineage. "That's why [his fuel]'s green, innit?!" (His other working theory was that Megatron ate too much spinach.)<ref>Dread Tidings, issue 227</ref>