Editing Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity

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[[Image:IDWMegatron.jpg|thumb|300x342px]]
'''Megatron''' waged a battle to destroy the evil forces of the [[Senate]]!

==IDW Generation 1 comics==
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{{quote|In the final analysis, I would happily wade across a river of corpses, chest-deep in rust and grease and engine oil, just to crush the Spark of the last Autobot standing. And I would not do so simply as a means to an end. No. I'd do it, Prime, because it would give me ''pleasure''.|Megatron to Optimus Prime|''[[Chaos Theory Part 1]]''}}

[[Image:Ongoing22 MaccadamsNewOilHouse.jpg|left|thumb|300px|His neighbors said he was so quiet and unassuming.]]
Long ago, before the war and under the reign of [[Nominus Prime]], Megatron of [[Tarn (polity)|Tarn]] was an [[energon]] miner, a member of the lower class, living near [[Rodion]]. The caste-ridden social apartheid of Cybertronian society—where your form determined your role, and your role your rights—sickened him and, being an intellectual sort, he wrote [[After the Ark: Nominus Prime and the Illusion of Progress|a treatise]] on how pacifist dissent and the exchange of ideas could change things. But then he was arrested for a crime [[Impactor (G1)|a friend]] had committed against the Autobot upper classes, and [[Whirl (G1)|one of their friends]] in the police beat him in his cell, intending to kill him, while mocking him for how nobody would care about the death of a lowly miner. Police captain [[Optimus Prime (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Orion Pax]], however, found out Megatron was innocent and let him go. But now he was filled with rage and hate, disillusioned with his former ideology and realising the power of applied violence. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

Megatron's samizdat writings began to circulate in Cybertron's underground, spawning the Decepticon movement. Wanting him out of the way but not wanting to make him a martyr, the Senate exiled him to the mines on [[Messatine]]. {{storylink|Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc|Post Hoc}} He continued to seethe with hate and frustration while at [[Mining Outpost C-12]]. One day [[Decimus|Senator Decimus]] arrived at the mine to announce that the mine was being closed immediately and the workers would be relocated. However, when one of the Senator's guards killed a worker for insubordination and claims of Senate corruption, Megatron attacked Decimus and killed the guard in self-defense (and was shocked to find he had done so). This started a riot which was quickly crushed. He and the other miners were en route to [[Penal Facility H-3|imprisonment]] when [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] broke free and started a riot aboard [[Longshot (G1)|their ship]]. They overpowered their guards, damaged Decimus's ship to ward off pursuit, as the authorities would focus on his rescue, and made their way to [[Kaon]]. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 1|Megatron Origin #1}} 

[[Image:Apexthrone.JPG|right|250px|thumb|You should have gone to IKEA.]]

After evading law enforcement, Megatron joined a team of underworld gladiators under the tutelage of [[Clench (G1)|Clench]]. Initially repulsed by killing his opponents, the games eventually turned him more brutal and excessive, and he took control of the entire operation from Clench. The opportunistic Senator [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], after seeing how much money there was in the underworld matches, sent his agent [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] to offer Megatron weaponry and technology to upgrade himself and his comrades. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}} [[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]]'s Autobots were sent to investigate the gladiatorial games, but when two Autobots were personally killed by Megatron, Prime's forces stepped up their pursuit. Megatron used the gladiatorial games to drum up an army of violent malcontents and spread chaos throughout Cybertron. He then deliberately allowed Sentinel Prime's forces to capture his burgeoning army, {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}} so that [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (pretending to defect) and Soundwave and his hidden cassette army could exterminate the Kaon Senate and then free every last prisoner. Megatron led the army of prisoners against the Autobots, beat Sentinel Prime nearly to death, and took control of Kaon. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

Megatron's infamy spread and his message of rising up against the ruling classes struck a chord with many disenfranchised Cybertronians. One such fellow was [[Drift (G1)|Drift]], who attended a Decepticon rally and was personally asked by Megatron to fight at his side. Megatron rechristened Drift as "Deadlock" and welcomed him into the Decepticon fold. {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}} Soon enough, the growing Decepticon forces had spread across six [[Polities of Cybertron|Torus-States]]. {{storylink|Parasites}} At one point, he met Orion Pax again on [[Sherma Bridge]], where they did battle for the first time. Orion  chopped off Megatron's cannon arm during the fight, but the Decepticon leader came out victorious by tossing him off the bridge. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

To Megatron's interest, his now-abandoned treatise had been a source of inspiration for Orion Pax, who had even quoted from it when he confronted the Senate and openly accused them of corruption. When the Autobot captain came close to Kaon during a mission, Megatron saw it as a chance to speak to him and had his Decepticons bring him in. {{storylink|The Hunt for Soundwave}} Orion, turned cynical by his time in the force, refused Megatron's offers for them to work together against the newest corrupt Autobot leader, [[Zeta Prime (G1)|Zeta Prime]]. Megatron let him know that Zeta was even worse than he seemed, having planned to let Orion die in [[Nyon]] so that he could use his death as pretext to invade the rebel-infested city and drain the citizens of their energon. Orion then escaped, but knowing the doubts he'd placed in his head would only serve to damage the Autobot cause, Megatron let him go. {{storylink|Cause and Effect}}

Megatron continued to keep an eye on Orion Pax's activities, spying on his encounter with the Nyon insurgent [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]]. {{storylink|Ruins}} When Zeta Prime's [[Guardian robot|Omega Destructor]]s suddenly attacked Nyon, Megatron was surprised by how zealously the new Prime fought against the city's rebels, but his real interest still lay on how Orion would handle the crisis. {{storylink|Purge}} Orion turned on Zeta, who in turn attempted to kill him, prompting Megatron to intervene and force the Prime to retreat. Taking Orion back to Kaon, he again offered that they work together against Zeta's corruption, and this time the Autobot officer accepted. {{storylink|Choices}} As their combined forces invaded the [[Citadel]] in Iacon, Megatron and Orion Pax made their way inside and fought Zeta Prime in person.The battle ended with Megatron killing the Prime with a head shot, and with his objective complete, he then betrayed the injured Orion by shooting him in the back. {{storylink|Overthrown}}

With Zeta dead, Megatron conquered Iacon and declared himself ruler of Cybertron. His soldiers patrolled the planet's streets to "keep the peace", mostly by hunting down and capturing any remaining Autobots who opposed him. {{storylink|Transformation (issue)|Transformation}} During his rule, Megatron attempted to sway the neutral [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] into joining the Decepticons, but he decided otherwise upon witnessing Megatron ordering the execution of several Autobot prisoners.  {{storylink|Rise}} Megatron was shocked to learn that Orion Pax had survived the betrayal and was organizing a rebellion against him under the name "Optimus Prime", and even more shocked that people actually had the courage to listen to him. He wasted no time in striking back against the rebels approaching the Citadel with the full force of his army. {{storylink|Broadcast}}

During the battle, Megatron ordered Blitzwing to distract the Autobots long enough for him to bring out the "vamparc annihilator", a giant [[vamparc ribbon]] built inside the Citadel by Zeta Prime. Though he managed to knock out a lot of Autobots, [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] arrived and took out the cannon along with the entire building, causing Megatron to fall to the streets and face Optimus Prime himself. He lost the ensuing [[The Transformers: The Movie|familiar-looking duel]] and was badly wounded after a failed attempt to defeat Prime by holding Hot Rod hostage, forcing him to escape aboard Astrotrain. As he fled, he warned Optimus that he hadn't won, he had only started a war unlike any Cybertron had ever seen. {{storylink|Endgame}}

At some point early in the war, he wrote ''[[Towards Peace]]'', a new treatise to replace ''After the Ark'', in which he described continuing to fight the war until the very notion of conflict was literally inconceivable. Then and only then would he finally give up his fusion cannon. At some point, he also created the [[Decepticon Justice Division]] to deal with traitors. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}}

[[Image:Megatrong1idwpreearth.jpg|left|150px|thumb|450 years ago, his helmet was black, but now it's gray. The difference time makes, huh?]] 
Over time, the war between Megatron's Decepticon army and Optimus Prime's Autobots covered the entire planet and soon beyond to the rest of the galaxy. Optimus grew to respect and fear Megatron as a calm, calculating and measured opponent, while Megatron himself respected Prime's sheer power and his skill as a tactician and as a leader. {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} They would proceed to duel each other directly many times, such as during the [[Battle for Hell's Point]] and the [[Siege of Massunstrad]] {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}, and also fight by proxy, sealing themselves into [[Omniglobe]]s, "hypercongizance shells" which would feed them the entirety of data from the frontlines, enabling the sides to throw everything they had at each other for a prolonged period of time. The Decepticons didn't even spare the resources to collect their dead, who lay where they fell for eons. {{storylink|Rules of Disengagement}}

Ultimately, with total war getting nowhere, Megatron would go on to develop a six-stage [[infiltration protocol]] to be used for conquering targeted planets, and selected Sixshot, a living weapon he had constructed with frightening amounts of power that only he had the "off-switch" for {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}}, and the similarly ultra-powerful Overlord and [[Black Shadow (Victory)|Black Shadow]] to be the agents who would strike the final blow in each battle. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 2|Last Stand of the Wreckers #2}} As the Autobot/Decepticon war progressed, the conflict became so great that it created an impending energy crisis and threatened the stability of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] itself. When [[Shockwave (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Shockwave]] left Cybertron, secretly pursuing alternate energy sources, Megatron ordered [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] to investigate his files, secretly assigning Soundwave to investigate Bludgeon. {{storylink|Spotlight: Shockwave}}

When Deadlock deserted the cause at some point during the war, Megatron sent the bounty hunter [[Lockdown (G1)|Lockdown]] to bring him back. {{storylink|Drift issue 2|Drift #2}}

Later, a Decepticon scientist, [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]], came to Megatron with a revolutionary, controversial plan to stave off this energy death by [[Pretender|polydermal grafting]], a process where they encased themselves in "symbiotic carapaces", or shells created from living tissue. When Megatron dismissed him angrily and cut him down, Thunderwing did not abandon his research, but instead experimented on himself. As a result, Thunderwing became so powerful that Megatron had to join forces with Optimus Prime to stop him. This battle at [[Thunderhead Pass]] accelerated the apocalypse destined to befall Cybertron, leaving it an uninhabitable, radioactive husk and forcing both armies to continue their war on other worlds. Megatron advocated that they simply destroy Cybertron to ensure that Thunderwing was destroyed, but Prime refused, and threatened to stop Megatron if he tried. Megatron agreed not to destroy the planet, but warned Prime that whatever happened was on his head. Shortly after the last big push by the Decepticons, Cybertron was abandoned by both factions.

[[Image:Infiltration6 takeyourpunishment.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Those librarians are getting really strict on late returns.]]
Seven hundred [[Units of time|stellar cycles]] later, in current times, it was discovered that as a result of digging through Shockwave's files, Bludgeon had resurrected Thunderwing's dangerous project, as well as Thunderwing himself. After being informed of Thunderwing's attack on [[Nebulos]], Megatron dispatched the [[Predacon (G1)|Predacons]] in the ''[[Thanatos]]'' to Cybertron, authorizing [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]] to do whatever was necessary to destroy Thunderwing, including the destruction of Cybertron. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3|Stormbringer #3}} However, Optimus Prime and the [[Wrecker]]s were able to thwart both Bludgeon and Thunderwing, and so destruction of the planet was averted. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 4|Stormbringer #4}}

{{quote|You will stand down. If you fight, you ''die''. There is no room anymore for mercy. In the end, you are ''all'' expendable. Choose.|Megatron's ultimatum to Starscream's troops|"[[Infiltration issue 6]]"}}

Megatron, meanwhile, was on Earth, investigating Starscream's infiltration team. He discovered that Starscream had stumbled across [[Ultra-Energon|Ore-13]], an incredible energy source which had been [[Spotlight: Shockwave|mysteriously seeded there]], and that the [[Air Commander]] was planning to use it to usurp Megatron's command—this annoyed him, as he had thought they were beyond such power games. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 4|Infiltration #4}} After seriously damaging the hesitantly rebellious [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] and [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]], {{storylink|Infiltration issue 5|Infiltration #5}} Megatron ordered the AWOL team to stand down and then took on a super-powered Starscream. Though the Ore-13 made Starscream a formidable adversary, Megatron was still more deadly than he, and Starscream was destroyed. All throughout, he acted eerily calm & measured and made both Autobot and Decepticon wet themselves in fear. {{storylink|Infiltration issue 6|Infiltration #6}}

Megatron took stock of Starscream's progress on Earth in light of the discovery of Ore-13 and called a meeting to make Starscream's former troops aware, in no uncertain terms, that any further insurrections would be met with deadly force. {{storylink|Escalation issue 1|Escalation #1}} Initiating phase two of infiltration protocol, Megatron stole a prototype [[Psycho-Prism]] from [[Doctor Doom]]'s laboratory. He created an "array" structure in [[Latveria]] as a base of operations. He sent Skywarp and Thundercracker to the nearby country of [[Symkaria]] in hopes they will blame Latveria and start a war. He activated the Psycho-Prism which produced an aggression wave that made nearby humans more aggressive in order to further increase international tensions. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part One}} Doctor Doom, not appreciating the Decepticons' setting up shop in his country, tried to remove their base with an army of [[Doombot]]s. Megatron had no problem repelling them. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Two}}

The [[Avengers]] arrived and Megatron let them enter his facility where he scanned them looking for a suitable sample to leech power from as part of their [[mirror response mode]]. He selected [[Spider-Man]] and captured him. The remaining Avengers retreated and Megatron energized the facilities energy shield. The Autobots arrived and were attacked by the Avengers thanks to their heightened aggression. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part One}}

Megatron energized himself and all of his troops except Ramjet, who he didn't trust. Outside, the Autobots were able to nullify the aggression wave amongst the Avengers and they teamed up and started attacking the array. Megatron sent out his energized troops to repel the invaders. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Two}} Ratchet, Prowl, and [[Luke Cage]] were able to breech the array's defenses. Megatron captured Ratchet and Luke Cage while Ramjet and Megatron's new ally, Doctor Doom captured Prowl. When his forces outside were defeated, Megatron—on the advice of Doctor Doom—sent a holographic message to those outside that he would kill his captives if they did not surrender. They did not surrender and instead renewed their attack. Megatron blamed Doctor Doom for the failure and turned on him.

[[Image:Megsandspidy.jpg|left|200px|thumb|]]

Megatron did not go through with his threat of killing the hostages. Instead he went out to face his attackers himself, holding Luke Cage. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Three}} He was beating the opposition until Prowl, Ratchet, and Spider-Man [[orbital jump|orbital bounced]] out of the facility. They had been freed by Doctor Doom and the two Autobots used the Decepticon equipment to energize themselves with [[Wolverine (superhero)|Wolverine]]'s super power. This added firepower led to his defeat. His Psycho-Prism was destroyed so there was no point in continuing the fight and ordered his troops to retreat using an [[emergency warp-out]]. Megatron himself stuck around awhile hoping to beat someone up, but Spider-Man wrapped him up in webbing, Luke Cage knocked him over, and the Autobots opened fire on him while he was down. He finally warped-out taunting Optimus Prime on the way out. {{storylink|Man and Machine, Part Four}}

[[Image:Megatrong1idwgunbody.jpg|right|150px|thumb|I also wonder.]]
After getting the infiltration protocols back on track, Megatron stayed instead of leaving Earth in the hands of a new commander. He decided to try out his new [[Size changing|mass-displacing]] handgun [[Alternate mode|altmode]] and the Ore-13 power. {{storylink|Escalation issue 2|Escalation #2}} He personally took charge of the Decepticon subterfuge in [[Brasnya]], guiding the facsimile of [[Georgi Koska]] in an attempt to escalate an international incident into a full polarizing war, and acting as Koska's personal weapon. (His alt-mode only works when a human is holding and firing him, which left him at a disadvantage against the Autobots, who could simply pin him down in that form. Maybe Megatron just wants to be held.) {{storylink|Escalation issue 3|Escalation #3}}

When Optimus Prime arrived, Megatron transformed and started a full-blown to-the-death melee with his longtime foe for all the nuts and bolts—this surprised Optimus, who accused Megatron of letting the Ore-13 power go to his head and causing him to be "some raging braggart". Even with his fusion cannon disabled almost right away, Megatron gained the upper hand due to his Ore-13 high. Beating his foe down, he squeezed Prime's spark casing and seemingly killed him; {{storylink|Escalation issue 5|Escalation #5}} aghast, the Autobots moved into a full but ineffective counterattack, their only edge being that Megatron had no long-range guns left. However, Prime's death was a desperate ruse, and the Autobot leader countered with a surprise attack on Megatron, able to exploit Ore-13's weakness—the more it's used, the faster it burns itself out. Megatron almost collapsed from power loss and was forced to have Skywarp take him to safety before the Autobots could kill him. 

Upon returning to base and being refueled and repaired, Megatron was hopping mad. Mad enough to prematurely call in his ultimate living weapon—[[Sixshot]]—despite [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]]'s panic attack on hearing that. {{storylink|Escalation issue 6|Escalation #6}}

During this time, he discovered a plot by [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] to overthrow him. Without saying a word, he beat the living [[Slag (slang)|slag]] out of the attempted traitor before tearing him apart and keeping his head as a trophy. {{storylink|Spotlight: Ramjet}}

Upon Sixshot's arrival, Megatron ordered him to utterly destroy the Autobots, throwing out the methodical "Phase" strategy. The other Decepticons were worried that Megatron was losing his grip—and since they were too scared to tell him that, they decided to revive Starscream to do it for them. {{storylink|Devastation issue 1|Devastation #1}} Before Sixshot could obliterate the Autobots, Megatron recalled him to deal with a new threat—the [[Reaper|Reapers]]. {{storylink|Devastation issue 4|Devastation #4}} Megatron deduced that the other Decepticons betrayed him by awakening Starscream, but decided not to punish them '''yet''', due to the present task of destroying the Reapers. {{storylink|Devastation issue 5|Devastation #5}} After these foes were dead, Megatron was forced to accept Starscream and the others when it became clear the humans were aware of them now. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6|Devastation #6}}

[[Image:Bringingthehousedown.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Megatron's urban renewal program was off to a flying start.]]
Some time later, the Autobots were led into a trap; false information was planted by an [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Autobot traitor]], and they were led into an ambush and soundly defeated by the Decepticons and the newly-created [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. After personally ripping the [[Matrix of Leadership]] out of Optimus Prime's chest, Megatron planned to drop the Autobots into the midst of [[Insecticon swarm|three thousand horrendous things he had created]] on Cybertron. When all but Prime had gone through the space bridge, Prime grabbed Blitzwing's gun and somehow saved the other Autobots from certain death, closing the portal. Optimus was critically injured by the space bridge, which fried his circuits. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 7|All Hail Megatron #7}} This caused Starscream's status among the Decepticons and their concern about Megatron to go ''way'' down, with former dissenters like [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] becoming Megatron fanboys. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}} By use of Sunstreaker's input with Starscream and Bombshell's experimentation on [[Hunter O'Nion]], Megatron was able to defeat [[Omega Supreme (G1)|almost]] all the Autobots in the galaxy...

A year after the defeat of Optimus, Megatron decided to take Earth and make it the new Decepticon homeworld. He arrived on the front lines as the Decepticons attacked [[New York City]], humiliating Starscream by outdoing him in destroying things with just one shot from his fusion cannon. When the US Air Force responded with an F-22 squad, as a show of force Megatron had Soundwave disable the human's missile targeting, followed by the Decepticons just standing there shrugging off bullets before making their attack. After one jet was damaged by Skywarp, [[DJ (G1)|its pilot]] attempted to take out Megatron with a suicide run, but the Decepticon leader calmly swatted the incoming plane, causing it to explode. As flames rose from the wreckage, Megatron emerged, completely undamaged, laughing maniacally. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 1|All Hail Megatron #1}} Megatron continued to direct the Decepticon assault on New York, dispatching [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] to mop up the U.S. Army's ground forces and ordering the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] to combine into [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] and destroy the underwater tunnels leading out of the city. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 2|All Hail Megatron #2}}

His plan executed flawlessly, the Decepticons continued their assault on the major cities of the United States, disabling or nullifying any attempt by the army or navy to counterattack. As he surveyed his handiwork in New York, he ordered Hook and the Constructicons to begin building ''something'' in the once-great human city and appreciated their "sacrifice" in using "substandard" building materials. Soon thereafter he was joined by Starscream, with whom he had a heart to heart and revealed he believed Starscream to be the embodiment of the Decepticon cause, but that Starscream was blind to realizing this. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 3|All Hail Megatron #3}}

When the humans had fallen, Megatron made a propaganda speech to his men in the ruins of New York. He heaped great praise on their efforts, both on Earth and across the galaxy, announcing they had finally crushed the Autobots for good. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 4|All Hail Megatron #4}} After making this speech (and dispatching Ratbat to attack a small group of mercenaries led by [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Commander Witwicky]]), Megatron entered one of the "buildings" to gaze at his newly prized possession... the Autobot Matrix of Leadership that he stole from Optimus. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 5|All Hail Megatron #5}}

[[Image:AHM6MegatronVsIsrael.jpg|right|200px|thumb|]]

That praise turned out to be empty, as Starscream started noticing that Megatron didn't have a plan now victory had been achieved, and the smashy-smash fun on Earth was him trying to distract the troops—because now he had an army of evil sociopathic murderers with nothing to murder and a doctrine of taking power. Not even smashing up [[Israel]] made him feel better. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 6|All Hail Megatron #6}} Eventually, Starscream made his move, revealing to Megatron that he had swayed the Insecticons to his side. Megatron easily swatted the insects aside, however, and explained to Starscream that he had known about his plans all along. Unfortunately, he hadn't anticipated Starscream to have rallied the Constructicons backing him up, and found himself having to fight the mighty Devastator. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 10|All Hail Megatron #10}}

[[Image:AHM12-youreafool.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Ever so often, Megatron likes to remind us he's basically Magneto.]]

As the battle was interrupted by an attack from human jets, Megatron and Starscream put their differences aside momentarily to organize a defense. Megatron was not at all surprised by the attack, as he had planned the invasion—nay, the ''war''—down to the smallest detail. He explained to Starscream that while the Decepticon forces may have no real goal at the moment, he planned to remodel them into something greater after the war was done. Then he was suddenly interrupted by something he ''hadn't'' planned for: the return of the Autobots. After assuring Starscream that he'd be leader someday (just not right now), Megatron confronted Optimus Prime again, accusing the Autobot of coming for his Matrix rather than truly caring about Earth. He also revealed that Prime's supposedly "innocent" humans were planning to nuke New York, killing millions of their own just to get rid of the Decepticons. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 11|All Hail Megatron #11}}

Prime retorted that it wasn't about the humans, it was about the difference between him and Megatron—the difference between Autobots and Decepticons. The two came to blows, and Megatron eventually came out on top by throwing Prime into a building. He ordered the Decepticons to leave Earth, leaving the Autobots to be killed by the humans' nuke... only to be shot in the face by [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]], wielding a powerful weapon reverse-engineered from Cybertronian technology. Injured and disoriented by the blast, Megatron was finished off when Optimus Prime got back up and smashed his face in with his own fusion cannon. As he wanted to ''take'' leadership rather than just have it fall in his hands, Starscream picked up his damaged leader and took him off the planet. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 12|All Hail Megatron #12}}

[[Image:AllHisEngines-Megatron.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Pretty sure when you float in a bacta tank you're supposed to be wearing a diaper.]]

On board Astrotrain, Megatron was put on life support and was tended to by Soundwave and his cassettes. {{storylink|All Hail Megatron issue 13|Uneasy Lies the Head}}

The Decepticons eventually settled on a desolate asteroid and Megatron spent the next three years in a [[CR chamber|CR tank]]. He was somehow conscious and aware of current events during his recovery. Megatron was forced to simply watch as most of the Decepticon army languished in inactivity and slowly began to unravel under Starscream's leadership. {{storylink|All His Engines}} But despite Megatron's mental health and awareness, Soundwave eventually realized that his body was beyond repair. He convinced Shockwave, who had been given access to plenty of resources for his space bridge project, to help him build a brand new body for Megatron's consciousness to inhabit. They were successful, and even included space bridge technology in Megatron himself, allowing him to create warp portals to Earth.

Back in action, Megatron devised a plan to destabilize the relationship between the humans and Autobots on Earth. Together with Soundwave and Shockwave, he chopped up his old body and used it to create human-scaled replicas of his former gun mode, containing small pieces of his own consciousness. Starscream caught them in the act, but wasn't too shocked to learn of Megatron's return, as he knew it had been inevitable. Megatron was unable to take back leadership of the Decepticons at the moment, however, as Starscream was in possession of the Matrix of Leadership, an object which Megatron considered a threat due to its mysterious nature. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}}

[[Image:Ongoing Issue 13 - Megatron.jpg|left|200px|thumb|"Ever see the movie ''Tron''?"]]

When [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus]] infiltrated the Decepticons' asteroid base and recovered the Matrix from Starscream, Megatron stepped in to intercept the Autobot. Rodimus panicked when coming upon the reborn Decepticon commander and held up the Matrix to try and ward him off. But Megatron simply shot Rodimus at point-blank range, blasting him out into space, Matrix and all. Intent on reestablishing his authority, Megatron then informed Soundwave to gather the other Decepticons so he could address them. {{storylink|Heart Like a Wheel}}

Distrustful of Shockwave's motives for preparing his new body, wary of Soundwave's constant surveillance, and repulsed by the state of his once fearsome Decepticon war machine, Megatron decided that he needed to unequivocally reestablish dominance over the now Matrix-less Starscream. His intended to beat Starscream near to death, thereby allowing both of them to work out their frustrations with Starscream's inability to lead effectively over the three years Megatron was incapacitated. However, Starscream did not want to fight. He was devastated by his loss of the Matrix and his inability to command the obedience of the Decepticon forces in Megatron's absence despite possessing the Matrix, and simply wanted Megatron to kill him and get it over with, if that was what Megatron intended to do. Megatron, instead of accepting Starscream's refusal to engage him, goaded the former Matrix-bearer into opening fire upon him. This forcds Starscream to both flee and fight for his life so that he might escape Megatron's vengeance. Megatron continues to bait Starscream into conflict as he tries to run, and eventually achieved his desire to beat him into submission, which re-ignited Starscream's scheming nature, and the desire to lead the Decepticons once again, which Megatron believes is necessary for the proper functioning of his Decepticons. {{storylink|Spotlight: Megatron}}

Megatron, aided byShockwave, moved to immediately implement the first stage of his planned vengeance against the Autobots and the citizens of Earth by sending a container full of guns based on his former alternate mode ( which were made from his old body), as well as his old head, through a space bridge to Earth, where it landed in [[Quetzaltenango]], [[Mexico]]. Without the knowledge of any human government, the powerful weapons were then smuggled into the United States by gun enthusiasts and civilians looking for anti-Transformer weaponry. This allowed Megatron's consciousness to spread throughout the land, until it was focused enough to contact one particular owner of a Megatron gun: [[Joe Gladki]]. He deceived and manipulated the paranoid human, and eventually convinced him to perform an assassination attempt on [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]], the new Autobot leader. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 2: Altered Carbon|Altered Carbon}} In their ignorance, the Autobots then mistook Gladki's gun for Megatron himself and held it captive. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 1: The Demolished Man|The Demolished Man}}

With the Autobots in chaos, Megatron started the next phase of his plan and returned to Earth personally, where he used his new stealth bomber mode to shoot down a plane carrying Optimus Prime and several other Autobots. He then hunted down [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]], who was in charge following the loss of both Bumblebee and Prime, and killed some Mexicans attacking Magnus's troops with Megatron guns just because. With his powerful new body, he effortlessly defeated the entire Autobot team and killed some of their [[Skywatch]] allies. Ultra Magnus tried to stop him, telling Megatron that he was back for the Autobots and not the humans, but Megatron assured him that humanity was his real target. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 3: Woken Furies|Woken Furies}}

Megatron revealed that his entire scheme was a plot to try and crush Optimus Prime's spirit and ruin the fragile alliance between humanity and the Autobots by arming deranged and unstable humans with advanced weaponry based on his old body, thus forcing the Autobots to choose between fighting the humans or allowing them to kill them. He dumped several of the Autobots in a heavily populated area and mind controlled three already paranoid humans to kill the Autobots. He also took Ultra Magnus hostage, having Soundwave keep a weapon trained on him as he taunted Prime about the no win situation he had created. However, he also revealed to Prime that he was controlling the humans, and in a bid to distract him enough to break the mental control, Prime shot Soundwave in the head, badly wounding him. Distraught and furious that his faithful lieutenant had been wounded, Megatron chose to flee to get Soundwave medical attention, forcing him to break communication. Unfortunately however, despite this Megatron's plan succeeded. Jazz was forced to kill a human to save Bumblebee's life, increasing the paranoia and hatred that humanity felt for the Autobots. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 4: Burning Chrome|Burning Chrome}}

With Soundwave wounded severely, Megatron took him to a temporary lab that Shockwave had set up on Earth, to have Soundwave repaired. However Shockwave noted that much of the Decepticon's resources had been used to construct Megatron's new body and the new space bridge, and it would take a great deal of time to properly rebuild Soundwave. It was at this point that Optimus Prime attacked again and after threatening Shockwave, goaded Megatron into a confrontation. Megatron ordered his troops not to attack Prime, wanting them to watch as he crippled the Autobot leader and left him for the humans to kill. However one thing Megatron didn't suspect was for Prime to be desperate enough to drop a satellite on top of him, in an effort to kill him once and for all. 

However Megatron's new body, empowered greatly by Ore-13, was virtually unharmed by the attack. He beat Prime senseless but then, shockingly, surrendered to the Autobots and was promptly imprisoned inside Omega Supreme. Optimus demanded to know why he surrendered and Megatron taunted him by revealing that Spike Witwicky had murdered a Decepticon in cold blood and told him the humans couldn't be trusted, mocking Prime's desire to work with the humans and warning him that he had doomed his Autobots by allying with Skywatch. {{storylink|Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|Enemy Mine}}

Prime immediately had Prowl begin investigating Spike and Skywatch, and one of the first things Prowl did was quiz Megatron on what he knew about Spike's activities. Megatron told him what he needed to know after a little verbal sparring. {{storylink|Police Action: Prologue}}

When Rodimus returned to Earth and warned the Autobots that [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] had taken control of Cybertron, now habitable once more thanks to Alpha Trion repairing the ravaged world and Ironhide and Sunstreaker having wiped out the Swarm, Optimus decided to lead the Autobots to claim their homeworld back from the insane Galvatron. He also decided to bring both Megatron and the Matrix, believing that the humans would be less at risk of Decepticon attacks if Megatron and the Matrix were both off earth. {{storylink|Space Opera—Final Tableaux: Orphans of the Helix|Orphans of the Helix}}

On the way to Cybertron, Megatron was fully scanned by both Ratchet and [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]], who, along with [[Xaaron]] had come to assist the Autobots in making sure Megatron was secure and to provide legal counsel in how to treat him as he was now a prisoner of war. Megatron was silent while they confirmed that he had no concealed weaponry on him. Shortly after this, Prime himself came to talk to Megatron, wanting for once to have an actual conversation with his old foe and try to make peace, seeing the situation as a chance to finally end the war. Initially skeptical of Prime's reasons for talking to him, when Prime released Megatron from his bonds. Megatron challenged Prime's motto of "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" by pointing out that it was he, not Prime, who had stood up for the Cybertronians who were treated as little more than slaves by the corrupt ruling class of Cybertron and claiming that the only true way to bring peace to the universe was through conquest. After arguing about their conflicting viewpoints the two began to remember old battles and the numerous near death experiences, even laughing together as they shared war stories. It was then that Optimus tried to reach out to Megatron, offering him the chance to end the war once and for all with a handshake, telling him that all he had to do was tell him that he wanted the war to end and it would. Megatron appeared to consider it for a moment but ultimately remained silent. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

Under pressure to decide whether Megatron would be executed or imprisoned should he be found guilty of crimes against the species and genocide, Prime confronted Megatron and asked him if he regretted any of his actions. Megatron coldly replied that he did not and in fact only regretted that he hadn't done more and killed more Autobots, claiming that he would kill Autobots solely for pleasure and that as long as anyone stood in his way he would kill them. He also claimed that Optimus was secretly glad for the war, taunting him in a manner similar to the way Whirl had once taunted Megatron by pointing out that if the war had never happened Optimus would have lived and died as a nobody, with no one knowing or caring who he was, but because of Megatron Optimus had become famous and the most respected and worshipped Cybertronian of all. It was a taunt designed to make Prime want to kill him and Optimus nearly did, activating the Variable Voltage Harness. Omega Supreme managed to cut the power in time and Megatron, struggling to stay conscious, offered Prime his thanks for saving his life all those years ago in Rodion. Shocked by his actions Prime realised that Megatron wanted to die and wanted him to be the one to kill him.

This was confirmed when he asked Megatron what HE wanted his punishment to be if found guilty at his trial. Death or imprisonment. Megatron calmly replied that he chose death. {{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 2}}

On the way to Cybertron, Megatron demanded to know who or what was attacking the planet, questioning whether it was Starscream, Shockwave or even Thunderwing. Optimus refused to answer, stating that now Megatron was a prisoner everything going on outside the walls of his cell was no longer his concern and questioning why Megatron was suddenly so sentimental. Megatron ominously noted that Cybertron was more than just a metal world and that if it was in the wrong hands they were all in danger. He also threatened Prime but Optimus simply left the cell, no longer willing to speak with Megatron. {{storylink| Chaos Part One: Lamentations|Lamentations}}

As the battle with the [[Sweep]]s and Galvatron raged across Cybertron, Megatron chose this moment to reveal the ace he had up his sleeve: The Autobots had confiscated a number of the guns made from his old body, which he was able to take control of and use to upgrade himself into a secondary armored mode. This allowed him to break free of his restraints within Omega Supreme, cackling insanely as he broke loose and confronted both the Autobots and the gathered Sweeps, declaring that Cybertron belonged to him and he would not allow Galvatron to have it. {{storylink|Chaos Part Two: Numbers|Numbers}}

[[Image:Megatron Chaospt4 Genesis.jpg|right|thumb|200px|End...of...line...]]
Tearing through the Sweeps with ease, Megatron summoned his Decepticon forces to kill the Autobots gathered on Cybertron, using a beacon built into his new body to lead them to exactly where he was. While Megatron fought the Sweeps his Decepticons came close to overwhelming the battered and exhausted Autobots, before [[D-Void]], acting through the [[Darkness (G1)|Heart of Darkness]], summoned all the Decepticons to combine into a gigantic monster along with the Sweeps, a monster that began attacking Cybertron and the Autobots. Megatron ordered Prime to come join him in battle against the monster but Prime replied that as he had to deal with Galvatron, it would be up to Megatron to stop the advancing monstrosity. {{storylink|Chaos Part Three: Kings|Kings}}

As the stunned Autobots watched, Megatron, though gravely wounded and missing an arm, resisted D-Void's control and not only fought but destroyed the Deceptigod, blasting it apart with one massive beam from his weapons. {{storylink|Chaos Part Four: Genesis|Genesis}} In the chaos that followed Galvatron's defeat and the restoration of Cybertron, Megatron was nowhere to be found. As Optimus Prime exiled himself from Cybertron weeks later, he mused that his nemesis must still be out there somewhere. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime}}

Months after what had become known as the "Chaos Event", Megatron wandered into a rebuilt [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] from the wilderness Cybertron had become, heavily damaged and carrying a bunch of severed Sweep heads. {{storylink|The End of the Beginning of the World}} He claimed to come in peace, a claim that was hardly convincing to Bumblebee's Autobots overseeing the city who opted to kill him on sight. They were stopped by Iacon's Decepticon population, who saw Megatron's actions during the Chaos Event as those of a hero and forced them to take him into custody instead. He requested to talk to Bumblebee, who refused on the grounds that his "talk" with Optimus Prime had gone nowhere, and was instead approached by Starscream. {{storylink|City on Fire}}

Millions of years after the end of the war, when the Autobots were finally at peace, [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] still believed Megatron to be alive and promised a young Autobot they would defeat him again if he ever returned. {{storylink|Pax Cybertronia (issue)|Pax Cybertronia}} This may have actually have happened, or it may just have been a vision Ironhide had during the Chaos Event. {{storylink|A Better Tomorrow}}

===Spotlight: Mirage===
{{note|The events of ''Spotlight: Mirage'' are presented as a dream sequence of Mirage, and may possibly represent an alternate/unknown continuity.}} 
With most of the Autobots in the galaxy defeated, Megatron chafed to end the war quickly. He demanded [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] track the last pocket of Autobot resistance down for the Decepticons. The mercenary demanded a majority share in all energon mining operations, a deal which outraged Megatron, until Mirage pointed out it was a small price to pay to end the war. After Optimus Prime surrendered, Megatron demanded the prisoners be executed despite Mirage's promise to spare Autobot lives. Seeing Mirage's hesitation, Megatron appealed to his greed. {{storylink|Spotlight: Mirage}}
{{-}}

==Notes==
* In "[[Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2]]", we see that Megatron's helmet is, in fact, [[:Image:MegatronOrigin2 Megs hair.jpg|a helmet and not part of his head]] (at least in this continuity). Upon removing his helmet, Megatron then briefly unfurls a crest. The significance of this moment is not explained, nor is it ever revisited. Thankfully.

[[Category:Decepticon leaders]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:Gladiators]]
[[Category:Rulers of Cybertron]]