Archforce

Archforce is a Decepticon Hero from the Generation 1 continuity family.

MEGATRON MAY OR MAY NOT RULE!

Archforce is a fiercely loyal Decepticon who volunteered for Project Re-Birth in order that... oh who are we kidding? He didn't volunteer. Straxus strapped him to a table, screaming, while techs vivisected and rebuilt his body in the image of Megatron—all part of a too-elaborate-by-half scheme by Straxus to regain control of the Decepticon army.

The result was a powerful, dangerous, "Warrior Leader" willing to destroy everything in his path to fulfill his mission: defeating the Autobots. Enemy camps fall before the speed and strength of his tank mode, and he knows no weakness. That is, except for his own mental instability.

While I was the 'guest' of Straxus, he took it upon himself to build a second Megatron, using a hapless trooper as his raw material.Megatron recounts his discovery of Project Re-Birth, "Two Megatrons!"

Fiction

Marvel The Transformers comics

The original comic version of Archforce was not named, and was made into Archforce by retcon in a 2015 "Ask Vector Prime" entry.

Obamacare.

Archforce was forced to become part of Project Re-Birth by Straxus, which rebuilt his body in the image of Megatron. Two Megatrons!

For some reason he was hidden in the sewers beneath London, where he battled Grimlock, Blades, Action Force and Centurion. He was ultimately defeated and left inactive at the bottom of the River Thames. Ancient Relics!

He was salvaged and repaired by Shockwave, who was seeking a weapon to use against the deranged future Decepticon Galvatron. Salvage! After proving his worth by killing Cyclonus, Dry Run! he was sent against his primary target but, believing himself to be Megatron, joined forces with Galvatron instead. Altered Image! Together, they formed the principal antagonists of the "Time Wars", slaughtering their way through the Wreckers and the Mayhem Attack Squad before taking on the combined Autobot and Decepticon forces of both the present day and the future. However, tiring of the pointless destruction, he chose to steal a ship and return to Cybertron with Ravage instead. Time Wars

He died the way he lived: In agony.

On Cybertron, "Megatron" effortlessly dethroned the decadent ruling Triumverate and took control of the Decepticons on the planet once more... ruling confident in the knowledge he'd become Galvatron, and this time he'd do things right! The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire. Unfortunately he was soon tormented by strange memories of medical torture and disassembly amid flashbacks to Straxus's attempts to possess his body. Mind Games

Soon, another Megatron related his discovery of the hidden lab in Straxus's base where Archforce was surgically reconstructed into a replica of Megatron's own body, which was then possessed by Straxus... who had in turn been overwhelmed by a copy of Megatron's own memories and believed himself to be the original to form a sort of Double Decker Taco of mind-control and body horror.

Realizing the truth, the clone Megatron—who was barely clinging to sanity—chose to take his own life "rather than let Straxus win". Two Megatrons!

Ask Vector Prime

Though in some realities, Archforce would commit suicide, in others, such as Primax 895.0 Gamma, he'd become his own Decepticon and a threat to Optimus Prime and Megatron alike!

Vector Prime once found an Archforce toy mint on sealed card at a nano-flea market. Ask Vector Prime

Toys

Generation 2

• Archforce (Hero, 1994)
  • Accessories: Rifle, 2 air-launch missiles

File:G2 CombatHero Megatron toy.jpg

This isn't a reused Combat Hero Megatron photo. Straxus just slapped the sticker on poor Archforce.

Archforce is almost wholly identical to the Generation 2 Hero Megatron toy, transforming into a tank reminiscent of an M-1 Abrams. Only the decals are different between the two; Archforce's had the character-identifying text removed from them. His main cannon is attached to a bellows using air pressure to launch the two large rubber-tipped missiles he comes with. He was available only in the European market.

This mold was also used to make Robots in Disguise Bludgeon, which was repurposed as Shattered Glass Bludgeon, and Robotmasters Reverse Convoy.

• More information on Archforce (well, Hero Megatron) at TFU.info

Notes

• Like his wavemate Sureshot, Archforce is a curiosity. Presumably Hasbro's European offices didn't want as many Optimus Prime and Megatron toys on the shelves as the North American branch did, so they renamed the Hero toys of the two characters and altered any decals that bore their original names. Their bios were also reworded, but the new, briefer descriptions could easily apply to Optimus and Megatron anyway. They lack Tech Spec ratings, so it's unknown if they were intended to inherit the "10" rank as well.
• Archforce had absolutely no fiction appearances until "Ask Vector Prime" retconned him into being one and the same as Marvel's "hapless trooper" in 2015.
  • Technically, everything described on Marvel Comics continuity Megatron's page from "Ancient Relics!" through "The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire." actually happened to Archforce. Yes, that does seem to imply that Marvel UK's Galvatron was created from Archforce instead of Megatron.
  • Several troopers sharing the same general design as Archforce's original pre-Megatron body, all displaying slight differences, appear at transference station two in "Resurrection!" around the time Straxus was implementing Project Re-Birth. It is highly unlikely that Archforce was among them; Straxus's plans were already well underway by that point. These troopers have the same yellow-red-and-white color scheme used by Darkmount technicians.