Megatron X (BW)

This article is about the chromed double of Beast Wars Megatron. For the shadowy double of Cyberverse Megatron, see Megatron X (Cyberverse). For a list of other meanings, see Megatron (disambiguation).

Megatron X is a Predacon from the Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Know that I am Megatron X, and that the Nintendo 64 does not possess in-game graphics of this quality!

Who or what is Megatron X (メガトロンX Megatoron Ekkusu)? Nobody knows. Some believe him to be a creation of the Vok, the latest implement used to carry out one of their many experiments. Others suspect he is the Predacon Commander Megatron's latest form, attained through the acquisition of an incredible power. A few even claim he was formed from energon crystals that absorbed Megatron's malice, creating a being set on global extinction. Whatever his origin, one thing is clear: his power levels are off the charts, and only the strongest warriors around could ever hope to stand against this fearsome foe.

Fiction

Ask Vector Prime

Vector Prime explained that Megatron X was created by agents of the Vok and based on Megatron. He was placed into Primax 700.12-N4 Kappa and Primax 1099.01-N6 Kappa, universal streams whose instability interested the Vok. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15

Games

Unknown to Megatron, Megatron X is secretly his older brother, Rex, who ran away from home years ago!

Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)

Voice actor: David Kaye (English), Shigeru Chiba (Japanese)

If any Maximal or Predacon, including Megatron, reached the end of their journey without falling in battle, Megatron X was there to challenge them, laughing. Once the battle with Megatron X was ended, the challenger could finally move on with their plans, friendly or sinister.

The following story content is only available through the use of a cheat device.

Megatron X was created when Megatron was infused and possessed by the power of the original Megatron. Now possessing overwhelming strength, Megatron X led his forces in a decisive strike that caused the destruction of Optimus Primal and the utter defeat off the Maximals. With no one left to oppose them, the Predacons seized control of the Ark and used its escape shuttle to return to Predacon space. Through a combination of evolution, alien technology, and careful planning, Megatron X swiftly secured Cybertron for the Predacons. Now in control of the planet, Megatron X set his sights on a new goal: finding the Vok and making them his next conquest. Beast Wars Transmetals

Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if Arcade Mode was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages; see the other characters' pages for Megatron X's fate in those outcomes.

Notes

• Megatron X appears as a bonus boss in Arcade Mode if the player did not need to use any continues during the previous seven battles. The player is only given one chance to defeat him, though their ending is unchanged whether they win or lose.
• There is a legitimate way to play as Megatron X in the game, but it's exclusive to the Japanese version. Players must first complete Arcade Mode with Megatron to unlock his third color palette, then connect the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak to the Player 1 controller and insert Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle before starting the game, at which point he can be selected like any other color palette for Megatron. However, Megatron X does not stay permanently unlocked, and is only accessible if the GBC game is detected at startup. And since the Transfer Pak functionality was stripped out of the North American version, there's no way to play as Megatron X in that version at all...officially, at least. However, GameShark codes can be used to unlock Megatron X as a playable character in both versions, without the need for a Transfer Pak (though it will cause freezing in Toys mode). The codes are as follows:
  • 801002FD FFFF (Japanese version)
  • 80101CFD FFFF (North American version)
• Whether as a boss or as a playable character, Megatron X has significant gameplay buffs compared to the rest of the roster. He has twice as much stamina, and twice the Energon Resistance Gauge capacity, slowing the rate at which it both depletes and recharges.
• The Arcade Mode ending for Megatron X implies him to be an alternate take on Megatron's dragon body (identified as a Transmetal 2 in the toyline), which was similarly created when Transmetal Megatron absorbed the spark of the original in "Master Blaster".
• As you can probably gleam from that intro, there's been a few different explanations for Megatron X's backstory thrown out over the years, born as the result of multiple creators not having access to each other's work. The original story of Megatron X being created from malice-infused energon crystals was published in various Japanese game magazines like The 64Dream and Dengeki Nintendo 64 around the time of the game's launch, but not featured anywhere in the game itself or its accompanying manual. As a result, GenAzea had no knowledge of this information while localizing the game for North America, hence the "alternate Transmetal 2" story seen in in Megatron X's Arcade Mode ending. Of course, despite being present on the cartridge, that ending went completely unseen at the time due to Megatron X's unplayability, so between that and old Japanese magazines not being particularly accessible in the west during the 2010s, the Ask Vector Prime writers were similarly in the dark, leading them to craft their own Vok-based origin. The crystal story didn't start to get out there until the mid 2020s, when preservationists started recovering and scanning some of these older magazines. The Arcade Mode ending, on the other hand, was eventually found by a YouTuber in 2019 while using a debugger to force Megatron X as the playable character, but it flew completely under the radar until 2023, when a group of TFWiki.net users reverse-engineered the game and created the aforementioned GameShark codes, discovering the ending during testing. All that said, as all three stories are technically canon by virtue of being officially published, which story is the "true" origin ultimately comes down to a matter of your own personal canon.