Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity
Never Megatron, not a servant of Unicron, but convinced he has a higher calling to the point of recklessness, leading to unwitting servitude to the monstrous D-Void, Galvatron has done a load of stuff in the IDW Generation 1 continuity!
IDW Generation 1 comics
Nova Prime's Era
Hailing from Protohex, Post Hoc Galvatron rose to fame during the First Cybertronian Civil War, becoming known as a hero for his part in defeating the ancient Headmasters. Shockpoint After a battle in the War he was approached by Alpha Trion who offered to give him everything he ever wanted. The Mind Bomb Once Nova Prime brought an end to the war, Galvatron stood by his side as a close friend and chief military adviser, and he was among those present when the Prime rediscovered Crystal City. Primus: All Good Things As part of Nova Prime's inner circle, Galvatron served on first Ark, part of Nova's dream of expanding Cybertronian domination throughout the cosmos. Their voyage brought them to the Benzuli Expanse, where they discovered a mysterious anomaly leading to another universe: on Nova's orders, Galvatron had the ship enter the portal, sending them into the Dead Universe. Dark Dawn
The Dead Universe
The transition killed the crew and revived them as undead beings who could not survive for long in the "living" universe, a consequence Galvatron blamed himself for. Within the Dead Universe, he became a herald for Nova, who was now calling himself Nemesis Prime and making plans to merge the two universes. Millions of years later, Galvatron was sent on two missions in the living Universe: to destroy an alien starship conducting research on the anomaly in the Expanse, and to return to Cybertron to secure the inactive Thunderwing. After killing Leadfoot by touch alone, Galvatron shrugged off attacks by the Autobot squad under Hound's command and then shocked them when he got up after having half of his head blown off by Sideswipe. In a small act of defiance to his master, he merely incapacitated the Autobots and returned with Thunderwing's body to Gorlam Prime. Spotlight: Galvatron
The Expansion
After Sixshot's deployment to Earth, Nemesis Prime sent Galvatron there as well to make sure nothing would forestall their second coming. Devastation #3 From a hidden vantage point, Galvatron observed the Decepticons' desperate fight against the powerful alien army known as the Reapers. As Nemesis Prime's plans required Earth to survive, at least for a while, Galvatron took steps to prevent the Reapers from taking over and laying waste to the planet. Galvatron approached the Reapers' leader, the Deathbringer, and unleashed the power of death that was his to command, turning the Reaper into living decay who spread death and disintegration to his fellow Reapers on contact, casually blasting a bird-like Reaper who saw this happen when it attacked. This turned the tide of battle rapidly, and the Decepticons won the day. Galvatron then returned to the Dead Universe to await new orders. However, Nemesis Prime remarked to Jhiaxus that he suspected that Galvatron had his own plans... Devastation #6
After Cyclonus secured the Nega-Core and activated its guardian, Galvatron initiated the Expansion with Nemesis Prime and the rest of the Dead Universe crew. Spotlight: Cyclonus Galvatron was paired with Cyclonus to patrol the Benzuli Expanse, charged with destroying anything that might interrupt the Expansion. He let his partner have dibs on destroying Cloudburst and his crew on the Mirror-Manifold. Spotlight: Doubledealer
Heading to Garrus-9, Galvatron watched the battle of the Primes, waiting for Nemesis to become completely focused on Optimus Prime, before taking his chance and shooting the corrupt Prime in the back. When Nemesis fell, the Darkness jumped to Optimus. As the Autobot leader tried to resist, Galvatron gave him a choice: kill himself in the nearby solar pool or allow the Darkness to pass on to its rightful owner. Prime reached out for Galvatron, but as the Darkness crossed between them, Optimus grabbed Galvatron's hand, and hurled him into the solar pool, destroying both the Darkness and its would-be host.
Building an Army
Or not. Some time later, as the Autobots were recuperating from a series of upheavals, Galvatron's hand burst from the solar pool. Spotlight: Sideswipe The Darkness had consumed him whole! However, both it and he were changed, and with it redubbed the "Heart of Darkness", Galvatron decided that all that exploration had taught him that change was the one constant in the universe... and now, he and his men were going to force change!
He arrived on Gorlam Prime, where Cyclonus and Scourge were the last surviving members of the Dead Universe crew, and began babbling his intentions at them while throwing Scourge into a smelting pool... causing it to resurrect him, and create a clone army! He then used the Darkness to bring Cyclonus back to life, telling him his spirit had always refused to die anyway, and led his army off to fulfil his mission! (The army thinks he might be a bit loopy.) Rebirth
On Gorlam Prime, they discovered that the entire population of the planet had vanished and set out to solve this mystery. Returning to the site of the portal to the Dead Universe, they found numerous dead "Micromasters", presumably the ones killed by Arcee. The whole time Galvatron displayed mood swings, sudden irrational anger, and incredible strength, all of which disturbed Cyclonus, who worried what would happen if Galvatron turned against them. Discovering the ruined body of Jhiaxus, Galvatron restored him to his old self using the power of the Heart of Darkness, and the group discovered a clear silver sphere that acted as a portal into the Dead Universe. As Galvatron was about to use the portal to enter the Dead Universe, however, they were suddenly ambushed by Arcee and Hardhead. Heart of Darkness #1
Damaged beyond his ability to quickly self-repair by their attack, Galvatron was forced to watch as his "Seekers" were overwhelmed by the hostile pair of 'Bots, until he managed to drag himself to the portal. Reaching into it, he felt the power of the Dead Universe recharge and repair him, upon which he easily dispatched Hardhead and forced Arcee to flee, coldly noting that he was the only future that mattered.
While Cyclonus and Scourge were sent to capture or kill the fleeing Arcee, Jhiaxus prepared to torture Hardhead for information, but Galvatron stopped him, demonstrating how he could simply reach into the Autobot's mind and display his memories for his underling to see. Once he had learned how the entire population of Gorlam Prime had marched, seemingly hypnotized, into the Dead Universe, he used the Darkness to brainwash Hardhead into serving him, seeing him as a useful servant, before deciding to journey into the Dead Universe himself. Once there, he was confronted by a monstrous being called D-Void who fed on the life-spark of robotic life. Narrowly escaping and returning to Gorlam Prime, he informed the others that they would need to gather an army to fight what was coming. Heart of Darkness #2
Ignoring Cyclonus's misgivings about D-Void's existence, Galvatron travelled widely from his base on Gorlam Prime using the spacebridge network Jhiaxus reconstructed, resurrecting numerous fallen Autobots and Decepticons through the power of the Heart of Darkness and recruiting other robotic life forms who would be susceptible to attack from D-Void. When his army was a million strong, he sensed an incursion by D-Void and journeyed to the remote planet Dykayra. There they found numerous dead Autobots and Decepticons that Galvatron claimed he could not resurrect, something Cyclonus was sceptical of. They also discovered evidence that an ancient race that had once occupied Gorlam Prime had also occupied Dykayra, and Galvatron speculated that somehow they were connected to D-Void and perhaps manipulating events unnoticed.
Discovering a second portal into the Dead Universe, Galvatron was shocked as the ruined body of Nemesis Prime stepped from it, returned to life by D-Void and anxious for revenge on Galvatron. Heart of Darkness #3
Initially, Galvatron had the upper hand as the two old allies battled. However, D-Void appeared to take control of Nemesis Prime, nearly killing Galvatron before Galvatron's army launched a full attack. forcing D-Void back into the sphere and seemingly killing him. Declaring that the threat was not over, Galvatron decided that to be ready for D-Void, they would need to conquer Cybertron. Heart of Darkness #4
Galvatron and crew discovered a frozen mass of organic and metal in space and brought the strange blob aboard their ship to investigate. The blob thawed, revealing a swarm of zombies and robots from another universe. The zombie leader, Britt, used the power of suggestion to make the crew think she was actually one of their own named Bayonet, while she sabotaged the engines to bring the ship crashing to Earth. The Transformers: Infestation #2 There, Galvatron tried to enlist the help of Optimus Prime and his Autobots, but they rebuffed him until he was subdued by Skywatch devices. Galvatron finally convinced Prime they should be fighting this menace on the same side, while Kup broke Britt's cover. The Transformers: Infestation #1 Kup was compromised though, and to stop Britt and the zombie horde from ravaging Cybertron of the past, Galvatron gave the coordinates to Prowl, who used Kup, to send the whole shebang to the very beginning of the Dead Universe. The Earth and Cybertron saved for now, Galvatron again offered his leadership to the Autobots, who of course refused, and Galvatron and crew swore they would be enemies when they next met. The Transformers: Infestation #2
When Wheelie, believing Cybertron to still be, well, habitable, brought Rodimus and their new alien friend Garnak to Cybertron, they discovered not only Sunstreaker, Ironhide and their new pet Insecticon Bob, but also Galvatron and an army of Sweeps, who had conquered the entire planet. Fleeing back to Earth, the group warned Optimus Prime of what had happened, fearing that Galvatron was a threat to them all. Out of the Silent Planet
Confronting the D-Void
This proved to be true as, shortly after conquering Cybertron he sent Cyclonus to attack the Kimia Facility with a group of Sweeps. Though the Autobots there tried to fight back, Cyclonus and the Sweeps slaughtered them all. Informing Galvatron that the weapons facility was now theirs, Galvatron congratulated Cyclonus on his good work and commanded him to return to Cybertron with it, where he was waiting along with his army of Sweeps.
When Optimus and his fellow Autobots arrived on Cybertron, Galvatron had his entire army fire into the air to send a message in binary telling the Autobots to meet with him; this doubled as a display of power, showing the sheer size of his army. Optimus took Ironhide, Drift, Sunstreaker, Bob, and Rodimus to the surface to meet with Galvatron. There, the ancient Cybertronian gave them a simple ultimatum: the Autobots could either join his forces or be destroyed. Optimus, not impressed by Galvatron's threats or his refusal to reveal his long term plans for Cybertron, said that the Autobots would not be his slaves, but if his intentions were peaceful they wouldn't harm him. Galvatron replied by trying to kill them all, claiming that anyone who wasn't with him was against him and that if the Autobots wouldn't serve him they would die. They managed to fight back against his army of Sweeps, but Cyclonus arrived to pull Galvatron away from the fight.
Cyclonus then revealed to Galvatron that Kimia was now above Cybertron and Galvatron. Galvatron, pleased, ordered Scourge and his sweeps to begin its transformation. It turned out that Kimia was not just a weapons facility but could transform into a weapon. Galvatron ordered Scourge to fire the giant laser at Cybertron. Lamentations
However, his target was not the Autobots, but Cybertron itself, and he gave the order for Kimia to focus its beam on the planet, doing horrific damage that threatened to destroy it. As a Sweep reported to Galvatron of an attack on Kimia conducted by flight-capable Autobots, they were interrupted when Wheelie shot the Sweep in the head with his sniper rifle. Enraged, Galvatron ordered his Sweeps to kill the Autobots.
After the two surviving Technobots managed to destroy Kimia from within, Galvatron was even more furious, grabbing Jhiaxus and commanding him to follow to the spot which the beam had struck, hoping that the damage it had already done was enough. He was unaware that Optimus and Ironhide had spotted him leaving and followed him, Optimus sensing something within Galvatron that he believed the Matrix would be needed to stop. Numbers
Both Galvatron and Jhiaxus were chased by Optimus, Ironhide, Rodimus, and Drift deeper down into the interior of Cybertron through an opening blasted into the surface of the planet. Optimus Prime commanded Galvatron to stop, but then a mad force coming from Galvatron suddenly halted all of the Decepticons on Cybertron. The Decepticons then clustered together as one to form a towering avatar for D-Void. The rampaging abomination distracted and attacked the Autobots, so Galvatron was able to flee with Jhiaxus again. Kings
Optimus Prime went after Galvatron once again, attempting to prevent Galvatron from unleashing the Heart of Darkness, therefore releasing D-Void. However, Galvatron believed the opposite, that the power from the Heart of Darkness would save the universe from D-Void. Megatron, who had been holding off D-Void's giant puppet, eventually blasted the creation into pieces. Galvatron, deep under the surface of the planet, felt pain from this without knowing why. However, it was too late by the time Optimus Prime and his group caught up with Galvatron - he had already unleashed the Heart of Darkness into Vector Sigma. Galvatron declared his supposed victory as Cybertron crumbled apart and D-Void entered into the universe, but got hit by Arcee and Hardhead's landing craft. Galvatron then got up and shot Optimus Prime in the back while Optimus deliberated with Rodimus over whether to use the Matrix in order to save the universe. Galvatron declared himself the leader of the Cybertronians, but was then swatted by Cyclonus, furious that Cybertron had been destroyed. Galvatron pushed aside Cyclonus, but then realized how wrong he had been as he began to atomize, before Optimus Prime used the Matrix to revivify Vector Sigma, denying D-Void its dead world for a portal and so saving the universe from destruction. Genesis
The Return
Galvatron was believed dead by the Autobots following his apparent disintegration, The Death of Optimus Prime when in fact he had merely returned to the Dead Universe and reunited with Nemesis Prime, now freed from D-Void's influence and calling himself Nova Prime again. Being long-time comrades, the two had no problem putting aside their little conflicts while under the spell of Heart of Darkness, and rejoined forces to focus on leaving the Dead Universe. Black Metal Their way back was to be provided by Shockwave, Jhiaxus's understudy, Dark Dawn but his space bridge was lost, causing Nova Prime to lash out at Galvatron in rage. Black Metal Shockwave was soon able to provide a backup bridge in the form of Megatron, whom Galvatron and Nova Prime used a portal to journey back to the living universe. Into the Abyss The Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron joined forces to put a stop to Shockwave's plan, beating Nova Prime back through the portal, but Galvatron was able to emerge and rip Megatron in half at the waist. Finest Hour He advocated pursuing the escaping Autobots and Decepticons only for Shockwave to overrule him. The Autobot Bumblebee came to him later to rescue the bisected Megatron. Galvatron easily bested the smaller Autobot, while mocking him that his short four million year war had made him soft. As he gloated about his longer war and superior skills, Megatron shot him unconscious. When he stirred, the two were gone. The Dead Are Not Enough When Optimus Prime killed Nova Prime, Galvatron felt his death through his own link to the Dead Universe, which Shockwave took great interest in. When the Necrotitan fell Galvatron sulked that Cybertron would not get its new golden age. Shockwave then revealed that the master plan was never about Primes or Golden Ages but to fuel Cybertron forever and that Galvatron, himself would serve as conduit to absorb the energies of the Dead Universe. Finis Temporis Galvatron was restrained by Monstructor while Jhiaxus used Galvatron's link to the Dead Universe in concert with the Time Drive to remove all its energy from the moment of its birth (causing it to always have been dead). Galvatron demanded to know what Shockwave was planning and the scientist revealed that he was using the Ores from his Regenesis program to fulfill the Dark Cybertron prophecy and Galvatron was the link making it possible. When the Ores fused into Shockwave, he revealed to Galvatron he was creating an ultimate singularity that would bend all the resources of time and space to feed Cybertron for eternity. The Becoming Galvatron barely managed to limp away from Shockwave, only to meet Bumblebee and a repaired Megatron. Knowing he had made Shockwave's plan possible he submitted himself to the Decepticon leader's wrath and was only spared when Bumblebee convinced Megatron he was better than Galvatron. When Shockwave killed Bumblebee, Galvatron made his escape. Black Planet Skywarp later rescued Galvatron from the remains of Crystal City. When the Decepticons expressed shock that Megatron had changed sides, Galvatron agreed with them and suggested a new approach. ...And the Damage Done This new approach was making Galvatron the new Decepticon leader.
Watching Metroplex transform to city mode, as shelter for the Autobots and civilian Cybertronians, Galvatron asked Soundwave where the Decepticons came from. Soundwave replied that they were a movement of working class Cybertronians that had risen up against their oppressors. Reminded of his talk with Alpha Trion from the first war and seeking a new purpose in life, Galvatron suggested the Decepticons form their own community and he offered to aid them. Soundwave suggested abandoning Cybertron for Earth. Galvatron thought this meant that Soundwave wanted to conquer the planet, but the communications bot clarified that they would be following the true Decepticon path of peace. Full Fathom Five
Command of the Decepticons
 Spoiler warning: Plot details for Earthfall Part 4: Full Fathom Five follow. |
Reformatted into a mobile battle cannon, Galvatron led his new troops to Earth, where they met up with General Witwicky and Director Faireborn and established an alliance with the Earth Defense Command through the information that Megatron had joined the Autobots and the help of Soundwave.Detonation Boulevard Galvatron was enraged at being in an alliance with humans, but could find no argument at Soundwave's reasoning as he did not live through the eras of Nominus and Sentinel. He beat up Rumble shortly after to let out some rage. The Mind Bomb In exchange for aid against the Autobots the humans agreed to build the Decepticons a massive satellite where they could live. Full Fathom Five Galvatron led his troops to ambush Optimus Prime at Thundercracker's home before the EDC showed up and placed the Autobots under arrest. Hello Cruel World He reveled in being able to have a rematch against Optimus Prime when the Autobots engaged but was disappointed when they attempted to retreat. Nevertheless Galvatron ordered a pursuit of the Autobots and eventually cornered them in the town of Poverty Flat, the Decepticon leader refused to stand down under the need to remain in disguise and was present when Prowl exploited this fact by forming Devastator. Detonation Boulevard This did little to deter Galvatron, even after Devastator sent him to ground with one punch. Mid-fight a "mind bomb" knocked out all the Decepticons who Skywarp then beamed up to their ship. Furious at the humans he took out his anger on the ship and Astrotrain. Before he could take it out on Soundwave, the communications robot informed him that through their spy, Scavenger, they had found the location of Alpha Trion. The Mind Bomb When the Decepticons manage to trace the source of the "mind bomb", Galvatron and Soundwave beamed down to its location. They smashed the communications relay so that they could talk to General Witwicky and Sanjay Bharwaney alone. While Soundwave was sympathetic and understanding of the "mind bomb", Galvatron was furious. He claimed to understand its purpose and was even impressed that humans had built, given the amount of pain it caused him. He warned that if the bomb was used on him again he would kill Bharwaney and everyone in Bharwaney's home of New Mexico (and he'd destroy the old one just for good measure). As he was being informed that the satellite was under construction around Jupiter, Prime's team made their move to rescue Alpha Trion just as Galvatron's ship arrived overhead. Full Fathom Five
Notes
- Simon Furman was very clear from the start that IDW Galvatron was not Megatron in any way, shape or form, time-traveller or otherwise.[1] He did, however, spend some time teasing an Ultra Magnus/Galvatron fight in homage to the Marvel UK Transformers comic, but had abandoned it by the time he wrote Revelation.[2]
- Galvatron has a new tank body, with treads on his back in robot mode, in Heart of Darkness, despite still being depicted with his original IDW cannon body in the The Transformers: Infestation miniseries which was published earlier, but set during HoD.
- Galvatron received a new earth mode body that transforms into mobile battle tank as of RID issue 28.[3]
References
- ↑ FUTURE’S PAST | simon furman: Originally, Galvatron (as all fans of the original animated movie know) was the future version of Megatron, recreated by Unicron from the shattered remains of the former Decepticon leader. However, this Galvatron is NOT IDW Megatron in a new body. In fact, he pre-dates IDW Megatron... by some way.
- ↑ IT’S Q&A TIME AGAIN! | simon furman 20. You previously mentioned that we’d see Ultra Magnus vs Galvatron. Is this still going to happen? SF) This was where my plans for Revelation/Expansion really did change, and not just because of the shift in format. Originally, I really wanted to have an Ultra Magnus/Galvatron smackdown in the tradition of the one from Target: 2006, but once I’d arranged all the players in Revelation I realised it just wasn’t going to work.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/glovestudios/status/466294118331990017/photo/1
