Megatron (Beast Wars and Beast Machines)

Convention Comics

Megatron was one of the stars of the 1997 Botcon Convention Comics, a story set near the end of season one of the Beast Wars television series.

In the Convention Comics plot, Inferno and Blackarachnia watched as the Predacon scientist Fractyl attempted to invent energon armor capable of protecting them from energon build up. Although seemingly successful, the armor was stolen by the Maximal thief Packrat. Blackarachinia and Fractyl realized the energon armor was flawed and could destroy the planet if it came in contact with large amounts of energon. Inferno pursued Packrat, but since Packrat didn't need to assume beast mode with the armor on, he got the upper hand in the fight with Inferno. Hearing the battle, Airazor, Cheetor and Rhinox joined Packrat. Fractyl convinced Rhinox that the armor was a threat to them all. Rhinox was able to talk Packrat into giving up the armor, which Fractyl aided them in doing. When Blackarachnia arrived with Megatron, Packrat suggested that Fractyl pretend to be attacking the Maximals, who fled. Megatron was impressed with Fractyl's new found battle prowess.

Megatron would also appear in his Beast Wars Season 2 Transmetal form in the 1999 Botcon story prologue to Reaching the Omega Point, scripted by Simon Furman. After his troops were attacked by an unknown Transformer called Antagony, Megatron (with the aid of Waspinator) battled, defeated and captured her. He then tortured her, realising her to be from the future and seeking information of his own destiny, but Antagony activated a failsafe device that wiped her mind clean, robbing Megatron of her secrets.

Megatron would return in the 2000 story, Reaching the Omega Point. The Maximals and Predacons were under attack by Shokaract, a future Predacon that had merged with the essence of Unicron. A spate of time anomalies threatened to ensure this union never happened and Shokaract wanted to ensure his own future. But Megatron (now in his Beast Wars Season 3 Dragon Mode) decided to blackmail Shokaract into revealing Megatron's own future by destabilising Unicron's essence. Megatron battled Shokaract, but even he was overpowered as Shokaract anchored Unicron's essence in his timeframe. However, even Megatron joined the final battle against Shokaract - aided by a group of Transformers legends, including his own namesake, Megatron.

Season Two

The subsequent explosion destroyed Primal, and bathed the planet in a Quantum Surge that mutated the superstructures of several of the Transformers, Megatron included. Now in a new, more powerful "Transmetal" form (and with Primal's spark soon restored in a new body), Megatron once again attempted control of an alien structure through the alien disk, and almost succeeded before the Maximals destroyed it.

Megatron discovered the stasis pods of the Fuzor Maximals Quickstrike and Silverbolt, whose datatracks were damaged in crashing to Earth. He convinced them they were Predacons and used them to attack the Maximals. Silverbolt discovered he had more in common with the Maximals and switched sides, but Quickstrike remained a Predacon (Coming of the Fuzors Part 1 & 2).

When Protoform X crashed to Earth Megatron was able to capture a piece of his spark, enslaving the evil being to his will. Megatron renamed it Rampage (Bad Spark).

This failure forced Megatron's hand, and he attempted more dangerous means of victory - though still unwilling to fully implement his namesake's plan, he attempted to alter history in another way, by preventing the evolution of human life, thereby stopping the race from aiding the Autobots in the Great War. The plan was foiled, however, and the Golden Disk destroyed by Dinobot, leaving Megatron with no remaining options. However, before he could take any further steps, the transwarp wavefront from the explosion that had destroyed the Vok weapon reached Cybertron, alerting the Predacon rulers, the Tripredacus Council, to the location of Megatron. Recognising him as a rogue who posed a threat to their own schemes, they dispatched Ravage through time to eliminate all those involved in the Beast Wars - Maximal or Predacon. Masquerading as a Maximal ally, Ravage successfully captured Megatron, but when he bore witness to the recording made by the original Megatron, his old commander, on a shattered fragment of the Golden Disk, he promptly switched sides and aided in an attack on the Maximals that ended with his death. Megatron, meanwhile, played his hand, and returned to the Ark, unleashed a full-force point-blank blast upon the slumbering body of Optimus Prime.

Megatron: "So, we are now face to face... Optimus Prime! In one future you awaken and become the great leader of the Autobots, but time shall take a different track now. Computer! All available power to primary weapon! and now, Optimus Prime... in memory of the Decepticons... for the glory of the Predacons! For the Cybertron that is rightfully ours... and mine to rule! I unleash the storm of vengeance... farewell!"

Megatron: "Say goodbye to the universe, Maximals. Yes. The future has changed. The Autobots lose, evil triumphs, and you, you no longer exist!"

Season Three

With this fatal injury, time began to destabilise, until Optimus Primal took Prime's spark into his body to protect it while repairs were made (silently aided, the comic book revealed, by the dimension-travelling Vector Prime (Transformers)). The timeline was preserved, but Megatron was now more determined than ever to claim victory.

Megatron: "The Universe cowered once at the name of Megatron, AND IT SHALL DO SO AGAIN!"

With the loss of the Axalon as their base the Maximals moved into the cave where the Ark laid so they could better defend it. Their control center was made up of pieces of the Axalon's computer, but they lacked Sentinel. Rattrap was sent on a mission to recover the Sentinel control module from the remains of the Axalon under the water, but on the way back the Predacons were able to take it from him and Sentinel was installed in the Darkside (Changing of the Guard).

About this time the Predacon Magmatron and his troops arrived on Earth on a mission following up Ravage. Magmatron had his own agenda to convert many of the unused protoforms in stasis pods into Predacon soldiers under his command, but the Maximal under cover agent Razorbeast sabotaged him, resulting in many of the protoforms emerging as Maximals. Magmatron also recovered the remains of Ravage and used a blank protoform to bring him back as a transmetal 2. Being displaced slightly chronogically Magmatron and Razorbeast's troops battled without the others noticing. At one point Megatron was captured by Magmatron to be sent back to Cybertron. Due to the intervention of Razorbeast, Optimus Minor and Grimlock, Magmatron was sent back to Cybertron instead. Razorbeast left the unconscious Megatron on Earth, fearing altering the time stream if he captured him (Beast Wars: The Gathering #1-4 by IDW comics).

Megatron then discovered the Transmetal Driver, and using a blank Maximal protoform, a genetic sample from Dinobot, and a piece of Rampage's spark, Megatron and Waspinator created Dinobot II. Cheetor interrupted their experiment and was zapped by the Transmetal Driver, resulting in his reformatting into a transmetal 2 form.

Megatron then started research on Nucleon fuel with the help of Waspinator and Inferno . He hoped to create a virus which could stop Cybertonians from transforming and slowly kill them (in the unaired episode Dark Glass).

Megatron took a particular interest in the transformation that resulted from Primal's brief integration of Prime's spark - an evolution into a new, more powerful body that encouraged Megatron to duplicate the process with his own namesake's spark. Stealing aboard the Ark once again, Megatron took the spark of the original Megatron into his body, only to find it particularly hard to control; as the sparks battled for dominance, Tarantulas betrayed Megatron by having Quickstrike (who was using a device to control the massive power of Optimal Optimus) hurl Megatron into a lava pit. Shortly after, as Tarantulas exited the Ark, Megatron rose from the pit, the power of his ancestor's spark having mutated him into an all-powerful transmetal dragon form. This form has the ability to fire bursts of superheated plasma, as well as some sort of freezing substance from its dragon mouth. ''As an aside, the transmetal dragon Megatron toy can deploy wheels from its legs for a rudimentary "transport" mode. The feature was not used in the animated series.

Megatron: "It seems I have once again been cheated of my victory, but beware the dragon's wrath!... Vengeance will be mine!"

In this new form, Megatron then began his most daring scheme yet - seizing the power of the crashed Decepticon space cruiser, the Nemesis, he attempted to unleash its power on the Ark, engaging Optimus Primal in a final battle as his own troops fell all around him. Before the final blow could be struck, Rhinox crashed an Autobot shuttle into the Nemesis, crippling the ship, which crashed, halting Megatron's plan, and finally allowing the Maximals to capture him. Megatron was then chained to the hull of their craft, as they blasted off from Earth and entered transwarp space, heading back to Cybertron. In a deleted scene, (included in the Beast Wars: Season 3 DVD), Optimus Primal removed the original Megatron's spark from Megatron and returned it to its rightful owner, who was still in stasis on the Ark.

Beast Machines

Although the Beast Machines toyline featured only the standard Megatron figure (and a small Happy Meal version of it), it was also originally intended for a toy representing his giant fortress-head form to be released in the line. Initially scrapped, the toy was later revived for release in the following year's , where it was re-imagined as "Megatron Megabolt." Later, as part of the Japanese version of Beast Machines, Beast Wars Returns, the toy was recolored slightly and released as the character it had always been intended to represent, under the name of "Megahead Megatron."

After the conclusion of the Beast Wars, Megatron accepted a slightly different, rather zealous philosophy (possibly inspired by his experiences with the organics within his race and organic life on Earth in general in the Beast Wars). He determined that both Maximal and Predacon alike were threats to the integrity of Cybertron. Both factions' individual minds spawned endless conflict based upon petty disagreements entrenched within their thought processes from eons of war. Thus, he took it upon himself to wipe the planet clean of its ugly past, attempting to erase over four million years of Transformer civilization to begin history anew. Seeing as Cybertron was and should always remain a technologically superior world, he strove to eliminate all organic elements from the face of the planet, starting with the beast mode he acquired from his efforts on prehistoric Earth. However, he was never able to get rid of it fully for fear of contaminating his spark.

Megatron believed that individuality was the root of all disorder, disseminating an infinite count of differentiating viewpoints that existed solely to provoke dissidence and strife throughout the cosmos. He envisioned all of Cybertron united as one perfect, technologically precise entity whose destiny was to conquer and consolidate the universe - under his control, of course.

Season One

Megatron: "Let's start with the Beast Wars. They're over. You lost."

Part-way into the journey, Megatron was able to break free of his bonds and exited the timestream early, returning to Cybertron a considerable time before his Maximal captors. In comics exclusive to the Botcon convention, Megatron was shown to meet his former mentor, Cryotek, who offered to free Megatron of his beast mode by transferring most of it to himself, only to have the transfer send him into a period of stasis lock. Megatron went into seclusion, using Cryotek's plundered innovations to develop a virus that would paralyze transformation, and secretly manufacturing a small army of lifeless mechanical drones dubbed Vehicons. With the population of Cybertron rendering helpless by the virus, the drones slowly captured them and extracted their sparks, their bodies then used as raw material to create more drones... and so the process went until all the Transformers had been wiped off the face of Cybertron, leaving only the Vehicons, and Megatron himself, using a control harness to interface with all of Cybertron's systems as the singular guiding intelligence at the heart of a single, elegant machine. On the show only a single Maximal survived Megatron's conquest, Nightscream, who survived the virus by scanning an organic beast mode as he was being infected. Although still unable to transform out of beast mode, he was protected from most of the virus' other effects.

Note: In the Botcon comics It was revealed several other Maximals survived the virus. Apelinq developed a protective vaccine, which also protected Rodimus and Arcee.

Megatron's goal was still conquest, but of a different sort; he vowed to destroy everything organic, leaving only the technological to rule. Megatron developed a fervent hatred of organics, and slowly attempted to purge all the remaining organic traces of his own beast mode from his system with help of his Diagnostic Drone. In moments when Megatron would lose control of his emotions, the beast within him would take over, forcing him to detach from his harness and revert into his dragon mode. Unable to fully purge the last vestiges of his beast mode from his body, Megatron stubbornly refused to render himself vulnerable even for an instant by simply moving his spark to another body, therefore leaving him trapped in the very thing he hated the most - an organic beast form.

When the Maximals emerged from the timestream at their intended point in time, they found the planet under Megatron's control, and were immediately devolved to their original beast modes by the virus. The Vehicons captured Rhinox and Silverbolt, while Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Blackarachnia and Rattrap were able to escape, and were reformatted by the legendary Oracle computer (in actuality, a shell program surrounding Vector Sigma). With his technological purity shattered by the arrival of the techno-organic Maximals and the revelation that Cybertron had formerly been organic and still possessed an organic core, Megatron bestowed three of his drones with the reprogrammed sparks of Rhinox, Silverbolt and Waspinator in order to allow them to better combat the Maximals.

However, this led to Rhinox's spark being brought back to the surface by Primal, but, corrupted by Megatron's programming, Rhinox now agreed with Megatron's vision, and set about concocting his own schemes. Duping Megatron and Optimus Primal into using the power of the key to Vector Sigma and the Plasma Energy Chamber, respectively, Rhinox hoped they would destroy each other, leaving him to rule, but when his deception was exposed and the opposing energies released, it only resulted in his destruction. Additionally, when these two energies met in Megatron's citadel, Megatron took a chance and once again attempted to separate his organic and technological sides - only to wind up trapped in the organic half.

Season Two

Wandering Cybertron in a purely organic body that transformed from wolf to dragon, Megatron feigned innocence and was taken in by the unwitting Maximals, and then exploited them to enable him to return to his citadel, where he transferred his spark into a new, purely technological body - a massive fortress in the shape of his own head, which transformed into a space cruiser, flippantly compared by Rattrap to Unicron's former status as Cybertron's cerebral satellite.

Floating above the planet's surface, Megatron began anew his scheme for control by acquiring a portion of the Oracle's data from Primal and absorbing the captive sparks into his own, in an attempt to create one, unique intelligence. However, a sonic scream of rage from the Maximal, Nightscream, depolarised Megatron's spark, leaving it wildly flitting around Cybertron, seeking out a new body. Leaping from shell to shell, it found itself unable to remain in a body for long, until Rattrap realised the truth of the matter and repolarized it, trapping it in the frail body of a diagnostic drone.

Even as a Diagnostic Drone, Megatron could use a defense shield and tendrils of red energy. Then, his options expended, Megatron submitted to the procedure that would transfer his spark into a new body - and, his sense of irony intact, the body he chose was a replica of Primal's "Optimal" form (dubbed "Optimal Megatron" by fans), which he used to defeat his enemy, and begin the absorption of Cybertron's sparks, growing to a colossal height. Opening a tunnel to the planet's centre, Megatron threatened to activate the key to Vector Sigma at its' core, transforming the whole world into a perfect technosphere then he would transfer his consciousness into Cybertron and conquer the universe. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't access the Key while Primal still controlled half of the connection to the Oracle, but Megatron easily severed it and began the reformatting. Primal fought back by turning Megatron's throne into organic matter, trapping the Vehicon Leader and eventually pushing him off-balance sending the two combatants tumbling down the shaft into Cybertron's organic core. There, together, these two seeds of the future were buried in the past, and in death, Primal used the Oracle to reformat the entire world into a techno-organic paradise.

Transformers: Universe

Although Megatron seemed to die at the end of the Beast Machines storyline, there were plans to bring him back in the pages of the comic book exclusive to BotCon, and to make a toy based on this appearance as a future convention exclusive. The toy was to be based on the Robots in Disguise Megatron/Galvatron toy, redecoed in the colors of Megatron's Transmetal 2 form with a remoulded robot-mode head to clearly establish the character. When the Transformers conventions were taken over by a different group, they instead used the mold to create the convention exclusive Deathsaurus.

There was brief mention of Megatron and his death in Transformers: Universe #2. Optimus Primal worried that his return from death could also mean Megatron would return from the dead - and we even saw a close-up of eyes which were identical to the face on the above unfinished Universe Megatron toy. Since the comic series ended after issue 3 nothing more came of this.

Robots In Disguise

A toy called Megabolt Megatron who resembled Megatron's floating head form was released in the Robots In Disguise line.

A 3 inch tall non-transforming version of Megatron was released in 2006. This toy resembles his original T-Rex toy, is made of die-cast metal, and has moving arms.

in 2006 a new Megatron toy was sold as 10th Anniversary Beast Wars Megatron. It came packaged with a small replica of the Predacon ship Darkside.

Tech Spec: An insane, hyper-intelligent criminal mastermind who led a group of renegade PREDACONS to Earth in search of the Energon they would need to conquer CYBERTRON, MEGATRON became so much more than a petty felon. He launched an assault on Time itself, seeking to change history to his benefit. He destroyed countless lives in his mad quest to exterminate the TRANSFORMERS, and was stopped only when OPTIMUS PRIMAL brought him down. Now, he has returned, and his battle with the MAXIMAL leader rages across the multiverse!

In issue 9 of the Transformers Collectors Club magazine a full page biography for the 10th anniversary Optimus Primal was printed where it was explained that Megatron had returned in the Universe storyline. Although never shown, it's presumed that this was Megatron's 10th Anniversary form.

In Japan a completely different 10th Anniversary toy was released, a remold of the orignal Tyranasaurus Megatron toy, made to look more show-accurate. It was packages with a remold of Optimus Primal and a DVD that looked like the Maximal Golden Disk.

Robot Masters

Megatron would make another appearance in the Japanese-only line . Here, he would be transported to the Generation 1 timeline from the first season of Beast Wars by a phenomenon known as the "Blastizone." Generation 1 Megatron had been lost in an accident, and so, "Beast Megatron" (by which he was referred to differentiate him from his Generation 1 counterpart), took over in his stead, besting Starscream and earning leadership of the Decepticons. He would lead them in a battle to control an energy resource called "Solitarium", until Generation 1 Megatron returned in the form of "Rebirth Megatron".

Oddly in the Robot Masters series Megatron, while resembling his first season form, is depicted as standing as tall as a Decepticon( in the Beast Wars series, all the Maximals and Predacons were portrayed as being much smaller than the Generation One Transformers), can fly in robot mode (mirroring the abilities of the Generation One Decepticons), and breaths fire in beast mode.

His function is Emperor of Destruction and his motto is "The final victory will be mine alone!"

Tech Spec: Major player in the Destron forces who came from the planet Energois (actually ancient Earth). Laser Buster Beam fired from dinosaur mouth on right arm can shatter a 60-ton boulder. His manner of speech is pleasant, but when it comes to playing foul, he's in the top class of his forces.

Botcon 2006

The Botcon exclusive 2006 toys were themed around the main Beast War character before they came to ancient Earth and were reformatted as beasts. This included a remold of Cybertron Defense Red Alert which was supposed to represent Megatron before he was reformatted into a t-rex for the Beast Wars.

Remolds and redecos

At various points through subsequent Transformers toylines, several of Megatron's toy have been repainted and/or remoulded into new, non-Megatron characters.

• The original Beast Wars T-Rex Megatron was recolored in red, blue and tan for Beast Machines as Dinobot T-Wrecks.
• Transmetal Megatron was remolded with Mini-Con ports and recolored in browns and greens for Transformers: Armada as Predacon.
• Transmetal 2 Megatron was recolored in icy blues as Cryotek.
• Megatron Megabolt was recolored in tan, green and blue as Megabolt for Transformers: Universe.

 

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