Megatron (TFA)


 * Megatron is a Decepticon in the Transformers Animated continuity family.

If you were to ask Megatron to describe himself in one word, he'd probably go with "heroic". He sees himself as a freedom fighter, leading the Decepticons out of the days of Autobot tyranny. The fact he's hoping to replace that with Decepticon tyranny isn't really a concern. A fanatic at heart, he revels in every Autobot who suffers at Decepticon hands and doesn't register humans as anything more then "collateral damage."

Megatron demands loyalty from the Decepticons, loyalty he gains by his awe-inspiring power. With the combined threat of a sharp mind, his fusion cannon, a deadly sword and simple brute strength, there aren't many who'd dare cross him. Still, he has no problem manhandling troops as a gentle reminder.

A loss of a body and his former power is only a minor setback for him, as Megatron is a master manipulator. He's effortlessly got Isaac Sumdac helping him.

"Laugh now, child. I will show you true fear!"

- Megatron as he listens in on Sari's ghost stories

Transformers Animated cartoon

 * Voice actor: Corey Burton (English), ? (Japanese)



Aboard his massive flagship, Megatron went after the Ark after detecting the All Spark. When Starscream volunteered to attack, Megs saw right through him, pointing out "I didn't spend the last four million solar cycles combing the galaxy just so you can get your greasy wings on the All Spark." He even crumpled a part of said wings to make his point. Later, Starscream approached the Decepticon leader again, wishing him "luck", to which Megatron replied, "I don't believe in luck." Starscream got his own back by planting a bomb on Megatron, which blew just as his fusion cannon was about to breach the Ark's hull. The Autobot crew managed to steer the now-failing ship through an asteroid field and into a nearby space bridge.

With the Ark now plummeting through the Earth's atmosphere, a wounded Megatron still managed to thrash the crew soundly and nearly claimed the All Spark. Quick thinking on the part of Optimus Prime sent the Decepticon leader out the cargo hatch and into freefall. Megatron fell from the sky and crashed in Paw Paw, Michigan, where his head was found by a young Isaac Sumdac. Over the next fifty years, Sumdac built a robotics empire by reverse-engineering Megatron's components, inspired to do so no doubt.



Fifty years later, Sari used her key to sneak into her father's lab. He stopped her from seeing anything it contained, but the All Spark energy from the key was absorbed by Megatron's head, reawakening his spark and bringing him back online. Confused and disoriented, he automatically brought up video footage of Starscream and the Autobots. Furious both at Starscream's betrayal and the fact he didn't have the hands to reach out and take the All Spark which was finally within his grasp, he released a burst of energy which activated a small drone Dr. Sumdac had been working on. Megatron thus realized he could control the extremely primitive (by his standards) technology around him. Learning Sari was going to spend the night at the Autobot base, he sneaked his drone into her backpack.

Once she arrived, Megatron sent the drone to look for the All Spark, but his search was fruitless. He decided to try a simpler method: kill the Autobots and extract the data from their lifeless corpses. Interfacing with the factory's assembly line, he attacked. As the Autobots fought back, he decided to cut out the middleman and knocked a hole in a fuel tank. Prowl arrived, realized the factory was working via motion sensors, and managed to get close to the control panel. To counter him, Megatron simply took over the factory arms and snatched up Prowl. However, he failed to stop Bumblebee, due to the primitive tools he was forced to use. With his plans foiled, Megatron was out of patience, refusing to work through these worthless machines. He needed a body. Perhaps it was time to reveal something more advanced to Sumdac...

Megatron soon revealed to Isaac that he still functioned and, when Isaac guessed he was a friend of the Autobots, Megatron played along. He persuaded Isaac to keep his existence secret until Isaac had built him a new body, as then the Autobots would be more forgiving of how Isaac had reverse-engineered their friend. He then helped construct the Dinobots, deliberately programming them to go on a rampage and building fire-breath into them as a prototype for a planned army of drones. When they were defeated, Megatron despaired he might never gain a new body, but upon discovering they'd been turned into sentient Transformers, he quickly convinced them that cars, trucks and "car robots" were evil beings that ate dinosaurs.

During their second rampage, Isaac realised Megatron had deliberately built weapons into the Dinobots. The tyrant feigned shame, saying he'd added experimental features out of a desire to have a body again. Isaac promised not to tell the Autobots and that Megatron would have a body again one day...

Animated

 * CYBERTRON Mode Megatron (Voyager, 2008)


 * Transforms into an alien VTOL jet that looks significantly more jet-like than his Movie counterpart and bears a resemblance to the jet mode of Super Megatron (see below). His cannon is indeed HUGE, and his sword is mounted on it for storage.


 * Megatron (2008)
 * Megatron's "Earth" body bears a significant resemblance to Generation 1 Super Megatron from the Battlestars storyline. His alt-mode appears to be something akin to an Osprey helicopter, as seen in an apparent mock-up of the series intro on Hasbro's website.


 * Optimus Prime vs. Megatron: The Battle Begins (Deluxe, 2008)

Trivia

 * Megatron's head has a rather pointed resemblance to the somewhat early head of 2007 movie's Megatron, which went unused in the actual movie but appeared on loads of promotional materials and merchandise.