Galvatron (G1)


 * Galvatron is a Decepticon in the Generation 1 continuity family.



Galvatron is a force of nature. Born from the machinations of Unicron himself, Galvatron is madness and power combined, given form. He is blinded and consumed by his lust for power, his whims and desires at the mercy of the moment. Not even his own subordinates are safe. Though he is not beyond the capacity for long-term goals, it is his unpredictability and his casual disregard for any and all life that strikes such horror in friend and foe alike.

Galvatron once was Megatron, but has been reborn from his death throes in a faustian pact with Unicron. Despite retaining the memories, spark and consciousness of Megatron, the near-death experience and massive physical upgrade led to a degree of alteration in personality, something further affected by his now-questionable sanity.

Animated continuity
Voice actors: Leonard Nimoy, Frank Welker (US); Seizō Katō (Japan)

In 2005, after being mortally wounded in battle with Optimus Prime, Megatron was left to float aimlessly through space. He was summoned by Unicron, who offered him a new body and new troops to command, so long as he destroyed the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Megatron reluctantly accepted and was upgraded into Galvatron, a more fearsome and powerful warrior.

Galvatron quickly retook command of the Decepticons after killing the traitorous Starscream in the middle of his coronation. He then went to Earth and attacked Autobot City, full-force. Ultra Magnus lead him away from Earth and Galvatron chased him to the Planet of Junk, where he defeated Magnus and took the Matrix, intending to use it against Unicron.

Galvatron could not open the Matrix, however, and as punishment for his treachory, Unicron swallowed him whole. Inside Unicron's belly, he met up with Hot Rod, and they got into a fight. Hot Rod retook the Matrix, morphing himself into Rodimus Prime, and hurled Galvatron's ass out the side of Unicron and into deep space. But that was not the end of Galvatron.



In the year 2006 (or 2010, if you're Japanese), Cyclonus and Scourge set out to find their lost leader and return the Decepticons to glory. They found him sunk in a lava pit on the distant planet Thrull and managed to free him. However, the effects of the "plasma bath" royally screwed-up Galvatron's sanity chips, turning him certifiably nuts. Upon regaining his freedom he beat Cyclonus and Scourge up and completely destroyed Thrull.

Galvatron lead the Decepticons on many wacky adventures against the Autobots, though usually botching it in the end due to his craziness (he loved shooting his own troops). At one point, his nuttiness became so severe, the perpetually-loyal Cyclonus actually tricked Galvatron into taking therapy sessions (albeit, by force) on Torkulon, the therapy-planet. After trying to murder a shrink during a word-association session, and somehow building a gun in a basket-weaving class, Galvatron was deemed incurable by conventional methods. The doctors attempted to use living extensions of the planet to give him a lobotomy (much to Cyclonus' disapproval), but Galvatron broke free and murdered the sentient organic core of the planet. After that, he razed the entire planet's civilization, leaving them so broken it would take centuries to rebuild.

However, despite his insanity, he teamed-up with the resurrected Optimus Prime to stop the Hate Plague. He wound-up becoming infected by the plague and attempted to kill an unconsciouss Optimus Prime with a spear. Optimus woke up just in the nick of time and opened the Matrix directly in Galvatron's face. The wisdom of the Matrix not only cured the Universe of the Hate Plague, but cured Galvatron of his madness, as well. Grateful, Galvatron sanely declared "There will be no war today, Optimus. You have earned Galvatron's respect" and called a brief truce.

Later, Galvatron called the truce off and attacked Autobot City in full-force, searching for the Key to the Plasma Energy Chamber. He got the Key and intended to use it and the Plasma Energy to turn Cybertron into a mobile dreadnaut. He teamed with the Transformer-Nebulon hybrid, Lord Zarak, but they were eventually defeated and sent tumbling through space when Cybertron ushered in a new Golden Age. After regaining control, Galvatron vowed to collect energy all over the galaxy and return to Cybertron, though Scorponok seemed to question his leadership.

Headmasters


(The Headmasters Anime ignores the events of the 3-part "The Rebirth" story arc and picks up after "The Return of Optimus Prime")

In 2011, Galvatron reactivated the Decepticon Space Bridge on Cybertron and began a sneak-attack on the Autobots. He intended to hack into Vector Sigma, though was thwarted just in time. The battle did result in yet another death for Optimus Prime.

Later Scorponok, Galvatron's new mysterious assistant from Planet Master, went against Galvatron's orders and placed bombs all around Vector Sigma. Galvatron rushed to Vector Sigma but could not get the bombs off in time and was caught in the world-destroying explosion.

Galvatron was thought dead for some time, until he returned alive and well a few months later. He retook Decepticon command and enacted a new devious plot. Galvatron intended to transform Earth into his new Unicron-like body, making him all-powerful. He told this news only to his most trusted warrior, Sixshot, and also delivered the news that he intended to sacrifice all the Decepticons for parts to build the body. Not a good idea, as Sixshot betrayed him to Scorponok and Galvatron was left all alone to Battle the Autobot Headmasters in the North Pole. Galvatron was defeated by the "Head-Formation of Friendship" and buried alive deep within an iceberg.

Galvatron would remain buried in the ice until he was resurrected by Dark Nova as the new and improved Super Megatron.

Manga continuity
Galvatron appeared regularly throughout the Japanese 2010 and Headmasters manga, which acted as a supplement to the animated shows. Some of his devious schemes from the manga included creating a clone army of Megatrons, dubbed the Megatron Military, and forcing a human scientist named Dalton to create weapons of destruction for him. He even fought alongside his nemesis Rodimus Prime against Guiltor, a strange fusion of Optimus Prime and Megatron that threatened to destroy both leaders.

Marvel Comics continuity
(Events from the UK-only comics are in italics.)

''There were multiple Galvatrons from various alternate futures who often time-jumped to give the Autobots trouble. There are between 2 and 5 different Galvatrons; the exact number remaining inconclusive.''

Galvatron I
After being scolded by Unicron during the events of Transformers: The Movie'', Galvatron was ordered to attack Earth and destroy the Matrix. He ordered "Decepticons, to Earth!", but what he REALLY meant was Earth... 1986!''

''Time-jumping from the year 2006, and freeing himself from Unicron's control, Galvatron intended to create a device that would be powerful enough to destroy Unicron in 2006. Galvatron brought Cyclonus and Scourge with himself, and as an effect of time-travel, replaced three Autobots (Prowl, Ratchet, and Optimus Prime) in the timeline. Galvatron began construction of a massive laser cannon which he would then hide on Earth and unleash on an unsuspecting Unicron when the time was right.''

''The Autobots and Decepticons weren't having none of that and briefly formed an alliance to stop the three Decepticons of the future. The plan wasn't going very well until Hot Rod, Blurr and Kup came back from the future to help. Present-day Ultra Magnus also arrived to help and heroically kept Galvatron occupied as the Autobots and Decepticons set-up a trap.''

''Galvatron mopped the floor with Ultra Magnus and returned to his laser cannon. He then ran into what he thought was Starscream (but, in fact, was an unconsciouss Skywarp in disguise), and in a fit of anger, blew him up. After a second he realized that if he destroyed Starscream in the past, how could he have destroyed him in the future? Figuring that he was in an alternate past, and thus, no action taken then would effect his future, Galvatron and his troops returned to their proper time. The Autobots and Decepticons subsequently destroyed the laser cannon and called off the truce.''

Galvatron II
See Galvatron II

Other versions of Galvatron
''A Galvatron claiming to be no other Galvatron the Autobots had met before, snuck into the Autobot crypt and implanted devices that would read the memories of various dead Autobots. He chose to read the memories of Prowl, Wheeljack, Sunstreaker, Silverbolt and Ironhide. What he didn't know was that the device he placed in their bodies actually managed to revive them from the dead! Alive, but hopelessly out-matched, the Autobots concocted a plan to defeat Galvatron. They kept him busy in battle while Wheeljack placed a helmet on his head which would deactivate him and leave him imprisoned in a "sleep mode". Within this sleep mode, Galvatron was forced to forever relive his worst nightmare (being dismembered by Rodimus Prime) over and over and over...''

''Galvatron was seen, in Rodimus Prime's flashback, when Unicron attacked in 2010. There is no conclusive evidence on surrounding events, so it remains unknown if this is a previously seen Galvatron or yet another incarnation. It's not even known which timeline this took place in.''

Dreamwave Armada comic
An alternate version of Galvatron appears briefly as one of Unicron's heralds, along with Thunderwing, Bludgeon, Dirge, and Scourge. He is ultimately destroyed by Megatron with the power of the Dark Saber.

Controversy over identity
Some fans are preoccupied with the notion of Galvatron being a psychologically distinct and discontinuous entity from Megatron, almost (or, some would have it, equally) as much as Scourge and Cyclonus demonstrate no continuity of memory or personality to their former Decepticon selves. Oddly, this remains a topic of heated debate in some circles, in spite of a fairly unambiguous canon.

In the G1 animated continuity, Galvatron evidently still self-identifies as being the same person as Megatron, albeit with greater power and a new name. Although not making a point of revealing this former identity to his troops at large (perhaps to cast off the potential stigma of being a "defeated" leader), Galvatron makes his sense of self clear when Starscream asks "Megatron? Is that you?", to which he replies "Here's a hint" before obliterating him. Later in Transformers: The Movie when Galvatron is poised to crush Hot Rod's neck, he boasts: "First Prime, then Ultra Magnus, and now you. It's a pity you Autobots die so easily, or I might have a sense of satisfaction." Again, Galvatron is obviously speaking with no sense of discontinuity of identity or personality as he refers to past and current acts as both Megatron and Galvatron without qualification or distinction. During season three, however, Galvatron displayed little or no indication of his past life as Megatron, though this could be a side effect of lying in a pool of lava for several months.



In the US and UK Marvel comics the various time-hopping Galvatrons all demonstrate an awareness of having previously been Megatron with no strong indicators of a break in psychological identification. The closest that this came to was incidents in which a time-displaced Galvatron was confronted by Megatrons (or copies thereof) and did battle with his former self. Although in these instances Galvatron experiences trains of thought that suggest he sees Megatron as a separate being and/or the source of his madness that needs to be destroyed, it should be noted that these are not the musings of a calm, rational mind. In these instances Galvatron is in the grips of a psychotic episode, which he generally snaps out of by realising that he is indeed the same person. These instances should be seen as the result of deranged reasoning tinged perhaps with self-loathing or the personification of personal flaws and/or failings with his past self, not as proof of a complete psychological separation of characters.

A possible explanation for why Galvatron retains psychological continuity with Megatron while his fellow Unicron-creations do not may be that Thundercracker et al were apparently already dead or in total stasis-lock at the time of their reformatting, and thus it is widely speculated that only their bodies were used to create Cyclonus and company. Whether this indicates that they retained their sparks and merely suffered total mind-wipes (either as the result of recent death or by Unicron's doing), or if Unicron actually infused their reformatted bodies with new life-forces is unknown. (On the other hand, none of the other Unicron-created Decepticons have faced their past selves or deeds the way Galvatron has.) Megatron, by comparison, was clearly alive and awake at the time of his reformatting and struck a bargain with Unicron for "a new body", a deal which clearly implies that his mind would remain his own.

Generation 1

 * Galvatron
 * Japanese ID number: D-62


 * Galvatron (reissue)
 * Japanese ID number: D-62-S

Trivia
A Galvatron Action Master was planned at one point, but apparently went no further than a concept sketch. It is only vaguely similar to Galvatron's normal appearance and may possibly have been a "powered up" Galvatron of some sort.