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 as the Decepticons' new leader. 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 treachery, Unicron swallowed him whole. Inside Unicron's belly, he met up with Hot Rod, and they got into a fight. Hot Rod snatched the Matrix away from Galvatron, and managed to open it, leading to his transformation into Rodimus Prime. Flush with new power, Rodimus hurled Galvatron's ass out through 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 unconscious 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 led an assualt on Autobot City, 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-Nebulan 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 deactivate the bombs in time and was caught in the ensuing explosion, which was powerful enough to destroy Cybertron.

Galvatron was thought dead for some time, until he returned alive and well a few months later. He retook command of the Decepticons 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.

Kiss Players continuity
At the end of the Unicron War of 2005, Rodimus Prime hurled Galvatron out of Unicron and into space. The Decepticon leader crash-landed on the planet Earth, obliterating the city of Tokyo. This catastrophic incident soured human-Transformer relations and led to the formation of the Earth Defense Command, a governmental organization created to drive Transformers from the face of the planet.

Galvatron's Unicron-twisted cells, dispersed by the collision, spread throughout Earth's atmosphere. Born from these cells were the Legion, an army of savage and vicious Transformers. Appearing all over the planet, the Legion quickly converged on the site of the impact, the crater upon which the headquarters of the E.D.C. had been constructed.

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 The 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.''

''Sometime later Galvatron returned from the future again following the destruction of Unicron. This time he planned to stay in the past. He intended to siphon the power of a volcano to become a God. Thanks to Ultra Magnus this plan was thwarted and the two of them became trapped under molten lava.''

''Galvatron eventually escaped and planned to take control of the Decepticons away from Shockwave. This prompted Shockwave to concoct a plan to use Megatron as a weapon against Galvatron.''

Galvatron’s time travelling (along with that of the other Autobots and Decepticons) eventually caused a rift in time and space that threatened both the present and the future.

''Shockwave unleashed a brainwashed Megatron on Galvatron. Ultimately Megatron and Galvatron forged an alliance after finding common ground and launched an assault against the combined forces of the present day Autobot and Decepticons, the future Autobots and Decepticons and the Wreckers and Mayhem Attack Squad.''

''By this stage Galvatron was consumed by madness and was able to overcome all resistance. He was only stopped when the time rift ripped him apart and destroyed him.''

Galvatron II
See Galvatron II

Other versions of Galvatron

 * In the Earthforce timeline, 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 again...


 * In an alternate future, a geriatric Rodimus Prime recounted tales of his exploits to a curious youth from his death bed. Galvatron was seen, in Rodimus Prime's flashback, when Unicron attacked Cybertron in the year 2010 (of that timeline). 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.

Generation 1 cartoon
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 The 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.

While some might contrast this statement, however, with his earlier line, "I shall crush you, just as Megatron crushed Prime,", interpreting that such a statement implies a disconnect from his former life, this too can easily be explained by Galvatron's apparent reluctance to allow his troops know that he used to be Megatron. While Galvatron would have fully expected the knowledge imparted in the later statement to Hot Rod to die with the callow youth, the declaration to Ultra Magnus was made in public, with his troops (and, potentially, other Autobots in earshot) present.

During season three, however, Galvatron made little or no further references to his past life as Megatron, though this could be a side effect of lying in a pool of lava for several months and his increasing insanity. However, an absence of references do not neccessarily constitute a change in identification. Upon meeting the resurrected Optimus Prime in The Return of Optimus Prime, Galvatron behaved as though simply picking up where he left off with his old nemesis from his Megatron days, as did Prime, saying that he knew him "all too well", indicating that the Autobot leader was capable of recognising his former adversary despite the change in name and appearance. Furthermore, in Five Faces of Darkness, Astrotrain states that Megatron and Galvatron are "the same guy," implying that during Galvatron's absence, the other Decepticons (or, at the very least, Astrotrain) figured out what was going on.

Japanese fiction


Early advertisements for the Galvatron toy presented the character as an all-together seperate being from Megatron, and in some cases, even being Megatron's underling. The second Scramble City OVA was a remake of the original animated version, albeit including the Galvatron toy for promotion. Galvatron appears to fight his nemesis, Ultra Magnus, as Megatron barks orders from the background. This is likely due to Takara wishing ot advertise the toy as quickly as possible, without full knowledge of the character's history. To maintain Galvatron's mistique, he was given the function of "City Commander", with no indication that he was an upgraded Megatron. Continuing this trend of unintentional disassociation, very early promotional artwork featured in TV Magazine and Comics Bom Bom also presented Galvatron as a seperate character.

However, this era was very short-lived. In all official Japanese fiction, including the manga and the Japanese-exclusive cartoons, Galvatron is locked in as an upgrade of Megatron.

A good example would be the Battlestars series. Upon being resurrected and further upgraded, Galvatron reverted to the name Megatron once more (as Super Megatron).

Marvel Comics
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. Indeed, at one point, a Galvatron said outright, "Like Megatron? No - I AM Megatron!" The closest that these Galvatrons came to identity crisis were 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 (any version of) 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 (Decepticon, 1986/1987)
 * Japanese ID number: D-62


 * Galavtron transforms into a Cybertronic treaded field artillery unit, with an alternate hand-held gun mode. Using a D-cell battery, he has a light-up cannon in gun mode, light-up eyes in robot mode, and variable electronic warbly noises in any mode.


 * Galvatron (Decepticon, 2005)
 * Japanese ID number: D-62-S


 * The original Galvatron toy was much later redecoed and re-released by Takara into a sort-of more show-like apperance, being primarily purple instead of gray. His face mold was also slightly retooled, and he was given new sound effects, including speech clips (in Japanese, naturally).


 * This toy was later released as the e-Hobby-exlcusive Galvatron II.

Merchandise

 * Galvatron was part of the second "Act" of Takara's Super Collection Figure, a soft-plastic PVC of his cartoon model in both full-color and all-clear plastics, one each per case of twelve.


 * The SCF Galavtron was later released as part of the Heroes of Cybertron series, cast entirely in clear-red plastic then painted over (giving it a light-piped-like glowing eye effect). He was only available in the third wave of the line.

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.


 * Galvatron's toy bio was apparently written with the intention of him being a new character who coexisted with Megatron: he has a rank of 9 and the function "City Commander," with no mention of him having once been Megatron. Given the omission of similar details from Rodimus Prime's bio, it is likely that this was done to avoid spoiling the surprise of Galvatron's origin in the movie.


 * The Galvatron toy's gun mode's only fictional appearances were in the UK comics, which featured it as a shrunken, human-scaled weapon, and a form that he assumed merely so that he could easily be conveyed by other parties, but never wielded as a weapon.