Megatron (Transformers Film Series)

"Is the future of our race not worth a single human life?"

- Megatron "It feels good to grab your flesh! I am going to kill you slowly, painfully, but first, we have some delicate work to do. How could I snap your limbs off!"

- Megatron before torturing Sam "Then we will force them to find him for us! It's time for the world to know about our presence. No more disguises. NO MERCY! The time has come for my master's arrival."

- Megatron to Starscream "We shall meet again, Prime! For I am reborn!"

- Galvatron threatening the leader of the Autobots after Optimus defeated Lockdown

Megatron is the most recurring villain of the Transformers film series. He is the main antagonist of Transformers, and the secondary antagonist of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen  and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. As Galvatron, he serves as the secondary antagonist of Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Megatron was not always the viciously powerful and brutally direct leader of the Decepticons: he was once brothers-in-arms with Optimus and a student of Sentinel Prime, appointed to be Cybertron's Protector and commander of its Defense Force. But Megatron resented his comrade, knowing he was a Prime and therefore Sentinel's favored son. This anger allowed The Fallen to ensnare him and led to the revival of the Decepticons. Even without The Fallen though, it's not hard to imagine Megatron would have erupted Cybertron into war to rid himself of Optimus.

IDW Publishing Prequel Comics
The back story of Megatron is told in both Transformers: Defiance and issue #1 of the Transformers: Movie Prequel comic. In the comics, Megatron is revealed to have co-ruled Cybertron together with Optimus Prime, serving as Lord High Protector. Megatron and Optimus learned of an alien force coming to their planet for the All Spark, just as a mysterious artifact was unearthed. Megatron is gravely injured, but the artifact (containing the Fallen) awakens and heals him, swaying him with promises of power. Megatron soon desires power over the All Spark, and under the Fallen's influence, forms the Decepticons, sending the bulk of his soldiers in a craft, the Nemesis.

The Autobots attempt to hide the All Spark, but Megatron sees through the ruse and launches a full-scale attack, during which the All Spark is launched into space. Megatron almost catches up with the All Spark as it lands on Earth. In his reckless desire to possess it, Megatron pursues it right into Earth's atmosphere and falls into the icy waters, resulting in his being frozen in stasis lock. In the late 19th century, Captain Archibald Witwicky discovers the Decepticon during an Arctic expedition. At the turn of the 20th century, a crew of men later take his body — dubbing him the "Ice-man" - and keep him in storage up until the present day, eventually relocating him to Hoover Dam in Nevada.

Transformers
"You still fight for the weak. That is why YOU LOSE!"

- Megatron taunting Optimus Prime

Megatron appeared as the main antagonist in the live-action Transformers film.

In the live-action film, Megatron was the cause of Cybertron's destruction when Decepticons and Autobots have started a war that has destroyed much of Cybertron. The All Spark was fought over by both sides until it was lost in space, then landed on Earth at an unknown time, then humans found the cube and a human organization that investigates extraterrestrials called Sector 7 kept the All Spark in its' base for over a century. Megatron followed the All Spark to Earth, but crash landed in the Arctic where Captain Archibald Witwicky and his crew of men were. Captain Witwicky fell in an arctic hole and found Megatron who was frozen. But when Captain Witwicky touched the tip of Megatron's fingers, he also re-activated Megatron's navigation system, and Megatron (still frozen) flashed his eyes that imprinted the All Spark's location onto Captain Witwicky's eye glasses. The Decepticons and Autobots searched for the eye glasses when they found it on the web site eBay. Sector 7 took Megatron who was still frozen to the same base where the All Spark was.

When Decepticons Frenzy and Starscream freed him, he rose again and went into Mission City fighting the Autobots. Decepticons Blackout, Brawl, and Starscream where also in battle against Autobots Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet, and Jazz. He killed Autobot officer Jazz by ripping him in half. Then Optimus Prime came in and he and Megatron battled each other. Megatron and Optimus fought over their opinion of the human race: Megatron believed humans didn't deserve to live, while Optimus believed that humans deserved to choose for themselves. Hearing this, the further infuriated Megatron ordered Optimus to join the human race in extinction and tossed him aside. Megatron then formed his fusion cannon, but before he could fire, Optimus fired a shot from his ion blaster, hitting the Decepticon. Megatron shrugged off this attack and fired his fusion cannon, sending Prime flying into a building.

With Optimus knocked out, Megatron was able to chase Sam Witwicky when he carried the All Spark that gotten much smaller because of Autobot Bumblebee touching it. Megatron stalked him through a tall building, with Starscream destroying the helicopter that was supposed to carry Sam. Megatron offered Sam Witwicky a chance to live "as his pet," if he gave him the cube, but Sam refused. Angered, Megatron used his fail to knock Sam off the building. Unfortunatly, the human was saved by Optimus, who then re-engaged Megatron. Blackout attempted to aid Megatron in defeating Optimus, but was destroyed by the US Military. The Air Force then blasted several missiles and human soldiers used guns to shoot bullets at Megatron. Despite suffering damage, Megatron could not be killed by human weaponry. Megatron attempted one last time to attack Sam Witwicky, but the human pushed the All Spark into Megatron's chest, and the Decepticon was finally destroyed.

Afterwards, the bodies of Megatron, Blackout, and Brawl where dumped into the Laurentian Abyss.

The Reign of Starscream
In a flashback in the movie sequel comic Transformers: The Reign of Starscream, Megatron's negative relationship with Starscream is shown to be a result of Starscream failing on a mission.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
"Even in death, there is no command but mine."

- Megatron to Starscream after finding out he took over the Decepticons in his death

Megatron returns as the secondary antagonist in the sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen .

In the film, Megatron was resurrected by the Constructicons Long Haul, Rampage, Mixmaster and Ravage using a stolen piece of the All Spark. It is revealed that Megatron is the lieutenant and apprentice of The Fallen, who is the true leader and founder of the Decepticons. It also turns out that the reason why Megatron is so ruthless and power-hungry is because the founder of Decepticon corrupted him into serving him, thus making the Fallen responsible for the war between the Decepticons and Autobots that destroyed much of Cybertron. Though Megatron remains very powerful, he is not as strong as he was in the first movie, because his original body parts were unusable since he was killed off by the AllSpark before being brought back to life. Instead, much of his original body parts were replaced by the parts of a relatively weak Decepticon, named Scrapmetal (called "ze little one" by The Doctor).

Upon being resurrected, Megatron headed to the crashed Decepticon ship, the Nemesis. There, Megatron was reunited with his master, who ordered Megatron to capture Sam Witwicky as the human now had some information placed into his mind by a shard of the All Spark, and to kill Optimus, who, being the last living Prime, was the only Transformer who could defeat The Fallen. Megatron then ordered Grindor to capture Sam. Grindor then captured Sam and his friends and brought them to an abandoned factory. Megatron then started to interrogate Sam until Optimus and Bumblebee arrived to save Sam and his friends. Megatron then chased Optimus and Sam until he caught up with them. Megatron and Optimus then battled each other. However, Optimus quickly got the upper hand and Megatron called upon Starscream and Grindor to help him. Despite being outnumbered, the Autobot leader eventually managed to fight off all three Decepticons, striking Megatron multiple times, severing Starscream's right arm, and killing Grindor by ripping his head apart. However, as a weary Optimus tried to find Sam (who had been hiding during the battle), Megatron caught Prime off-guard and stabbed him in his spark core, killing the Autobot leader. He and Starscream then retreated when Autobot reinforcements arrived.

With Optimus Prime now dead, Megatron was quite pleased until Starscream informed him that they lost Sam. Furious with his lieutenant's failure to capture a simple "insect," Megatron brutally tortured his lieutenant. Starscream then replied that there were seven billion insects on the planet and Sam was just one among them and that he could be anywhere. Megatron then decided to force the humans into finding Sam for the Decepticons and also decided to come out of hiding and reveal their existence to the Earth. He then broadcasted a message from the Fallen by using the Empire State Building's radio tower. He and the Decepticons then headed to Egypt where the Sun harvester, a machine used to harvest energon out of suns hidden was in a one of the pyramids of Giza. Starscream then informed Megatron that Autobot's human allies had brought Prime's body. Megatron then realized that Sam had the Matrix of Leadership and can revive Optimus with it. Megatron told Starscream that they cannot let Sam get to Optimus, then ordered the Decepticons to begin their assault.

Megatron then took part in the battle against the Autobots and nearly killed Sam, but then he was suppressed by human firepower and was forced to retreat. Megatron was then seen on top of the pyramid, and watched as The Fallen activated the Sun Havester. However, a revived and super-powered Optimus, now fused with Jetfire, destroyed the Harvester and knocked Megatron and the Fallen off the pyramid. Megatron attacked Optimus from behind in an attempted to help his master. However, he was quickly overwhelmed and got half of his face blown by his own fusion cannon. Optimus then severed Megatron's right arm with his energon sword and used his afterburners to send Megatron flying through the ruins. Megatron, being severely damaged, called out to Starscream for help and then watched helplessly as the Fallen was killed by Optimus. Seeing this, Starscream suggested that he and Megatron retreat, to which he agreed, but vowed that "This isn't over".

Transformers: Dark of the Moon
"Cybertron... you are saved, at last."

- Megatron

Megatron returns and is once again the secondary antagonist of the film.

Weakened by the injuries he sustained fighting Optimus Prime in Egypt, Megatron was revealed in Transformers: Dark of the Moon to be hiding in the African Savannah along with Starscream, Soundwave, Igor and Laserbeak. Unable to challenge Optimus directly, Megatron arranged for Shockwave to reveal the location of the long lost Autobot ship to the Autobots, the Ark and its captain, Optimus' mentor and former Autobot leader Sentinel Prime, on Earth's moon. Unknown to Optimus, during the war on Cybertron, Megatron had convinced Sentinel to betray the Autobots under the pretense of ending the war for the sake of preserving their homeworld. In order to do so, Megatron and Sentinel Prime plotted to use a space bridge to transport Cybertron into Earth's Solar System, intending to use the humans as slaves. However, shortly after Sentinel's treachery was revealed, Megatron himself was betrayed by his alleged ally as Sentinel secretly overthrew him and took command of the Decepticons for himself.

During the Decepticon attack on Chicago, Megatron lay on a throne of junk, sulking. Sam's girlfriend Carly Spencer, arrived and pointed out to Megatron that as long as Sentinel was around, he would be less than nothing, saying to Megatron that in the end, he would became the Sentinel's "bitch." This gloated Megatron into action; just as Sentinel was about to finish off Optimus, Megatron viciously attacked Sentinel and badly wounded him, declaring Earth was "his" planet. After seeing the space bridge being destroyed, Megatron tossed the crippled Sentinel aside and proposed a truce with Optimus, mockingly asking Prime what they would be without each other. However, Optimus found no agreement in the truce and attacked Megatron, quickly tearing off his nemesis's head with a battle axe, finally killing him. Optimus then used Megatron's fusion shotgun to kill Sentinel.

Transformers: Age of Extinction
Main article: Galvatron

"That is why I have no fear!"

- Galvatron

Megatron is the tertiary antagonist of Age of Extinction, and is now known as Galvatron. He is voiced by Frank Welker.

Unknown to all, Megatron's mind actually survived his destruction and was in a stasis inside his severed head. A few years after the battle of Chicago, KSI salvaged Megatron's remains, where CEO Joshua Joyce had them use it to create a new Transformer that intended to resemble Optimus Prime. However, unknown to any of the humans, their tampering re-activated Megatron's spark within, and he began to influence the humans to create an entire army of Transformers so he would eventually hack them and rebuild his Decepticon army. He also learned of an ancient Cybertronian weapon called a "seed" which could cyberform an entire city on its own. He planned to take the seed for himself, desiring to use it to destroy a human city and build more Decepticons. Megatron eventually took over the body of a KSI transformer, Galvatron, accepting the name as his new identity. Although Galvatron intended to steal the seed, he pretended to be a remote-controlled drone for the time being.

Galvatron later freed himself permanently, but not before he controlled the other fifty Transformers in KSI's facility in China so they became his new army. However, the new Decepticon army was destroyed and Galvatron was forced to retreat with his remaining minions. He took over Lockdown's spaceship, and claimed that he and Optimus will meet again one day.

Transformers 5
Megatron/Galvatron is set to return in Transformers 5, though it is currently unknown if he is set to be the secondary antagonist, or the main antagonist.

Games
''NOTE: The games are in a different canon compared to the movies. Each campaign is also in a different canon.''

Decepticon campaign
After Blackout and Starscream destroyed Hover Dam's freezing system, Megatron awoke before thawing out of his icy prison. He then demolished Mission City with his fire power alone in order to draw Optimus Prime out, which was successful. The Autobot leader rose from his shadows and battled his brother to the death, and though he put up a valid fight, Megatron eventually defeated Optimus. The Decepticon leader then brutally murdered the crippled Autobot by slamming his flail into his "skull". With Prime dead and Allspark within his cold hands, Megatron merged the Allspark with his spark, somehow granting him universally unstoppable power. The game fades out as Megatron, who is using the Lincoln Memorial as his throne, orders the remaining Decepticons to finish Earth (which is now just a fiery wasteland) off before continuing on to the next galaxy.

Autobot campaign
When Bumblebee arrived at the Hover Dam, Megatron was already awake yet incapacitated by the block of ice around him. Bumblebee managed to retrieve the Allspark even with an angry Megatron firing upon him, yet the Decepticon commander still broke out and re-established his reign over his military. Megatron tried to take the Allspark from Sam, but was confronted and eventually defeated by Optimus Prime. Weakened, but still alive, Megatron tried to attack his enemy one last time, but Optimus rammed the Allspark into Megatron's chest, killing him.

Decepticon campaign
The Decepticons finally managed to resurrect their fallen leader where he then took back control over them. His first mission in his new, stronger body was to, of course, find and kill Optimus Prime who was residing in a city block with a squad of Autobots protecting him. The one who gave him such a task was his enigmatic master, the Fallen, as the two planned to harvest the sun's energy via a primordial device built by the ancient Transformers and use the overwhelming power to become gods. After defeating Prime, the Decepticons were successful on recovering the Sun Harvester. However, the Fallen unwittingly betrayed Megatron and hogged the sun's energy for himself, becoming an omnipresent deity capable of anything. Despite the Fallen's power, Megatron used his rage and murdered his traitorous former master before taking the power for himself, raising an army of brand new followers, and seemingly succeeded his goals in universal conquest.

Autobot campaign
In the Autobot campaign, Megatron still escaped his watery grave and attempted to recover the harvester with the Fallen in Cario. Megatron and a supporting Starscream then ran into Optimus and Jetfire, where the four then had a brawl. Though Megatron and Starscream were defeated, it ultimately ended up in the death of Jetfire. However, the Decepticons were still unsuccessful, as in the film, as Prime used Jetfire's shared power to kill the Fallen and save Earth yet again.

Dark of the Moon
As the Dark of the Moon game is the apparently canon prequel to its film adaptation with the same name, it takes place three years after Revenge of the Fallen where Megatron retreated to a Decepticon barrack housed in a missile silo. He led several Decepticon invasions and raids on Autobots bases before confronting the Autobot officer Warpath and scanning a new vehicle mode. Afterwards, Megatron faced Optimus Prime himself, and finally defeated his heroic brother. However, instead of killing him, the Decepticon commander simply locked Prime in a cryo chamber before thawing out the Decepticon assassin known as Shockwave from his icy prison. With one of his best warriors under his control, Megatron commanded Shockwave to invade a Chernobyl nuclear plant before constructing a camp in Africa, setting up the events of the film.

Trivia

 * Despite his hatred for humans, Megatron is the only Decepticon who fluently speak English instead of Cybertronian, which almost all other Decepticons do at the beginning of the first film.
 * Megatron scans and transforms into a trucker in the third film in order to blend into the human's every day lives. This can notably be compared to Optimus's trucker vehicle mode.
 * Megatron in the first three films is voiced by Hugo Weaving, who also played Agent Smith from The Matrix franchise, and Red Skull from Captain America: The First Avenger.
 * As Galvatron, he is voiced by Frank Welker, who also voiced Megatron's original incarnation as well in the video game adaptations of the film series.
 * In the second film's old script, Megatron was promised to become a Prime by the Fallen only to be betrayed, as Optimus states primes are born, not made. Megatron then wipes himself off the radar where he goes back to the Nemesis and raises his hatchlings, enraged. This conclusion was instead used in the Decepticon campaign of the Revenge of the Fallen console games. However, it is slightly altered as, after the Fallen's betrayal, Megatron murders the Fallen himself before nurturing his hatchlings.
 * Megatron was originally going to named Galvatron after his resurrection in the second film, but he eventually retained his original name to avoid confusion.
 * Galvatron, however, appeared in Age of Extinction, where he appears as a human-made Decepticon designed by Joshua Joyce whom made from Megatron's remains. This practically explain why Joshua ended up revived him in a new body like his other incarnation whom evolved/revived with Unicron's influence.
 * There were originally going to be scenes and mentions of Megatron actually eating the sparks (hearts) of his fallen foes, but was cut for time issues. He also apparently injests the innards of his enemies in the DS version of the game and such an action was performed by him in a book based on the first film.
 * Elements from Megatron's appearance, especially in the first movie while his alt-mode is a cybertronian jet, are added into his Transformers Prime version.
 * As Galvatron, he bears more resemblance to Nemesis Prime than most of his incarnations, as both robot villains are evil "clones" of Optimus Prime.