Galvatron

"I will rip open Ultra Magnus and every other Autobot until the Matrix has been Destroyed!"

- Galvatron's first words. "I, Galvatron, shall crush you just as Megatron crushed Prime!"

- Galvatron to the Autobots. "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!"

- Galvatron suffocating Hot Rod.

Galvatron is the secondary antagonist of The Transformers: The Movie, the main antagonist of The Transformers TV series in seasons 3 and 4, and a supporting antagonist in the 2014 film Transformers: Age of Extinction. He is Megatron's more powerful upgraded form, created by Unicron himself. At first, he was made to serve Unicron and destroy the Matrix of Leadership, but he rebelled against his master. He regained leadership over the Decepticons and continues to battle the Autobots. In some versions, Galvatron was a separate entity from Megatron like the in IDW comics.

In the 1986 film, he was voiced by the late Leonard Nimoy, who also played Sentinel Prime in Dark of the Moon. In the cartoon, he was voiced by Frank Welker, who also played his lesser form, Megatron.

Becoming Galvatron
After Megatron was severely injured by Optimus Prime and was tossed out of Astrotrain, by Starscream, he and the other badly injured Decepticons were floating in space. As they were floating in space, they eventually came across Unicron. Because of his success in killing Optimus, Megatron was demanded by Unicron to destroy Optimus' Matrix of Leadership, which was passed down to their new leader; Ultra Magnus. In return, Megatron was offered a new body and new troops to command, along with a ship for transportation, and that Unicron would let him live. Megatron initially declined the offer as he didn't want to be a servant towards anyone. However, Megatron quickly accepted Unicron's terms after Unicron attempted to kill him. Megatron was then fully repaired with a new body and transformation, and was renamed, Galvatron. Upon acquiring his new henchmen; Scourge, the Sweeps, and Cyclonus, as well as acquiring a new ship, Galvatron departed for Cybertron to be proclaimed as the true leader of the Decepticons, and additionally, to kill Starscream. When Galvatron reached Cybertron, interrupting Starscream's coronation, Starscream asked if he was Megatron. But Galvatron replied by transforming into a cannon, and shooting a powerful energy beam into Starscream, killing him. After he killed Starscream, all of the Decepticons declared him as their new leader.

Assault on the Autobots
Shortly after being declared the Decepticons' true leader, Galvatron witnessed Unicron devouring both of Cybertron's moons. Galvatron cursed Unicron for destroying Cybertron's Moons, stating that they rightfully belonged to him. Unicron responded by torturing Galvatron's mind with a powerful telepathy. After being tortured, Galvatron, along with a few other Decepticons, went to Earth and attacked the Autobots. Galvatron chased the Autobots into space and attempted to destroy their ships. He managed to destroy the ship that contained Hot Rod, Kup, and the Dinobots inside. To prevent the other Autobots from being destroyed by Galvatron, Ultra Magnus used the Emergency Separation. This caused 3/4th of the ship to separate from the main part of the ship. Not suspecting a thing, Galvatron destroyed the lower portion of the ship, believing that both the Autobots and the Matrix were destroyed. But Unicron knew that the Autobots, and the Matrix, were still alive and intact, so he tortured Galvatron with another powerful telepathy for failing.

Acquiring the Matrix
When Galvatron asked why he was being tortured, Unicron told him that the Autobots are alive and are currently hiding on the Planet of Junk. After getting the information, Galvatron, along with a small army of Decepticons launched an assault on the Autobots while they were repairing their ship. Ultra Magnus attempted to open the Matrix, but it wouldn't open. After being denied the Matrix, Galvatron commanded the Sweeps to kill Ultra Magnus. Upon Magnus' death, Galvatron acquired the Matrix, and decided to use the Matrix to enslave Unicron.

Betraying Unicron
Knowing that Galvatron had betrayed him, Unicron transformed into his robot mode and decided to slowly destroy Cybertron while Galvatron witnessed the destruction. Knowing that Cybertron was about to perish, Galvatron decided to join the fight and attacked Unicron, but was grabbed and eaten. When the Autobots managed to get inside Unicron, Hot Rod got separated from the others and eventually encountered Galvatron.

Fighting Hot Rod
At first, Galvatron wanted to help the Autobots destroy Unicron, but Unicron tortured Galvatron's mind again and told him to destroy Hot Rod and then, the Matrix. Hot Rod decided to use speed and stealth to fight Galvatron, but was grabbed and nearly choked to death. Galvatron gloated to Hot Rod about how pitifully easy Autobots died; first Optimus Prime, then Ultra Magnus (though he didn't know that Ultra Magnus was repaired and revived), and finally Hot Rod. It seemed that Galvatron was about to kill Hot Rod, but Hot Rod grabbed the Matrix, and was transformed into Rodimus Prime. He was proven to be more than a match for Galvatron and proceeded to throw Galvatron out of Unicron. Rodimus then uses Matrix to eradicate Unicron, finally killed him while Galvatron himself still hurling somewhere to the outer space.

Aftermath
Now leaderless and forced off Cybertron by the Autobots, the Decepticons retreated to the ruined world of Chaar, where they bickered and fought amongst each other over their limited energon resources. Galvatron's Unicron-created lieutenants, Cyclonus and Scourge, set out to find their leader. Using the information stored in Unicron's memory banks, they traced Galvatron to the planet Thrull. They found him immersed in a pool of lava-like plasma, and rescued him only to discover that the plasma had seeped into Galvatron's head casing and the heat had permanently damaged his "metaprocessor", causing him to go irreversibly insane. During this period, Galvatron was faced with Starscream returned in the form of a ghost.

When the Hate Plague began to sweep the universe, Galvatron was able to avoid infection initially, teaming up with the resurrected Optimus Prime in order to recover a protective alloy that would shield the user from the plague's effects. Somewhat ironically, when Galvatron first saw the effects of the Plague at the Morgans' lab, he uttered that the infected Autobots and some of his fellow Decepticons had "all gone mad," and that said lab with the infected Transformers was no place for him. However, he became infected in the process of recovering the alloy, but was eventually cured along with all of the other victims of the plague when Optimus Prime unleashed the power of the Matrix. It also seemed that Galvatron may have actually been cured of his own inherent insanity, as he refused to continue the conflict there and then, and shook Prime's hand, saying that he had earned his respect.

A year later, however, in 2007, the short truce ended as Galvatron formulated a new plan. Although appearing quite coherent throughout the scheme, it was truly his most insane yet - rejecting notions of conquest, Galvatron now sought the utter destruction of both Cybertron and Earth. To this end, he dispatched his troops to Cybertron, in order to recover the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber. Failing to do so, a plasma energy explosion sent the Autobots—possessing the key—and his Decepticons to the planet Nebulos. While the Cyclonus-led Decepticons sought to reclaim the key and return to Cybertron, he led the main attack force on Cybertron. Victorious on Cybertron, Galvatron had a colossal rocket engine constructed on the planet's surface, which propelled Cybertron into Earth's orbit (for the second time during the Transformers television series). His troops soon returned from Nebulos with the key, but in their absence, they had become binary-bonded to the planet's organic inhabitants as Headmasters and Targetmasters - a union which Galvatron thoroughly objected to, threatening to destroy the Nebulons immediately. Nebulon leader Lord Zarak, however, was able to stay Galvatron's hand, as he now possessed the Plasma Energy Chamber key. Galvatron then used the key to open the chamber, releasing the energy with the intent of driving the Earth's sun supernova, destroying both planets. Galvatron and the other Decepticons then attempted to flee inside Scorponok, but a tendril of plasma energy struck the giant craft, sending the Decepticons hurtling off into deep space. Spike Witwicky and the Autobot-allied Nebulons were subsequently able to foil Galvatron's scheme and use the excess solar energy to re-energise Cybertron, restoring its Golden Age, but Galvatron was not finished yet, and began his plans for the future, proclaiming that the Decepticons would build a more powerful planet and use it to rule the galaxy. However, as this was the end of the American cartoon series, Galvatron's future plans never came to light.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise
This version of Galvatron (originally called Megatron and known as Gigatron/Devil Gigatron in Japan) is a ten-changer, powerful enough to transform into nine additional modes besides his robot form - a twin-headed dragon, a bat-gargoyle creature, a race car, a spaceship, a claw, a hydrofoil, a griffin, a pterodactyl, and an elephant. He also has the ability to absorb energy from other lifeforms, making him an "energy vampire". Each form has its own different frightening capabilities, making Galvatron a very unstable and unpredictable fighter. Unlike his namesake, Megatron would often sit back from a conflict and allow his subordinates to do the dirty work, but as Galvatron he would become more active. Like his counterparts, he is arrogant, diabolical, and manipulative, but unlike them, he was also incompetent and unprofessional, as most of his schemes were badly planned and badly executed.

Events in Transformers: Robots in Disguise
A Predacon warlord before coming to Earth, Megatron is believed to have decimated numerous planets in his quest for energy. Optimus stated that Megatron left entire planets as "lifeless barren rocks". In the pursuit of his greater agenda, Megatron began seeking the mysterious O-Parts, which led to the Orb of Sigma, in a subterranean pyramid. The orb would lead to Cerebros, the power key to the huge Autobot battle station, Fortress Maximus, who, it was revealed, he had actually come to Earth to obtain. When Megatron was buried in the ruins of the pyramid following a failed attempt to steal the orb from the Autobots, he underwent his most startling transformation of all, as the energies of the pyramid resurrected him as the vampiric Galvatron, able to enhance his own strength by draining the life energy from others, starting with the Predacon Trio. Upon arriving in Metro City, he claimed that Megatron was dead and that he was a new person, claiming to now be a Decepticon. Galvatron drained the energy of Fortress Maximus and engaged Omega Prime in a final battle at the Earth's core. Prime was able to defeat him with the gathered energy of Earth's children, courtesy of Fortress Maximus, and he was sent back to Cybertron for imprisonment.

Unicron Trilogy
Galvatron, formerly Megatron, is a refined, focused general of the Decepticons. He is extremely cruel, ruthless, and cunning, as well as incredibly strong, intelligent, and manipulative. Only Optimus Prime can be compared with him in force. Megatron will stop at nothing in order to achieve his ultimate object, that is to say, to rule over all of the Mini-Cons and over the entire Universe, in the end. Galvatron's power in this series was very inconsistent. He was clearly more powerful than Optimus in his first appearance, but was evenly matched with him in their final battle.

Armada
Originally Transformers: Armada, Megatron led his Decepticons to Earth in the year 2010, in pursuit of the Mini-Cons. Prime's death plunged Megatron into a deep depression, having lost his greatest opponent without  the chance to finish him with his own hands. Thankfully for all concerned, the Mini-Cons were able to resurrect Optimus, restoring Megatron to his former self - but he soon went another change that allowed him to surpass all he had been, when he was among the Transformers who had their powers boosted by their Mini-Cons after being attacked by Nemesis Prime, becoming Galvatron (Megatron Super Mode in Japan) and returning to Cybertron with a renewed vigour for conquest. However, the emergence of the threat of Unicron was ignored by Galvatron, forcing his lieutenant Starscream to sacrifice himself to make his leader see the truth, and Galvatron again came to fear the end of his war in the face of Unicron's power. Having no other choice, Galavtron rallies all of the Decepticons to form an alliance with Optimus and the Autobots to stop Unicron for good. Galvatron entered Unicron's body along with Optimus Prime, and was absorbed into the demi-god's body and mind, but when the Autobots' human allies freed the Mini-Cons from Unicron's thrall, Galvatron too was freed with Optimus' powers upgraded by the Mini-Cons, and, believing the threat of Unicron to be over, challenged Prime to a final duel. However, the energies released in the battle reawakened Unicron, and Galvatron saw that the only way to end the circle was to destroy himself - sacrificing his life rather than live in an era of peace, Galvatron plunged himself into Unicron's maw, and in a flash, the two seemingly ceased to exist.

Energon
In Micron Legend (the Japanese version of Transformers: Armada) Megatron did not rename himself Galvatron when he received his power boost. Instead, he renames himself when he is reborn in Superlink (the Japanese version of Transformers: Energon), using the name "Galvatron" throughout the series. In the American version, on the other hand, he reverts to using the name Megatron again, changing it to Galvatron once more towards the end of the series. When Megatron successfully reanimated Unicron, the chaos-bringer's consciousness invaded Megatron's body, taking over his mind. Although Optimus Supreme was able to destroy Unicron's body, his mind lived on in Megatron, directing him to attack Cybertron and uncover a reservoir of Super Energon beneath the planet's surface. Megatron immersed himself in the powerful liquid, once again becoming the mighty Galvatron (Galvatron G in Japan) and quickly asserted control of the planet, forcing the Autobots underground with Energon gas. Using Energon Towers, Galvatron had Cybertron relocated to Alpha Q's region of space, where he once again soaked himself in Super Energon, growing to a colossal height. However, as he did so, Unicron's influence totally seized control of his mind, directing him out into space to re-merge with his Spark. Optimus Prime forced him into a battle, knowing that Galvatron's hatred of him would force his consciousness to surface again, and when it did, Prime drained Unicron's influence from Galvatron, sealing it within himself. Galvatron then intended to destroy Unicron's Spark, but wound up being possessed by it once more, and rather than fight Optimus Prime, plunged himself into the foundling sun created by Primus, igniting the star and seemingly destroying himself, rather than allow himself to be controlled by Unicron.

Cybertron
Ten years later, Primus' plan to imprison Unicron's spark at the heart of the sun ultimately failed, leading the star to collapse, creating a black hole which threatened the existence of Cybertron, and the rest of the universe. Escaping his confinement within the sun, Megatron (now known as Master Megatron in Japan) enhanced his powers by merging his body with the remnants of Unicron's shattered form, increasing his power with the dark god's own. Guided through a spatial warp by the mysterious Soundwave to Gigantion, the Giant Planet, home of the final key, Megatron engaged the world's leader, Metroplex, in battle. Much to his surprise, however, he was utterly defeated in seconds, and Nemesis Breaker was destroyed. Consumed with rage, the power of Unicron within his armor reached out and detected the energies of the Giant Planet's Cyber Planet Key, drawing upon them and infusing Megatron's body with them. Attacking the Autobots in a dark, shadowed form, he decimated most of their forces before being confronted by Optimus Prime and completing his transformation - once again, Megatron had become Galvatron (Master Galvatron in Japan).

After taking revenge on Metroplex, Galvatron joined the race to acquire the Giant Planet key, which included a rematch with the reborn Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot. Yet again, the Autobots were able to acquire the key, but Galvatron then stole the completed Omega Lock, only to be attacked by Starscream, who battled with Galvatron for possession of the artifact. Galvatron ultimately claimed victory in the battle, with the sheer amount of energy released in the clash actually blasting Starscream into another universe. With the lock and keys now in his hands, Galvatron returned to the Black Hole, where he was eventually confronted and finally defeated by the five planet leaders regardless of his new powers that supersized himself and his troops. Having had ultimate power torn from his grasp, Galvatron contemplated giving up, but when Starscream's spirit reached out to him and goaded him into continuing his vendetta, he challenged Optimus Prime to one epic final duel. The battle was long, and eventually ended on Cybertron's moon. Galvatron almost won when he generated a massive blade of dark energy, which Prime countered with Vector Prime's sword. As the two old enemies charged towards each other in a final strike, Optimus Prime impaled Galvatron, whose body crumbled and dissolved as he met his end once and for all. In a montage sequence at the conclusion of the series, however, Galvatron's evil proved eternal, as, beyond the veil of time and space, his spark battled with that of Vector Prime.

Transformers Prime
While Megatron does not rename himself "Galvatron" in Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising, which depicts Unicron reformatting Megatron into a new form which somewhat resembles the original incarnation of Galvatron as well as Unicron himself, but is never referred to as such in the movie itself. In addition, the new form is not a separate character and is controlled entirely by Unicron until he was exorcised from Megatron, allowing Megatron to control his body once more.

Transformers: Age of Extinction
Galvatron appears as a supporting antagonist in Transformers: Age of Extinction, and is once again voiced by Frank Welker.

Despite being a less recurring villain than Harold Attinger and Lockdown, he is more powerful and dangerous than either of them (being Megatron reborn and seemingly invincible). Created by KSI using technology extracted from Megatron's severed head, he was originally intended by CEO Joshua Joyce to resemble Optimus Prime and was upgraded.

However, unknown to any of the humans, their tampering re-activated Megatron's spark within and he began to silently influence the humans to create and 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 it's own which he desired to replicate into more Decepticons. Megatron eventually took over Galvatron's body, accepting the name as his new identity.

He was first deployed when Joshua was forced by Harold Attinger to activate him and Stinger and send them against Optimus Prime and his team. Though Galvatron proved highly effective, he also proved uncontrollable as he smashed through cars and even spoke, which Joshua claimed should be impossible. Galvatron was then called back once Lockdown came in to handle Optimus.

Later, when the Autobots escaped with the Seed, Galvatron activated his new army and attacked Hong Kong with the intent on retrieving the seed. However, his army was destroyed by the combined efforts of the Autobots and Dinobots. After Attinger and Lockdown were killed by Optimus, Galvatron retreated into parts unknown, vowing to one day return and battle Optimus claiming to have been "reborn".

Galvatron eventually resumed using his original name of Megatron.

Comics
Galvatron appears in the comics including the IDw comics where he was a separate entity from Megatron.

Trivia

 * Galvatron was voiced by the late Leonard Nimoy in the Transformers: The Movie, and by Frank Welker in Transformers: Generation 1.
 * Frank Welker also provided the voice of Galvatron in Transformers: Age of Extinction.
 * In Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon), Galvatron was voiced by Daniel Riordan (who also voiced Megatron and Omega Prime).
 * In the Unicorn Trilogy, Galvatron was voiced by David Kaye (who also voices Megatron in Transformers: Beast Wars, and Sykosus in At Jesus' Side).
 * Megatron in the second live action Transformers film was originally going to be named Galvatron after his resurrection. He kept his original name, however, to avoid any confusion.
 * However, he was eventually named Galvatron in the fourth movie, as he eventually gained a powerful new body thanks to the humans who used his spark to make an artificial transformer that they called Galvatron, effectively reviving/evolving him in process much like Unicron did to Megatron in other versions.
 * Unused concept art of Galvatron in Dark of the Moon was created by Massive Black artist Bruno 'Nox' Gore. It is unknown if he was intended to be an upgrade of Megatron, or a separate character.
 * Galvatron's portrayal in the film series is more similar to that of Nemesis Prime's, though his physical appearance is hybrid between Optimus Prime and Megatron's original appearance.
 * Most incarnations of Galvatron are either silvery white & purple with some exceptions. His design may be a reference to Megatron's original design or Galvatron's original color scheme in the first toyline release (see first picture above).
 * In the original G1 Transformers cartoon however, Galvatron was intended to be depicted as silvery white and purple instead of being purple but was altered to match the same color scheme as his henchmen Cyclonus and Scourge, particularly to show he was a reformatted servant of Unicron. This color scheme of his is still used in some of the comic adaptations, as well as his later incarnations. It is also possible his color altering in the G1 cartoon may have to do something with Megatron's original ability to transform into a pistol gun.
 * In the video games, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, one of R.O.B.'s alternate costumes is based on Armada Galvatron's color scheme.