- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Megatron from the Transformers live-action film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Megatron.
| “ | You still fight for the weak. That's why YOU LOSE! | „ |
| ~ Megatron taunting Optimus Prime. |
Megatron is the main antagonist of the Transformers Cinematic Universe. He served as the main antagonist of Transformers, the secondary antagonist of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, a supporting antagonist in Transformers: Age of Extinction within his prototype identity Galvatron, and one of the two main antagonists of Transformers: The Last Knight (alongside Quintessa).
He is an extremely powerful, destructive, and warmongering Decepticon hell-bent on Decepticon rule over humankind and the Earth. He is also the evil twin brother and arch-nemesis of Optimus Prime and a former student of Sentinel Prime, appointed to be Cybertron's Protector and commander of its defense force. But Megatron resented his brother, knowing he was a Prime and therefore Sentinel's favored student. This anger allowed The Fallen (the true founder and leader of the Decepticons) to ensnare him and led to the revival of the Decepticons. Following the demise of both The Fallen and Sentinel, Megatron was brought back to life thanks to the machinations of Cemetery Wind and Lockdown, and eventually teamed up with Quintessa to revitalize Cybertron by killing Earth (which were, in reality, Primus and Unicron).
Personality
Megatron is a ruthless warlord, feared for his ruthlessness and brutality, traits that made even Optimus Prime wary of him. He was completely megalomaniacal, authoritative, and power-hungry, as when he wanted to control over Cybertron but ended up destroying it after a countless year war with the Autobots and Decepticons and then wanted the subjugation of the universe by attempting to seize power over the AllSpark. Megatron was somewhat of a social Darwinist, especially towards humans whom he considers insects and would have destroyed the entire Earth just to fulfill his goals. When he was resurrected for the second time in his life, and unleashed by KSI, he became extremely violent and uncontrollably aggressive, massacring every human who came close to him.
As a leader of the Decepticons, Megatron faced no problems while in command, his followers possessed the utmost loyalty towards him and his cause. In fact, the only Decepticon that Megatron did not trust was his second-in-command, Starscream, who had opted for his command, but Megatron is able to keep his loyalty in check using violence and intimidation. He also did not tolerate failure from Starscream and would brutally beat him and even just insult him if he was easily irritated by his second-in-command's sycophantic groveling. But despite this, Megatron himself answered to a higher power and was a willing servant to his master The Fallen, who he was very loyal and respectable towards on Cybertron; the renegade Prime was able to heal him when Megatron had been badly injured.
However, Megatron wasn't always a belligerent and militaristic warmonger; back on Cybertron he co-ruled his native planet with his twin brother and future rival Optimus Prime, but after hearing word of an ancient alien force coming to their planet to seize the Allspark and after this force was unearthed he was left severely injured, but was healed by the Fallen who was in the artifact and was able to manipulate Megatron with the promise of power and then began to desire the AllSpark which began him to create an army of Cybertonians called Decepticons.
Megatron is also narcissistic, overconfident, egotistical, and arrogant. When he first fought Optimus Prime in the first film, and Optimus said it was just the two of them in this fight, Megatron retorted No, it's just me, Prime! Also, after being killed by Sam Witwicky, Starscream his first lieutenant took command of the Decepticons in his absence, he was enraged and came close to actually killing Starscream while claiming "even in death, there is no command but mine." This also shows when Megatron savagely beat Sentinel Prime half to death as when he was goaded by Carly Spencer by being called Sentinel's "bitch" and claimed that Earth was his and wanted to be in charge of the Decepticons once more.
As revealed in Transformers: Age of Extinction, Megatron is also extremely intelligent and manipulative; after being decapitated by Optimus Prime, KSI used his head to hack Cybertronian encryptions but this ended up reactivating him and this allowed Megatron to trick KSI into building him a body called Galvatron and an entire army of Transformers so that he could seize the Seed and arise a larger one. But despite this high IQ, Megatron can also be single-minded and pertinacious at times. For all of his faults, the only thing that Megatron loved was his home world Cybertron, so much so that he struck a deal with Sentinel Prime to revive it if only so he could be the one who ruled it.
History
Transformers
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. Soon afterwards, Optimus Prime came in and the two long-time rivals fiercely dueled 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 rage-filled 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 in the shoulder. 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 a chance to live "as his pet," if he gave him the cube, but Sam refused. Angered, Megatron used his flail to knock Sam off the building. Unfortunately, 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 sabot rounds at Megatron. Despite suffering damage, Megatron could not be killed by human weaponry. Megatron attempted one last time to attack Sam, 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 were dumped into the Laurentian Abyss.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
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 and Optimus briefly dueled in a cannon-fight, when Optimus used a cannon to blast the Decepticon through several walls, into the open.
Megatron then chased Optimus and Sam until he caught up with them. Megatron and Optimus then battled violently through a forest, ripping through several acres - even using them as melee weapons. However, whilst Megatron's durability was enough to withstand Optimus's missiles, he was not physically enough to match the Prime in a fight. Therefore, 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, stabbing and punching 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. The three Transformers battled destructively, but Optimus eventually gains the upper hand. Megatron attacked Optimus from behind in an attempt 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 a wall. Megatron, being severely damaged, called out to Starscream for help and then watched helplessly as the Fallen was slain 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 as the one main antagonists of the film.
Severely 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, currently serving as the new leader of the Decepticons. Unable to challenge Optimus directly, Megatron arranged for Shockwave to reveal the location of a long lost Autobot ship, the Ark, to the Autobots, as well as 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 over being overthrown by Sentinel yet relieved Cybertron was reviving. 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 goaded Megatron into action; just as Sentinel was about to deliver the deathblow to Optimus, Megatron turns against Sentinel by viciously attacking and wounding him, declaring Earth was "his" planet to rule. After seeing the space bridge being destroyed, Megatron tossed the crippled Sentinel aside and attempted to make a false truce with Optimus, mockingly asking Prime who he would be without him. But Optimus, knowing that the Deception leader would not give in so easily, responded "time to find out" 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 finish off Sentinel for his crimes.
Transformers: Age of Extinction
- Main article: Galvatron
| “ | That is why I have no fear! | „ |
| ~ Galvatron's most famous line to Optimus Prime |
Megatron returns as a major antagonist in Age of Extinction, and is now known as Galvatron. Towards midway over the course of the film, he takes over the 50 man-made Transformers and converts them into his new army, although he only has one battle with Optimus which is his only battle in the whole film and he retreats before he is defeated.
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 Hong Kong 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 was first unleashed when he was ordered to chase Optimus Prime and his allies - human and Autobot alike. He pursued them along the outskirts of Chicago, before transforming into Decepticon form to attack them. He launched a series of missiles at the Autobots, going on a rampage and deliberately massacring human civilians - he had originally been designed to be under Joshua Joyce's control but had broken free completely. The humans are horrfied at what Galvatron is doing, as they did not programme him for this. After removing several Autobots, and the humans, from the battle, Galvatron came face to face with Optimus Prime.
An intense brawl broke out, destroying much of the road. Every single attack Optimus executes is effortlessly, violently and furiously redirected against him by Galvatron. The two Transformers' fighting forces the human Tessa into cover, and every single time she tries to escape the fight accidentally obstructs her, pinning her down. In a desperate attempt to end the fight, Optimus Prime stabs Galvatron in the chest, but when the blade hits home, it is shredded - Galvatron has no soul, and thus has no fear. After Optimus exclaims at this, Galvatron sneers at him - actually speaking, which renders the humans at KSI speechless and incredulous. After this, Galvatron easily gains the upper hand on the Autobot, becoming more violent and unpredictable even for Optimus. However, the fight is inadvertently ceased when Lockdown appears and disables Optimus Prime. After this, Galvatron is immediately pulled back.
Galvatron later freed himself permanently, but not before he controlled the other fifty Transformers in KSI's facility in Hong Kong so they became his new army. However, the new Decepticon army was destroyed. In the end following the deaths of Harold Attinger and Lockdown, Galvatron was forced to retreat with his remaining minions and claimed that he and Optimus will meet again one day, as he left for parts unknown.
Transformers: The Last Knight
| “ | WE WERE BROTHERS ONCE! | „ |
| ~ Megatron to Optimus while battling him, regarding on the fact they are brothers. |
Megatron returns in Transformers: The Last Knight, returning to his original name, and he is the main antagonist (alongside Quintessa). In this film, he dons new battle armor including a helmet that partially covers his mouth as well as an arm cannon and sword, making him even more powerful than before and likely the strongest he's ever been. He now transforms into a Cybertronian jet, like in the first film. He also fights his twin brother Optimus Prime again just like in the previous films.
Though this is never seen or mentioned in the film, Galvatron fell under the sway of the alien sorceress and supposed Cybertronian "goddess" Quintessa, who most likely reformatted his body into something parallel to his former self, complete with a new jet alternate mode. Quintessa charged him with recovering the staff stolen from her by her Guardian Knights, which she sought to use to drain the lifeforce of Earth in order to restore the ruined Cybertron. Learning from his new ally that Earth was, in fact, Cybertron's ancient enemy Unicron, Megatron surveyed each of the six mountainous "horns" that had begun to emerge from its surface in preparation for Cybertron's arrival.
Megatron first appears when Barricade reports to him that Cade Yeager has found the mysterious talisman they're seeking. Megatron arrives at the base of the TRF with whom he strikes a deal: the realization of his fellow Decepticons Mohawk, Nitro Zeus, Dreadbot, and Onslaught (after he was denied Berserker) in exchange for him killing Yeager, Izabella and the Autobots. Megatron and his team then go off to find them.
Later, Megatron and his Decepticons arrive at Yeager's junkyard and attack the Autobots. Megatron finds the head of Starscream and picks it up to tell him that the end was near and that it is a shame he is not there to see it. During the ensuing chaos, thought most of his warriors are killed except Nitro and Barricade, Megatron manages to seize Squeeks (Izabella's Transformer friend) and sadistically prepares to tear him apart, before being confronted by an angry Izabella who orders him to put Squeeks down, saying she is not afraid of him. Fortunately, Yeager causes an explosion under the Decepticons' feet, leading them to briefly lose balance and allowing Yeager, Izabella, Squeeks and the rest of the Autobots to escape.
During the attack on Earth by Optimus's creator, Quintessa, Megatron flies in with Nitro Zeus just after Optimus is broken free from the sorceress' control and seizes the staff from Optimus, telling him that he turned his back on Cybertron for the last time and that he will now watch as Earth dies before escaping with the staff.
At Stonehenge, Megatron works with Quintessa and uses the staff to activate the machine, controlling Cybertron. As the military intervenes, Megatron shoots Burton, who dies by Cogman's side. Optimus then unites the Knights with the Autobots and the TRF soldiers. Using Lockdown's ship, they set off to stop Cybertron's collision with Earth. They raid Cybertron and battle against the Decepticons and Infernocons, Quintessa's soldiers. The Autobots and TRF soldiers destroy the Infernocons and guide Viviane and Cade so they can get to the staff. As Quintessa commences Cybertron's resurrection, the Autobots fight against Megatron. During the time, Megatron's upgraded body proves to be more than a match for the combined Autobot forces. He nearly kills Hound with his axe-sword before Hot Rod uses his special gun that shots bubbles used to briefly stop time, allowing Hound to shoot Megatron with his gun, to which he angrily fights back with his fusion-cannon. Bumblebee then jumps on Megatron's back but is quickly thrown off. Fortunately, as Megatron prepares to shoot him with his fusion-canon, Viviane is about to take the staff from Quintessa, and in desperation Quintessa calls out to Megatron to kill Viviane while she herself is unable to. Before he can vaporize her, Optimus cuts off his arm. The Decepticon leader then head-butts Prime in the head and pins him to the ground, angrily reminding him that they were brothers once, to which Optimus replies "Once" before kicking Megatron out, sending him flying back to Earth in the process, allowing Optimus and Bumblebee to easily defeat Quintessa. It is unknown what happened to Megatron following Quintessa's defeat and exile to Earth.
Games
NOTE: The games are in a different canon compared to the movies. Each campaign is also in a different canon.
Transformers: The Game
Decepticon Campaign
After Blackout and Starscream destroyed Hoover 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 Hoover 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.
Revenge of the Fallen
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 Cairo. 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 invasion 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.
Quotes
| “ | Even in death, there is no command but mine. | „ |
| ~ Megatron to Starscream after finding out he took over the Decepticons in his death. |
| “ | Today we hunt… | „ |
| ~ Megatron in a trailer for Transformers: The Last Knight. |
| “ | I want my crew… | „ |
| ~ Megatron in a Japanese TV spot for The Last Knight. |
Portrayals
- In the first three films, he was voiced by Hugo Weaving, who also played V, Agent Smith, and Red Skull.
- In the video games for the first two movies and later films, he was voiced by legendary voice actor Frank Welker, who also voiced his Generation One cartoon counterpart and Soundwave.
- In the video game for Dark of the Moon, he was voiced by Ted Tatascoire, who also voiced his "Aligned" counterpart in the video games War for Cybertron, Fall of Cybertron, and Rise of the Dark Spark, and Solomon Grundy.
Trivia
- Megatron is one of the most powerful Decepticons of all time rivaling his former late master The Fallen. He is renowned as the one who gets his hands dirty, as well as the one cunning enough to have a backup plan. Also, whenever he and his fellow Decepticons are in a battle in any way with Optimus Prime, Megatron is usually the one who always comes into direct combat with Optimus for a broad time and usually the only one who so much as lasts a minute or even dominates his opponent:
- In the first film, Megatron slays Jazz effortlessly and, when he battles Optimus, he is shown to be significantly stronger and overwhelms the Autobot leader rather easily. Megatron is one of the largest of the Transformers that appear in the film, matching only Optimus Prime, and is incredibly powerful. This incarnation is completely relentless and doesn't yield in a fight even after being repeatedly shot by human fighter jets.
- In Revenge of the Fallen, when he confronts Optimus Prime a second time, the brawl destroys huge amounts of their surroundings, but Optimus still gains the upper hand, forcing Megatron to call for reinforcements so that he can recover before re-entering the clash. In the end, he defeats Optimus through cunning tactics rather than combat skill. He snuck up on the Autobot leader while he was searching for Sam, impaled him with his blade and blew his spark out simultaneously with his cannon ultimately killing him. At the climax of the film, he pairs up with the Fallen to duel Optimus, but is overpowered due to the Autobot leader's upgraded power mode.
- In Dark of the Moon, during the Battle of Chicago, he brutally injures Sentinel Prime, but is soon decapitated by Optimus due to being severely battle-damaged from the prior film.
- In Age of Extinction, Megatron is now in a far more powerful and advanced body than any of his predecessors. He is shown to have much more destructive weaponry as well. During his fight with Optimus Prime, he is shown to match Optimus in a fight relatively easily, and his durability and dexterity means he has an unprecedented but overwhelming advantage. Also, because this incarnation of Megatron does not have a collective 'soul', he is completely incapable of fear and is much harder to kill - he is immune to fatal stab wounds or being thrown over vast distances. The only reason he did not defeat Optimus properly was that Lockdown intervened.
- Finally, in The Last Knight, although he has presumably ditched his Transformium ability, his new body has extreme durability and while several explosions or rapid machine gunfire may stagger him, he suffers no wounds, only Optimus' sword being able to damage him. In the end it took all the Autobots combined and Viviane distracting him to defeat him, although they couldn't finish him off, and he presumably survived even his fall from Cybertron and reentry into Earth.
- Megatron scans and transforms into a truck in the third film in order to blend into the human's everyday lives. This can notably be compared to Optimus' truck vehicle mode.
- 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 made from Megatron's remains. This practically explains why Joshua ended up reviving him in a new body like his other incarnation who 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 ingests the innards of his enemies in the Nintendo DS version of the game and such an action was performed by him in a book based on the first film.
- During the events of The Last Knight, Megatron has the same red mark as the one that Optimus had when Quintessa put him under her control. It is, therefore, possible that he was either controlled or simply made allegiance to Quintessa with the mark as evidence. Evidence suggests he was working willingly with her, his eyes retaining their natural red color, while Optimus (as Nemesis Prime) had purple optics.
- Megatron is similar to Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat series.
