| “ | I am Megatron... I am power incarnate! | „ |
| ~ "Megatron", Time Wars |
Megatron's clone was created by Straxus out of one of his own troops to serve as his new body, and replace the original. However, the clone believed that he was the real Megatron, and would serve as a major antagonist of Marvel UK's Transformers comics.
History[]
As revealed in Two Megatrons, having failed to possess Megatron, Straxus decided to initiate Project Re-Birth, which was to create a clone of Megatron which would serve as his new body, and replace the original. To create this clone, Straxus used the body of one of his troops, who would be named Archforce by Ask Vector Prime, and transferred his mind to it. His mind was hidden under a copy of Megatron's brain patterns. When the original Megatron seemingly died, the technicians sent the clone to Earth, in the sewers of London.
In Ancient Relics, the Megatron clone was discovered in the London sewers by a group of Autobots, Action Force, and Centurion. Megatron, genuinely believing himself to be the original, battled and defeated them. Megatron was only taken down when he was set on fire by a oil tank explosion battling Centurion, and was sent tumbling into the Thames.
In Salvage, Shockwave retrieved Megatron, believing him to be the original, to be used as a weapon against Galvatron. Shockwave subjected Megatron to the psycho-probe, intending to force Megatron to face his fears. Megatron was terrified by the image of Optimus Prime, and then confronted Straxus, who he believed was just another illusion. Megatron fought against him, ripping the mental image of Straxus to pieces and taking over their shared mind.
Shockwave reprogrammed Megatron, who tested his abilities by having him attack a facsimile of Galvatron, destroying it in ten seconds. After Cyclonus accidentally revealed that he and Scourge would kill Shockwave in 20 years, he sent Megatron to kill the pair. After subduing Scourge, and crushing Nightstick, Cyclonus's Headmaster partner, Megatron tore off Cyclonus's head. After this, Shockwave sent him to deal with Galvatron. In Altered Image, Megatron fought Galvatron, but, after Galvatron explained his origins as Megatron's future self, Megatron was halted when he mentioned Starscream's hand in the events. Realising how similar they were, due to Galvatron killing his Starscream, Megatron joined forces with Galvatron.
In Time Wars Megatron helped Galvatron battle Autobots of the present and future, massacring the Wreckers and the Mayhem Attack Squad. After the forces were driven off, Megatron suggested to his other self to rest, but Galvatron madly carried on. Megatron began to be put off by the growing madness and pointless destruction that his ally was causing. Megatron eventually opted instead to return to Cybertron, leaving Galvatron to face his fate.
Believing he would become Galvatron, and determined to do it right, in The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire Megatron found the Decepticons were not in control of Cybertron, as the ruling Triumvirate of Legonis, Octus, and Seizer had grown lazy and complacent, preferring gladiatorial games to conquering the Autobots. After Megatron confronted them, the Triumvirate nearly goaded Megatron into attacking them in order to have their troops kill him in retaliation, but Megatron saw through their ruse. Desperate to get rid of him, Seizer threw Megatron down in the arena to have the gladiators deal with him, to which Megatron defeated any opponent. Megatron made an speech to the Decepticons, pointing out how far they had fallen, and dethroned the Triumvirate with support of their soldiers. The Triumvirate was destroyed, and Megatron took command of the Cybertron-based Decepticons.
Despite successfully conquering Cybertron, in Mind Games, "Megatron" began having nightmarish visions of both the trooper who was sacrificed to become him, and Straxus. Shortly after, the original Megatron, having recovered his identity, attacked his base. In Two Megatrons, the two fought and the original revealed the truth behind his origins. The Megatron clone also discovered that Straxus had not been defeated, and had been waiting in his mind for the right time to take control. Straxus made one final attempt to seize control of their mind, but the clone denied letting Straxus's madness control the Decepticons, and after urging the original to carry on his work, shot himself in the head, killing himself and Straxus. The original Megatron paid tribute to his sacrifice.
Other appearances[]
These appearances seem to depict what would have happened if "Megatron" had never died. It is possible that all the "future"-set events involving Megatron could have happened to the clone.
The UK annual text story, Trigger-Happy, which is seemingly not set in the main continuity, depicted Megatron in a much calmer mental state, as knowing he would become Galvatron in the future meant he was all but invincible until the events came to pass. While contending with Scorponok's rogue faction, Megatron discovered from Crankcase and Ruckus that they had acquired Scorponok's battle plans, and set up a meeting to hand over the documents.
After the Autobot Backstreet botched an Autobot ambush, he went on the run, and Megatron saw an advantage. He decided to use Backstreet'a recklessness as a way to turn the humans against the Autobots. Spinister tracked Backstreet down, and Megatron approached him himself, to "recruit" him. However, he found Spinister and Scoop roughing the Autobot up. The outraged Megatron ordered him away, and tried to persuade Backstop to join them. After Backstop saw through Megatron, he decided to execute him.
When Optimus Prime arrived, Megatron ordered his troops to remain in position, vowing to kill Prime himself. Megatron fought hard, knowing he would survive and managed to defeat Prime. When readying to kill Prime, he was blasted in the back by Backstreet, who had decided to rejoin the Autobots. Megatron was knocked out, and only regained consciousness in time to see the Autobots slipping away.
If Megatron never died, he presumably would have continued ruling the Decepticons for around 20 years, meaning he would have faced the Decepticon Civil War between himself, Shockwave, and Scorponok, as seen in Aspects of Evil, and presumably became Galvatron in the Movie. He may also have been the version of Galvatron who remained in the 21st century.
According to the FaceBook page Ask Vector Prime, in some timelines, the Megatron clone, retaking his old identity of Archforce, would become his own Decepticon, and be a threat to both Optimus Prime and Megatron.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The existence of the Megatron clone is due to a retcon: when the comics were originally written, this clone was intended to be the real Megatron, having returned from his seeming death in the US series. However, when the original Megatron was brought back to the US series, rather than have US readers confused by Megatron having been alive for some time, these appearances by Megatron were retconned into occurring to a clone.
- Given that Galvatron can remember events from this Megatron's perspective, due to originally being written as the one and only Megatron, it is possible that, in his timeline, he was created from this Megatron, rather than the original.
- Given that the clone was created due to the events of the Prey arc, when Straxus made his first attempt to possess Megatron, which only happened due to the events of Target 2006, it is very possible that during the events of the Movie, Galvatron's origins were altered. While in The Movie, he was created from the one and only Megatron. Due to the consequences of his trip through time, Galvatron unknowingly rewrites his own history so that the Megatron clone took the place of the original.
- The name Archforce was given to the trooper who was reformatted by the Facebook page Ask Vector Prime, after a Generation 2 Megatron figure.
