On your knees, human scum, and bow before the great and glorious Megatron, supreme leader... of all Decepticons!
Decepticons, transform and rise up!
What is The Work?[]
The TV series Transformers Animated from the Transformers franchise.
Who is The Candidate?[]
I have turned my attention to the show's main antagonist, the tyrannical Decepticon leader himself.
What Did They Do/What Have They Done?[]
Megatron was an ancient Decepticon leader who led an uprising against the Autobots and his home planet Cybertron. Four million stellar cycles later he came across the Autobot crew led by Optimus Prime in possession of the AllSpark, the source of all Cybertronian life he and many others had been searching for. Upon attempting to breach their ship he was betrayed by his treacherous lieutenant and second-in-command Starscream who had planted a bomb on him. Despite this he nearly reached his objective before Optimus knocked him out of the ship into Earth's upper atmosphere where his body disintegrated. His head was found by robotics enthusiast Isaac Sumdac who reverse-engineered Megatron's workings for fifty years to create his own robots.
Upon being awakened by Isaac's daughter Sari's AllSpark Key he began plotting to destroy the Autobots and regain his lost power; his attempts to do so resulted in the creation of Soundwave and the Dinobots. Before this he revealed his existence to the surprised elder Sumdac who was tricked into thinking Megatron was an Autobot. Once his soldiers Lugnut and Blitzwing acquired the AllSpark Key by force, Megatron dropped his facade and revealed his true nature to a horrified Sumdac. Once his body was fully rebuilt he trashed most of the Earthbound Autobots and seemingly extinguished an unsuspecting Starscream's spark.
He later turned his attention to "reclaiming" Cybertron by using the Autobots' space bridge technology, which had been crucial in the Decepticons' defeat against them and reestablished contact with his armies and double-agent Shockwave. When the Autobots arrived to stop him Megatron ended up getting sucked into his own space bridge along with the head of an AllSpark-empowered Starscream and the Autobots' ship which was actually the Autobot weapon Omega Supreme. After wandering around the universe onboard Omega they eventually managed to return to Earth and construct several copies of Omega using the remains of Megatron's old flagship. Megatron then engages an upgraded Optimus, now sporting a jetpack and wielding the fallen Ultra Magnus's Magnus Hammer in the air. When Starscream reveals postmortem that he rigged the Omega clones to blow and destroy the surrounding area the other Autobots set out to put a stop to it; Megatron decides to have the satisfaction of killing Optimus instead. When he has his foe backed into a corner following them being trapped in a bubble of AllSpark energy with the remaining clone Prowl's AllSpark-empowered ghost saves Optimus and leaves Megatron to be destroyed.
However, even this is not enough as Megatron desperately attacks one last time before being knocked down; as he goads Optimus into finishing the job the Autobot captain only smashes Megatron's fusion cannon and puts stasis cuffs on him, delivering him back to Cybertron with the rest of his surviving Earthbound troops.
Freudian Excuse/Mitigating Factors?[]
Despite his cruelty, mercilessness and ruthlessness he acknowledged the loyalty of his own soldiers and even called Optimus Prime by his name during the final battle. He also accepted Swindle's offer of a time-stopping weapon and kept his former captor alive for information.
Heinous Standard?[]
This version of Megatron is darker in comparison to other villains on the show, even Prometheus Black aka Meltdown. He really has no other redeeming qualities other than those mentioned above.
Final Verdict?[]
I'd definitely say yes. This is especially notable considering his relatively limited resources while stuck on Earth.
All hail Megatron!