Megatron
In many versions a former gladiator or miner who rose up against Cybertron's caste system. A fight for justice grew into a hunger for absolute power.
Where he comes from
Cybertron, most often the mines and gladiatorial arenas of Kaon. A lower-caste worker who rose up against the system.
Story
Megatron began as the voice of the oppressed: a miner, gladiator or poet demanding equality. When peaceful protest met violence, he concluded order could only be imposed by force, and built the Decepticon army.
He is Optimus's mirror: both grew out of the same injustice but chose opposite paths. More on his fall in the article "How Megatron Went from Freedom Fighter to Tyrant".
Classifier: traits & abilities
- Faction
- Decepticons
- Role
- Founder and supreme leader
- Alt-modes
- Handgun (G1), Cybertronian jet, tank, tanker truck (2017)
- Weapons
- Arm-mounted fusion cannon, energy sword; mace and blades in the films
- Abilities
- Immense strength, strategic mind, charisma, oratory
- Strengths
- Will, relentlessness, ability to lead
- Weaknesses
- Pride, paranoia, distrust even of his own
- Personality
- Domineering, intelligent, ruthless
- Key relationships
- Optimus Prime, Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave
- First appearance
- 1984
- Voice
- Frank Welker (G1), Hugo Weaving (2007–2011), Brian Tyree Henry (2024)
Filmography
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1984–1986 | The Transformers (G1) |
| 1986 | The Transformers: The Movie |
| 2002–2006 | Unicron Trilogy |
| 2007 | Transformers |
| 2007–2009 | Transformers: Animated |
| 2009 | Revenge of the Fallen |
| 2010–2013 | Transformers: Prime |
| 2011 | Dark of the Moon |
| 2017 | The Last Knight |
| 2018–2021 | Cyberverse |
| 2022 | EarthSpark |
| 2024 | Transformers One (as D-16) |
Main screen appearances; not an exhaustive list.
Fan prequel: «The First Pamphlet»
An original story by this site. Not part of the official canon.
The first text the miner from Kaon ever wrote was not about war. It was about a cave-in in tunnel nine that killed three workers, and about how the Senate never even sent a rescue team.
He pinned the page at the mine entrance, expecting nothing. The next day ten more pages appeared beside it, from other workers. A week later, a hundred. Someone wrote beneath the first one: "Megatron, say more."
He did. Quietly at first, then in the squares, then in the arenas. People listened because he told the truth. Much later, standing over the ruins of Iacon, Megatron would remember that first page — and be unable to recall exactly when he stopped writing about dead workers and started writing about enemies.
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