The Origins of Megatron
advertisement
VOICE OVER: David
Arguably one of the most popular and recognizable characters in the Transformers franchise, he has gone on to cause trouble for the Autobots in several, television, comic book and film iterations, and has been made into countless action figures. Originally seen as too frightening by Hasbro, this character soon came to play a large role in making Transformers the phenomenon that it became in the 1980s. This is despite transforming into a Walther P38 handgun, a controversial alternate mode that continues to raise eyebrows. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we take a look at the origins of Megatron, the leader of the evil Decepticons.
The Origins of Megatron
One shall rise, and one shall fall. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’ll be taking a look at the origin of Megatron, the leader of the evil Decepticons.
Arguably one of the most popular and recognizable characters in the franchise, Megatron has gone on to cause trouble for the Autobots in several, television, comic book and film iterations, and has been made into countless action figures.
Originally seen as too frightening by Hasbro, this character soon came to play a large role in making Transformers the phenomenon that it became in the 1980s. This is despite transforming into a Walther P38 handgun, a controversial alternate mode that continues to raise eyebrows.
Making his debut in the Generation One animated series with his raspy voice, performed by Frank Welker; Megatron quickly came to be recognized as a powerful and utterly ruthless opponent. Leading by brutal example, he was introduced as tactical battlefield commander with mental health problems and an insatiable lust for power.
A mainstay of the franchise throughout its many iterations, he has undergone several changes over the years. These include being reformatted into Galvatron in the 1986 movie, and spawning a namesake in the critically acclaimed sequel series “Transformers: Beast Wars.” Within the many reboots that followed, the character would continue to change and be voiced by different actors, despite the pleas of fans for Frank Welker’s return to the iconic role that he helped shape.
Despite his incredible popularity, and prominence in popular culture, many fans still do not know Megatron’s origins. Incidentally, his back-story was touched upon in the Transformers episode “War Dawn”, which debuted in the second season of 1984’s Generation One cartoon series.
Megatron was designed by the military robots called the Decepticons. He was created to lead a war for control of their mechanical home world of Cybertron, which was inhabited by the peaceful factory robots called the Autobots. Both sides of which were originally fashioned by aliens called the Quintessons.
A powerful weapon of war that showcased the Decepticons newfound ability of flight, Megatron inadvertently caused the creation of his mortal enemy Optimus Prime. This event occurred through the destruction of a dockworker named “Orion Pax” during one of his earliest Energon raids. To his surprise, this robot was rebuilt by the Autobots as a war machine called Optimus, who was designed to confront the mighty Decepticons.
During their nine million year conflict that followed, Megatron’s war ended Cybertron’s Golden Age. That in turn forced the Autobots to seek out other worlds in order to attempt to re-energize their devastated mechanical home planet.
Following the Autobots on their intergalactic journey in his own battleship, their bitter conflict soon encompassed the Earth, where Megatron’s forces adopted alternate modes based on human technology.
In the years following Generation One, he would retain many of his signature personality traits, including his turbulent relationship with his treacherous sub-commander named Star Scream. He would also abandon his iconic hand-gun form in exchange for a vehicle mode, often selecting the form of an aircraft.
Despite the many re-imaginings of the character, Megatron eventually became redefined in Michael Bay’s theatrical films as a Cybertronian Jet, and was voiced by actor Hugo Weaving. Following this, to much fanfare, he was once again voiced by Frank Welker for 2010’s computer animated series “Transformers Prime.”
One shall rise, and one shall fall. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’ll be taking a look at the origin of Megatron, the leader of the evil Decepticons.
Arguably one of the most popular and recognizable characters in the franchise, Megatron has gone on to cause trouble for the Autobots in several, television, comic book and film iterations, and has been made into countless action figures.
Originally seen as too frightening by Hasbro, this character soon came to play a large role in making Transformers the phenomenon that it became in the 1980s. This is despite transforming into a Walther P38 handgun, a controversial alternate mode that continues to raise eyebrows.
Making his debut in the Generation One animated series with his raspy voice, performed by Frank Welker; Megatron quickly came to be recognized as a powerful and utterly ruthless opponent. Leading by brutal example, he was introduced as tactical battlefield commander with mental health problems and an insatiable lust for power.
A mainstay of the franchise throughout its many iterations, he has undergone several changes over the years. These include being reformatted into Galvatron in the 1986 movie, and spawning a namesake in the critically acclaimed sequel series “Transformers: Beast Wars.” Within the many reboots that followed, the character would continue to change and be voiced by different actors, despite the pleas of fans for Frank Welker’s return to the iconic role that he helped shape.
Despite his incredible popularity, and prominence in popular culture, many fans still do not know Megatron’s origins. Incidentally, his back-story was touched upon in the Transformers episode “War Dawn”, which debuted in the second season of 1984’s Generation One cartoon series.
Megatron was designed by the military robots called the Decepticons. He was created to lead a war for control of their mechanical home world of Cybertron, which was inhabited by the peaceful factory robots called the Autobots. Both sides of which were originally fashioned by aliens called the Quintessons.
A powerful weapon of war that showcased the Decepticons newfound ability of flight, Megatron inadvertently caused the creation of his mortal enemy Optimus Prime. This event occurred through the destruction of a dockworker named “Orion Pax” during one of his earliest Energon raids. To his surprise, this robot was rebuilt by the Autobots as a war machine called Optimus, who was designed to confront the mighty Decepticons.
During their nine million year conflict that followed, Megatron’s war ended Cybertron’s Golden Age. That in turn forced the Autobots to seek out other worlds in order to attempt to re-energize their devastated mechanical home planet.
Following the Autobots on their intergalactic journey in his own battleship, their bitter conflict soon encompassed the Earth, where Megatron’s forces adopted alternate modes based on human technology.
In the years following Generation One, he would retain many of his signature personality traits, including his turbulent relationship with his treacherous sub-commander named Star Scream. He would also abandon his iconic hand-gun form in exchange for a vehicle mode, often selecting the form of an aircraft.
Despite the many re-imaginings of the character, Megatron eventually became redefined in Michael Bay’s theatrical films as a Cybertronian Jet, and was voiced by actor Hugo Weaving. Following this, to much fanfare, he was once again voiced by Frank Welker for 2010’s computer animated series “Transformers Prime.”
