Editing Megatron (section)

==Beast Era==
{{Infobox character
| name = Megatron
| series = [[Transformers]]
| image = 
| alt = 
| caption = 
| voice = 
'''English''':
{{ubl|[[David Kaye (voice actor)|David Kaye]]<ref>{{cite web|author=GameCentral |url=http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/837517-more-ratchet-clank-on-the-way |title=More Ratchet & Clank on the way? &#124; Metro News |publisher=Metro.co.uk |date=2010-08-09 |access-date=2013-11-04}}</ref>}}
'''Japanese''':
{{ubl
 |[[Shigeru Chiba]] (''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines'')
 | [[Toshitsugu Takashina]] (''Robot Masters'')}}
| affiliation = Decepticon/Predacon/Vehicon
| lbl21 = Japanese name
| data21 = Beast Megatron
| lbl22 = Sub-group
| data22 = Deluxe Beasts, Transmetal, Transmetal 2, Ultra Beasts
| lbl23 = Function
| data23 = Predacon Commander, Vehicon Leader, Emperor of Destruction
| lbl24 = Rank
| data24 = 10
| lbl31 = Partner
| data31 = [[Arachnid]], [[Waspinator]]
| lbl32 = Motto
| data32 = {{ubl|''"What does not destroy me makes me strong . . . what attempts to destroy me shall be obliterated."'' (''Beast Wars'')|''"Purification is the key to our salvation!"'' (''Beast Machines'')}}
| lbl33 = Alternate modes
| data33 = [[Tyrannosaurus|''Tyrannosaurus rex'']], [[European dragon]], wolf/dragon, head/spaceship, diagnostic drone, jet and land assault vehicle (as Optimal Optimus clone), hypersonic attack/ground assault vehicle, missile launcher truck similar to a [[BTR-80]] APC
}}
The ''[[Beast Wars]]'' and ''[[Beast Machines]]'' version of '''Megatron''' appears in the aforementioned parts of the ''[[Transformers Series|Transformers]]'' animated series, toy lines, and multiverse. This Megatron is a separate character from his original ''Generation 1'' counterpart, but the original pack-in mini-comic and biographies released with the earliest ''Beast Wars'' toys indicate that the character was supposed to be the original Megatron, in a new body. With the advent of the animated series, however, the fiction of ''Beast Wars'' was reimagined and eventually applied to the toy line, establishing this Megatron as an independent character.

In the past, a few fans have referred to him as Megatron II to distinguish him from the original character of the same name; in the Japanese ''Transformers: Robot Masters'' series, he was named Beast Megatron for this purpose. Usually, however, he is simply referred to as the ''Beast Wars'' Megatron. His ultimate goal is the conquest of Cybertron, where he was branded a criminal.<ref>{{cite book |title=Transformers Animated: The Allspark Almanac |first1=Jim |last1=Sorenson |first2=Bill |last2=Forester |page=83}}</ref> Few pieces of information exist about Megatron before the ''Beast Wars''. The Japanese Beast Wars II toy catalogue claims that he had battled and lost to [[Galvatron (Beast Wars II)|Galvatron]] (the villain of that series) in the past, while the 2006 [[BotCon]] comics claime he was previously a commander in the Predacon army who had developed many of the Predacons' tactics.

According to the 2007 CGI movie ''Theft of the Golden Disk'', Megatron was Cryotek's pupil. It was Cryotek who masterminded the theft of the Golden Disk, but Megatron betrayed his mentor and fled Cybertron with his prize, leaving Cryotek and Dirge to be arrested by Maximals. In a 2010 interview with ''Shogun Gamer'', David Kaye said that Megatron is the role he is more likely to be remembered for.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://shogungamer.com/news/exclusive-interview-voice-actor-david-kaye-voice-clank-and-nathan-hale |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606091914/http://shogungamer.com/news/exclusive-interview-voice-actor-david-kaye-voice-clank-and-nathan-hale |archive-date=2012-06-06 |title=Exclusive interview with voice actor David Kaye, the voice of Clank and Nathan Hale |first=Ian |last=Fisher |date=8 February 2010 |url-status=usurped |access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref>

Three centuries after the end of The Great War, when [[Maximal (Transformers)|Maximal]] and [[Predacon (Transformers)|Predacon]] had risen to replace the [[Autobot]]s and the [[Decepticon]]s, one Predacon, in particular, was discontented with the Maximals' control of Cybertron following the Autobot victory in the war. Studying the ancient Cybertronian text called the Covenant of Primus, the Predacon took the name ''Megatron'' from [[Megatron#Covenant of Primus|a great destroyer of the same name]] that the book foretold (which may or may not have been also an indirect homage to his namesake, the Decepticon Megatron). Searching for Energon to power his takeover bid, he stole the legendary artifact known as the Golden Disk but discovered amongst its data more than the mere location of an Energon source—encoded onto the disk was a message from the original Megatron, which contained the coordinates of the prehistoric planet Earth. Using transwarp technology would allow a user to travel back in time and alter history—specifically, to destroy [[Optimus Prime]] as he lay in stasis within the ''[[Ark (Transformers)|Ark]]'', thereby preventing the Autobots from winning The Great War.

In ''Beast Machines'', Megatron's personality underwent a change to become a much darker character.<ref>GameAxis Unwired – Jul 2007 – Page 99</ref> Losing many of his previous personality quirks, he developed a hatred of organics and free will, but oddly saw himself as a savior of Cybertron. His sense of humor vanished, replaced with "Machine Precision" and his plans had evolved to galactic conquest. He even developed some sense of honor, keeping his word to [[Rattrap (Transformers)|Rattrap]] in one case where he would have formerly taken advantage of an opponent. However, he still retained his strategic brilliance and manipulative abilities, outwitting the Maximals and other enemies with his plans on nearly every occasion.

===Comics===

====3H Enterprises====
Megatron's sudden development of a transformation-freezing virus, spark-extraction and Vehicon technology, and drones went without explanation in the animated series, with the large time gap between his return and the Maximals' left to serve as a grey area in which these innovations occurred. The comics exclusive to the BotCon convention, however, shone some light on this period of time and revealed that upon his return to Cybertron, Megatron met his former mentor, [[Cryotek]]. Cryotek offered to free Megatron of his beast mode by transferring most of it to himself, only to have the transfer send him into a period of stasis lock. Megatron went into seclusion, using Cryotek's plundered inventions to develop the technology that he used to enslave Cybertron.

Megatron was intended to appear in an upgraded form during the ''Universe'' storyline, but the line was canceled before this could come to pass. However, an alternate version was mentioned as hailing from a universe where he was overthrown and killed by Obisidian after taking control of Cybertron with his Vehicons. "Ask Vector Prime" later expanded on this storyline, revealing that in this universe Starscream's Spark had possessed Waspinator and destroyed the Maximals, while the Quantum Surge was caused when Megatron tricked Blackarachnia into destroying the Vok weapon in orbit around prehistoric Earth. "Waspscream" then overthrew Megatron and killed him, Scorponok, and Inferno, later doing the same to Silverbolt after he left the Predacons. However, during the crew's journey back to Cybertron, Megatron would escape and beat the others back to the planet, taking it over as he had in ''Beast Machines.''

Waspscream, Tarantulas, Protoform X, and Terrorsaur would escape Megatron's transformation virus and be reformatted into techno-organic forms by the Oracle, becoming a resistance force that opposed Megatron and his generals: the liberated Inferno and the reprogrammed/reformatted Silverbolt and Scorponok, who became Jetstorm and Tankor. Waspscream's forces later saved Silverbolt, and the threat of other resistance groups soon pushed Megatron to recruit Obsidian as a new general; however, without Strika to serve as his counterbalance Obsidian turned against Megatron and overthrew him. This pushed Inferno into the Predacon camp, and after Obsidian and Tankor were drawn into the Universe War by Unicron Waspscream and the other rebel forces reclaimed Cybertron.

====Dreamwave Productions====
Megatron's earliest fictional depiction in comics was in a two-part short story told in [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]]'s ''Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye'' series of character profiles. The tale started and finished the series, showing a mysterious figure (who would be revealed at the story's close as Megatron) and his accomplice accessing the supercomputer Vector Sigma through a node in an ancient Autobot library and viewing the profiles of the Autobots and Decepticons of the Great War (in reality the character profiles of the series). As the accomplice dispatched a Maximal security agent his leader obtained the [[Golden Disk]] and announced he wished to be addressed as Megatron from now on, implying he took the name after viewing the profile of [[Megatron (Transformers)|the original Megatron]].

In addition to his surprise appearance in Dreamwave's ''More Than Meets The Eye'' series, Megatron was set to appear in Dreamwave's unpublished ''Beast Wars'' comic. Although the company's bankruptcy meant that no issues were released, released art and information have revealed that the second issue would have dealt with Megatron's trial on Cybertron at the hands of [[Magmatron]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Seibertron.com |url=http://www.seibertron.com/comics/view.php?comic_id=785 |title=Transformers: Beast Wars #2: "Transformers: Beast Wars" |publisher=Seibertron.com |date=2005-03-01 |access-date=2010-04-27}}</ref>

====IDW Publishing====
[[IDW Publishing]]'s 2006 comic book, ''[[Beast Wars: The Gathering]]'', sees Megatron's old rival from Cybertron, Magmatron, travel back to the time of the ''Beast Wars'' (shortly after Megatron's failed attempt at killing Optimus Prime) at the behest of the Tripredacus Council. Activating all the remaining stasis pods on the planet, Magmatron quickly assembled a Predacon army of his own, including a reanimated Ravage. Although Magmatron had ambitions to stage a coup like Megatron, he did not want to reveal his intentions to the Tripredacus Council yet and aimed to capture Megatron for them as his mission required, to divert suspicion. Revealing himself to Megatron, the two would-be tyrants battled, but Megatron was captured when Magmatron's lackeys Iguanus and Drill Bit managed to knock Megatron out. Magmatron aimed to send him back to Cybertron, but due to the intervention of [[Razorbeast]], [[Optimus Minor]], and [[Grimlock]], Magmatron was sent back to Cybertron instead. Razorbeast left the unconscious Megatron on Earth, fearing an alteration to the time stream if he captured him.

Megatron's presence is felt in IDW's second ''Beast Wars'' series as well, with [[Ravage (Transformers)|Ravage]] (resurrected as a Transmetal by Magmatron) aiming to capture Razorbeast's chronal armband, which would allow him to interfere with the "main" timestream (the ''Beast Wars'' of the TV show). He planned to free Megatron from his imprisonment on the Autobot shuttle and ally with him to kill all the Maximals on the planet. His plan was thwarted by Razorbeast. However, in the very last panel of the series, Megatron is seen overlooking a ravaged Cybertron, presumably having just arrived from his long transwarp journey before his Maximal rivals.

Megatron has a biography printed in the ''Beast Wars Sourcebook'' by IDW Publishing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/books/comics/news/article_1343405.php/Creators_of_Transformers_Beast_Wars_The_Gathering_are_back |title=Creators of Transformers: Beast Wars: The Gathering are back |publisher=Monsters and Critics |date=2007-09-15 |access-date=2010-04-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404084332/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/books/comics/news/article_1343405.php/Creators_of_Transformers_Beast_Wars_The_Gathering_are_back |archive-date=April 4, 2012 }}</ref> In 2016, he also appeared in the "Dawn of the Predacus" comic released at the [[BotCon]] convention that year, with IDW publishing the comic in place of Fun Publications. In this storyline, set some 300 years before the Beast Wars, Megatron's form—a [[Reboot (fiction)|Retool]] of ''Robots in Disguise'' Megatron/Galvatron—is the result of having his body reconstructed with Techno-Organic Tri-Malteranium, a technology also known as "TM3". In this story, Megatron is a Decepticon commander who, after learning of Galvatron's death and the Tripredacus Council's resolution to call a cease-fire, orders his forces—including [[Predaking]]—to attack. His force is then engaged by Magnaboss, but after learning of Predaking's defeat he is stunned by Ravage, and later disciplined for failing to follow the orders of the Tripredacus Council.

====Fun Publications====
Megatron was featured in the 2006 [[BotCon]] tale ''Timelines: Dawn of Futures Past'', which picked up where the Dreamwave story left off. Much more of the background surrounding his theft of the Golden Disk artifacts was revealed. A feared general in the Predacon army, he went rogue from the Predacons after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia—a peace treaty between the Maximal and Predacon factions—and took the name of Megatron. He swiftly gathered a crew of like-minded individuals and, while [[Waspinator]] and [[Terrorsaur]] stole a ship, he, Dinobot, and Scorponok stole the disk, battling the guards and destroying one, leaving [[Tigatron|the other]] to commandeer a ship to pursue them. Picked up by their ship, they fled and were pursued by two ships—one of which was the ''[[Axalon]]''. Tarantulas was able to decode enough information from the Golden Disk to set a course through transwarp space. With a little help from [[Laserbeak]] and Buzzsaw (secretly sent by [[Divebomb]] to ensure Megatron's plan to change history succeeded), they destroy one of their pursuers, and the newly christened ''[[Dark Side (Transformers)|Darkside]]'' flees into Transwarp space, with the ''Axalon'' in pursuit—thus beginning the ''Beast Wars''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Seibertron.com |url=http://www.seibertron.com/comics/view.php?comic_id=848 |title=Transformers: Timelines #1: "Dawn of Future's Past" |publisher=Seibertron.com |date=2006-09-28 |access-date=2010-04-27}}</ref>

To marry the visual appearance of Megatron's pre-Beast form seen in the first episode of the ''Beast Wars'' animated series (indeed, Megatron is the ''only'' character whose entire body is depicted, albeit briefly, prior to reformatting into a beast mode) with the toy of the character available exclusively at the convention, the story notes that Megatron adopts a detachable suit of armor that transforms into a missile tank, similar to a Pretender Shell or [[Ultra Magnus]]'s outer armor in Dreamwave's series. The tank is his toy; the character's profile in the widespread release of the comic notes that his original body transforms into a hover tank. Notably, ''Timelines'' presents a slightly different version of the disk's theft to the story presented in Dreamwave comics. In ''Timelines'', Megatron seems to already be known to other characters by that name, whereas in Dreamwave's story, he only takes the name after taking possession of the disk. Whether the two are reconcilable is unknown.

Megatron appeared in the 2008 BotCon voice-actor play "Bee in the City", voiced by David Kaye. After losing Optimus Prime and Sari to the Transtech incarnation of Shockwave, Bumblebee and [[Flareup (Transformers)|Flareup]] meet Megatron, who goes by the name of "Joe" to avoid any attraction. Learning of the Allspark key on Sari's person, Megatron offers his aid. Once Bumblebee frees his friends, Megatron reveals himself as he uses the key to bring an army to life. However, when his army realizes the consequence of their coming to being within Transtech Cybertron, a mutiny ensues as Megatron is dragged off while vowing revenge.

"Ask Vector Prime" also introduces an alternate version of Megatron created by the events of the Binaltech storyline who later invades the ''Robots in Disguise'' universe and is transformed into the villainous "Megahead Megatron". Establishing a horde of Vehicons as his original counterpart had, he proceeded to plunge Cybertron into a Spark War, with Mirage as one of his many victims. However, he was eventually defeated due to the actions of the Binaltech Alternity in dispatching a crew of similarly created Maximals—including Air Attack Optimus Primal—to challenge his efforts. However, his legacy would continue to plague that universe, as his associate Cryotek would use the Transwarp technology Megatron contributed to their efforts to launch a campaign across time and space.

Megatron's story continued in the pages of the biography printed by Fun Publications for the 25th-anniversary Optimus Primal toy. Even his death at the conclusion of ''Beast Machines'' would not be the end of Megatron's villainy. Due to the inextricable link that had been forged between himself and Optimus Primal when Cybertron was reformatted, Primal's return to life to lead the "Children of Primus" against the machinations of [[Unicron]] meant that Megatron was also brought back to the land of the living. This time, however, the two old enemies found themselves in an uneasy alliance, traveling from universe to universe to wherever the multiversal conflict had spread. While this storyline would never play out, the design used for Megatron's Universe form—a remold/redeco of ''Robots in Disguise'' Megatron—would later see use in the "Dawn of Predacus" storyline for BotCon 2016.

====TFcon comics====
Megatron appears among the characters in ''Re-Unification'', the 2010 TFCon voice actor play prelude comic.<ref>[http://www.tfcon.ca/gallery/TFcon-2010-Prelude-Comic TFCon] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922121254/http://www.tfcon.ca/gallery/TFcon-2010-Prelude-Comic |date=September 22, 2010 }}</ref> He is featured in the Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game by [[Parker Brothers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zippygamer.com/2010/04/beast-wars-board-game-in-disguise/ |title=BEAST WARS! "Board Game in Disguise" |publisher=Zippygamer.com |access-date=2013-11-04 |archive-date=2013-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234923/http://www.zippygamer.com/2010/04/beast-wars-board-game-in-disguise/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref>