Emperors of Destruction

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Emperor of Destruction (Hakai Daitei 破壊大帝) is a fictional rank exclusive to the Transformers metaseries. It was originally only found in Japanese Transformers series (including the Japanese versions of the US cartoon that aired in the 1980s) but has occasionally appeared in Western Transformer literature as well.

[edit] Meaning of title

The meaning of the title is self-explanatory. The Emperor of Destruction leads the Destrons(Decepticons) on their conquests and as such oversees their destruction of all who oppose them.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not the strongest Destron who ascends to the rank, but the Destron with the proper combination of power, cunning, ambition, ruthlessness and charisma. Nevertheless, in most of the Transformers series, the Emperor of Destruction plays the part of the main villain and as such is often portrayed as the single most dangerous Destron of the series.

[edit] Known Emperors

In the original Transformers universe (often referred to as Generation 1 or simply G1 by fans), there were at least eight known Emperors of Destruction:

1. Megatron: The first (and often considered the greatest) of the Emperors of Destruction, Megatron is credited with first forming the Destrons. As a result, many of his successors measured their success by comparing themselves to him. He was mortally wounded in battle with Convoy (Optimus Prime) and rebuilt into Galvatron.

2. Galvatron: Actually Megatron in a powerful new body, Galvatron was plagued with insanity stemming from being thrown out of Unicron's body by Rodimus Convoy (Rodimus Prime). As a result, despite his power he is seen as nowhere near the threat Megatron was. In the Japanese exclusive series Headmasters, he regained much of his sanity and was far more dangerous. He was eventually defeated and entombed in ice by the four Cybertron Headmasters, who learned his weakness from the spy Double-Spy (Punch/Counterpunch).

3. Zarak (Scorponok): In the US Transformer series, Scorponok was a mindless robot under the control of an alien named Zarak. In Headmasters, Zarak was the name of a small robot who transformed into the head of the Scorponok unit (which was basically a lifeless shell, more akin to a suit of powered armor). After Galvatron's defeat, he took control of the Destron forces and among other things oversaw the destruction of planet Seibertron (Cybertron), Mars and the death of Ultra Magnus. He was defeated and driven into space in the climax, and enslaved by Devil Z.

4. Devil Z: A mysterious energy lifeform, Devil Z enslaved Zarak before the latter could "Head-On" (combine) with a rebuilt robot body and became the next Emperor. Without a physical body, he led his Destron forces from behind the scenes in Transformers Masterforce. Eventually, he combined with the mindless Zarak and was destroyed by God Ginrai, who then pursued the surviving Destrons into space.

5. Deszaras: One of the most famous of the Emperors of Destruction, Deszaras was the primary antagonist of Transformers Victory. His seething hatred of Star Saber led to many battles with his arch-foe. He was the closest the Destrons had to Megatron reborn, as his plans were often well thought-out and foiled only by the incompetence of his troops or Cybertron determination. He nearly succeeded in killing Star Saber multiple times and mortally wounded God Ginrai, but in a final duel with Star Saber he was stabbed in the chest and cast into a black nebula.

6. Violenjaeger: Another Emperor of Destruction claiming to be a god, Violenjaeger resembled a Quintesson more than a Destron due to his organic appearance and ability to change faces. He commanded a force of Destron Generals, made up of legendary (and in some case, deceased) Destron warriors including Stunticon combiner Menasor and Combaticon combiner Bruticus. He appeared in Transformers Zone and was destroyed by Dai Atlas.

7. Super Megatron/ Ultra Megatron: A mysterious entity named Dark Nova resurrected Galvatron from his icy tomb (from Headmasters) and rebuilt him into Super Megatron. His sanity now restored and his powers even further strengthened, the revived Emperor of Destruction was only stopped by his nemesis Convoy, now reborn as Star Convoy. After being defeated, he was further upgraded into Ultra Megatron, but after being defeated yet again he was absorbed into Dark Nova to form Star Giant.

8. Scrash: Nothing is known about this Emperor of Destruction save that he succeeded Ultra Megatron and Star Convoy considered him enough of a threat to deal with personally.

[edit] Other continuities

Even in other continuities, it is now traditional for the Destron leader to be entitled Emperor of Destruction in the same way the Cybertron leader is given the title 'Convoy'.