Galvatron
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Galvatron is the name of several fictional and often visually cognate characters from the various Transformers Universes, most often the recreated version of that universe's Megatron.
Contents |
[edit] Transformers: Generation 1
| Transformers character | |
 Galvatron |
|
| Galvatron | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Decepticon  |
| Function | City Commander |
| Motto | "My power is everything; defeat is absurd!" |
| Alternate Modes | Laser cannon/pistol |
| Series | Transformers: Generation 1 Transformers: Generation 2 Transformers: Titanium |
| English voice actor | Leonard Nimoy (The Transformers: The Movie) Frank Welker (television series) David Kaye (Unicron Trilogy ) Daniel Riordon (Robots in Disguise) |
| Japanese voice actor | Seizo Kato |
With vast strength but questionable sanity, Galvatron's primary weapon is his particle accelerator cannon, mounted on his right arm, which can fire blasts of assorted types, including electrochemical energy and particle beams. He transforms into a futuristic laser-cannon emplacement (similar to a Howitzer) and can, on rare occasions, assume the form of a laser pistol, shrinking as he does so to allow other beings to wield him (an ability never used in the animated series, although it was occasionally used in the UK comic series).
[edit] Fiction
[edit] Animated series
On the Decepticons' return journey to Cybertron following their attack on Autobot City in the Earth year 2005, a mortally wounded, but still functional Megatron was jettisoned into space along with several other fallen Decepticons in order to reduce Astrotrain's mass in order to reach Cybertron. The end seemed to be near for Megatron -- but it was not to be, as he encountered the chaos-bringer, Unicron, who made him an offer - in return for Megatron's service, he would give him a new body and new troops to command. Megatron initially refused, enraged at the thought of serving under another. However, faced with death as his only alternative, Megatron reluctantly accepted Unicron's offer, and was reborn as Galvatron.
Commanded by Unicron to destroy the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, Galvatron first returned to Cybertron to settle an old score with Starscream, who had set him adrift in space and was being crowned as the new Decepticon leader in a pompous ceremony. Demonstrating his new power, Galvatron obliterated Starscream with a single blast from his new cannon mode. The other Decepticons quickly accepted Galvatron as their leader.
Unicron's subsequent consumption of Cybertron's moons enraged Galvatron, but when Unicron mentally tortured him to put him in his place, Galvatron's resentment of his master began.
Leading another attack on Autobot City, he pursued Ultra Magnus and the Autobots to the Planet of Junk, where he seized the Matrix from Ultra Magnus, and attempted to use its power against Unicron. Unable to open the Matrix, Galvatron was powerless as Unicron transformed and attacked Cybertron with his bare hands. Unicron swallowed Galvatron in contempt, while swatting away Cybertron's Decepticon defenders like flies. Shortly thereafter, a group of Autobots entered Unicron's body, where the youthful Hot Rod encountered the humiliated Decepticon leader. Although Galvatron initially proposed an alliance with the Autobot against Unicron, he was once again tortured mentally by Unicron into doing his bidding. Galvatron then engaged Hot Rod in battle. Galvatron quickly attained the upper hand over the weaker Autobot. However, when Hot Rod seized the Matrix from Galvatron, he was reformatted into Rodimus Prime, and hurled Galvatron through Unicron's armor and into the void of space, before unleashing the power of the Matrix and destroying Unicron.
Now leaderless and forced off Cybertron by the Autobots, the Decepticons retreated to the ruined world of Chaar, where they bicker and fight amongst each other over their limited energon resources. Galvatron's Unicron-created lieutenants, Cyclonus and Scourge set out to find their leader's body using the information stored in Unicron's memory banks and traced him to the planet Thrull. They found Galvatron immersed in a pool of lava-like plasma, and rescued him only to discover that Galvatron had been driven insane (the official diagnosis, provided in the later episode, Webworld, is that the plasma seeped into Galvatron's head casing and embrittled his metaprocessor, causing him to become irreversibly mad). After attacking his own minions, he then returned with them to Chaar, only to discover that the Decepticons have sided with the Quintessons in an attack on the Autobots in exchange for Energon. Heading for the planet, Galvatron opened fire on his own forces, and then confronted the Quintessons themselves, who tricked him into an alliance with the promise of leading him to the fictitious "Decepticon Matrix of Leadership". A joint Decepticon/Quintesson attack on both Cybertron and Earth almost allowed the Quintessons to claim ultimate victory when they activated a switch that nullified all Transformers, but when Spike Witwicky reversed the effect, Galvatron turned on the Quintessons, who only just managed to escape his wrath.
Galvatron subsequently installed himself as Decepticon Leader proper, waging a campaign against the Autobots on Earth and Cybertron throughout 2006. Further team-ups with the Quintessons ensued, which almost always resulted in the Decepticons being double-crossed. Galvatron's madness ensured that his own troops suffered harshly under his rule, subjected to beatings and blastings for even the smallest of infractions. Galvatron did occasionally have moments of lucidity, and in them formed some functional plans, including the construction of a death crystal cannon on the planet Dredd, the bluff threat of an "ultimate weapon" and the takeover of the pacifist planet of Paradron, but the insanity would always return to consume his mind. With Galvatron's madness at a particularly high point, coupled with concerns expressed by several Decepticons, Cyclonus was forced to take his leader, against his will, to the aslyum world of Torkulon. Galvatron was held and underwent various therapies, each successively less effective than the last. With no remaining options, the therapists chose to remove the damaged portion of Galvatron's brain. To accomplish this, Galvatron's mind was patched into the neural web of the living world, but so strong was his resolve that his madness actually infected the world itself, allowing Galvatron the chance to escape.
When the Hate Plague began to sweep the universe, Galvatron was able to avoid infection initially, teaming up with the resurrected Optimus Prime in order to recover a protective alloy that would shield the user from the plague's effects. However, he became infected in the process of recovering the alloy, but was eventually cured along with all the other victims of the plague when Optimus Prime unleashed the energies of the Matrix. It also seemed that Galvatron may have actually been cured of his own inherent insanity, as he refused to continue the conflict there and then, and shook Prime's hand, saying that he had earned his respect.
A year later, however, in 2007, the short truce ended as Galvatron formulated a new plan. Although appearing quite coherent throughout the scheme, it was truly his most insane yet - rejecting notions of conquest, Galvatron now sought the utter destruction of both Cybertron and Earth. To this end, he dispatched his troops to the planet Nebulos, in order to recover the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, possessed by a group of Autobots that had wound up there, while he led the main attack force on Cybertron. Victorious on Cybertron, Galvatron had a colossal rocket engine constructed on the planet's surface, which propelled Cybertron into Earth's orbit (for the second time during the Transformers television series). His troops soon returned from Nebulos with the key, but in their absence, they had become bonded to the planet's organic inhabitants as Headmasters and Targetmasters - a union which Galvatron thoroughly objected to, threatening to destroy the Nebulons immediately. Nebulon leader Lord Zarak, however, was able to stay Galvatron's hand, as he now possessed the Plasma Energy Chamber key. Galvatron then used the key to open the chamber, releasing the energy with the intent of driving the Earth's sun supernova, destroying both planets. Galvatron and the other Decepticons then attempted to flee inside Scorponok, but a tendril of plasma energy struck the giant craft, sending the Decepticons hurtling off into deep space. Spike Witwicky and the Autobot-allied Nebulons were subsequently able to foil Galvatron's scheme and use the excess solar energy to re-energise Cybertron, restoring its Golden Age, but Galvatron was not finished yet, and began his plans for the future.
However, as this was the end of the American cartoon series, Galvatron's future plans never came to light.
Galvatron was voiced in Transformers: The Movie by Leonard Nimoy, and in the series by Frank Welker, the original Megatron actor, with a completely different vocal style. Welker was actually the first to voice the character, as several episodes of the third season were recorded before the movie, but Nimoy was allowed to voice the character how he saw fit when the film was then produced, regardless of conflicts. This role also marks the second time that Nimoy and Welker have shared a role - Welker provided the screams for the younger versions of Mr. Spock, Nimoy's Star Trek character, in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. In Japan, Galvatron was voiced by Seizo Kato, the country's original Megatron actor.
[edit] Headmasters
While the American series ended with the three-part miniseries, The Rebirth, featuring Galvatron's scheme with the Plasma Energy Chamber, it was decided in Japan to continue the series in a different direction. Disregarding the events of The Rebirth, they began to produce a collection of animated series exclusive to Japan, the first of which was Headmasters, taking place a year after the Hate Plague incident from The Return of Optimus Prime. Of all the previously seen Transformers to appear in Headmasters, Galvatron received the most attention, effectively remaining as the Decepticons' leader for 26 out the series 35 episodes.
After the Hate Plague incident, the Decepticons kept a low profile. At some point over the next year, Galvatron came into contact with Zarak from the planet Master (a world colonised by diminutive robots who had previously fled Cybertron during the wars). They entered into an alliance, which came to fruition when, as a result of the release of the Matrix's energy, Vector Sigma began to destabilise, allowing the Decepticons to return to Cybertron undetected. Backed up by Zarak's Headmaster warriors, Galvatron had the upper hand in the ensuing battle, until Fortress, another of Master's robots, and his own team of Autobot Headmasters arrived to fend them off. However, Galvatron went on to confront Optimus Prime in Vector Sigma's chamber, only to be defeated when Hot Rod recovered the Matrix from where it was recharging on Earth and became Rodimus Prime, battling alongside Optimus. Optimus Prime then sacrificed himself to stabilise Vector Sigma by merging with it.
Not long after this, Galvatron discovered that the Autobots had produced a new metal compound called Cybertonuron, and, seeking to claim the metal for his own, led another attack on Cybertron. However, Zarak feared that with the metal, Galvatron would be too powerful, and arranged for bombs to be planted in Vector Sigma's chamber, before proceeding to lure Galvatron there just as they detonated. Galvatron was caught in the blast and was perceived dead for a short period of time, before it was revealed that he had survived, and returned just as Zarak was coronating himself as Decepticon leader. Galvatron chose to spare his life, as he and his Headmasters would prove useful in the ensuing quest for Energon, and the Decepticons subsequently set out across the galaxy, attacking planets to harvest their energy. Using the amassed energy, Galvatron planned to actually incorporate the planet Earth into his own body, becoming a colossal being of incredible power. Learning of this plan, the Autobot Headmasters engaged him in battle in Alaska, and were successfully able to bury him under an iceberg, apparently destroying him.
[edit] Japanese Manga
Galvatron also appeared in a series of Japanese Manga comic strips set in continuity with the Headmasters series, where he attempted to destroy the Autobots with such schemes as creating his own army of Megatron clones, attempting to destroy Fortress Maximus and creating a hybrid of the original Megatron and Optimus Prime named Guiltor to destroy Rodimus Prime, although he ended up teaming up with his enemy to destroy it after it went rogue.
After Galvatron's seeming destruction in Headmasters this was all that was heard from Galvatron in the animated continuity for several years until the Battlestars: The Return of Convoy storyline (although not animated in itself, consisting of one chapter of manga and a selection of magazine spreads, it continues the storyline of the animated series). Buried and deactivated beneath the ice, Galvatron was recovered by the evil entity, Dark Nova, and reformatted into Super Megatron, going on to battle Star Convoy (a similarly reborn Optimus Prime). A common myth among some Transformers fans is that Super Megatron is an independent entity created by Dark Nova, who seeks out Galvatron and kills him, instead of being created from his remains.
[edit] Marvel Comics
[edit] Galvatron I
Galvatron's somewhat convoluted Marvel Comics career began in the United Kingdom, where a weekly Transformers comic was published, reprinting its American counterpart title. However, given the greater regularity of the UK comic, it soon began to run out of material to reprint, and took to producing its own stories that fitted in between the gaps of the US tales. With the release of Transformers: The Movie, writer Simon Furman had a whole new playground to enjoy as he cannibalised the most popular elements of the movie, freely using its unique cast and writing a series of time travel arcs that crossed the movie future over with the present day comics stories. As outlined below, a significant proportion of original UK stories revolved around Galvatron, from the future, and Ultra Magnus, from the present.
The first of these was Target: 2006, in which Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge travel back in time from a point during the events of the movie itself. Desiring to be free of Unicron's controlling influence, Galvatron disposed of the present-day Megatron and had the Constructicons assemble a colossal laser cannon, which would destroy Unicron when it was fired in the future. The Autobots attempted to stop Galvatron's plan, but the unspeakably powerful Decepticon overwhelmed them all, although he was distracted long enough by his hated adversary Ultra Magnus to allow the future versions of Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr to destroy his cannon, and convince him that he had actually travelled back in time to a parallel dimension, forcing him to return to the future.
And so Galvatron did, living out the rest of the events of Transformers: The Movie. However, things quite quickly diverged from the animated series' telling of events when, after being hurled out of Unicron by Rodimus Prime, Galvatron triggered his time-jump mechanism once more, hurling himself back to 1986, where he materialised on the fringes of Earth's atmosphere, hurtling down to the planet's surface at terminal velocity. His explosive landing drew the attention of the mechanoid, Centurion, who Galvatron - his mind addled from the crash to the brink of madness - promptly destroyed, believing him to be Rodimus Prime. After a moment to collect his thoughts, Galvatron fought the madness down, until he wound up in a battle with a group of Autobots led by Blaster, and the Dinobots. During the fight, a sonic attack from Blaster unhinged his fragile mind, opening a doorway to insanity that would steadily widen during his time on Earth. Despite this, Galvatron overpowered all Autobots and Dinobots and would have triumphed had it not been for Shockwave and his Decepticons, who viewed Galvatron as a threat to Shockwave's leadership, forcing him to flee.
Galvatron's absence in the future led Rodimus Prime to place a bounty on his head, which was picked up by freelance peacekeeping agent, Death's Head, who travelled back in time after learning of Galvatron's own time jump from Cyclonus. Fearful of what he had unleashed on the past, Rodimus travelled back with Kup and Blurr to stop Death's Head, only to wind up in a four-way confrontation between themselves, Death's Head, Galvatron and the present-day Ultra Magnus, as Galvatron attempted to siphon the power of Earth's core through a volcano to increase his power even further. Rodimus's team and Death's Head were returned to the future in the course of the battle, and Ultra Magnus and Galvatron were believed dead when they fell into the volcano and were entombed in lava.
Over time, however, Galvatron was able to free himself, and continued with his own plans for the future by disrupting Shockwave's leadership of the Decepticons. He was also later confronted by Cyclonus and Scourge, who had been shunted back in time, circumventing the normal mass-displacement procedures, and wanted his time-jump mechanism so they could return to their own time and position as Decepticon leaders. Shockwave, meanwhile, had recovered what he believed to be the missing Megatron (but which was, in actuality, a clone) and brainwashed him, and then unleashed him on Scourge and Cyclonus after the latter revealed that they would be responsible for his death in the future - leading to Cyclonus's death, causing even further disruption to the timeline. When the brainwashed Megatron clone was then loosed on Galvatron, rather than destroy him, he saw a possible partner in him, and the duo teamed up to battle the combined forces of Autobots and Decepticons (slaughtering the Autobot Wreckers and Decepticon Mayhem Attack Squad in the process) from the present and the future in the "Time Wars," as a rift in the fabric of space and time threatened to destroy reality. With his own actions in the present altering the events that Galvatron remembered from his own past, his grip on sanity began to crumble, as he descended into insanity during his battle with Optimus Prime. As the rift then arrived, Galvatron stood before it, and defied it... only for his body to be swept up, and utterly destroyed.
Notably, it is apparent that in his timeline, Galvatron was created from Megatron's clone (though this was not intended by Furman to be a clone at the time), as he remembers actions as seen through the clone's eyes, and does not remember actions taken by the true Megatron in Target: 2006. It is apparent, however, that Galvatron's time-travelling and the time/space rift which results cause alterations to the timeline, as the resulting future sees the clone destroyed before it becomes Galvatron, Unicron attacking Cybertron in 1991 instead of 2005, and the true Megatron acquiring his new Generation 2 tank body, instead of becoming Galvatron. It is also possible that Galvatron's remembrance of Megatron's actions were not real memories but simply part of his insanity.
[edit] Galvatron II
When Furman took over writing duties of the US comic from Bob Budiansky, he set in motion an epic Unicron-themed storyline that saw the introduction of another Galvatron to comic book continuity.
Seeking a herald to sow destruction in his name, Unicron reached forward in time, to yet another alternate future. In this possible future time of 2009, Unicron had succeeded in consuming Cybertron, and the Decepticons, led by Galvatron, now dominated much of Earth. Unicron's agents, Hook, Line and Sinker, forcibly escorted Galvatron back to 1990, where he was dispatched to Cybertron by Unicron to sow destruction as a portent of his coming. But Galvatron had his own agenda, having had enough of enforced servitude, and captured Emirate Xaaron, whom he forced to awaken the Transformers' deity, Primus. Primus then transported all the Transformers to Cybertron, in preparation for the battle against Unicron - just as Galvatron had hoped. However, they were only halfheartedly fighting, forcing Galvatron to make a do-or-die attack on Unicron himself. Unicron swatted him away, but Galvatron's attack had inspired the combined Transformer army to fight with everything they had. While they battled - and ultimately defeated - Unicron, Galvatron stole away and secreted himself aboard the Ark, which was stolen by Starscream and Shockwave.
But Megatron was also aboard the Ark in stasis, and when he awoke, he and Galvatron clashed and madness rose in Galvatron - a lingering kernel of insanity left over from his time as Megatron, that ate away at his mind from within, driving him into a blood-red rage. With Megatron at his mercy, Galvatron regained control of himself, realising that if he killed Megatron, Galvatron might never be created. Saving a weakened Megatron from Shockwave, Galvatron and Megatron joined forces. Autobot medic Ratchet subsequently crashed the Ark, but Galvatron survived, now driven completely insane by the crash, and wound up in a battle with Fortress Maximus, who defeated the mad villain and buried him in ice (completely unintentionally mirroring Galvatron's fate in the Headmasters animated series).
Galvatron never returned, although Furman has said that, had the Transformers: Generation 2 comics continued, he would have made a comeback.
[edit] Other Galvatrons
Although the US Marvel series was clear-cut in its use of one, singular Galvatron, the UK comics were anything but. In addition to the two primary Galvatrons, several others put in brief appearances.
The first of these (the second actual Galvatron to appear) debuted after the Time Wars, when the future Autobots attempted to return to their own time after the Time Wars. They discovered, much to their dismay, that their future no longer existed, and had been re-written into a different timeline in which Galvatron did not travel back in time after Unicron's destruction, and had been able to conquer Cybertron. Rodimus and his forces mounted a rebellion, and this timeline's Galvatron attempted to force Rodimus Prime into a violent battle, hoping to corrupt the Matrix with his rage. The scheme failed, but Rodimus and his team remained in this future.
This story was related in the five-part anthology, Aspects of Evil, a later chapter of which revealed that a few years later, in 2010, Unicron's essence managed to take control of Rodimus Prime from within the Matrix. A Galvatron appeared amidst this telling of events - presumably, this was the same Galvatron as noted above.
Yet another Galvatron raised his head in a storyline titled Perchance to Dream..., when he entered the Ark and scanned the dreams of several of the inactive Transformers stored within it with a "mind bug," seeking those that would best fit his undefined purpose by searching for moments of anger and dissension in their past. Wheeljack was accidentally reawakened by the process, and brought the other scanned Autobots online to confront Galvatron, who was defeated when they subjected him to his own mind bug, and put him in stasis, where his dreams were haunted by images of Rodimus Prime. This Galvatron specifically identified himself as a different entity to Galvatron I, and while the story itself does nothing else to suggest his identity, later writings by Furman state that this is supposed to be Galvatron II. Given that this strip begins the Earthforce storyline, which takes place in a separate continuity from the ongoing events of the main US/UK storyline, it would appear that in this universe, rather than go to Cybertron, as he did in the US comics, Galvatron II instead went to the Ark to carry out this mission, leading to the divergence of the timelines.
[edit] Convention Comics
The return of Galvatron was a major plot point of the TransForce Convention exclusive story, Alignment. Set 300 years after the attack of the Swarm, in this future story Galvatron 2 (the U.S comics version of the character, referred to as such in the story) defeated Megatron (seemingly at odds with his intention to actively keep Megatron alive at the end of the G1 comic) and almost killed him. Taking command of the Decepticons and constructing a fleet of Warworlds, he attacked the Autobots, only to be stopped and killed by Optimus Prime, who was also fatally injured.
[edit] Blackthorne comics
Galvatron would also appear in Blackthorne comics' short-lived Transformers title. He was the leader of the Decepticons in a universe that bore many similarities to Season 3 of the Transformers Generation One series, and featured many of the same characters. He would be at the forefront of many schemes, including trying to capture a group of creatures who produced energon naturally (unaware they were working for the Quintessons), attacking a space station, building the "Nullification Cannon" and battling the robotic criminals, the Destructons. Galvatron was also shown as having to contend with several takeover attempts by Scorponok and even his own "pet" Ratbat. The series stopped after just three issues, so any further tales of this Galvatron will go untold.
[edit] Dreamwave Comics
In the 21st century release of new Transformers comics by Dreamwave Productions, G1 Galvatron put in an appearance not within the pages of the reimagined G1 title, but in the concluding storyline of its sister title, Transformers: Armada (see below). In this world, the incarnation of G1 Galvatron that appeared (in his original animated series colour scheme) was the herald of Unicron, from a different dimension, sent to cause destruction prior to Unicron's arrival alongside his fellow heralds, Scourge, Dirge, Thunderwing and Bludgeon (all characters from the G1 universe, though their names are not mentioned and are not the versions from the Generation One Dreamwave comics).
After defeating Starscream in an attempt to capture the Mini-Con Over-Run, and the Mini-Con Matrix he held, Galvatron attacked the Autobot base - only to find that the Armada universe's incarnation of Megatron and his Decepticons had already done the deed. Consequently, Megatron and Galvatron engaged in a colossal battle, with Galvatron clearly possessing the upper hand. Overwhelmed, Megatron was about to be destroyed when the Air Defense Team Mini-Cons arrived and, judging Galvatron to be the greater threat, combined into the Star Saber for Megatron to wield. Transformed into the Dark Saber in Megatron's grip, the extra power it gave him allowed Megatron to easily slay Galvatron. The remaining heralds were eradicated in an explosion caused by Jetfire on Cybertron.
Galvatron received a biography page in the Dreamwave comics More Than Meets The Eye series, where it was not mentioned if he was formerly Megatron. While it is generally assumed by fans that Megatron would become Galvatron in this series, Scourge and Cyclonus who did appear in the Generation One series, were original characters created by Unicron and not recreated Decepticons from the series, so it's not certain how Galvatron would have come to be in this series.
[edit] Devil's Due Comics
In the aborted third GI Joe/Transformers crossover, Galvatron would have been created somehow by Cobra-La. Don Figueroa's sketches of this form, as well as Optimus Prime reformatted as a "Rolling Thunder" vehicle, were released on the Internet after Dreamwave's demise. With Dreamwave's closure, the eventual third crossover, written by Tim Seeley, took a different tact and used a reimagined Serpentor as the villain.
[edit] IDW comics
In an interview writer Simon Furman indicated that Galvatron would make his first IDW Publishing appearance in The Transformers: Spotlights issue on Nightbeat. However, as he was never named or even seen in full, it is ambiguous to whether it actually him. His presence was more implied than actually seen, as he and his unnamed followers lured Nightbeat to an underground metallic sea and captured him. They implanted him with a cerebral device, and are seemingly planning to use him for some unknown purpose, although few details are revealed. Although this figure is never fully revealed, a shadow seen during Nightbeat's capture seems to show Galvatron's distinctive helmet design.
Details are unclear at this time, but writer Simon Furman has indicated that he is a separate character from Megatron and not a recreated form of the Decepticon leader. This may possibly lead to a separate Spotlight issue for Galvatron.[1], [2]
[edit] Kiss Players
Galvatron would play a small but important role in the Kiss Players storyline. After he was hurled out of Unicron's body by Rodimus Prime he tumbled through space until he impacted on Tokyo on Earth, devastating much of it. This had major repercussions as it damaged relations between Earth and the Autobots, leading to the formation of the Earth Defense Command to expel Transformers from Earth. Not only this, but Galvatron's comatose body continued to release his Unicron-corrupted cells into the atmosphere, where they merged with various local lifeforms to create The Legion.
[edit] Beast Wars
Galvatron did not make any appearances in the 1990's Beast Wars animated series, but was briefly mentioned in the episode Possession, in which the ghost of Starscream spun a lie that he had been killed by Unicron while defending him, only to have Blackarachnia reveal the truth.
[edit] Toys
- Generation 1 (1986)
- As one of the most articulated figures from the period, Galvatron transforms into a laser cannon emplacement and a laser pistol. He is one of the few Generation 1 figures with electronic lights and sound - pressing the toy's "belt buckle" or pulling the pistol mode's trigger activates a white light in its head, which illuminates his eyes in robot mode and his cannon in other modes. The light is accompanied by one of three electronic "laser blast" noises, selectable by moving a switch on the back of the figure's waist to various positions. The sounds are powered by a 9-volt battery.
- Like the other new characters introduced in Transformers: The Movie (with the exception of Ultra Magnus), Galvatron was designed for animation first, with his toy design being based on the movie's concept art. Galvatron's animation design continued to evolve past the earlier designs used for his toy, and consequently, while the toy is predominantly grey/metallic silver, in animated form, his robot mode is predominantly purple. Marvel Comics also used the earlier design, rendering Galvatron as mostly grey in their pages (although as a result of the limited color palette used in the comics, what was intended to be silver was rendered as a pale blue, except for in his Target: 2006 appearances).
- Anime Galvatron (2005)
- When the Galvatron toy was reissued in 2005, it followed a trend established by some earlier figures, and fulfilled a dream long held by many fans - a version of the toy redecoed in the purple color scheme of the animated series. But this was not a simple color swap, with different paint applications and stickers made specially for the toy to recreate the animated appearance as best as possible. A new, snarling face sculpt was created, and the toy came packaged with a die-cast metal Matrix accessory. His electronics - now powered by two AA batteries - were also completely altered. The LED was switched to red and his sounds were brand new - the first setting became a single laser blast, the second was the classic transforming sound effect, and the third was one of five soundbytes from the Japanese version of the film.
- Galvatron II (2005)
- Released concurrently with the 2005 reissue, this exclusive version of the figure available from online retailer eHobby featured the figure's original grey color scheme, but retained the new face sculpt and electronics of the reissue. The Matrix accessory was now chromed green, in reference to the appearance of the Matrix in the Marvel Comics series. The figure also included a set of exclusive stickers in the form of small golden electricity-bolt decals which could be applied to the figure if the owner chose to do so, and which were based on a piece of early artwork of Galvatron from Japan's TV Magazine.
[edit] Beast Wars II
| Transformers character | |
 Beast Wars II Galvatron |
|
| Galvatron | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Predacon  |
| Sub-Group | Ultra Beasts |
| Function | Predacon Emperor of Destruction |
| Motto | "My power is unequaled. My strength is unmatched. My opponents are unworthy. And my presence is that of death." |
| Alternate Modes | Dragon, drill tank |
| Series | Beast Wars II |
| Voiced by | Tetsuo Komura |
[edit] Fiction
[edit] Beast Wars II
In Japan the exclusive cel-animated series Beast Wars II introduced a new character by the same name. In the years that followed the end of the Great War, the factions known as the Maximals and Predacons arose to replace the Autobots and Decepticons. In this time, a Transformer known as Galvatron was the leader of a group of Predacons who landed on Planet Gaia (a future version of Earth) in search of the power of the Angolmois energy to rule the universe. After many battles, he brought in his Fortress Nemesis to finish the extraction of the energy from the planet. Confronted by the Maximals LioConvoy and LioJunior, merged together as the Lion of Gaea, Galvatron was defeated, but as the Angolmois energy was sealed in capsules to prevent further use, Galvatron revived, intending to use the self-destruct device in his chest to destroy his foes. With a final blow, the Lion of Gaea shattered Galvatron's chest, causing a cataclysmic explosion that scattered the Angolmois capsules across the galaxy.
Galvatron was a Triple Changer, using a Gaian computer to give him the most powerful forms the planet had to offer. These were an ancient drill tank, and a monstrous dragon. This made Galvatron the first Predacon to gain a beast mode, although his was made into a cyberbeast like form because of his tank mode. Galvatron had immense power, to such an extent he often lapsed into stasis.
[edit] Beast Wars Neo
In the course of the Beast Wars Neo sequel series, it is revealed that Angolmois energy is no mere power source - it is, in actuality, the life essence of Unicron himself, which his minions, the Blendtrons, seek to recover. The Blendtrons also recover Galvatron's lifeless shell, which was then possessed by Unicron as he attempted to transform Cybertron into his new body, only to be defeated by Maximal leader Big Convoy, aided by Lio Convoy and his maximals. (reminiscent of the original Galvatron's plans for Earth in the Japanese Headmasters show) . Galvatron was voiced by Tetsuo Komura.
[edit] Toys
- Beast Wars II (1998)
- Galvatron transforms into a dragon and a drill tank. The beast mode's wings unfold into a set of clawed pincers for the robot to wield, while his tail launches two pronged missiles diguised as a forked tip. The figure was available both individually, and in a two-pack with his opponent, Lio Convoy.
[edit] Transformers: Robots in Disguise
In the original 2000 Japanese version of Transformers: Car Robots, the primary antagonist was Gigatron, who was later upgraded into Devil Gigatron. When the series was dubbed and released in the US in 2001 as Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Gigatron was given the familiar moniker of Megatron, so when the time for the upgrade came, the choice of name to use was logical. Thus did Galvatron return to American TV screens for the first time since the G1 series.
Having been trapped in the collapsed ruins of a mysterious pyramid following a battle with the Autobots, Megatron underwent his most incredible transformation, as the combined energies of the pyramid and his Predacon followers resurrected him as the vampiric Galvatron, able to enhance his own power by draining energy from other sources. Galvatron has an astounding ten modes of transformation - robot, twin-headed dragon, jet, race car, gargoyle, claw, hydrofoil, winged dragon, elephant and griffin - used to devastating effect when he launched his final offensive against the Autobots and succeeded in draining the power of the mighty Fortress Maximus. With this additional strength, Galvatron engaged Omega Prime - the combined form of Optimus Prime and his brother Ultra Magnus- in a final battle at the Earth's core, where Prime was able to defeat him through the amassed energy of Earth's children, harnessed by Maximus.
[edit] Unicron Trilogy
The Megatron of the "Unicron Trilogy" universe - consisting of Transformers: Armada, Energon and Transformers: Cybertron - has had each of his three unique bodies upgraded into a "Galvatron" form, only to revert to use of his "Megatron" name between each upgrade.
Comparatively, in Japan, he was known only as "Megatron" throughout Armada and switched his name to "Galvatron" for Energon - not inappropriate, as the Energon character was specifically designed to resemble the animated version of Generation 1 Galvatron. The Japanese version of Cybertron, meanwhile, was a separate universe unconnected to the previous two, hence its Megatron character was a new individual, named "Master Megatron," who later renamed himself "Master Galvatron."
[edit] Transformers: Armada
Badly wounded in battle with the bestial Nemesis Prime, Megatron and several other Transformers were rescued by their Mini-Con partners. Bathed in the Mini-Cons' light, their armors were restored, their strength increased, and their colourations altered. In this new, more powerful form, Megatron chose to rename himself Galvatron.
As the remainder of the series played out, the Decepticons united with the Autobots to stop Unicron, and Galvatron and Optimus Prime had their final battle on the planet-eater's surface. Galvatron chose to sacrifice himself in order to end the circle of hate that powered Unicron, and plunged into the monster's maw, apparently destroyed as Unicron vanished in a flash. However, it transpired that Unicron had survived, badly damaged, and that Galvatron's Spark was trapped within him.
[edit] Transformers: Energon
Megatron engineered his rebirth a decade later in 2004's Transformers: Energon began. His remains and spark trapped within Unicron, Megatron created a new body for himself by siphoning off the Energon that the alien Alpha Q was using to revitalise Unicron, and reassumed leadership of the Decepticons. After a series of battles across space, Megatron was led to a reservoir of "Super Energon" beneath Cybertron's surface by Unicron, whose mind had possessed him following the destruction of his body. Immersing himself in this liquid, Megatron's body was supercharged and recolored, and once again, he took the name Galvatron.
A second exposure to the reservoir saw Galvatron grow to gigantic heights, at which point he was fully taken over by Unicron. Unicron intended to merge Galvatron's body with his spark, still floating in space, but Optimus Prime lured him into a battle that brought Galvatron's consciousness back to the surface. Enraged, Galvatron then attempted to destroy Unicron's spark, only to become possessed by it and enlarged once more. In the end, Galvatron took control of his body through force of will, and, rather than allow Unicron to defeat him, plunged himself into a foundling energon sun created by Primus. Once again, his self-sacrifice defeated the planet-eater
[edit] Transformers: Cybertron
A further decade later, in 2005's Transformers: Cybertron, Primus's plan failed and the energon sun collapsed upon itself, creating a massive black hole which threatened the safety of Cybertron and the very fabric of the universe itself. Liberating from his imprisonment within the sun, Megatron merged his body with the remains of Unicron, acquiring new powers from armor forged from the dark god's body. Learning that the Autobots were on a quest for the four Cyber Planet Keys in order to close the black hole, Megatron began a campaign to acquire their power for himself, that he might accelerate the universal destruction caused by the black hole and remake the universe in his own image.
Having failed to acquire the first three keys, Megatron was led to the resting place of the fourth and final one - Gigantion, the Giant Plant - by the mysterious Soundwave. Upon arrival, Megatron battled planet leader Metroplex, but was within seconds handed his most sound defeat yet. In search of more power, Megatron reached out with the power of his Unicron armor and detected the energies of the Giant Planet Key, which infused his body and upgraded him, transforming him for the third and final time into Galvatron.
Galvatron cut a swathe through the Autobot forces and defeated Starscream (himself enlarged and powered up by the power of the Keys) for possession of the Cyber Planet Keys, finally acquiring them and beginning his ultimate plan. Confronted by the five Autobot planet leaders within the black hole, he was defeated and his keys wrested from his grasp, but he returned for one further, final battle with Optimus Prime. Battling on Cybertron's moon, the two combatants engaged in a mighty swordfight that concluded when Optimus Prime impaled Galvatron, destroying him once and for all.
In a montage sequence at the conclusion of the series, however, Galvatron's evil proved eternal, as, beyond the veil of time and space, his spark battled with that of Vector Prime.
