Galvatron
| Transformers character | |
| Galvatron | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance | Decepticon Predacon |
| Subgroup | None |
| Function | Decepticon leader (also "Decepticon City Commander") Predacon leader |
| Alternate mode(s) | laser cannon (G1) dragon/drill tank (Beast Wars II) dragon/spacecraft/car/giant hand/various animal & vehicle forms (CarRobots/Robots in Disguise) tank (Armada/Micron Legend) spaceship (Energon/Superlink) race car/space plane (Cybertron/Galaxy Force) |
| Series | All |
| Voiced by | Leonard Nimoy (Transformers: The Movie) Frank Welker (Generation 1) Daniel Riordan (Robots in Disquise) David Kaye (Armada, Energon, & Cybertron) |
Galvatron is the name of several fictional and visually cognate characters from the various Transformers Universes, most often the evolution of a universe's Megatron.
G1 Galvatron
Recreated from the battered frame of Megatron by the chaos-bringer, Unicron, Galvatron is the ultimate evolution of Megatron. His power and physical strength are virtually unmatched, but his sanity is often in question. Galvatron's primary weapon is his devastating Plasma Cannon, mounted on his right arm, which can fire blasts of assorted types, including electrochemical energy and particle beams. He transforms into a cannon emplacement, not unlike 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).
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. Unfortunately, Galvatron's animation design continued to evolve past the earlier designs used for his toy, and consequently, in animated form, he is predominantly purple in color, while the toy was primarily grey. Marvel Comics (see below) also used the earlier design, rendering Galvatron as mostly grey in their pages. To have the Galvatron toy in cartoon colors was long a popular demand among fans, and when the figure was reissued in Japan by Takara Toys in late 2005, that wish came true, and the toy was retooled in a color scheme inspired by the movie and the animated series. Additionally, online retailer e-Hobby also sold an exclusive version of the figure in its original colors, presented as Galvatron II from the Marvel comics (see below).
Animated Series
On the Decepticons' return journey to Cybertron following their attack on Autobot City in the Earth year 2005, a beaten and weakened Megatron was set adrift in space along with several other fallen Decepticons in order to lighten the craft's load to enable it to reach its destination. The end seemed to be near for Megatron... but it was not to be, as he was recovered by the world-eater, Unicron, who extended an offer to him - in return for Megatron's service, he would give him a new body, and new troops to command. Megatron initially refused, outraged at the thought of serving under another, but Unicron tortured him into accepting the offer, and was reformatted into the mighty Galvatron in the process.
Under orders from Unicron to destroy the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, Galvatron first returned to Cybertron and destroyed Starscream, who had set him adrift in space and was being crowned as Decepticon leader when Galvatron arrived to put him out of his misery. 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 stole the Matrix, and attempted to use its power against Unicron. Unable to open the Matrix, however, Galvatron was powerless as Unicron then transformed and swallowed him. Shortly thereafter, a group of Autobots also entered Unicron's body, where the youthful Hot Rod was confronted by Galvatron. Although Galvatron initially proposed an alliance with the Autobot against Unicron, a quick burst of torture from Unicron convinced Galvatron to accept the destruction of the transformers and engage Hot Rod in battle. Galvatron quickly got the upper hand over the weaker Autobot. However, when Hot Rod seized the Matrix from Galvatron, he was transformed into Rodimus Prime, and hurled Galvatron through Unicron's hide, and off out into the void of space, before destroying Unicron with the Matrix's power.
Now leaderless and forced off Cybertron by the Autobots, the Decepticons relocated to the ruined world of Chaar, where they struggled to eke out an existence. Galvatron's fellow Unicron-created lieutenants, Cyclonus and Scourge set out to find their leader's body, and, using Unicron's memory banks, traced him to the planet Thrull. There, they found Galvatron completely immersed in a pool of the planet's plasma lava, and pulled him out, only to discover that the lava had seeped into Galvatron's brain casing and embrittled his meta-processor - put simply, Galvatron had been driven completely insane. Attacking his own minions to make them prove themselves, he then returned to Chaar, only to discover that the Decepticons had sided with the Quintessons in an attack on the Autobots. 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 entirely-fictitious "Decepticon Matrix of Leadership." A joint Decepticon/Quintesson attack on both Cybertron and Earth almost allowed the aliens 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, and Galvatron's madness also meant that his own troops suffered harshly under his rule, subjected to beatings and blastings for even the smallest of failures. Galvatron did occasionaly have moments of lucidity, and in them formed some functional plans, including the construction of a death crystal cannon on 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 peak, Cyclonus was forced to take his leader, against his will, to the aslyum world of Torkulon, where 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. He was, however, infected in the process, but was cured along with all other sufferers 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. 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 Nebulos immediately. Nebulon leader Lord Zarak, however, was able to stay Galvatron's hand, as he 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, wiping out both planets. Galvatron and the other Decepticons then attempted to flee inside Scorponok, but a trendril 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's voice was actually originated first, as several episodes of the third season were recorded before the movie, but Nimoy was allowed to voice the character in the way 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.
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. 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 and 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.
Battlestars: The Return of Convoy
This was all that was heard from Galvatron in the animated continuity for several years until the Battlestars 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.
Galvatron I
Galvatron's somewhat convoluted comic career began in the United Kingdom, where a weekly Transformers comic was published, reprinting its American sister title. However, given the greater regularity of the UK comic, it soon began to ran out of material to reprint, and took to producing it's 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.
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, the unspeakably powerful Decepticon overwhelmed them all, although he was distracting 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 cartoon's 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 Autobot 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.
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 a group of Autobots to stop Death's Head, only to wind up in a four-war 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 affect his release, 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-dispalcement procedures, who wanted his time-jump mechanism so they could return to their own times. 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 - 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 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 this timeline, Galvatron was created from Megatron's clone, as he remembers actions as seen through the clone's eyes. By all rights, it could be that Galvatron's time travelling is what resulted in the alteration of the time line so that the true Megatron, and not the clone, was the one who went on to become Galvatron. It is also implied that the damage to the timeline has overwritten the events of the movie, allowing events with Unicron to take a different course in the U.S comics.
But this is merely the tale of the first comic book Galvatron...
Galvatron II
Galvatron quickly became a pet character of Simon Furman's, and went on to make several further appearances in his comics. The second Galvatron had a very brief appearance - when the future Autobots attempted to return to their own time after the Time Wars, they discovered that their future no longer existed, and had been re-written into a different timeline. In this version of events, Galvatron did not travel back in time after Unicron's destruction, and had been able to conquer Cybertron. Rodimus and co. mounted a rebellion, and this second Galvatron's only story appearance saw him attempt to force Rodimus Prime into a violent battle, hoping to corrupt the Matrix with his rage. The scheme failed, and although Rodimus and his team remained in this future, its Galvatron was not seen again.
Galvatron III
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. Although chronologically the third Galvatron to appear, hence the above title, this character is generally referred to as Galvatron II, given the relative lack of importance of the actual second character. When the Galvatron toy was reissued in 2005, the original-colors edition exclusive to e-Hobby was presented to be this character, and was indeed named Galvatron II.
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. While they battled - and ultimate 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. Autobot medic Ratchet subsequently crashed the Ark, but Galvatron survived 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 IV...?
Over in the UK comics, 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, seeking some that would best fit his undefined purpose. When they were awakened by the process, they defeated him and put him in stasis.
Although this Galvatron identifies himself as a different entity to Galvatron I, and must surely be a time-traveller, anything more about him is not particularly clear from the stories. Later writings have indicated that this is supposed to be Galvatron III, but if so, it's hard to know how this story fits into his existing continuity, and if it is even supposed to be reconcilable (given that it begins a series of further stories that branch off from the continuity of the main comics).
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 was 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). 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 and Megatron about to be destroyed, until the Air Defense Team Mini-Cons arrived and combined into the Star Saber for Megatron to wield. Transformed into the Dark Saber in Megatron's grip, its extra power allowed Megatron to easily kill Galvatron. The remaining heralds were destroyed in a feedback explosion on Cybertron.
Generation Two
Although the character of Galvatron didn't appear in the Generation Two comics, there was a rare Generation Two Galvatron produced which turned into a watch.
Beast Wars
Although Galvatron did not appear in the Beast Wars television series, he was mentioned in the episode Possession, where Starscream falsely claimed he was killed defending Galvatron against Unicron's attack.
Beast Wars Second
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 (not the original, but a different character with the same name) 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.
Beast Wars Neo
In the course of this 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. Galvatron was voiced by Tetsuo Komura.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise (Car Robots)
In the original 2000 Japanese version of this cartoon series, the primary antagonist was Gigatron, who was later upgraded into Devil Gigatron. When the series was dubbed and released in the US in 2001, 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 a 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 predicon followers resurrected him as the vampiric Galvatron, able to enhance his own power by draining energy from other sources. Galvatron has an astouding 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- Combined form of Optimus Prime and his brother Ultra Magnus- in a final battle at the Earth's core, where Prime was able to defeated him through the amassed energy of Earth's children, harnessed by Maximus.
Galvatron/Devil Gigatron was voiced by Daniel Riordan (US) and Yoichi Koyariyama (Japan).
Armada & Energon (Micron Legend/Super Link)
In the Transformers: Armada series, when this universe's Megatron is badly wounded in battle with the bestial Nemesis Prime, he and several other Transformers are rescued by their Mini-Con partners. Bathed in the Mini-Cons' light, their armors are restored, their strength increased, and their colourations altered. In this new, more powerful form, Megatron chooses to rename himself Galvatron, as tradition in American Transformers series demands. However, in the original Japanese version of the show (known as Micron Legend), this renaming did not occur, and the character continued to go by the name of Megatron (with his toy sold as "Megatron Super Mode").
As the remainder of the series played out, the Decepticons united with the Autobots to stop Unicron, and Galvatron and Optimus Prime had their finale 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.
A decade passed, and the events of the next series, 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 is using to revitalise Unicron. In the Japanese version, it is at this point that he chooses to take the name of Galvatron (which is not inappropriate, since the body was physically styled on the original G1 Galvatron animation model), but this did not carry over to the American version, where the character reverted to using the name Megatron for no given reason, switching back to Galvatron again when he received another upgrade via immersion in a reservoir of Super Energon (gaining a new colour scheme directly based on G1 Galvatron). Megatron had been guided to the Super Energon by Unicron, whose mind had possessed him following the destruction of his body, and a second exposure to the reservoir saw Galvatron grow to gigantic heights and 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, rathre than allow Unicron to defeat him, sacrificed himself to destroy the planet-eater by plunging himself into a foundly Energon sun created by Primus, igniting it and destroying himself in the process.
Galvatron was voiced by David Kaye (US) and Junichi Endou (Japan).