Galvatron II

The name or term Galvatron refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Galvatron (disambiguation).

Galvatron II is a Decepticon from an alternate future of the Generation One continuity family.

Well, it's heavy.

When Megatron was defeated, betrayed, and cast helplessly adrift in deep space, Unicron reshaped his remains into Galvatron. In one possible timeline, the Chaos-Bringer succeeded in consuming Cybertron and granted his faithful herald freedom and the rule of Earth. But Galvatron has found, to his great chagrin, that his servitude would not end there. A Unicron in the past reached through time and plucked him away from his triumphant reward, forcing him to repeat his old mission. Rebellious and scheming, his mind slowly being eaten by madness, this "Galvatron II" is a rogue danger to all.

"Hah! For all their supposed omnipotence, even gods can be conned!"

―Galvatron

Note: The identifier "Galvatron II" originated in Simon Furman's non-canon story "Alignment" and was later officialized when e-Hobby used it as a name for their exclusive figure.

Fiction

Marvel Generation One comics

In the year 2005, Megatron fell in battle against Optimus Prime and was cast into space by Starscream. His mind still functioned, but barely. Wracked by madness, he welcomed oblivion, but that relief was denied him by Unicron. Desiring a flawless servant, Unicron re-created Megatron into the cold and clinical Galvatron. But the remnants of Megatron's insanity remained, eating away at Galvatron's precision. A Savage Circle

Galvatron II is why you have to take your shoes off at the airport.

This did not prevent Unicron from achieving his goal, however. Cybertron was destroyed, and Unicron freed Galvatron to do with Earth as he pleased. By the year 2009, the Decepticons had conquered the Americas, but Galvatron's madness had grown. One benign symptom was a tendency to give impromptu speeches about himself in the third person. And more alarmingly, he once rescued Cyclonus from an Autobot attack and then immediately destroyed him for having needed to be rescued at all. He also continued to "kill" a long-dead Rodimus Prime, whose remains he'd strung up on what was left of the World Trade Center. He knew that the humans' European Crisis Coalition was planning a nuclear strike, but he was glad for it, believing the Decepticons' force-field could absorb the energy of the attack. Some other Decepticons were not so confident.

On the eve of the nuclear launch, a small team of Autobots and humans struck at the Decepticon Powerbase (East Coast) in New York, hoping to send a message to the world that there was still an active resistance movement in North America. The battle took its toll in casualties, but the plan succeeded as Spike Witwicky unfurled an American flag atop a Decepticon tower, causing the Crisis Coalition to call off the strike with just a few minutes remaining. Galvatron took aim at Spike, but Hook, Line, and Sinker suddenly materialized and subdued Galvatron, then whisked him away. Rhythms of Darkness! They took him back to their own time, the year 1990. There, Unicron was planning an imminent attack on Cybertron, and, as per his modus operandi, he wanted a herald. However, in an unusual move, he had decided to pluck one from a "possible future." Galvatron was understandably angry at being forced back into servitude, but he acquiesced when reminded of Unicron's capacity to torture him. Eye of the Storm!

Galvatron activates the Cone of Silence.

Unicron sent Galvatron to attack Cybertron, and there Galvatron soon began to work against him. He followed Emirate Xaaron beneath Cybertron's surface, believing the Autobot knew a way to defeat Unicron. Surrender! He ambushed Xaaron and explained his situation, then braced for Unicron's torture. When the pain did not come, Galvatron took it as proof that being inside the body of Primus made him invisible to the Chaos-Bringer. Xaaron told him the legend that all the Transformers, united together, could defeat Unicron even without the Matrix of Leadership. ...All This and Civil War 2 Galvatron decided the only way to achieve that would be to awaken Primus, so he and Xaaron went to the chamber deep within the planet where Primus' head rested. Meanwhile, Unicron, indeed blind to Galvatron's whereabouts, sent Hook, Line, and Sinker to find him and bring him back. The trio tracked him to the chamber, where Xaaron was attempting to contact Primus psychically. Galvatron immediately attacked Unicron's servants, destroying two of them before Hook gained the upper hand (so to speak). But Hook spontaneously combusted as Primus entered Xaaron's body. Galvatron beseeched Primus to gather the Transformers before Unicron arrived, and Primus, seeing that his supplicant was a Decepticon, believed that the time was right for unity. He teleported the Earthbound Transformers to Cybertron, and Galvatron reveled in his own ability to "con" a god. Out of Time!

As the Transformers prepared for the impending apocalypse, Galvatron secretly helped fight some Unicron cultists who tried to assassinate Optimus Prime. The Void! But despite his covert assistance, the Transformers still scattered helplessly when Unicron arrived. Realizing that he needed to make a public appearance to set an example, Galvatron powered himself up with energy from Cybertron itself, then attacked Unicron with a single, mighty blast. Unicron swatted him aside, and he would not be seen again for the course of the battle. But he had succeeded in inspiring the other Transformers to unite against their planet-eating enemy. On the Edge of Extinction!

Here I go, here I go, here I go again. Girls, what's my weakness? Megs!

During the battle, the Ark arrived with Autobot reinforcements, but it was abandoned by the time Unicron was destroyed. Starscream and Shockwave commandeered it to conquer the newly-undefended Earth, and Galvatron was inspired to stow away, with the goal of eventually re-creating his own lost Terran empire. However, none of them were aware that Megatron was in a stasis tube in the ship's medical facility, and that he had been mistakenly re-energized with Nucleon. Galvatron encountered the disoriented Megatron wandering down a hallway, and all of Galvatron's repressed insanity erupted. Exodus!

THAT IS HOW CRAZY YOU ARE

Galvatron very nearly destroyed Megatron, fueled by a desire to excise the madness from his own mind, but he stopped himself for fear of disrupting his own history. He believed that the timeline he was in was not the one that would one day produce him, but he still didn't want to take any chances. Megatron, his own mind a chaotic mix with Ratchet's, was barely aware of anything that was happening to him. He was helpless when Shockwave saw him and attacked him, but Galvatron saved him by smashing Shockwave's head against a wall. Galvatron offered a truce to Megatron in the hopes that working with his past self would help him come to grips with the source of his madness. Megatron accepted, but their alliance was cut short when the Ark crashed on Earth again. A Savage Circle

Venturing out of the wreckage into the wilderness of northern Canada, Galvatron was set upon by the Canadian army. He did away with them easily, but he was soon confronted by another human, one whom he had almost vaporized in his own time: Spike Witwicky. This younger Spike had been drawn to the area by his Headmaster partner, Fortress Maximus, who was inside the Ark. Rejoined, the human/Autobot duo attacked Galvatron as he began to threaten a town. Galvatron, his madness utterly consuming him, fought Maximus with a feral rage, but Maximus defeated him and threw him into a frozen lake. The Last Autobot?

Regeneration One

To be added

Japanese continuity

TV Magazine story pages

His real problem is that he just won't stop living in the past.

At some point, Megatron and his "new subordinate," Galvatron II, battled Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime atop Metroplex.

Note: When this image was first published, there was no "Galvatron II," and the presence of Megatron and Optimus was simply a continuity error designed to keep the events of The Transformers: The Movie secret. (See also Galvatron (G1)#Japanese fiction for other similarly-erroneous early material.) However, decades later, the e-Hobby release of Galvatron II included extra stickers and a modified head-sculpt to match this picture, while his bio echoed the American Marvel G1 comics. Make of that retcon what you will.

e-Hobby toy bios

Galvatron II would eventually rise again and threaten the galaxy with a mobile battle fortress. Within the Matrix, the soul of the fallen Matrix-bearer Ultra Magnus became aware of Galvatron's threat. Magnus reached out to Optimus Prime and used the Autobot leader's Reconfiguration Matrix to resurrect himself in a new Laser Rod body. Magnus quickly assembled a strike force to counter Galvatron.

Note: This storyline plays fast and loose with continuity, combining elements from the American Marvel G1 comics (Galvatron's aforementioned e-Hobby bio), the American G2 toy bios and Japanese G2 manga (which had jointly established the Reconfiguration Matrix), the unofficial story "Alignment" (which had originated the term "Galvatron II" and established him having a fleet of Warworlds), The Transformers: The Movie (in which Magnus had borne the Matrix), and the Headmasters anime (in which Magnus had died). The Kiss Players historical timeline would later inject a small bit of sanity by declaring that Galvatron II had come from another dimension into the Japanese G1 cartoon continuity.

THS-02 toy bio & manga

Ultra Magnus's new Laser Rod body afforded him little advantage over Galvatron, who handily defeated and nearly killed him. But before Galvatron could finish his foe off, Optimus Prime (upgraded with new missile launchers and a heat-absorbing "Black Body" coating) intervened, destroying Galvatron's arm cannon. Although weaponless, Galvatron took the blow in stride and continued to mock Optimus Prime, who was not amused.

Universe Classic Series toy bio

At a time when the Decepticons were a scattered confederation of assassins and warlords, Galvatron arrived from parts unknown and quickly asserted his dominance. Crushing all who opposed him, he united the Decepticons into a powerful army "capable of threatening the entire universe." Rumors about his past were plentiful, but facts were hard to come by. Mostly the Decepticons simply cowered before his might, their fear preventing them from even thinking about following anyone else. Those few who dared to conceive otherwise, simply hoped that one day a rival would emerge who could best the tyrant.

Note: It is unclear where this story fits in continuity, or even which Galvatron is being referred to. If one assumes the Classic Series bios to be an extension of the Classics comic book, then he is likely Galvatron II, as that is the only Galvatron established in that continuity. However, if one assumes that the Classic Series bios are not tied to any particular continuity, then the identity and timeframe of this Galvatron become likewise open-ended.

Toys

Generation One

"I got a Matrix full of kryptonite, ah."

• Galvatron II (Decepticon, 2006)

Japanese ID number: D-62-S (on the box), 66 (on his filecard)

Galvatron II was an e-Hobby exclusive; it has the physically retooled parts of the 2006 Galvatron reissue, but with the color scheme of the original 1986 toy. As a result, it can also be considered a toy-based reissue of Galvatron I. It also has one additional voice clip and a second label sheet (the first being the labels that came with the original Galvatron, plus 1 additional Decepticon symbol for his chest) to add gold filigree details that had previously been seen only in a pre-movie TV Magazine story page described above. These stickers are very difficult to apply.

All of Galvatron's accessories are in their original colors.

Galvatron II also includes the Creation Matrix, a redeco of New Year Special Optimus Prime and "Anime" Galvatron's Matrix of Leadership. An homage of the Marvel Comics version of the Matrix (not illustrated in the shape of the movie's Matrix until Thunderwing sought it), This version is covered in vacuum-metallized green chrome. Like "Anime" Galvatron's gold Matrix, this one likely is too thick to fit properly inside of an 1984-85 Optimus Prime cabin/chest cavity without excess force or sanding.

Universe (2008)

• Galvatron (Decepticon, 2008)
  • Accessories: Missile

Our prices are... INSANE!

• • Accessories: Missile

Galvatron transforms into a tank reminiscent of the Israel Weapons Industries Merkava main battle tank. The tank shows very little purple on its hull, presumably to keep it a reasonably realistic representation of a real-life tank. The tank likewise has a giant translucent orange laser cannon that can fire a translucent orange missile, also keeping in the spirit of realistic alt-modes. Upon transforming to robot mode, it looks much more like the violently insane Decepticon leader we all know and love, and shows larger areas of metallic purple. Oddly enough, the vehicle mode's wheels are molded in the same translucent orange as the cannon, and then painted over with a different shade of orange. On the tank turret is the slogan "GALV-25," in reference to the franchise's 25th anniversary.

The toy includes two extra "feet," which are an left-over feature with no discernible function and no involvement in the toy's modes or transformation; later it was revealed in a 2008 Hasbro Q/A that they were installed to allow for an intermediate "walking tank" mode, however since the toy, originally planned as a Voyager size, was reduced to Deluxe size, Hasbro left this part out of the instruction manual - the toy can still transform into this mode, but it looks ridiculous at best.

Notes

• Galvatron II's end in the Marvel comic is unintentionally similar to Galvatron's final fate in "The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an Iceberg" from the Headmasters anime.

• Which Galvatron was more impressive? After the movie, "Galvatron I" went on in the UK comic to be shot by just about every Transformer you can name, buried in a volcano, soundly beaten by Unicron on more than one occasion, then half-decapitated before finally being destroyed by a rift in space and time. The cartoon timeline was kinder to him, but he still he blew up one planet and drove another one insane. On the other hand, Galvatron II helped Unicron win, then killed Rodimus Prime and conquered the Americas, successfully lied to Primus (who, as a god, can be expected to know everything), used that lie to set the entire Transformer race against Unicron (whom he then shot in the face), got a divine bitchslap in return, bounced through a building and across Cybertron's surface but survived without a scratch, then was the only one to walk away from the Ark's second crash on Earth.