Michael Bay Megatron Battle Royale

[Infinity Blade]

A fight featuring each Megatron from all five Michael Bay Transformers films.

Megatron (Transformers (2007)); click here-> to see his alt mode.


Megatron (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)); click here-> to see his alt mode.

Two images above from Villains wiki->

Megatron (Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)); click here-> to see his alt mode.

From here->

Galvatron (Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)); click here-> to see his alt mode.

From Michael Bay Transformers wiki->

Megatron (Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)); click here-> to see his alt mode.

From Pinterest->

[DonaldCengXiongAzuma]

I will go with AOE Megatron, it is almost impossible to kill him unless his head is cut off. He is made up of transformium.

[Infinity Blade]

All the Transformers in the film series are made up of Transformium, it's just that the humans in AOE learned how to modify it so that their Transformers can dematerialize into a particle cloud and materialize again. But yeah, that's a handsome ability of Galvatron's.

First, I think we can immediately rule out ROTF and especially DOTM Megatron here. ROTF Megatron proves to be significantly inferior to Optimus Prime in one-on-one combat (and it's not like Optimus Prime got stronger since his previous battle with Megatron), and requires the help of two other Decepticons to fight Optimus Prime. Even then Optimus is able to gain an advantage over the three and even kills one, only dying himself when Megatron sneaks up on him. Compare this with his performance in the previous film: not only could Megatron actually go to-to-toe with Optimus Prime in one-on-one combat, but he was thrashing him around, with Prime only ever getting a single shot in during that fight. More potential proof is also the fact that Megatron was able to get bombarded by F-22 Raptor missiles in the first film and still keep trying to take the Allspark. In ROTF, he flies away after a failed shootout with a bunch of tanks (though maybe that's just because he already shot Sam and didn't need to waste anymore time there).

Similarly, DOTM Megatron is clearly not at peak condition, doesn't even take an active role in combat during the final battle (where he did this in the previous two films), and lasts literally only seconds against a battle-worn, one-armed Prime at the end of the film.

So I think it's down to 2007 Megatron, Galvatron, and TLK Megatron. I'll try to explain what I think of that more in depth later today.

[Infinity Blade]

Okay, so let's look at the three runner-ups for this fight.

TF1 Megatron is armed with a fusion cannon that forms from both of his arms.


And was powerful enough to send Optimus flying several meters back.


He also has a flail on his right arm (see the 0:58 mark).


And as you can tell from the hyperlinks I provided in the OP of their alt modes, Megatron turns into a Cybertronian jet in the first Bay film.

Galvatron from the fourth film, by contrast, is armed with a serrated blade on each forearm (on the lateral side). He seems to have some kind of gun on his arm (doesn't seem to have a blast like the usual fusion cannon) and can fire missiles in truck mode. More notably, he can dematerialize into a cloud of smaller particles to transform and even to avoid damage from projectile attacks (as he does in the first clip against Bumblebee's missiles). Also, he has this hole in his chest that can melt things that enter in it. Here, it's Optimus' sword that he uses to try to stab Galvatron with, but it does no damage to him and only melts inside the hole.



Megatron from TLK is armed with his usual fusion cannon now mounted on top of his right arm (more like his G1 self), which also doubles as a flamethrower. As you can see in the OP, he's also armed with a pretty slick cutting sword (some people even think of it as an "axe sword" or something).


Galvatron and TLK Megatron seem like they can hold their own against Optimus decently well (certainly better than he could in the second and third films), but their fight sequences are admittedly rather short. Galvatron's fight is a little hard to judge due to this. While Optimus Prime seems to have been in an advantageous position towards the end of that fight, Lockdown then intervened and sniped Optimus, ending the fight between the two. It's possible Galvatron could have pushed Prime off of him and gotten back on his feet had Lockdown not interrupted their fight. Similarly, as now noted in the post below me, TLK Megatron was able to grab Optimus Prime's sword by the blade and pin him down with one arm (pushing the blade towards Prime's throat).

But although I think he'd have the advantage in unarmed hand-to-hand combat if it comes down to it, I don't think TF1 Megatron has any special abilities like Galvatron (dematerializing to avoid damage, core in chest that can destroy foreign objects that enter it). On the other hand, while Galvatron probably has the most useful special abilities that I mentioned above, it should be noted that he doesn't dematerialize when he's being physically beaten by Optimus Prime at the end of their (short) fight. And, well, other Decepticons with that same ability in the fourth film still die. So that ability could only help up to a certain point (although, if Galvatron is smart, he might still be able to use that to his advantage in melee combat). Also, unlike the two Megatrons from the first and fifth films, he doesn't seem to be able to fly. They both turn into jets, while Galvatron turns into a truck. And I don't think he can fly in robot mode or anything (not like G1 Megatron).

So to sum up, if the fight turned into a hand-to-hand combat scrap, I think the first Megatron would triumph, although, the other two would be formidable opponents. And between TLK Megatron and AOE Galvatron, I'd say the former has the advantage (both in fighting ability and weaponry). But before that they're probably going to be shooting at each other, being in vehicle mode, etc. In which case, TF1 Megatron and TLK Megatron would have the advantage of flight, but Galvatron could dematerialize to avoid damage from their projectile weapons. It may be worth noting that the fight is very likely to devolve into a melee fight too (given how Transformer fights in the Bayverse go). So overall, I might have to give the edge to TF1 Megatron.

[elosha11]

Tranformers I Megatron was a beast, he was the "big bad" and they couldn't make him a pushover. He was in his original body, and was more than capable of beating Optimus. It's a travesty what they did to him in RoF, and DotM. Granted, he was rebuilt from scrap parts of inferior constructicons, so I guess we should logically expect him to be weaker. Wasn't really much of a fan of the Galvatron in the fourth movie. I thought the rebuilt Megatron in the fifth film got back to a similar power level as the first movie. And even though Optimus was able to kick him out of the ship and defeat him in the end, it should be noted that Megatron was fighting Prime with only one arm and actually had pinned him down with one arm before Optimus's slick flip and kick. If they were going at each other whole and uninjured--one couldn't be faulted with thinking Megatron would go toe to toe with Prime.

The best version of Megatron in my mind is the animated Megatron from Transformers Prime. Evil and ruthless, yet so powerful that he actually beat Prime in hand to hand quite often. And he was absolutely fearless, none of the cringing or cheating Megatron we see in other versions. And finally, even though he was evil, his motivations were not entirely selfish, and ultimately he was even redeemable. Just a great, iconic and menacing character, and the indisputable lead along with Optimus in that show. And to have both Peter Cullen and Frank Welker's iconic voices did those characters justice.

[Infinity Blade]

I'll have to check out Transformers: Prime once I get the chance. There's actually quite a lot of Transformers media I never watched or read much of. I'm largely limited to G1 (and even then not all of it), the Bayverse (the movies and associated video games), and the WFC and FoC games (I never played the big console versions, but I did watch a lot of walkthroughs of them on YouTube, so I like to think I know a thing or two about them; I did play, and still need to finish, the DS versions).

[Infinity Blade]

There's a Transformers theories-centered YouTube channel that recently uploaded a video on how/why Megatron became weaker from TF1. I wanted to share it here particularly for the transition between TF1 and ROTF.



According to the theory:

- Megatron's new fusion cannon was bulky and heavy and made for a body with less even weight distribution than his old body. The right arm was outfitted with a single, massive cannon, while the left arm was noticeably less massive, and so when he had his fusion cannon out, he wasn't optimally balanced. The old fusion cannon was held with both arms and placed at the center of his body, giving TF1 Megatron greater stability and a better position to withstand recoil (and a smaller, secondary pistol firearm he briefly uses against Jazz in the first film had no problems with weight). This is based upon analysis of one scene with Megatron shooting, and supposedly feeling the effects of the weight distribution and recoil of his cannon. I'd like to add that his right shoulder seems notably more massive than his left one too.

- He also may not have been as experienced, knowledgable, and confident on how to properly use his blade in combat (as opposed to his original weapons; the flail comes to mind), with the only time he uses it effectively was when he ambushed Prime. This is based upon him getting his ass handed to him in the brief 1v1 portion of the forest fight with Prime (where both brought out their swords), and analysis of some of Megatron's approaches to sword combat later in the forest fight (i.e. a dumb move he makes at one point).

- Most importantly, Megatron was not yet used to fighting in his new body upon being resurrected. He had millions of years to fight in his original body with his original weapons, but wasn't accustomed to his new body with new weapons. It also suggests that Megatron's new fusion cannon was bulky and had less optimal weight distribution than his previous one (in TF1, it was held more towards the center of the body and held with both arms).

It's, of course, just a theory, but I thought it was intriguing food for thought. I still think it's possible that being rebuilt with the parts of a weaker Decepticon (like elosha11 said above) also contributed.