G2 Megatron

Series: Generation 2
Allegiance: Decepticon
Categories: Leader
Function: Commander
Year: 1994

Megatron is a combination of brute force, military cunning, ruthlessness, and terror. He aches to return to Cybertron to complete his conquest after destroying all the Autobots on Earth and and capturing all Earth resources. He is incredibly powerful and intelligent and fires a nuclear charged fusion cannon. He can also link up inter-dimensionally to a black hole and draw anti-matter from it for use as a weapon. Megatron has no known weaknesses.

Robot Mode: In robot mode Megatron stands just as tall as Powermaster Optimus Prime, making him a perfect match for that version of the Autobot leader. He is not very posable - he can move his arms, knees, and little else - but makes up for it in the looks department. His broad chest, powerful arms, and the huge rail gun attached to his shoulder radiate power. The classic Megatron-head (which actually resembles the G1 cartoon version much better than that of the G1 toy) makes for easy recognition. Only drawback: The small toes. They look a little ridiculous.

Vehicle Mode: Megatron transforms into an Abrahams tank and does a good job doing it. The turret can't swivel, making it pretty much a brick, but that's a minor drawback. The tank is nothing special, but it looks like it's supposed to and gives the toy an added sense of military power.

Mising Parts: This toy originally came with a purple handgun, which I'm missing. There were also some kind of missiles you could load into the big gun.

Remarks: The original cartoon Megatron was one of the best Decepticon leader of them all, second only to Beast Wars Megatron, but in my honest opinion his alternate mode, a handgun, was pretty weak. The toy version of him especially so, since it made for a robot-mode that was somewhat lacking and actually didn't resemble his cartoon incarnation all that much.

Then, though, came Generation Two, an attempt by Hasbro to revitalize the failing Transformers franchise by bringing back some of the most beloved characters from the early years and making them a bit more mature and gritty. The toyline as a whole failed spectacularly, but it produced some decent figures (see Dreadwing) and finally gave us a good version of Megatron. For that, if nothing else, I'm feeling indebted to G2.

Rating: A-