Your preferred Megatron and Galvatron Alt-Mode(s)
Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 7:49 am
Let me just preface this to say that while there are existing threads about Megatron's alt-mode and what it should or shouldn't be, those are outdated, short-lived, have expired links (some of which are used to make the majority of one's point) and thus I kind of feel it'd make more sense to start a new one rather than dragging up the corpse of one of those. Also, they just address Megatron and not Galvatron.
With that out the way, let's speed right along to what has seemed to overtake RIBFIR/RIRFIB as the most heated serious debate within the fandom: what should the alt-modes of the two most infamous Decepticon leaders be?
By the way Rumble's red and Frenzy's blue. Sorry, I don't make the rules
And of course, we'll start with the big Megs himself, the main focal point of most of these arguments over Galvatron, for one particular reason - the gun mode. The most infamous of the bizarre alt-mode choices in early G1. Most characters are fine to keep their alt-modes in one form or another; Optimus Prime's truck mode causes no fuss for reasons legal, believable or otherwise and can come in a variety of modernised forms as the years go on, allowing him to keep his iconography and recognisability while still feeling fresh. The same can be said about most other iconic characters in the franchise - Starscream, Bumblebee, Jazz, Hot Rod; none of them cause any problems in their alternate modes and can be easily updated and recognised even with a major design change. But while certain other iconic characters like Soundwave and Grimlock face different problems concerning their original alt-modes in modern day interpretations, Megatron in particular stands out for many, many reasons:-
-It's not mobile. While most alternate modes are chosen partly to allow greater speed, flight, manoeuvrability in the skies and many other reasons, Megatron's gun mode does not afford him any advantage in mobility as it is just a gun, and most of the time it seems he cannot move under his own power. Talking of which...
-He needs someone else to hold and use him. Putting aside the more laughable scenarios of trusting himself to Starscream on multiple occasions (including the movie), even if we were to assume the most loyal of troops under his command that he can select to wield his gun mode it still of course presents a disadvantage. He can't use it with no-one else around and it greatly reduces what options he has, as well requiring the focus of one soldier just to shoot him.
-He mass-shifts. We're not gonna beat around the bush here - scale is an omnipresent issue in the Transformers franchise and it will never be resolved completely; even the most stalwart attempts like the Michael Bay movies still have many an issue. Even beyond Megatron these issues obviously exist; Soundwave and his cassettes, the Combiners being far more than the sum of the parts, and of course just how on earth a robot that turns into a car can turn out anywhere near comparable size and mass to that of a robot that turns into a plane. I'm not going to argue that this is something we can solve, nor that it should be a serious focus for a Transformers series to try and get right (as interesting as the aforementioned Movies' attempts at it have been). But as Transformers fans and just consumers of fiction in general, some of this can be handwaved. Combiners can possibly be excused as that being an ability of theirs or something mystical to do with the Enigma of Combination. For the common car vs. plane example, movie magic and suspension of disbelief can play a part of that. Clever cinematography and my willing to accept that a man can fly can let this pass without the viewer really thinking about this nitpick while they're watching and just focus on the plot and characters in front of them.
Megatron turning into a gun is a far more egregious example. There is no way that any suspension of disbelief or amount of clever camerawork can make you believe that a handheld gun can turn into a giant robot without some sort of explanation or some huge mental gymnastics. Reasons might be given, clever ideas can be put forward; but at the very least you will still feel your suspension of disbelief wince a little. It's a bit of a difficult one to let slide.
But of course, we're avoiding the big issue here. Beyond believability - as important as that is - there is one huge, major issue; one big reason Hasbro does not let Megatron turn into a Walther P-38 anymore. They can't legally do it.
All things considered, the original Megatron toy was lucky to have been released when he was. A mere two years before new legislation was brought in and accepted on the subject of what you can and can't do with a toy gun. Don't worry, I won't bore you with the logistics here - I don't feel it's necessary, and to be honest I simply don't know enough about this type of subject. There's better people to explain this than me, and maybe it on its own would make an interesting topic. But it's beyond the scope of just Transformers I feel - it affects every toy gun, and it's getting into the realm of actual legality - I don't quite know all the history, and really, it's probably just enough to know Megatron isn't allowed his firearms license so Hasbro doesn't let him shoot a dude.
And with that, we arrive at Generation 2; a good few years after those toy gun laws were introduced and Hasbro saw that for the first figure since 1984 of Megatron (that transformed), they couldn't make him a gun. So, of course, we got a tank. An alternate mode that has stuck around to this very day - G2, Armada, ROTF, multiple DW and IDW bodies, Combiner Wars, Titans Return, he was going to be one in Animated Season 4... Megatron's taken up a tank form a lot. And it's pretty easy to see why - if the character's iconic alt-mode is a gun and you can no longer make him a gun, why not make his new alt-mode a gun that moves? Speeding on right ahead we come to Machine Wars, where Megatron took up for the first time a flight mode - a jet. He'd take up Earthen flight modes a few more times in Animated and Titans Return and they seem to work out well, especially when you've got a big 'ol fusion cannon slapped to the bottom of it. Perhaps the final most significant alt-modes to mention would be his Cybertronian modes - whether a tank or some sort of flight mode, a lot of the time this tends to represent his feelings of superiority to other worlds and species; refusing to 'infect' himself with any vehicle mode not cybertronian. It's a pretty good concept and feeds well into recent characterisations of him. It also provides a unique look to him among his earth-based soldiers when done well.
He's had a lot more modes in the past 30 years of course; many a car comes to mind, but most of the time these are one-off things to fit a gimmick or theme and are not what one tends to think about when they consider definitive Megatron alt-modes. That said, the batmobile he took up in Cybertron is pretty badass...
In my personal opinion, I prefer Megatron to be a gun. ... and a triple-changer.
Most criticisms I have with the gun mode are done away with when you consider the idea it's a last resort - when everything's gone to hell around him or there's some huge threat he and the Autobots have to team up against, risking the power of mass-shifting - potentially making it an important plot point and not just something he can casually do - and diverting all available power to just firepower, and trusting yourself in the hands of a capable ally like Soundwave or Optimus? That's badass, and a sight to behold. Hell, a lot of great, iconic scenes in G1 had Optimus teaming up with Megatron by firing his gun mode; which they even re-created in the otherwise bad Machinima Combiner Wars series. So yes, I think a gun mode does work... when it's a last resort and not his primary alt-mode.
For a primary alt-mode, I prefer to go with a flight mode. Decepticons have always been linked to flight thematically in some way, and I don't think I need to sell anyone on the speed and manoeuvrability of a jet. The mode just makes sense to me. Especially when one considers that if he has a gun mode, then there's no need for a Tank mode since that's just an excuse to give him a gun mode that moves. To me this just seems like the best solution.
And right onto Galvatron. Most of his modes are the same as Megatron - Tank, cybertronian jet, gun - and let's face it, the cannon mode falls into the same we-need-to-make-him-a-gun-but-not-a-gun category as a tank. This one does have the unique little thing of being immobile, however - which probably fits Galvatron well. He doesn't need to move and he doesn't need anyone to operate him. He just needs to blast a hole in your chest and crumble you to dust because he's Galvatron, dammit!
Ironically, that reasoning is also why a Tank is my preferred Galvatron alt-mode as it represents how he's psychologically different and, well, insane compared to Megatron. He doesn't need anyone's help or any teammates. He doesn't need any last resorts. All he needs is to shove a huge barrel of **** You Particle Cannon in your face. It's bulky, it's imposing, it's powerful, and it's just the right mode for someone as insane as this dude.
Buuut that's just my takes. What's your favourite mode - or modes, as it were - for the Megs and the Galvs? Do you like the mobility offered by actual vehicle modes, or is it difficult for you to imagine the Decepticon leader without being a gun?
... I think I made this way too long.
With that out the way, let's speed right along to what has seemed to overtake RIBFIR/RIRFIB as the most heated serious debate within the fandom: what should the alt-modes of the two most infamous Decepticon leaders be?
By the way Rumble's red and Frenzy's blue. Sorry, I don't make the rules
And of course, we'll start with the big Megs himself, the main focal point of most of these arguments over Galvatron, for one particular reason - the gun mode. The most infamous of the bizarre alt-mode choices in early G1. Most characters are fine to keep their alt-modes in one form or another; Optimus Prime's truck mode causes no fuss for reasons legal, believable or otherwise and can come in a variety of modernised forms as the years go on, allowing him to keep his iconography and recognisability while still feeling fresh. The same can be said about most other iconic characters in the franchise - Starscream, Bumblebee, Jazz, Hot Rod; none of them cause any problems in their alternate modes and can be easily updated and recognised even with a major design change. But while certain other iconic characters like Soundwave and Grimlock face different problems concerning their original alt-modes in modern day interpretations, Megatron in particular stands out for many, many reasons:-
-It's not mobile. While most alternate modes are chosen partly to allow greater speed, flight, manoeuvrability in the skies and many other reasons, Megatron's gun mode does not afford him any advantage in mobility as it is just a gun, and most of the time it seems he cannot move under his own power. Talking of which...
-He needs someone else to hold and use him. Putting aside the more laughable scenarios of trusting himself to Starscream on multiple occasions (including the movie), even if we were to assume the most loyal of troops under his command that he can select to wield his gun mode it still of course presents a disadvantage. He can't use it with no-one else around and it greatly reduces what options he has, as well requiring the focus of one soldier just to shoot him.
-He mass-shifts. We're not gonna beat around the bush here - scale is an omnipresent issue in the Transformers franchise and it will never be resolved completely; even the most stalwart attempts like the Michael Bay movies still have many an issue. Even beyond Megatron these issues obviously exist; Soundwave and his cassettes, the Combiners being far more than the sum of the parts, and of course just how on earth a robot that turns into a car can turn out anywhere near comparable size and mass to that of a robot that turns into a plane. I'm not going to argue that this is something we can solve, nor that it should be a serious focus for a Transformers series to try and get right (as interesting as the aforementioned Movies' attempts at it have been). But as Transformers fans and just consumers of fiction in general, some of this can be handwaved. Combiners can possibly be excused as that being an ability of theirs or something mystical to do with the Enigma of Combination. For the common car vs. plane example, movie magic and suspension of disbelief can play a part of that. Clever cinematography and my willing to accept that a man can fly can let this pass without the viewer really thinking about this nitpick while they're watching and just focus on the plot and characters in front of them.
Megatron turning into a gun is a far more egregious example. There is no way that any suspension of disbelief or amount of clever camerawork can make you believe that a handheld gun can turn into a giant robot without some sort of explanation or some huge mental gymnastics. Reasons might be given, clever ideas can be put forward; but at the very least you will still feel your suspension of disbelief wince a little. It's a bit of a difficult one to let slide.
But of course, we're avoiding the big issue here. Beyond believability - as important as that is - there is one huge, major issue; one big reason Hasbro does not let Megatron turn into a Walther P-38 anymore. They can't legally do it.
All things considered, the original Megatron toy was lucky to have been released when he was. A mere two years before new legislation was brought in and accepted on the subject of what you can and can't do with a toy gun. Don't worry, I won't bore you with the logistics here - I don't feel it's necessary, and to be honest I simply don't know enough about this type of subject. There's better people to explain this than me, and maybe it on its own would make an interesting topic. But it's beyond the scope of just Transformers I feel - it affects every toy gun, and it's getting into the realm of actual legality - I don't quite know all the history, and really, it's probably just enough to know Megatron isn't allowed his firearms license so Hasbro doesn't let him shoot a dude.
And with that, we arrive at Generation 2; a good few years after those toy gun laws were introduced and Hasbro saw that for the first figure since 1984 of Megatron (that transformed), they couldn't make him a gun. So, of course, we got a tank. An alternate mode that has stuck around to this very day - G2, Armada, ROTF, multiple DW and IDW bodies, Combiner Wars, Titans Return, he was going to be one in Animated Season 4... Megatron's taken up a tank form a lot. And it's pretty easy to see why - if the character's iconic alt-mode is a gun and you can no longer make him a gun, why not make his new alt-mode a gun that moves? Speeding on right ahead we come to Machine Wars, where Megatron took up for the first time a flight mode - a jet. He'd take up Earthen flight modes a few more times in Animated and Titans Return and they seem to work out well, especially when you've got a big 'ol fusion cannon slapped to the bottom of it. Perhaps the final most significant alt-modes to mention would be his Cybertronian modes - whether a tank or some sort of flight mode, a lot of the time this tends to represent his feelings of superiority to other worlds and species; refusing to 'infect' himself with any vehicle mode not cybertronian. It's a pretty good concept and feeds well into recent characterisations of him. It also provides a unique look to him among his earth-based soldiers when done well.
He's had a lot more modes in the past 30 years of course; many a car comes to mind, but most of the time these are one-off things to fit a gimmick or theme and are not what one tends to think about when they consider definitive Megatron alt-modes. That said, the batmobile he took up in Cybertron is pretty badass...
In my personal opinion, I prefer Megatron to be a gun. ... and a triple-changer.
Most criticisms I have with the gun mode are done away with when you consider the idea it's a last resort - when everything's gone to hell around him or there's some huge threat he and the Autobots have to team up against, risking the power of mass-shifting - potentially making it an important plot point and not just something he can casually do - and diverting all available power to just firepower, and trusting yourself in the hands of a capable ally like Soundwave or Optimus? That's badass, and a sight to behold. Hell, a lot of great, iconic scenes in G1 had Optimus teaming up with Megatron by firing his gun mode; which they even re-created in the otherwise bad Machinima Combiner Wars series. So yes, I think a gun mode does work... when it's a last resort and not his primary alt-mode.
For a primary alt-mode, I prefer to go with a flight mode. Decepticons have always been linked to flight thematically in some way, and I don't think I need to sell anyone on the speed and manoeuvrability of a jet. The mode just makes sense to me. Especially when one considers that if he has a gun mode, then there's no need for a Tank mode since that's just an excuse to give him a gun mode that moves. To me this just seems like the best solution.
And right onto Galvatron. Most of his modes are the same as Megatron - Tank, cybertronian jet, gun - and let's face it, the cannon mode falls into the same we-need-to-make-him-a-gun-but-not-a-gun category as a tank. This one does have the unique little thing of being immobile, however - which probably fits Galvatron well. He doesn't need to move and he doesn't need anyone to operate him. He just needs to blast a hole in your chest and crumble you to dust because he's Galvatron, dammit!
Ironically, that reasoning is also why a Tank is my preferred Galvatron alt-mode as it represents how he's psychologically different and, well, insane compared to Megatron. He doesn't need anyone's help or any teammates. He doesn't need any last resorts. All he needs is to shove a huge barrel of **** You Particle Cannon in your face. It's bulky, it's imposing, it's powerful, and it's just the right mode for someone as insane as this dude.
Buuut that's just my takes. What's your favourite mode - or modes, as it were - for the Megs and the Galvs? Do you like the mobility offered by actual vehicle modes, or is it difficult for you to imagine the Decepticon leader without being a gun?
... I think I made this way too long.