Poll of the Day > Who is the better leader of the 'Cons?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/02d770b8.jpg
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G1 that is.

Galvatron's key personality trait (outside of the movie) is that he's literally brain damaged and insane. In the movie, his main personality traits are being pissed off all the time, and sounding like Spock.

Megatron, for all his potential faults, is a far better leader.

how does megatron keep defusing back to megatron, and why does he always defuse

ConfusedTorchic posted...

how does megatron keep defusing back to megatron, and why does he always defuse

Ask Soundwave

OneEyedShinobi posted...

Ask Soundwave

aka best Decepticon ever.

Galvatron

1. Had enough of Starscreams BS to the point where he shot him
2. Leonard Nimoy

ParanoidObsessive posted...

aka best Decepticon ever.

He is a father of two, a cat dad, owns two birds, a bat and two mini dinosaurs.

OneEyedShinobi posted...

He is a father of two, a cat dad, owns two birds, a bat and two mini dinosaurs.

He's also incredibly loyal:

https://youtu.be/qlFHFZ3GY54?t=29

ParanoidObsessive posted...

He's also incredibly loyal:

https://youtu.be/qlFHFZ3GY54?t=29

I love how Rumble carries his cannon.

Soundwave and Galvatron had a moment in season 3. Most was gravitated to Cyclonus being his straight man.

Starscream.

Galvatron, though often seen as a more unstable figure, can be argued to be a better leader than Megatron due to his enhanced power, strategic boldness, and unrestrained ambition.

1. Upgraded Power and Durability: After being reformatted by Unicron, Galvatron surpasses Megatron in sheer power. This gives him greater battlefield dominance and makes him harder to challenge, both from Autobots and within the Decepticon ranks.
2. Fearless Decision-Making: Unlike Megatron, who often relied on traditional tactics and hierarchy, Galvatron is more unpredictable and willing to take high-risk actions. This fearlessness, though chaotic, instills a mix of fear and awe in his subordinates, maintaining a grip through raw dominance.
3. Unchained from Megatrons Ego: While Megatrons leadership is often hindered by pride and a need for control, Galvatronthough madfocuses more obsessively on conquest and survival, giving him a more singular, ruthless focus.

That said, Galvatrons instability is also his greatest weakness. But in terms of raw leadership impactthrough power, fear, and decisive actionhe pushes the Decepticons further than Megatron ever did, even if it sometimes leads to their own destruction.

LustyBustyLaura posted...

Galvatron, though often seen as a more unstable figure, can be argued to be a better leader than Megatron due to his enhanced power, strategic boldness, and unrestrained ambition.

1. Upgraded Power and Durability: After being reformatted by Unicron, Galvatron surpasses Megatron in sheer power. This gives him greater battlefield dominance and makes him harder to challenge, both from Autobots and within the Decepticon ranks.
2. Fearless Decision-Making: Unlike Megatron, who often relied on traditional tactics and hierarchy, Galvatron is more unpredictable and willing to take high-risk actions. This fearlessness, though chaotic, instills a mix of fear and awe in his subordinates, maintaining a grip through raw dominance.
3. Unchained from Megatrons Ego: While Megatrons leadership is often hindered by pride and a need for control, Galvatronthough madfocuses more obsessively on conquest and survival, giving him a more singular, ruthless focus.

That said, Galvatrons instability is also his greatest weakness. But in terms of raw leadership impactthrough power, fear, and decisive actionhe pushes the Decepticons further than Megatron ever did, even if it sometimes leads to their own destruction.

In all honesty, I felt Cyclonus would of been the better leader since he has common sense. Scourge would be a decent leader imo, but he his own attack units.

Headmasters was bad, though.

galvatron without the brain damage would be better

Following Optimus Prime's death, Megatron was rebuilt by Unicron into Galvatron. Though Galvatron at first proved to be a potently cunning Decepticon leader, he suffered brain damage following his defeat at the hands of Rodimus Prime. Galvatron was now a screaming, unpredictable madman who would turn on his own soldiers as readily as his enemies.

but that's the only galvatron that exists these days, so megatron is better

ConfusedTorchic posted...

galvatron without the brain damage would be better

but that's the only galvatron that exists these days, so megatron is better

I feel Galvy could calm his robot tits. I feel bad for Cyclonus since he always feels the need to punch him.

I do like both Mega and Galvatron, though. Also... I never noticed Megatron looks like he has eye brows.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

galvatron without the brain damage would be better

Wikis aside, it's not like Galvatron ever did anything particularly cunning.

He overwhelmed Starscream mainly by dint of sheer firepower (his upgraded gun being much stronger), and by virtue of total surprise (because the Decepticons had no reason to believe he or his troops even existed, and then Starscream had about 10 seconds to mentally process the idea that Megatron was still alive). There really wasn't a cunning plan, they just flew directly from Unicron to Cybertron and shot a guy. Even Grimlock could have come up with that idea.

He overwhelmed the Autobots by sheer force of numbers, and mostly only took them by surprise (again) because a) they were already weakened by the previous Decepticon attack, and b) because they assumed they were safe from further Decepticon attack because they'd just handed them their asses. With the added distraction of the Autobots now knowing something's going wrong back on Cybertron (Unicron eating the moons). If Galvatron had just swooped in the same way with all of the defenses fully operational and with the Autobots at full strength, he probably loses worse than Megatron did.

After the Autobots escape (meaning his attack failed), he chases after them, and then falls for an incredibly simplistic ruse which allows the Autobots to escape, and only realizes he screwed up after he schleps all the way back to Unicron so his boss can tell him what actually happened.

Then he kills Ultra Magnus on the Junkions' planet (again, solely via sheer force of numbers, with no real plan), and flies directly to Unicron where the first actual plan he has all movie backfires on him spectacularly.

Then, in the end, when he runs into Hot Rod and is explicitly told that he couldn't use the Matrix to kill Unicron because he was a Decepticon, rather than give the Matrix to the Autobot directly in front of him to try it, he tries to kill him instead. I'll cut him some slack here, because he was being tortured into it - but if he was clever he still might have resisted just long enough to toss the Matrix to Hot Rod and tell him to use it. Sure, you could argue that he wouldn't want to hand such a powerful weapon to one of his enemies, but this is clearly a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation. A cunning villain gives Hot Rod the Matrix, gets him to kill Unicron, freeing you from the guy who is enslaving you, then you cheap-shot the Autobot later. It's not like having the Matrix stopped you from killing Optimus Prime or Ultra Magnus, now did it?

Galvatron basically accomplishes almost nothing of any meaningful value throughout the entire movie. Considering his SOLE success (killing Ultra Magnus and stealing the Matrix) is later entirely undone, his net value of worth is effectively zero. Worse, considering his actions directly lead to the creation of the new Autobot leader and the Decepticons losing control of Cybertron, he might actually rank as the worst Decepticon leader in the entire history of their existence. The Decepticons might actually have been better off if Starscream HAD become their new leader (not to mention far superior tacticians and planners like Soundwave or Shockwave).

If anything, the most cunning plan done by anyone in that movie was Megatron's plan at the beginning to disguise the attack by using the shuttle to bypass the early-warning system. Nearly everything else that happens is either entirely reactive (with no real forethought or planning), or is just "bum rush the enemy and hope you get lucky" (which again, is basically Grimlock-level planning).

dude still did more than megatron

ConfusedTorchic posted...

dude still did more than megatron

Megatron straight up killed the entire obsolete toy line and Optimus Prime. His plan resulted in Autobot City being completely wrecked, and if not for Daniel being an excitable little shit who wanted to see the shuttle land, the entire plan would have succeeded without flaw and pretty much all of the Autobots on Earth probably wind up dead.

Galvatron... mildly inconvenienced Ultra Magnus? Nearly got Cybertron eaten? Then failed to murder a teenager and got himself flung into outer space, crashed into a random planet, and got brain damage?

...yeah, I know which leader I'd want to follow.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Megatron straight up killed the entire obsolete toy line and Optimus Prime. His plan resulted in Autobot City being completely wrecked, and if not for Daniel being an excitable little shit who wanted to see the shuttle land, the entire plan would have succeeded without flaw and pretty much all of the Autobots on Earth probably wind up dead.

Galvatron... mildly inconvenienced Ultra Magnus? Nearly got Cybertron eaten? Then failed to murder a teenager and got himself flung into outer space, crashed into a random planet, and got brain damage?

...yeah, I know which leader I'd want to follow.

Megatron did this also, which was funny.

https://youtu.be/uKcUD2CNxQw?si=fFRzy87HYgm7616D

Megatron. As a leader, MOST of his troops want to follow him. Some don't because they believe in him. Some do it because they recognize him as the most powerful, some do it out of fear.

Starscream is always plotting, the triple changers have some loyalty issues, and the combaticons kind of do their own thing.

Galvatron, even when "sane" is less reasonable than Megatron, who absolutely would have went full team up with Hotrod to stop Unicron with the Matrix.

In the movie only his Unicron provided troops seem truly loyal to him. We only ever see him really commanding them, while mostly ignoring the other Decepticons. As I recall Shockwave gives the orders to defend Cybertron.

Post movie, only Cyclonus seems to be truly loyal. The other Decepticons fall in line when he is around because he is literally crazy. Powerful.

Between Megs, Movie Galvatron and season 3 Galvatron, I love S3 Galvatron the most though. Him grappling with his identity and sanity is weirdly well done for an 80s action toon. Some legit touching stuff with Cyclonus caring for him. Web World is one of the best G1 episodes period. It's simultaneously hilarious, terrifying, and heartbreaking.

ultra_magnus13 posted...

Between Megs, Movie Galvatron and season 3 Galvatron, I love S3 Galvatron the most though. Him grappling with his identity and sanity is weirdly well done for an 80s action toon. Some legit touching stuff with Cyclonus caring for him. Web World is one of the best G1 episodes period. It's simultaneously hilarious, terrifying, and heartbreaking.

I felt bad for Galvatron in that. Some hilarious moments was him fussing with the other patients and making a gun in arts and crafts. Him being 'reformed' by the Ayla was painful to watch, even Cyclonus' expression shown it all.

Burden Hardest to Bear is one of my favourite episodes due to I am a fan of Scourge.

ultra_magnus13 posted...

As I recall Shockwave gives the orders to defend Cybertron.

https://youtu.be/yERIfETEGt8?t=100



ultra_magnus13 posted...

Post movie, only Cyclonus seems to be truly loyal. The other Decepticons fall in line when he is around because he is literally crazy. Powerful.

They mostly wind up following him because without a leader they're fighting over scraps on Char. At that point they'd follow pretty much anyone.

Ironically, Cyclonus does the most to actually pull them together, keep them together, and give them a purpose. Then come up with a plan (find Galvatron), figure out how to accomplish it (track his path through space), and successfully accomplish it. He even talks them into giving up what little energy they have left when they're all basically already starving.

If he hadn't been so fanatically loyal to Galvatron, Cyclonus probably could have become their new leader and done a fairly good job of it. He's pretty obviously charismatic, intelligent, and disciplined.



OneEyedShinobi posted...

Burden Hardest to Bear is one of my favourite episodes due to I am a fan of Scourge.

https://youtu.be/xgCa2IVYnqg?t=57

ParanoidObsessive posted...

https://youtu.be/yERIfETEGt8?t=100

They mostly wind up following him because without a leader they're fighting over scraps on Char. At that point they'd follow pretty much anyone.

Ironically, Cyclonus does the most to actually pull them together, keep them together, and give them a purpose. Then come up with a plan (find Galvatron), figure out how to accomplish it (track his path through space), and successfully accomplish it. He even talks them into giving up what little energy they have left when they're all basically already starving.

If he hadn't been so fanatically loyal to Galvatron, Cyclonus probably could have become their new leader and done a fairly good job of it. He's pretty obviously charismatic, intelligent, and disciplined.

https://youtu.be/xgCa2IVYnqg?t=57

More Scourge!

I really love his design, he's pretty unique in a way. The way his robot mode looks like he has wings.

OneEyedShinobi posted...

I felt bad for Galvatron in that. Some hilarious moments was him fussing with the other patients and making a gun in arts and crafts. Him being 'reformed' by the Ayla was painful to watch, even Cyclonus' expression shown it all.

Burden Hardest to Bear is one of my favourite episodes due to I am a fan of Scourge.

That's another good one. People like to bag on S3, but I thought it had some of the greats. I see people complain that Rodimus never really got to be the leader since Prime came back after one season. I loved that season 3 dealt with Rodimus straight up not wanting to do it, and only doing it out of obligation. This episode is good for that, as well as Return of Optimus Prime. I'm that one I love his relief at getting rid of the Matrix, "Alright Hot Rod is back! Let's party!".

ParanoidObsessive posted...

https://youtu.be/yERIfETEGt8?t=100

They mostly wind up following him because without a leader they're fighting over scraps on Char. At that point they'd follow pretty much anyone.

Ironically, Cyclonus does the most to actually pull them together, keep them together, and give them a purpose. Then come up with a plan (find Galvatron), figure out how to accomplish it (track his path through space), and successfully accomplish it. He even talks them into giving up what little energy they have left when they're all basically already starving.

If he hadn't been so fanatically loyal to Galvatron, Cyclonus probably could have become their new leader and done a fairly good job of it. He's pretty obviously charismatic, intelligent, and disciplined.

https://youtu.be/xgCa2IVYnqg?t=57

Yeah Cyclonus and Ultra Magnus handling so much of the leadership duties in S3 really is a cool dynamic. Neither really wants to do it, but do so out of a sense of loyalty.

ultra_magnus13 posted...

That's another good one. People like to bag on S3, but I thought it had some of the greats. I see people complain that Rodimus never really got to be the leader since Prime came back after one season. I loved that season 3 dealt with Rodimus straight up not wanting to do it, and only doing it out of obligation. This episode is good for that, as well as Return of Optimus Prime. I'm that one I love his relief at getting rid of the Matrix, "Alright Hot Rod is back! Let's party!".

Another good episode was Chaos. I love Kup. Roddy grew on me. He had some funny lines. "Don't panic yet. Stay calm until we know what's going on. Then we'll panic."

Daniel doesn't bother me much, he's unbearable in Headmasters. He has some good moments in season 3.

Season 3 had the best ost tracks. This is awesome.

https://youtu.be/FgwmZyYnwUY?si=qlsYqiPqKyBlsH4_

I think the real question is who was the better leader, Megatron or Cy-Kill?

captpackrat posted...

I think the real question is who was the better leader, Megatron or Cy-Kill?

It's funny - I used to watch Go-Bots all the time, but I honestly can't remember a single thing from any of the episodes. I remember the characters (and even stuff like Turbo being voiced by Destro's voice-actor), but I can't remember any of the plots.

And yet I remember a ton of different stories from Transformers.

Can somebody explain how a transformer can turn into a different transformer? Like Megatron to Galvatron.

Revelation34 posted...

Can somebody explain how a transformer can turn into a different transformer? Like Megatron to Galvatron.

Space Magic.









https://youtu.be/hzNsOGt3bHk?t=125

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's funny - I used to watch Go-Bots all the time, but I honestly can't remember a single thing from any of the episodes. I remember the characters (and even stuff like Turbo being voiced by Destro's voice-actor), but I can't remember any of the plots.

And yet I remember a ton of different stories from Transformers.

I love Gobots. I remember Cy Kill had a cool voice, but I like the Monster Guys better. Their designs looked better. Like Scorp.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Space Magic.

https://youtu.be/hzNsOGt3bHk?t=125

I meant more of the name change than anything else.

Revelation34 posted...

I meant more of the name change than anything else.

When a living planet that eats other planets tells you your name is now Galvatron, your name is fucking Galvatron.







Also:

https://youtu.be/Rp7qxd3c31s?t=214

OneEyedShinobi posted...

Another good episode was Chaos. I love Kup. Roddy grew on me. He had some funny lines. "Don't panic yet. Stay calm until we know what's going on. Then we'll panic."

Daniel doesn't bother me much, he's unbearable in Headmasters. He has some good moments in season 3.

Season 3 had the best ost tracks. This is awesome.

https://youtu.be/FgwmZyYnwUY?si=qlsYqiPqKyBlsH4_

Chaos is another under rated gem. One of the few times Kup get to shine. Skylynx and Wreck-gar have some gems in this one as I recall as well.

Revelation34 posted...

I meant more of the name change than anything else.

Lots of examples of this. Galvatron is a little different, as there doesn't seem to be much of Megatron left in Galvatron. Unicron seems to have reformated both is mind and body.

Renames seem standard practice for this race that lives millions of years, and can build/rebuild new bodies. We see this Orion Pax to Optimus Prime, Hotrod to Rodimus, Bumblebee to Goldbug. Prime just kind of does it on a whim with Bee. After getting rebuilt "I'm a gold bug" "That you are, so from now on that's exactly who you will be"

ultra_magnus13 posted...

Lots of examples of this. Galvatron is a little different, as there doesn't seem to be much of Megatron left in Galvatron. Unicron seems to have reformated both is mind and body.

He also seems to change his voice-box, though it seems to revert back a bit by the time the TV show takes over.

Actually, saying that, Frank Welker does do his Galvatron voice slightly different from his Megatron voice. Less gravelly, a little more shrill. But it still sounds closer than, say, his Soundwave voice or his Wheelie voice. Or his Skywarp voice. Or most of Soundwave's cassettes. Or the voice he does for one of the Constructicons.

That's one of the funniest parts of Transformers when you can recognize voice actors by ear (or just read the credits). You realize that some of the Decepticon scenes are just Frank Welker talking to himself.

And, of course, it's even funnier when you know he was also Fred from Scooby-Doo. And Iceman from the Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends cartoon.

(And the gopher from Caddyshack)

ultra_magnus13 posted...

Chaos is another under rated gem. One of the few times Kup get to shine. Skylynx and Wreck-gar have some gems in this one as I recall as well.

Blurr as well.

Wreck Gar is awesome and I love his design, minus the gun tits. He shined in The Killing Jar.

OneEyedShinobi posted...

Blurr as well.

Wreck Gar is awesome and I love his design, minus the gun tits. He shined in The Killing Jar.

Blurr never really hits for me. Wrecks gun tits are one of his best features.

OneEyedShinobi posted...

Blurr as well.

Wreck Gar is awesome and I love his design, minus the gun tits. He shined in The Killing Jar.

Everyone shined in Killing Jar, a great Cyclonus/Magnus episode.

ultra_magnus13 posted...

Everyone shined in Killing Jar, a great Cyclonus/Magnus episode.

TBH, I see those two as respectful comrades that put up with their leaders. I liked him in Surprise Party, despite that smile he had.

I could careless about what others say on Carnage in C Minor, but Magnus holding the Constructicons like two toys is hilarious.

And now it's time to post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe5umc6Jha4

Pretty appropriate timing on their part for that video, considering this topic.

Also, I totally had that watch as a kid. I lost it on the playground at school, and then as if by some miracle I found it again like a year later.

I may still have it somewhere. I recently got rid of most of my old toys (because my nephew got too old to play with them, so I offloaded everything off to my friend's kids or to Goodwill), but I can't imagine ever willingly parting with the little robot bastard. I have absolutely no idea where I might have put it if I still have it though.



EDIT: Found the little bastard. He was in my box of the few old toys I kept, along with my old Star Wars figures and my Battle Beasts (which are now also technically part of the Transformers franchise).

Starscream, at the very least, was establishing organized governance.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/32911b1b.jpg

They're both crazy assholes and need to go down, but Megatron still has his wits about him and comes up with effective plans. Half of the time anyway. Plus his bickering with starscream is always entertaining.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/64da8d1e.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/049797e6.jpg

Rare Galvatron

Shockwave. He basically ran Cybertron for millions of years while the rest of the Decepticons were asleep on Earth.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5622462c.jpg

captpackrat posted...

Shockwave. He basically ran Cybertron for millions of years while the rest of the Decepticons were asleep on Earth.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5622462c.jpg

And is holding a smaller version of himself.... illogical.

captpackrat posted...

Shockwave. He basically ran Cybertron for millions of years while the rest of the Decepticons were asleep on Earth.

...and Cyberton was apparently doing pretty well, at least until Megatron came back.

OneEyedShinobi posted...

And is holding a smaller version of himself.... illogical.

if Dark Helmet can do it, so can Shockwave
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/cb69dbf0.jpg

Galvatron.

OneEyedShinobi posted...

And is holding a smaller version of himself.... illogical.

Seems pretty logical to me. If their alt modes are mostly based on existing things so they can at least partly use them for disguise (like how Soundwave disguises himself as a street light in the first episode, and all of their Teletran-1 inspired changes on Earth), it implies Shockwave has to be based on a normal gun of some kind.

So he's basically just using the gun that inspired his alt mode. Maybe he just loves it so much that's the reason why his alt mode is based on it.

OneEyedShinobi posted...

And is holding a smaller version of himself.... illogical.

I like to think that it IS a smaller version of himself and it can transform into a miniature Shockwave.