Decepticon
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about the Transformers faction. For theRobots in Disguiseepisode, seeThe Decepticons. |
TheDecepticonsare one of the primary factions in theTransformersmythos. They are typically concerned with such things as conqueringCybertron,defeating theAutobots,amassing large quantities ofenergon,developing powerful weaponry, and beating people up. Not necessarily in that order.
Unlike the Autobots, whose leader is aPrimebearing aMatrix,the Decepticons are led by themost powerfulof their ranks. This tends to cause some conflict, given how generallyeveryDecepticon thinks that they're the most powerful.
Also, the Decepticons are not exactly the most compassionate beings in the universe, but not all fight for greed. More than a few have asenseofhonor,while others believe that Cybertron would be better protected byaggressive expansion.Even though the name does a good job of demonizing them, it usually comes from a sense of being evilironicallyor due to being labelled as such, as most members genuinely believe that their cause is just and are just seen as the bad guys by the Autobots... or are just psychopaths looking for an excuse to do what they do.
Ultimately, the Decepticons desire to protect their homeworld, even if it is at the expense of others.Usually.
In at leastone universe,the faction starts off being named theAscenticonsbefore taking its more traditional appellation.
Generation 1 continuity family
Marvel Comics continuity
MarvelThe Transformerscomics
The Decepticons emerged from the gladiatorialState Games,which causedMegatron's rise to public prominence - in the aftermath of the destructive Vos-Tarn War, Megatron was able to use his fame and charisma to unite both the survivors and the planet's malcontents into a new army. His plan was to turn Cybertron into a mobile cosmic dreadnought and conquer the galaxy.State GamesThe Decepticons developed new technology to allow them to transform into attack vehicles and weaponry, launching a devastating attack that killed billions and shook the planet from its orbit beforeOptimus Primeturned the tide.
Megatron, Shockwave and others were lost on Earth for four million years; as Optimus was too, the Autobots swiftly lost ground to Decepticon leadersTrannisandStraxus.Cybertron was devastated and conquered, causing the cream of the Decepticons to leave the burnt-out planet to form aCybertronian Empireout in the stars, while Straxus threw all those he considered weak into theSmelting pool.The Empire would go on to slaughter and Cyberform planet after planet, their actions unknown on Cybertron.
Eventually the Earth-bound Decepticons would awaken in 1984, sparking off a new front in the war. After the presumed suicide of Megatron, an escalation in fighting would see Decepticon leadership fragment and change hands rapidly, with frequent clashes, plots and counter-plots between the primary leadership, namelyStarscream,Shockwave,Ratbat,andScorponok,until most of them were killed in theUnderbaseconflict, leaving Scorponok the only surviving commander. A brief truce with the Autobots was held whenUnicronattacked in 1991, but Scorponok was killed in the following conflict. Immediately after this,Bludgeoncame to power. Charismatic and driven, Bludgeon turned the beaten Decepticons into a new army; after a defeat onKlo,they regrouped and reorganised. (In one reality, they were immediately massacred afterward.)
Earthforce
In the side-continuity ofEarthforce,while Unicron continued on to Cybertron, Megatron and Shockwave continued a Decepticon civil war on Earth with a small handful of troops - wasting most of their time trying to take each other out. Eventually Soundwave and Starscream overthrew them, uniting both factions into a stronger Decepticon force. The two former leaders attempted to regain their position but never appeared to succeed.
MarvelGeneration 2comic
Bludgeon invaded Earth with the intention of capturing the Matrix and making a new generation of Decepticons, but Megatron returned, killed Bludgeon in one-on-one combat, and stole this plan. However, the threat of the Cybertronian Empire forced an alliance between the Autobots and Decepticons again.
Classics
Regeneration One
Following Bludgeon's defeat on Klo, the Autobots turned their attention internally to Cybertron, repatriating Decepticons who chose to lay down their arms while leaving Bludgeon's faction free to conquer other planets and build up hisWarworld.Having abandoned Earth to its own devices, the Autobots were unaware of Megatron's revival, and his subsequent devastation of the planet with the help of his horde ofzombifiedDecepticons (which included a few Autobots in its ranks by circumstance). The horde was stopped when Optimus Prime killed Megatron once and for all.
Meanwhile,Soundwaveused the Decepticons on Cybertron to subvert the Autobots' peace, destroying theLast Autobotand clearing the way for Bludgeon's eventual return. In the interim,Scorponoklaunched his own covert invasion of Cybertron, with the intent of using hisGene Keyto overwrite theCNAof every Autobot on the planet, turning them into Decepticons. Scorponok's efforts were ultimately thwarted byGrimlock,and Bludgeon's subsequent invasion was ultimately repelled byRodimus Prime,but at the expense of leaving the Autobots virtually defenseless.
While Rodimus led an Autobot task force on a preemptive strike against the Cybertronian Empire'sHub network,theDark Matrix creature,which had manipulated events on Cybertron, Earth, andNebulos,spread itself across Cybertron, turning every Transformer it could reach intoShadow-leeches.The last known surviving Decepticons wereRavage,Starscream,andShockwave,who, facing extinction, renounced the ways of the Decepticons and became ambassadors for peace.
Transformers '84
The ultimate ambition of the Decepticons was to reshape their world into a planet conquering warworld through what was known asProject Dreadnought.While they had great successes in the war's opening stages, Megatron's increasing obsession with defeating Optimus Prime stalled their expansion efforts,Secrets & Lies #1and created fractures in the army.Secrets & Lies #3
After Megatron andDecepticon High Commandhad been lost in space,'84 #0Straxusbecame the closest thing to the newDecepticon leader,leading his army on a violent campaign againstUltra Magnus' Autobots.Secrets & Lies #3
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformerscartoon
The Decepticons began life as a line of military hardware robots created by theQuintessons,alongside the consumer goods robots that would become the Autobots.Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4It is unknown exactly what role the military hardware robots played in the eventual rebellion of the robots against their creators; the only ones seen to participate in the conflict were the Autobots' ancestors, led byA-3,but given their fighting ability, the proto-Decepticons seem like they would have made logical soldiers in the fight.Forever Is a Long Time Coming
Following the defeat of the Quintessons and their exile from Cybertron, a brief period of peace descended, before the base differences between the two breeds of robot led to the outbreak of conflict. Lusting for power, the Decepticons, as they now called themselves, rallied undera leaderand began a war with the peaceful Autobots, who proved unable to match their inborn military skills. After the fall of several successive Autobot leaders, the heroic robots turned to stealth, and invented the art oftransformation;with this edge,Sentinel Primedefeated the Decepticons' leader, ending the war and ushering in the prosperousGolden Ageof Cybertron.Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4
Over time, the defeated Decepticons married transformation technology withrobot modeflight powers, leading to the creation ofMegatronaround nine million years ago.Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4Gathering like-minded warriors like the loyalSoundwave,the emotionlessShockwaveand the young upstartStarscream,and brain-washing others into his service with theRobo-Smasher,The Secret of Omega SupremeMegatron slew Sentinel Prime and reignited the war.Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4Against the Autobots under the command of new leaderOptimus Prime,the protracted warfare ran for five million years, draining Cybertron dry of energy and forcing the Transformers to seek new power sources on other planets. When Optimus Prime's best and brightest departed on this quest aboarda spacecraft,Megatron's elite followed them, and the battle that erupted led to a crash-landing on prehistoric Earth that entombed all the combatants in stasis for four million years.More than Meets the Eye, Part 1
In 1984, a volcanic explosion led to the reactivation of the Transformers; the Decepticons were first to recover, and immediately set about plundering Earth's natural resources to build aspace cruiserthat would take them back to Cybertron. Sabotaged in mid-flight, the ship crashed into one of Earth's oceans,More than Meets the Eye, Part 3but the Decepticons survived and rebuilt the crippled craft to serve as their newheadquartersfor the continuing conflict on the planet. Aspace bridgewas established between Earth and Cybertron, and any resources the villains could purloin would be sent back to the dying planet to secure their stranglehold over it.Transport to Oblivion
At some point over the next twenty years, the Decepticons focused their attentions away from Earth and managed to take complete control of Cybertron, forcing the Autobots to relocate to twin moonbases on Cybertron's two satellites, and toAutobot Cityon Earth. In 2005, learning that the Autobots planned a major strike to retake Cybertron, the Decepticons launched anattackon Autobot City, with disastrous consequences for the Autobots. The battle saw one of the Decepticons' long held dreams achieved in the death of Optimus Prime, but Megatron was damaged, and left to rot in deep space, along with several of his wounded followers. Found by the monster planetUnicron,Megatron was reformatted by him intoGalvatron,and the others intoCyclonus,Scourge,and theSweeps,in return for their servitude. Soon after, while Unicron was attacking the Decepticon-controlled Cybertron, Galvatron duelled with the new Autobot leaderRodimus Prime,who triumphed and hurled him into the void of space. Their world and their forces devastated and their leader gone, the Decepticons were easily routed by the Autobots, who forced them into exile on the burned-out world ofChaarwhile they retook and restored Cybertron.The Transformers: The Movie
On Chaar, the Decepticons faced constant energy shortages and engaged in constant in-fighting over what little they did have. Determined to restore order, Cyclonus hatched a plan to locate the lost Galvatron, in hopes that he could lead the Decepticons to glory once more. Although they were successful, Galvatron proved to have been driven insane by his experiences, and while his return did herald the recommencement of hostilities with the Autobots, the Decepticons never quite recovered their old standing, continuing to operate on Chaar throughout 2006 and regularly entering into ill-fated alliances with the Quintessons.Five Faces of Darkness
Eventually, the Decepticons went into hiding following the resurrection of Optimus Prime. When they returned, it was in force, launching an attack on Autobot City in order to steal the key to thePlasma Energy Chamberon Cybertron, intending to use the chamber to overload the sun and destroy Earth and Cybertron together. The battle for the key carried several of their number to the planetNebulos,where they becamebinary bondedto the planet's evil rulers, theHive,asHeadmastersandTargetmasters.They returned with the key to Cybertron, but Autobot intervention caused the energy of the chamber to backfire on them, hurling their battlestationScorponok,with the amassed forces of the Decepticons aboard, off into the far reaches of the universe.The Rebirth
Japanese cartoon continuity
Following the return of Optimus Prime, the Decepticons consolidated their power base by heavily fortifying Chaar and turning it into an actual, functional base of operations.Four Warriors Come out of the SkyTheir ranks were swelled with the addition of the Decepticon Headmasters—Cybertronians who had fled their homeworld millions of years before and taken up residence on the planetMaster,but who had been exiled by the local leaderFortressfor an attempted coup.The Mystery of Planet MasterHeadmaster commanderScorponokcoveted leadership of the Decepticons for himself, and finally obtained it when the Autobot Headmasters entombed Galvatron in an iceberg.The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an IcebergUnder Scorponok's leadership, the Decepticons nearly succeeded in destroying the Earth withcrysmagnetalandplasma energy,but upon the destruction of Scorponok'sTranstector,they ultimately elected to finally withdraw from Earth once and for all.The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 2)
The Decepticons returned to Chaar, and over the next few years, fought the Autobots onAtheniain a series of space-based exchanges that became known as theMaster Wars.Circumstances changed when the mysterious alienDevil Zwas able to brainwash Scorponok, placing him and by extension, the entire Decepticon army, under his command.The Headmasters Now!!While Scorponok, now known as "BlackZarak", continued to lead the Decepticons' space based forces, a small group ofPretendersoperating under Devil Z's direct command on Earth furthered the evil alien's attempts to fuse human and Transformer life to create the ultimate lifeform by bringing about the rise of theHeadmaster Juniorsand theGodmasters.Birth! Headmaster JrsSuper Warriors - The Godmaster BrothersA group of Autobot Pretenders worked to counter his schemes by doing the same, and the repeated failure of his human Transformers to triumph over their Autobot counterparts led Devil Z to conclude that he had been incorrect, and that humanity was of no use to him. He transformed the Headmaster Jr and Godmasters into full robotic lifeforms, but soon after, he and BlackZarak were destroyed by the Autobot leaderGinrai,and the Decepticons fled the Earth once more.A Battle... and Then...
Leadership was briefly taken up byOverlord,but by the year 2025, the Decepticon army was reorganized under the new Emperor of Destruction,Deathsaurus,and began attacking numerous different planets all across the galaxy in pursuit of a world they could take for their own.The Brave Hero of the Universe - Star SaberDeathsaurus led theBreastforceandDinoforcein attack on Earth, seizing enough energy to reactive hisPlanet-Destroying Fortress,but he was stopped by the new AutobotSupreme Commander,Star Saber.Showdown! The Fortress vs the Victory Unification
Deathsaurus' defeat marked a decline in Decepticon activity, but soon a more supernatural force seized command:Violengiguar,a being made up of the spirits of many defeated Decepticons, rallied togetherNine Great Demon Generalsfrom throughout Decepticon history to capture for him the Autobots' newEnergon Z,and the life-givingZodiac,which he would combine to create a "Decepticon Zone"from which he could conquer the universe. His plans were stopped by new Autobot leaderDai Atlas,Zoneand the Zodiac was instead used to bring Optimus Prime back to life. This stood in the way of the plans of the mysterious alienDark Nova,so he used his powers to resurrect Galvatron from his Arctic tomb and transform him into Super Megatron. The Decepticon army was virtually non-existent under Dark Nova; Super Megatron had no actual Decepticon troops at his command, merely Dark Nova'sNovaroidandGalamanwarriors, though they did bear the Decepticon insignia. Dark Nova later upgraded Super Megatron into Ultra Megatron, then merged with him to become "Star Giant", but was destroyed by the resurrected Optimus Prime.Return of Convoy
By the year 2035, Decepticon leadership had been taken up by the enigmaticScrash,and fighting was primarily occurring in outer space once again. The development ofPower Core Combinationby the Autobots and their human allies on Earth drew Scrash's attention back to the planet, and he sentBattle Gaiaand theJet Corpsto create distractions while a team of Decepticons reformatted to be able to take control of the Autobots' new inventions were sent to steal the combiner tech.Operation CombinationSome reports suggest that when his plans were foiled, Scrash himself made another attack on the planet along with his warriorsFlashwing,Deathplay,DarkflyandSharpedgewhich also met with failure.2007 timeline
Defeated by Optimus Prime in a duel in theMirtonian constellation,the badly wounded Megatron disappeared with the Decepticons into the far reaches of the universe, and the war appeared to be over once more.The Autobots Triumph in the Battle of Good Vs. Evil!Alas, it was not to be so, as aparallel version of Galvatron from an alternate dimensionappeared and took control of the Decepticon army, renewing hostilitiesHybrid Style Convoy Black Versionand bolstering their forces with the addition of biomechanically-engineered monsters.MP-1B Cybertron Commander / Convoy Black Ver.
Beast Warscartoon
The Decepticons fought the Autobots in the Great War but were ultimately defeated and forced to sign thePax Cybertroniawhich left them in a second class position. A small number of Decepticons were granted amnesty for their crimes but by the era of theMaximals,most of these had retired. The Decepticons were succeeded by thePredaconswho shared their ancestors' dream of galactic conquest and schemed to quietly subvert the rule of the Maximals.The Agenda (Part 1)The Agenda (Part III)
DreamwaveGeneration Onecontinuity
The Decepticons arose out of theunderground fightsthat Megatron once partook in. After discovering certain secrets about Cybertron's origin, including massiveplanetary engines,Megatron began using the games to recruit combatants. For nearly half a million years, they grew in numbers and trained, until they rebelled against theCouncil of Ancientsand tookKaonby force.
While the war raged on, the Constructicons repaired the engines and introduced a mecha-forming process, but what they really needed was a power source. Megatron became convinced that he could find one powerful enough within theMatrix,which was in the possession ofSentinel Prime.However, when Megatron finally killed the Prime, he discovered that it was not within him. Soon after, Optronix became Optimus Prime, and Megatron initiated a plan: an assassination team under Communications OfficerSoundwavewould elimate the Prime and claim the Matrix, while Military Operations CommanderShockwavewould lay siege to Iacon, preventing the Autobots from coming to Prime's rescue.
However, Megatron made two mistakes: he informed Air CommanderStarscreamof his intentions, and he underestimated Optimus Prime. The Prime managed to erase some of Megatron's memories of what he discovered, while Starscream activated the mechaforming process using energy from the planetary engines. The engines were destroyed before the process was complete, ruining both.The War Within
After Megatron disappeared with Optimus Prime in a space bridge test, Shockwave became Decepticon leader, though Starscream and High AuditorRatbatbroke off with their own splinter factions shortly afterwards. The Decepticons allied withProwl's Autobots andGrimlock'sLightning Strike Coalition(an Autobot splinter group), to stop the machinations ofThe Fallen.War Within: The Dark AgesSeveral thousand years later, Shockwave was prepared to sign a peace treaty withUltra Magnus,who had become Autobot leader, the LSC, and Ratbat'sUltracon.However, Megatron returned with theAerospace Extermination Squadron,an army ofQuintessoncreatedSeekerdrones, whose abilities allowed the Decepticons to fully conquer Cybertron and enslave the Autobots. The Decepticons' control over Cybertron was ended when Optimus Prime returned to Cybertron and the Air Warriors were defeated.War Within: The Age of Wrath
When Megatron disappeared along with theNemesiscrew, Shockwave again emerged as Decepticon leader, this time as head of a triumvirate including Ratbat andScorponok.Withenergonbecoming scarce, Shockwave agreed to work with Ultra Magnus andFortress Maximusin the creation of theMicromasters,Transformers who were downsized for better fuel efficiency. Shockwave suffered a rebellion whenSkystalkeroverthrew him, using Shockwave's severed head as a tool.Transformers: MicromastersHowever, all Transformers on Cybertron enteredstasis lockwhen theGreat Shutdownoccurred.
Around 1,000 B.C.E., Shockwave was reactivated by Scourge, and then defeated the Unicronian Transformer. Studying Scourge and discovering some of the secrets Megatron had learned, Shockwave made peace with the Autobots, installing himself as Head of State with anAutobot High Councilas a legislature, while Ultra Magnus became his senior security officer. However, the High Councillors were unsuited for peace time government, and gradually gave Shockwave more and more power... which is exactly what he had planned.
On Earth, theNemesiscrew was reawakened in 1984. Cut off from Cybertron, the Decepticons concluded that they had no other choice but to conquer the planet. Megatron soon learned that others had come looking for them, includingJetfireand theDynobots.The Decepticons captured Jetfire and the Dinobots except Grimlock, and used the hostage situation to force Grimlock to serve the Decepticons. Additionally, theConstructiconslocated Earth and served under Megatron. In 1998, the Autobots allied with humanity to defeat the Decepticons. They were to be returned to Cybertron in theArk II,but Shockwave, through a human intermediary, sabotaged theArk II,causing the ship to crash and send the Transformers aboard into stasis lock.
Renegade members of theUnited States militarymanaged to capture the Decepticons and a number of Autobots, intending to use them as instruments of war, butAdam Rooklater stole them and set himself up as an arms dealer. Unfortunately, Megatron overwhelmed the programming that kept him a prisoner, and freed the other Decepticons. Megatron then intended to unleash a technovirus on Earth, but the Autobots defeated him.Prime Directive
A year later, Shockwave arrived to tie up loose ends, quickly capturing Megatron and theNemesiscrew. Starscream ejected Megatron out of the ship carrying them to Cybertron, leaving him to die in space. TheNemesiscrew were granted amnesty, but Starscream quickly recruited them into going back to Earth to conquer the planet, taking theCombaticonswith them. Shockwave was finally overthrown when Optimus Prime united the Autobot resistance groups, but he escaped with a small number of troops.War and Peace
Meanwhile, Megatron was rescued byWreck-Gar,who repaired his memory loss. Using some recovered Air Warriors, Megatron located thePredacons,who were used to take control of Shockwave's small army. On Earth, Starscream's failures duringSunstorm's rampage were reason enough to convince theNemesiscrew to mutiny against Starscream in Megatron's favor. With two combiner teams, an army of Seekers, Soundwave's cassettes, and knowledge of Earth's connection to Cybertron, Megatron prepared to lead the Decepticons on the conquests of Earth and CybertronG1 ongoing...
2005 IDW continuity
During the reign ofNominus Prime,Cybertronian civilization was stratified by aFunctionistsociety that equated one's worth as an individual with the usefulness and uniqueness of one's altmode. Among the impoverished lower classes was a young, idealist miner namedMegatronwho sought to peacefully end Functionism as an institution. Histreatisegathered momentum among Cybertron's working class,Chaos Theory Part 1but the Decepticon movement didn't come about until later, when an embittered and disillusioned Megatron began circulating more radical and violent samizdat writings. Indeed, the name Decepticon was taken from one of Megatron's favorite rallying cries: "You are being deceived." They soon began scaring people in high society.
Despite the Senate's best efforts to quash the burgeoning social movement by instituting aclampdownChaos Theory Part 2and having Megatron reassigned to distant mining colonies,Post Hocthey proved unable to suppress Megatron for long; soon, the Decepticon leader found a way back to CybertronMegatron Origin #2and eventually spearheaded an uprising inKaon,taking the city and killingSentinel Prime.Megatron Origin #4The Decepticons soon began spreading across the planet, recruiting downtrodden victims of Functionist society, smuggling illegal weapons,Behind My Bleeding Back,and carrying out terrorist strikes in advance of their main assaults.Spotlight: BlurrSentinel Prime's successorZetaattempted to restore order, but his destructive, morally dubious campaign led to bothOrion Paxand Megatron teaming up against the mad Prime and killing him. Although they'd overthrown the Senate and yet another Prime, it was clear that Megatron sought to institute a brutal dictatorship of their own,Overthrownand Orion—now "Optimus Prime" — rose up to fight back against the Decepticons.Rise
As the war spread into space and beyond, the Decepticons first sought to institute aDecepticon Empire,conquering, razing, andcyberformingorganic worlds into colonies in their newConstellate.Rules of DisengagementUnder Megatron's command, the Empire included aDecepticon Secret Servicethat handled spying and tech acquisitions;Spotlight: Hot Rodpenal colonies likeStyx;Tactical Assault Units like thePredacons,Spotlight: Shockwave,and the eliteDecepticon Justice Division,assembled to hunt down and kill traitors to the cause.The Permanent RevolutionThe war they started provedtoodestructive for Cybertron to handle, and the Decepticons had to abandon it after the disastrousThunderwingincident.Stormbringer
Despite Megatron's vision of "cleansing" the galaxy of impure organic lifeforms, the Constellate proved too costly to sustain; in its place, the Decepticons devised theinfiltration protocol:Last Stand of the Wreckers #2a cheaper method by which undercover Decepticons would gather intelligence, deployfacsimiles,and deliberately inflame pre-existing planetary tensions, effectively manipulating the natives into annihilating themselves.InfiltrationIn extreme circumstances, the Decepticons would send in aPhase SixerlikeSixshotto destroy whatever remained.Spotlight: Sixshot
In the early 21st century, after centuries of cloak-and-dagger warfare against the Autobots across the galaxy, Megatron finally dropped infiltration protocol; during theSurge,Decepticons across the galaxy abruptly broke cover and launched an all-out offensive on major Autobot positions.BulletsMegatron and his innermost forces attacked Earth, where they ran amok for almost a year before Optimus Prime and his Autobots were able to recover, grievously wound Megatron, and drive his forces from the ravaged planet. Starscream took control through a charade of wielding theMatrix.All Hail MegatronThe counter-offense left the Decepticons in tatters; some Decepticons remained on Earth, where they fruitlessly scrounged for fuel, while others retreated with Starscream to a barren asteroid, where they began to cannibalize each other for energon and spare parts. After three years of convalescence, Megatron finally returned and took back his rightful position.Altered Carbon
Later, Megatron allowed himself to be captured and brought to a mostly restored Cybertron, where he used aspace bridgebuilt into his body to summon the Decepticon army to him. Everyone but Megatron andShockwavewere brainwashed byGalvatronand/orD-Voidinto combining with theSweepsto form a "Deceptigod".KingsOnce the monster was defeated, the weakened Decepticons were all captured by the Autobots. They were imprisoned and kept under control usinginhibitor/deterrence chipsin their heads, and the war was considered over.The Death of Optimus PrimeMegatron was believed dead after standing up to the creature.
Though many Decepticons returned to Cybertron, an even greater number of cells opted to remain in space, communicating with each other and waiting for an inevitable call to arms.Stranger Eons
The Decepticons were released and eventually, in the interests of peace, the chips were deactivated. An uneasy peace emerged between Decepticon, Autobots, and thereturning neutrals,with Starscream rising to power as the Decepticon spokesman (after arranging the death of their previous spokesman, Ratbat, before he could start another war).The World & Everything in ItA Better TomorrowOut in space, however, theDecepticon Justice Divisionrefused to accept the war was over and continued hunting down and murdering anyone on their 'list'.Rules of DisengagementMegatron soon returned, having spent the intervening time in the wilds of Cybertron, learning about the "strange energies" that allowed the Deceptigod to form and communicating them with his inner circle of loyalists. Wielding a newcombiner,he and his followers once again attempted an uprising, but the Autobots successfully quashed the conflict and managed to imprison Megatron once again. In the ensuring chaos, Starscream abandoned the Decepticons managed to convince the NAILs to support him as the sole leader of Cybertron; with their support, the remaining Autobots and Decepticons were exiled from Iacon.Heavy Is the Head
Following theDark Cybertroncrisis, Megatron allowed himself to be put on trial onLuna 2,having supposedly abandoned the Decepticon cause.Towards PeaceThanks to a technicality in the Luna 2 legal system, Megatron was allowed to join theLost Lightcrew in its quest for theKnights of Cybertron,postponing his ultimate verdict until the Knights could judge him in person. However, in exchange for his continued freedom, Megatron was forced to recite a statement declaring his renouncement of all Decepticon ideals and ordering all remaining Decepticon forces to stand down and do the same.Predestination: A Beginner's GuideIn the aftermath of Megatron's defectionGalvatrontook command of the Decepticons...And the Damage Doneand led them to Earth where they forged an alliance with the EDC.Hello Cruel WorldAccording to Ravage, however, Galvatron would be instantly abandoned if Megatron gave the word.slaughterhouse
After Galvatron's demise,No Fair Fightsthe Earth-based Decepticons fell underSoundwave's command and worked, somewhat uneasily, alongside the Autobots within theCouncil of Worlds.To Walk Among the ChosenOut in space,Nickelassumed command ofDeathsaurus' troops with the cell being caught in the crossfire of theGalactic Counciland theBlack Block Consortia.Journey's End
Shortly before his fall from grace, Starscream sentBludgeoninto space to rally all the scattered Decepticon cells into one massive fleet.Stranger Eons
The techno-geneticistScorponokhad his own plans to revive the Decepticons (now hovering somewhere around 10,000 individuals) and finally achieve victory. Via a creature called theFirstborn,Scorponok intended for the Decepticons to briefly become organic creatures and sexually reproduce so as to refresh their numbers.Kill All 'Cons
UponOnyx Prime's return to Cybertron, he unveiled the truth aboutHorri-Bull's death, turning the Decepticons against Soundwave.The GroundAs the leaderless faction clashed with thePrimeworshippers, they noticed Starscream sneaking around and asked him to become leader again. Though hesitant at first,Endless ForeverStarscream ultimately agreed and led his army away to draw up new plans of conquest.UnforgivableShortly afterwards, Starscream visited the imprisoned Shockwave who revealed his master plan was to haveUnicronsoften up the galaxy before killing him via the corruptedVector Sigmaand restoring theDecepticon Empire.Last Stand
Under Bludgeon's guidance, the scattered cells came together to form the "Decepticon Vengeance Division",being dispatched by Starscream to contain and destroy Unicron atG Nebula 89.Though the fleet's firepower was immense, Bludgeon himself was loyal to Unicron, the Decepticons subsequently being warped into Unicron's heralds.Stranger EonsWhen Unicron arrived at Cybertron, the Decepticon citizenry swarmed intoMetroplex,Our Finestbefore the entirety of the population was teleported to Earth by themagicof theSpectral Knights.Road's End
Along with all other factions, the Earth-bound Decepticons joined in the attack on the DVD,Assemblysettling into a new life on Earth once Unicron had been defeated.CeremonyPost
Beast Wars: Uprising
After being reactivated in1984,the Decepticons carried out operations on Earth, seemingly under the command ofStarscream,Cultural Appropriationbefore the war spread beyond Earth and turned increasingly violent, resulting in theEarth Defense Commandbanning all Transformers from their space. The Decepticons were the ones to finally sour all human/Transformer relations when they used a stolen Autobot shuttle to destroy the human colony ofXin Shanghai.Micro-Aggressions
At an unidentified point in the 21st century,Unicronreformatted, or revived,Megatroninto the powerfulGalvatronwho continued, or retook, Decepticon leadership.A Brush With Infamy–PrologueBoth Autobots and Decepticons briefly joined forces to combat the Chaos Bringer, eventually destroying him.The Inexorable March
The Decepticons then invaded the planetNebulosviainfiltration protocolbefore the intervention of theHuman Confederacyturned the war hot and ended in theScouring of Nebulos.The enormous loss of life was the final straw for thehumans,who restricted all Cybertronians to theAllowed Zone,where the war could do no further harm to the galaxy.Micro-AggressionsA Brush With Infamy–PrologueGalvatron did not take this threat lying down and quickly conquered the Allowed Zone to rebuild his army and destroy humanity in theGreat Push.The battle ended in a humiliating defeat for the Decepticons, and resulted in the Allowed Zone being cut in half. Galvatron himself would eventually be executed via aQuintessonjudgement.Micro-Aggressions
In the aftermath,Overlordtook command of the Decepticons,A Brush With Infamy–ProloguebeforeThunderwingoverthrew him.Cultural AppropriationThunderwing led his troops to seize theUnderbaseonArtemisand bonded with the ancient artifact's power. Rendered insane, he cut a swath of destruction across Cybertron, forcing the Autobots and Decepticons to once again unite to combat their mutual foe. Thunderwing's defeat marked the technical end of both Autobots and Decepticons as both parties reorganized themselves into theBuilders of Cybertron.Not All Megatrons
Having created theEnergon Matrixto substitute for the lostVector Sigma,Cerebroscreated thePredaconsas the descendants of the Decepticons.Head Games
Of Masters and Mayhem
When the Great War broke out, the Decepticons quickly proved themselves a superior fighting force to the former Autobot rulers.The Truth We MakeDespite this, the length of the war caused some teams, such as theRaptoricons,to abandon the conflict entirely.Life Finds a Way
A Decepticon project throughout the war was the recreation of the Creation Matrix,Deadly AimShockwave undertaking many an experiment to this end.The Toxic Transformer
The Decepticon experiments eventually created theMatrix of Malicewhich unleashedThunder Mayhemon the planet, the combiner's destructive rampage wiping out Cybertronian civilization, the Autobots included.Deadly AimSome Decepticon units managed to survive by fleeing on starships and in stasis pods,Life Finds a Waywith even Megatron himself managing to flee in a personal craft.History
Star Trek vs. Transformers
Four million years ago, the Decepticons pursued the Autobots into the Solasteroid belt,their boarding of theArkcausing it to crash on prehistoric Earth and knocking all aboard into stasis lock. The Decepticons were reawakened in the 1980s and began a secret war over Earth's supply ofenergonbeforeWorld War IIIforced them off the planet. Trailing the Autobots aboardTrypticon,the Decepticons boardedFortress Maximusin orbit ofCygnus Seven,the act again causing all aboard to fall into stasis lock when the Autobot ship crashed. In the 23rd century, aFederationsurvey team unknowingly reactivated Maximus. Awakened first by the Titan's repair protocols, Megatron healed his troops and led an attack on the surface.Prime's Directive, Part Two
While Decepticon firepower made quick work of the mining colony, they were unprepared for the intervention of theUSSEnterprise,itsphoton torpedosproving able to damage the Decepticons. Falling back to a nearby moon, the Decepticons found Trypticon being occupied by theKlingons,Megatron soon smooth talking the aliens into an alliance.Prime's Directive, Part One
Though the Decepticon/Klingon alliance had initial successes,Prime's Directive, Part Threeit soon collapsed when it was revealed that Starscream had manipulated the Klingon sense of honor to haveKurigive him a personal cloaking device. Enraged, Megatron ordered a retreat from Cygnus Seven to pursue Starscream.Prime's Directive, Part Four
The Decepticons caught up with Starscream onKronos,within the chambers of theKlingon High Council,and began conquering the planet. When the Autobots andStarfleetarrived to defend Kronos, Soundwave unleashed his audio disruptor waves on their foes, only to learn that the Klingons were deaf to the frequency he utilized. Caught off-guard, the Decepticons were subject to a surprise attack by a fleet ofwarbirds.By the terms ofJames T. Kirk's peace withGorkon,the Decepticons were left behind in Klingon custody.Prime's Directive, Part Five
2019 IDW continuity
The 'Ascenticon'faction began withTermagax,noted Cybertronian engineer and philosopher, in the aftermath of theWar of the Threefold Spark.Dissatisfied with the way Cybertron had developed in response to theNominus Edict,Termagax created the Ascenticon to become part of the Cybertronian senate and institute reforms, starting with scrapping the Edict. Termagax's student, a young firebrand namedMegatron,became the first Senator of the Ascenticon faction.Orion Pax: Free FallThe Change In Your Nature Part Three
Over time, Termagax's dissatisfaction with Cybertronian society grew more extreme, until she eventually recused herself from society entirely, leaving the Ascenticons in Megatron's hands... just as the senator wished. Megatron shared his mentor's desire to get rid of what he saw as the restrictions on Cybertron's growth, but not her grassroots approach. Megatron began a scheme to make sure the Ascenticons rose to power, even if by mass deception.The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part TwoThe Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Four
Megatron's scheme began with the creation of a sub-faction, calledThe Rise,composed of those radically opposed to the Edict, and the Autobot hegemony. The intent was to have the Rise creation friction, which would turn the Autobots increasingly fascistic, and therefore drum up support for the Ascenticon way. Unknown to all, Megatron had Shockwave returned from exile to whip the Rise into suitable shape.The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Four
In the senate, the Ascenticons proved contentious, siding against the Autobots andReversionistfactions.The World In Your Eyes Part Four
In public, Megatron began giving rallies, gaining popular support while condemning the violence of the Rise. As the cycles passed, their rallies grew harder and harder to control as support for their cause grew and grew, with the most recent rally having injured a dozen people. SenatorOrion Paxattempted to parley withMegatron,seeking a delay of the latest Ascenticon rally inTarn,but Megatron rebuffed these efforts, simply stating that he sought change on Cybertron, and as long as he was allowed to speak he would continue to do so.The World In Your Eyes Part OneAt the rally in Tarn, Megatron's speech was supposedly interrupted by an assassination attempt. Megatron publicly vowed to catch whoever was responsible,The World In Your Eyes Part Twowhile denouncing the Autobots and their attempts to keep the peace, declaring the formation of a new "Ascenticon Guard",The World In Your Eyes Part Three
While the Guard was nominally under the command of Elita-1, it was Senator Soundwave who was in charge of recruitment, and the senator was extremely untrusting of any recruit with Autobot sympathies.The World In Your Eyes Part FiveMeanwhile, the Guard took in such luminaires as Refraktor, Skytread, and unhinged war veteran Quake.The World In Your Eyes Part Three
The situation soon escalated after the Rise murdered Brainstorm, when the scientist stumbled onto their illegally siphoning energon,The World In Your Eyes Part OneThe Change In Your Nature Part Onean act witnessed by a Voin. Acting quickly, Soundwave contacted the Rise to deal with the situation. They sent Quake,The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Fivewho did silence the witness, but also murdered the young Cybertronian Rubble when he stumbled onto the scene.The World In Your Eyes Part Five
In the ensuing investigation, the security services found evidence of the Rise's activities and armaments, and officer Barricade's connection to these events. Elsewhere, recruitment for the Guard began to surge, including Barricade.The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part One
Megatron, on learning of Soundwave's actions, was outraged at the decision. He quickly updated his plans, to accelerate events. Broadcasting a speech to Cybertron as a whole, Megatron declared the Ascenticons would no longer wait peacefully for change to come, but force it, before unveiling a revised version of the Ascenticon insignia.The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Five
Soon after, Ascenticons began branding themselves with the new insignia. Elsewhere, Soundwave approached Sentinel Prime, stating the Ascenticon viewpoint that the planet's situation dictated an immediate, accelerated election, which Sentinel angrily refused. Meanwhile, Soundwave covered the Ascenticons' tracks, erasing the knowledge of when 'bots such as Quake and Barricade had joined up. On hearing of a fight between Risers and the security service, Soundwave ordered Elita and Bumblebee to intervene and show Cybertron the new face of the Ascenticons.The Change In Your Nature Part One
After witnessing the fallout of the Rise's actions,The Change In Your Nature Part TwoMegatron visited Shockwave and beat him until he agreed to fall into line within the command chain of the Ascenticons.The Change In Your Nature Part Three
Sentinel Primemade plans to arrest the Ascenticon leaders at an upcomingSenatesession only forHeretechto reveal this to Megatron, driving the Ascenticon leader to accelerate his plans.The Change In Your Nature Part Four
When the Senate met, Megatron's forces attacked the building, overpowering the guards and taking the Senators hostage where Megatron cast aside the mantle of "Ascenticons" and adopted Sentinel's mocking moniker of "Decepticons".We Have Deceived YouNow in control of Iacon, the Decepticons focused their attention on winning over those Cybertronians who controlled the everyday functions of society.Awakenings
As the Decepticons consolidated their rule, Megatron ordered the death of Cybertron's orbiting fleet ofTitanswhile the bulk of his force was sent to theForge Pyramidfor the unborn Titan sparks,Titansmanaging to claim just one.Darkness, Once Gazed Upon: Part TwoThe Decepticons later mobilized to claim theEnigma of Combinationonly for the device to lost into the Sea of Rust as therust wormswere set loose on the planet.EnigmaticThe Decepticons later marched on the Autobot refuge ofCrystal City.While they destroyed the city, their advanced was halted by the arrival ofLodestarandComputron.A Dust of CrystalsThe Landscape of Fear
Faced with loose rust worms, the rogueInsecticonsand a returnedExarchonseeking theAllSpark,the Autobots and Decepticons agreed to a temporary truce,The Landscape of FearWar's End Part Twothough Megatron was quick to violate the spirit of the alliance.Radical Time
UnderSixshot's command, the Decepticon Guard andTeam Streamallied withPyra Magna'sCompanionsto defeat Exarchon, sealing him within the last Titan spark that Pyra then destroyed. As a show of respect, Sixshot allowed the Autobots to depart theSonic Canyonsin peace.War's End Part Four
Following the rust worms and Insecticons being turned on each other,End of Timethe Decepticons launched a final attack on the Autobot refuge ofDarkmount.Though they came very close to preventing the Autobots from escaping, Computron managed to hold off the advancing army long enough for the Autobot ships to launch, leaving Cybertron as a Decepticon world.Fate of Cybertron
Transformers/Ghostbusters
While the Autobots fled Cybertron at the end of the Great War,Decepticon High Commandwas visited byGozerwho proceeded to take Starscream's form and attack Cybertron. Though the Decepticons fought back, they found their power outmatched by the invader. Unable to flee, Megatron was approached byKremzeek the Scavengerwho had come seeking theAllSpark,shuttled off Cybertron by the recently departed Autobots. Bargaining with the Decepticon leader, Kremzeek turnedDecepticon High Commandintoghosts,leaving the Decepticon army to be destroyed by Gozer along with their planet.Ghosts of Cybertron Part 1Ghosts of Cybertron Part 2Ghosts of Cybertron Part 4
When Kremzeek was defeated on Earth, his Decepticon prisoners were freed.Ghosts of Cybertron Part 4Though Optimus offered to use the AllSpark to revive them, Megatron attacked his arch-foe in a vengeful fury, even dreaming of possessing Optimus and using the Autobots to rebuild theDecepticon Empire,before he was detained in aghost trap.Soundwave and Shockwave were likewise imprisoned by theGhostbusterswhile Starscream fled the planet. In the aftermath, Optimus took the Decepticon ghosts with him, hoping to one day rehabilitate and resurrect them, whileEctotronopted to patrol the galaxy for any more Decepticon spectres that might be out there.Ghosts of Cybertron Part 5
Transformers vs. The Terminator
In the original timeline, in the year 1984, the Decepticons aboard theArkawoke first, taking advantage of the situation to execute their Autobot foes. Free of any resistance, the Decepticons conquered Earth, defeatingSkywatch,an organization born to challenge them, and forcing its supercomputer,Skynet,to surrender some time prior to the year2029.Skynet was later executed by Starscream in 2029 when it was found to have only feigned surrender.Enemy of My Enemy Part Two
Before its death, Skynet had succeeded in constructing atime displacement device,sending a loneT-800unit back in time to destroy the Decepticons before they could awake in 1984.Enemy of My Enemy Part One
While the unit arrived too late to prevent the Decepticons' reactivation, and lacked the capability to destroy them, its interference allowed the Autobots to survive, the Decepticons withdrawing from theArkas a result. After scouting the nearby area, they launched an attack on aCyberdyne Systemsfacility,Enemy of My Enemy Part Twowhere they clashed with the Autobots once again.Enemy of My Enemy Part Three
By interrogating the personnel of Cyberdyne Systems, Starscream had managed to deduce that the T-800 was from the future and threatened to destroy the humans unless it worked with him. Though the android deduced that the hostages were expendable, it agreed to work with Starscream. When the Seeker attacked Soundwave, the chaos allowed the Autobots to overpower theInsecticons,turning the tide of the battle against the Decepticons. When Starscream tried to turn the time traveller against Megatron, the Decepticon leader contemptuously hurled the interloper back at Starscream, downing the traitor but leaving Megatron open to a crippling attack from Optimus. After Soundwave had chased off Starscream, only to then be downed by the T-800 andSarah Connor,the Autobots hurled the T-800 into Megatron's open wound, destroying the tyrant from within.
Taking their prisoners back to theArk,the Autobots discovered that the duplicitous T-800 had destroyed their ship. With no means of returning to Cybertron, Optimus proposed that the Autobots and Decepticons work together for the time being, a truce that Thundercracker, Skywarp, Bombshell and Skrapnel agreed to.Enemy of My Enemy Part Four
War for Cybertron Trilogycartoon
My Little Pony/Transformers
As they fought to hold a malfunctioningspace bridge,the portal suddenly activated and dragged the Decepticons and their foes to the land ofEquestria.Upon arrival, Megatron aligned himself withQueen Chyrsalis,the one whosemagichad brought the Cybertronians to Equestria.Transformation Is MagicThe nature of their arrival however had left the Decepticons scattered across the land, forcing Megatron to rally them.Pet Sounds
After the Decepticons had indulged in some mischief across Equestria, they rallied with thechangelingsto attack theCrystal Empireonly to be met by an Autobot/pony force, the changelings having deliberately misinformed their allies of the ponies' strength. Though the changelings hoped to trap the Decepticons in Equestria and let them raze the land, it was soon discovered that changeling magic was not required to return to Cybertron, Optimus Prime combining theMatrix of LeadershipwithTwilight Sparkle's magic to send the Decepticons home. While Shockwave reported that the Decepticons had not seized any magical artifacts, he noted it was possible to instead bring magic to Cybertron.Finale
Building a new space bridge, the Decepticons pilfered magical relics from Equestria only for the Seekers to run afoul of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. When theponiesfollowed to Cybertron, the princess accidentally unleashed a blast of magic that freed the tyrantKing Sombra.Using his mind control abilities, the unicorn king enslaved several Decepticons, including Megatron, forcing the remainder of the faction, now under Shockwave's command, to ally with the Autobots for Cybertron's sake.The Magic of Cybertron
After the Cybertronians and Equestrians had worked out how to free Sombra's thralls,The Beauty of Cybertronthe alliance attacked the tyrant as he sought to unearth the TitanScorponok.After the Titan had been destroyed, and Starscream seen off for attempted regicide, Megatron agreed to end hostilities as Cybertron and Equestria moved towards an official trade alliance.Finale
Transformers/Back to the Future
Four million years prior to 1984, the Decepticons boarded theArkand caused it to crash on Earth, knocking all aboard into stasis lock. When they awoke, both Autobots and Decepticons began a secret war for control of Earth,Transformers/Back to the Future #1one that the Decepticons had decisively lost by the year 2015. Having used theDeLorean time machineto skip ahead form 1985,Rumbledecided that 2015 was unsalvageable and claimed the DeLorean to travel back to1974and built up his strength for the next decade before he hacked into theArkto ensure that it repaired only his fellow Decepticons who executed the prone Autobots. Having no need of two Rumbles however, the Megatron of the new timeline executed the time traveller, sparing his head for the future knowledge it held.Transformers/Back to the Future #2
With none to oppose them, the Decepticons conquered Earth within a year, enslaving its population and forcing the humans to produce energon cubes.Transformers/Back to the Future #1By 2015, the Decepticons were the absolute masters of Earth, having driven what few Autobots were left into hiding. One Decepticon however, the number-cruncherGigawatt,found himself unable to tolerate Megatron's needlessly brutality and abandoned the Decepticons, scanning the DeLorean, gaining its time travel abilities, and defecting to the Autobots, hoping to use his new powers to undo Megatron's reign.Transformers/Back to the Future #2
AfterDoc Brownhad repaired Gigawatt's damagedflux capacitor,the turncoat andMarty McFlytravelled back to 1984 and activated the Autobots before Rumble arrived, leaving the Decepticons locked in stasis and undoing their reign. When Marty returned home however, he failed to notice the Decepticon emblem on his new pickup truck...Transformers/Back to the Future #4
Last Bot Standing
Led byGalvatron,the Decepticons waged the Great War across the galaxy before the conflict consumed all known sources of energon, ending the war.Last Bot Standing #2
Sometime after the war's end, the Autobot trio ofRodimus,GripperandStrongarmstumbled onto a pair of Decepticon warships,Last Bot Standing #1who pursued them to the planetDonnokt.The Autobots managed to pick off the Decepticons until onlyFangryandTalonremained. While Talon sought to return to their ship and send out a signal to any remaining Decepticons, Fangry was more interested in Donnokt's energon-sympathetic materials before Rodimus executed the two.Last Bot Standing #4
Elsewhere in the universe, the ex-DecepticonSteeljawassumed command of a pack of Cybertronian survivors who rebuilt themselves to run onbiofuel,the pack shedding their factional allegiances in spite of still wearing their insignias.Last Bot Standing #2When the pack arrived on Donnokt, Steeljaw, upon being informed that Rodimus had destroyed their biofuel and left them with no way to return to energon, decided to destroy Donnokt and die like a Decepticon before Rodimus killed him.Last Bot Standing #4
Energon Universe
Many years ago, Cybertron underwent an energy crisis following a long period of peace. During this time, the Decepticons rose to power, waging a war against the Autobots defending the planet's old ways of peace. After 200 years of fighting, the Autobots attempted to flee Cybertron aboard theArk,but a group of Decepticons led bytheir most powerful warriorfollowed, resulting in theArkcrash landing on Earth.Transformers #2
In the present day, most Decepticons on Cybertron went into stasis to conserve energy, watched over byShockwave.WhenSkuxxoidarrived attempting to sell aQuintesson Prosecutor,Shockwave informed the bounty hunter of Cybertron's situation before ordering him to leave before he had theRockeroidstripped for spare parts for bringing the Quintesson to his world.Void Rivals #4Meanwhile, the Decepticons aboard theArklaid dormant underneathHanger's RockuntilJetfirearrived and unearthed the crashed ship. Jetfire reactivated the ship's computerTeletraan Oneto revive the ship's inhabitants,Starscreambeing the first. However, as Jetfire had left Cybertron before the Decepticons rose to power, he had no knowledge of the war and was very surprised to see his old friend immediately execute adormant Autobot.This also meant that Teletraan One was reviving Transformers indiscriminately, so whenOptimus Primewas restored, a fight broke out. Starscream, noticing how the computer was reviving them, ordered the newly restoredSkywarpto begin dragging Decepticon warriors to his position as to overwhelm Prime and the Autobots. First wasSoundwaveand his cassettes, but before any other Decepticons could be revived, Optimus Prime destroyed the computer.
Upset at the computer's destruction, Starscream and Skywarp gave chase to the fleeing Autobots, but had to turn back due to interference from a damaged Jetfire and Skywarp's low energy reserves. Returning to theArk,Soundwave explained that they did not possess enoughEnergonor materials to repair Teletraan One or even power themselves, so Starscream had to collect some. Before he left, Starscream asserted his leadership, ordering Soundwave to never mentionhisname again. Starscream, withLaserbeak's assistance, attacked a local power plant, killed ahuman workerTransformers #1,and returned with enough energy for the others. The group returned to the plant with an energy converter from theArkto harvest more energy and terrorize more humans. Starscream intercepted a military jet sent to investigate and was shot in the face byone of its pilots.The crashing jet almost hit Skywarp and Soundwave. Meanwhile, Laserbeak began following a van with a painted headshot of Optimus Prime.Transformers #2
The group returned to the Ark with the materials as Laserbeak attacked the van's driverCarly,only to be intercepted by the AutobotCliffjumper.The cassette sent a priority alert to the other Decepticons, who were at that time learning from Soundwave that the Earth's materials (or at least those present at the power plant) were not advanced enough to repair Teletraan One. Soundwave attempted to lament on what Megatron would do in the situation before being slapped by Starscream. Upon receiving Laserbeak's alert, Starscream sent Skywarp to deal with the Autobot. Skywarp attacked Cliffjumper and a militia of humans at a local bar, shrugging off the human's firepower with ease. Before he could kill Cliffjumper and Carly, he was met with the arrival of Optimus Prime, and the two did battle. This did not end well for Skywarp onceone of the humanswas shot.Transformers #3
2001Robots in Disguisecontinuity family
Uniquely, the Decepticons of theVironcluster universes were an offshoot of thePredacons,rather than the inverse. In theRobots in Disguisecartoon,the Decepticons were a brand new faction that came into being during the events of the story. Because there were so few of them (only six or seven), and because they were a subset of thePredaconantagonists, they can almost be viewed as asubgrouprather than a proper faction. For theHasbro toylineand variousAsk Vector Primeentries, several other non-show Decepticons were added to help fill out the ranks, while also revealing that in certain universes, another Predacon/Decepticon subgroup called theDestructicons,share the Decepticon insignia.
2001Robots in Disguisecartoon
"I want to keep it small. Everything you need is already at OsCorp."
The Decepticons were created on Earth whenMegatroncaptured a set ofAutobotstasis podsfrom an ancient Transformer spaceship that had been found onEarthand reprogrammed them using his own "dark spark energy", leading to the birth of theCommandosandScourge.The DecepticonsTheir deployment left Megatron's old Predacon forces as second-class villains in fear of losing their jobs. The two groups of henchmen would often clash, with the Predacons sometimes trying to undermine the Decepticons and constantly vying for Megatron's favor.CommandosVolcano
When Megatron was upgraded intoGalvatron,he claimed he was now a new individual and had been "reborn as a Decepticon".Maximus EmergesFollowing the discovery ofFortress Maximusand the revelation that Scourge had a degree of control over the Titan, the Decepticons staged a failed coup on GalvatronMistaken Identityand were subsequently reprogrammed into loyal, mindless servants for their trouble.Surprise Attack!This was immediately followed by a huge final battle wheremostof Galvatron's Predacon and Decepticon forces were defeated and taken into custody.The Final Battle
Robots in Disguisetoy bios
On 21st century Earth inViron 102.0 Beta,Galvatron offeredCryotek,who had came from the future, refuge aboard his ship, theMegastar,in exchange for a body upgrade. By Cryotek's hand, the Predacon leader become "Megatron Megabolt".Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/30This "emissarymode "was designed to combine with bothhis space cruiserand the Autobots'secret defense fortress.In a show of arrogance, Megatron also began calling himself a Decepticon.[1]Megatron Megabolt toy bio
Axer,a native from aPrimax reality,travelled through ablack holeon a rescue mission, and ended up joiningGalvatronin order to monitor his "operation." Galvatron placed him underScourge,whose leadership Axer resented.[2]Axer toy bio
DreamwaveRobots in Disguisecomic
While Megatron himself set himself up as a distraction (attracting the attention of theAutobot Brothers), the Decepticons participated in an Arizona raid on a human research plant, looking to steal an experimental nuclear generator. Unfortunately, the Predacons were also part of the raid, and the bickering between Scourge and Sky-Byte put the two groups at odds with each other. When Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus arrived, a battle broke out, but Scourge forced a stalemate by threatening some innocent humans. The Predacons managed to stop him from hurting innocents, and successfully acquired the generator.Ultra Magnus...to the Rescue?
Shell Game
InViron 704.31 Epsilon,Megatron died at the hands of Omega Prime during the final confrontation on Earth. In his absence, the monstrousMegazarakrose to power over the combined Decepticon / Predacon alliance, killing Scourge when he contested the position, and led a universal conquest that nearly decimated the Autobot forces, even killingOptimus Prime.Megazarak would augment his forces withrobo-smashedAutobots, such as the components ofDevastatorandDominus Trannis,having theirpersonality componentsreplaced with those of veteran Predacons. OnlyDefensorand the remaining Predacons, led bySky-Byte,were able to defeat this new Decepticon empire and bring the war to a bittersweet end.Ask Vector Prime, 30/07/2015
Spychanger continuity
InViron 1103.12 Gamma,after Earth's energon was rendered toxic by Sky-Byte and the remaining Predacons' and Decepticons' stash was blown up, only energy-savingSpychangerscould stay active. Scourge was the only Decepticon who could convert and unluckily found herself up against thirteen Autobots!Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/18
Unicron Trilogy continuity family
Cartoon continuity
Armadacartoon
Theexactorigins of the Decepticon faction are a bit muddled. It is widely assumed, though never directly confirmed, that the movement was founded byMegatron.Also, the enslavement of the power-enhancingMini-Consis considered to be the impetus to the Decepticons' rise to a massive multi-planet-spanning army, though at what point in the war this occurred is unclear; it's possible the Mini-Cons' arrival was what gave Megatron the opportunity to rise to power, or that they arrived after the war had already begun.
Either way, the Mini-Cons fueled the war machine for centuries, and the war with theAutobotssoon spread fromCybertronto other worlds. The self-imposed exile of the Mini-Cons to an unknown destination was seen as a major setback for the Decepticons (and something of a pyrrhic victory for the Autobots), but despite this, the war continued, as both sides had amassed a large enough power base to continue on without the little buggers.
The Autobots and Decepticons seemed to fight to a stalemate, neither able to gain a distinct advantage over the other. When a signal reached Cybertron centuries later that the Mini-Cons had landed onEarth,it seemed neither side was capable of sending a full force to retrieve them, despite the power they contained. Though the Decepticon force sent to Earth was small in numbers, it was far from insignificant; Megatron himself led the squad, backed by some of his most trusted warriors.
When Megatron returned to Cybertron, the overwhelming majority of the Mini-Cons were in the protective custody of the Autobots, but Megatron was unfazed; he had assembled the Mini-Cons required to make the three legendary weapons: theStar Saber,Skyboom ShieldandRequiem Blaster.Bolstered by this new power and the apparent death ofOptimus Prime,Megatron attempted to take Cybertron once and for all.
But Megatron's (now calling himself Galvatron) return to Cybertron was the beginning of the end of the Decepticon army. WhenUnicronrevealed himself as a threat to both armies, fueled by the negative psychic energies from centuries of death and destruction, the two sides eventually joined to beat back the planet-eater. Despite the truce, Galvatron and Prime engaged in a brutal duel on the surface of the weakened Unicron after the three legendary weapons had been removed from his core. Realizing their battle was keeping Unicron active, Galvatron sacrificed himself, and both Unicron and Galvatron disappeared into nothingness.
Energoncartoon
Galvatron's final orders to his troops still stood: workwiththe Autobots. The Decepticons maintained a degree of autonomy, still wearing the faction sigil and often taking military/defensive positions in the growing number ofenergon-mining colonies, but they were ultimately answerable to Optimus Prime and the Autobots. There were, of course, dissenters, most of whom were captured and imprisoned. For a decade, Autobot and Decepticon worked side by side in a somewhat stable truce.
Both sides found themselves the target of attacks from Unicron again; hordes ofTerrorcon drones,sent byAlpha Quintessonto steal energon ore with which to revive the now-shattered husk of Unicron. What the alien did not count on was that Galvatron'ssparkhad survived within the remains, and was siphoning energon from Unicron's body. Soon the Decepticon leader revived himself in a new form,(calling himself Megatron again) drove off Alpha Quintesson, and along with an elite cadre of soldiers and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of mindless Terrorcon drones, began hisnewplans for conquest.
When news of Megatron's return reached Cybertron, hundreds of Decepticons rose up and rebelled, eager to get back to conquering. But having been joined to Unicron for so long apparently had given Megatron a taste of godhood; he had no more interest in amassing a galaxy-spanning army of troops. Countless Decepticons died in the resulting battles, with Megatron more than willing to sacrifice them without a thought to attain ultimate power for himself. As "the Powerlinx Battles" -as they came to be called- came to their climax, Megatron (calling himself Galvatronagain) found that his actions and thoughts were being influenced and controlled by the dark spark of Unicron. Unwilling to let Unicron stand in his way, Galvatron ultimately sacrificed himself (again) and seemingly destroyed Unicron's spark by plunging himself into a newly formed energon sun created byPrimus.
Cybertroncartoon
What little remained of the once-mighty Decepticon army afterMegatron'sloss was at best a loose association of criminals, thugs, and lunatics, with no real political or military power to speak of. For a decade,Cybertronwas once again at peace, with the population overwhelminglyAutobotor neutral. The Transformers had withdrawn fromEarthand its other colonies to focus on revitalizing their homeworld after the devastation of the Powerlinx Battles. However, two great catastrophes shattered this peace; the energon sun collapsed in on itself, forming the powerful black hole known as theUnicron Singularity,which threatened to devour Cybertron and, if left unchecked, the entire universe... and the return yet once again of Megatron, who had absorbed much of what remained of Unicron's power.
Megatron's goal of attaining godhood was now at hand. By obtaining the legendaryOmega Lockand the fourCyber Planet Keys,Megatron intended to accelerate the growth of the black hole, consuming the universe in a vast sea of nothingness that only he would survive, then use his powers to re-create the universe in his image.
To this end, he had no need of an army. He gathered a small group of allies and lackeys to seek the items he needed, but they were nothing more than pawns to him, to be used and discarded at a whim.
The Decepticons briefly regained their status as a mass army of individuals whenStarscream,who had long suffered at Megatron's hands since the beginning of the Decepticons, made his own bid for ultimate power with the help of thePlanet XagentSideways.Having sealed Megatron and his troops in a trap, Starscream freed hundreds of criminal Transformers who had been locked up onEarthfor millennia, and formed his own globe-spanning army. The Decepticon "Monsters" were tasked with finding the Omega Lock and Earth's Cyber Planet Key, which they eventually brought to their leader. However, numerous Decepticons were killed in the battles with the Autobots, and it soon became apparent that Starscream, like Megatron before him, didn't care. Most of these criminals soon abandoned Starscream and went into hiding.
As for Megatron, he too had deserters among his own considerably small ranks. Most notably, the powerfulScourge,leader of theJungle Planetand the colossalMenasorfromGigantion,both of whom eventually joined forces with their former enemies the Autobots.
This was not seen as a concern for Megatron, however, as by this time Starscream and his allies were seemingly destroyed on Gigantion, and Megatron (now calling himself "Galvatron" again) had the Omega Lock and all four Keys. What few Decepticons remained loyal to him were too stupid to see what Galvatron had planned, and made perfect distractions as he set his final plan in motion. If they weren't strong enough to survive the coming cataclysm, then so be it.
Ultimately, Galvatron's plan failed, and the Unicron Singularity was sealed. His remaining Decepticons quickly left him, realizing what was likely to have happened to them, and eventually joined the Autobots. After Galvatron's seemingly-final defeat and death in a one-on-one duel withOptimus PrimeonCybertron'smoon, the Decepticons, not knowing when to quit, rose again, albeit in a rather pathetic fashion. Having cobbled together a rather rickety rocket,Ransack,CrumplezoneandThunderblastshanghaied the reluctantThundercracker,who wasreallykeen on being on the winning side for once, and flew off to parts unknown as the "New Decepticon Army".
They made it toMarsbefore the rocket crash-landed.
Meanwhile, the AutobotWing Saberreported form a deep-space recon mission that he thought he had picked up traces of Starscream, seemingly backed up by Sideways andSoundwave.Landmineand the former DecepticonMudflapraced off to join Wing Saber and investigate...
DreamwaveArmadacontinuity
DreamwaveArmadacomic
Founded by Megatron, the exact number of the original Decepticons is unknown. Using the Mini-Cons as weapons, they were able to conquer Cybertron and force the Autobots underground. Eventually they were beaten due to the arrival of Unicron: his heralds slaughtered the entire Decepticon base on Cybertron, and the Chaos-Bringer's arrival forced them to join forces with the Autobots. With Megatron shot dead during the Unicron battle, the peace held for a period of years.
Live-action film series
The origins of these Decepticons began when the Fallen turned on hisbrother Primesin an attempt to seize power at the cost of humanity's existence. One account has it that the Fallen gathered a small army ofconstruction dronesto assist him and named them Decepticons.Tales of the Fallen issue 3Either way, he would become known as thefirstDecepticon and would go on to become theSidiousto Megatron'sVaderRevenge of the Fallen,tempting the latent aggressive edge in the Protector. Filled with dreams of power and paranoia of losing that power, Megatron reformed the Cybertron defense force into a massive engine of war, ready to wipe out entire alien species who would dare challenge them.
When science leaderOptimus Prime's opposition became known, Megatron branded them traitors and declared his followers to be the Decepticons. Soon after, The Fallen commanded Megatron to build theNemesis,a ship that would carry his sarcophagus and Decepticon soldiers in their search for theMatrix of Leadershipleft on Earth. Megatron was commanded to remain on Cybertron, soSoundwavecommanded the expedition. Most of the Decepticons left Cybertron, leaving Megatron with a reduced, but still potent, army.Defiance
The Decepticons began the war, destroying any who defied them. When the Allspark was thrown into space, Megatron followed after it, eventually landing on Earth, where he became frozen.TransformersDespite the absence of their supreme leader, the Decepticons were able to conquer Cybertron and drive the Autobots off-world while operating under the joint leadership ofShockwaveand Soundwave. In1987,ShatterandDropkicklearnt that Optimus Prime was planning to regroup the Autobots on Earth while torturingB-127 "Bumblebee",and attempted to summon theDecepticon fleetand bait a trap for the rebels, only to be slain before they could make the transmission.Bumblebee
Starscreambegan a search for Megatron and the AllSpark. After a while, Starscream began to focus more on the AllSpark, hoping Megatron would remain lost, something the other Decepticons began to suspect.Ghosts of YesterdayIn 2003, Starscream's retrieval team made their way toMars,destroyed theBeagle 2 Roverand made their way to Earth.Movie Prequel
In 2007, the Decepticons began to make their presence known, withBlackoutdestroyingSOCCENT Forward Operations BaseinQatar,searching for information on Megatron and the AllSpark. A few days later,FrenzyhackedAir Force One's computers. Although he was unable to find out the truth aboutSector Seven,he avoided detection and managed to get a clue inSam Witwicky,whose ancestorArchibald Witwickyhad discovered Megatron a century earlier. His glasses had been marked with coordinates to the AllSpark's location, soBarricadeand Frenzy attempted to confront the boy. Although they were defeated by Bumblebee andMikaela Banes,Frenzy hid in Mikaela's purse, and accompanied them toHoover Dam,where Megatron and the AllSpark were hidden. As Starscream ordered the Decepticons to mobilize, Frenzy shut down the temperature controls while Starscream destroyed the external generators. Megatron was freed, but Bumblebee took the Cube with a group of survivors from Blackout's attack to Mission City, meeting with Optimus Prime's Autobots along the way. In the Battle of Mission City, Megatron and most of the Decepticons were killed and the AllSpark believed destroyed.Transformers
After the battle of Mission City, Starscream, who had survived, stole Frenzy's remains to access whatever information the humans had on the AllSpark to buildhis own AllSpark.Returning to Cybertron, Starscream proclaimed himselfDecepticon leaderand began building the replica. One month later, the replica was ready, but it didn't work properly andDreadwingmade a coup attempt. Starscream barely survived and made his way back to Mars, questioning his purpose.The Reign of Starscream
When he received word that the Autobots would be helping the humans destroy Megatron's remains, and hoping to destroy Prime, Megatron, and the traitorWreckageall at once, Starscream returned to Earth. Although he managed to destroy Wreckage, Prime had already left with Megatron's body. Just as he defeated Bumblebee, Starscream received word from Soundwave, who had brought theNemesisto Earth's solar system. After meeting up with Soundwave, Starscream explained the situation, and returned to theNemesisto awaken the remaining Decepticons and oversee the spawning of morehatchlingswhile Soundwave lead a scout team to Earth.Transformers: AllianceOver the next two years, the Decepticons under Soundwave's command searched for theTomb of the Primes,which housed the Matrix needed to activate the solar harvester only to be opposed by the Autobot/human task forceNEST.
In 2009, Soundwave discovered Megatron's resting place in theLaurentian Abyssand the presence of an AllSpark shard onDiego Garcia.DispatchingRavageand theConstructicons,the Decepticons managed to restore Megatron'sSparkand bring him back to life. Returning to the Decepticon flagship, theNemesis,Megatron learned from the Fallen that the AllSpark's knowledge was now within Sam Witwicky's mind, who had destroyed the Cube when he killed Megatron. Further commanded to kill Optimus Prime, Megatron captured the boy. Although the boy escaped, Megatron, Starscream and Grindor battled Optimus, and Megatron eventually managed to kill the last Prime. Megatron then decided that a show of force was needed to compel the humans to turn Sam over to them. The Fallen lead Decepticon protoforms to Earth and then broadcast a message demanding the humans turn over Sam. Sam was eventually found inEgypt,where the harvester was hidden under a pyramid. In Egypt, a battle took place around the pyramids. Although the Fallen managed to reclaim the Matrix, it had already been used to resurrect Optimus, who was then made super-powerful by being fused with Jetfire, a Decepticon-turned Autobot. Optimus Prime then destroyed the harvester and confronted the Fallen, slaying the ancient Decepticon after a short, but vicious fight with him. Seeing his master's demise, Megatron, who had been severely injured during the battle, retreated with Starscream, vowing revenge.Revenge of the Fallen
After three years of relative quiet, the Decepticons returned to NEST's radar when they enacted a scheme decades in the making, luring Optimus to the crashedArkon theMoon.Optimus revivedSentinel Prime,who soon revealed that he had joined up with Megatron to restore Cybertron. Sentinel activated his space bridge, bringing forth an army of Decepticons who had hidden on the Moon. Sentinel issued an ultimatum to humanity: deport the Autobots from Earth or be destroyed. Humanity complied and the Autobots left in their spacecraft, but Starscream destroyed the ship once their human operativeDylan Gouldlearned they would leave without a fight. The Decepticons then stormed Chicago, slaughtering thousands of humans and made the city into a fortress impenetrable to the human military. Decepticons scattered across the globe to get Sentinel Prime'spillarsin place, so that they could create a space bridge large enough to bring Cybertron to Earth, enslaving humanity to reconstruct their home.
However, the Autobots had survived the destruction of their ship, foreseeing the Decepticons' treachery, and with the help of Sam Witwicky and a small crew of human allies, began a great battle to destroy Sentinel's space bridge. In the ensuing battle, the majority of the Decepticons' chain of command was killed off before the Autobots took the fight to Sentinel once the control pillar was temporarily disabled. After a brief duel with Optimus, Sentinel ordered the Decepticons' entireOrbital Assault Carrierfleet to attack his former pupil. With Sentinel battling the majority of the Autobots, the OAC's attacking Optimus, and theWreckersengaging the incoming terrestrial Decepticons, Gould was left to reactivate the control pillar. Though he succeeded, he was killed by Sam, and the pillar was destroyed, taking Cybertron, the Decepticons' remaining air force, and the space bridge with it. Sentinel attempted to escape, but was intercepted by Optimus and they fought once again. Although Sentinel managed to defeat Optimus, he was attacked and grievously wounded by Megatron, who sought to regain the power he had lost in the past few years. Megatron then asked for peace, but Optimus refused and seemingly killed the tyrant once and for all. Sentinel Prime was then executed by Optimus Prime.Dark of the Moon
Unfortunately, this Autobot victory was quickly negated whenHarold AttingercreatedCemetery Wind,a secretCIAcabal who began hunting down all Autobots and Decepticons left around the globe, with the help ofLockdown,a Cybertronian bounty hunter. Five years later, less than a dozen Transformers from either faction had survived the hunt. Though both factions were being slaughtered, Attinger claimed he was only hunting Decepticons, and their remains were sent toKinetic Solutions Incorporatedto be melted down to be made into new Transformers remote-controlled by humans. Megatron's head was recovered from Chicago, but no one exceptBrainsdiscovered that the Decepticon leader had survived, and was biding his time by secretly worming his way into KSI's military prototype, Galvatron. Megatron also gave his new body operational control of the other fifty drones KSI had built. This was all in order to obtain theSeedthat Lockdown would eventually pay Attinger and KSI with in exchange for help in apprehending Optimus Prime, so that Megatron could cyberform a large city to announce his return and build a massive army.
Optimus only became aware of Galvatron's true nature after doing battle with the drone, and passed the knowledge on to his human allyCade Yeager.Yeager tried to warnJoshua Joyceof Galvatron's plot regarding the Seed, but it was too late, and Galvatron rebelled, christening the drones he took control of Decepticons. The Autobots came to rescue Joyce and the Seed in Hong Kong, but Galvatron set his army upon them, sparking a large battle.Houndand Bumblebee were nearly overwhelmed by the Decepticons until Optimus arrived with theDinobots,decimating the majority of them. The last few Decepticons were killed when Optimus detonated one of Lockdown's grenades. Galvatron, having escaped the battle when the Dinobots arrived, headed off for parts unknown, his plans temporarily stymied.Age of Extinction
Over the next few years, new Decepticons continued to arrive on Earth, but soon fell into disarray without a leader. Several Decepticons were killed in skirmishes with humans and Autobots, while others were captured by the TRF. After years of anarchy, Galvatron returned to Earth with a new body and reverted to his Megatron persona, now serving Quintessa in her plan to restore Cybertron at the cost of destroying Earth. Megatron initially kept his existence a secret to all except Barricade, who he used as a scout.
Eventually, Megatron came out of hiding and reformed the Decepticon army, negotiating the release of his henchmenMohawk,Dreadbot,Nitro Zeus,andOnslaught(only settling for the latter when his request for the volatile-even by Decepticon standards-Berserkerwas denied). The Decepticons andTransformers Reaction Forceattacked an Autobotrefugee camp,but were forced into a retreat thanks to the efforts of Yeager's team of Autobots and Dinobots, with Mohawk, Onslaught, and Dreadbot perishing during the battle. Decepticons began making their way to Cybertron after Megatron retrieved theStaff of Merlin.However, practically all Decepticons-including Nitro andInfernocus-fell before the combined might of the Autobots, theTransformers Reaction Force,Quintessa's formerGuardian Knights,and their other allies as well as theBritish Armed Forces.Seeing as how Megatron and Barricade's current statuses are unclear, the return of the Decepticons is uncertain.The Last Knight
Titan movie comics
War devastated Cybertron. While the Decepticons were heavily reliant on drone units to bolster their forces and were forced to automate many of their outposts,Lost In Space 3: Ironhidethe risk was still too high that they might claim the AllSpark, forcing Optimus Prime to make the desperate decision to launch the AllSpark into deep space. Megatron obsessively followed after it, and disappeared.Prelude: Optimus Prime
Alternate timeline
Animatedcontinuity family
Around 1 billion years ago, theDestronsemerged as a new faction on the Protectobot governed Cybertron. Led byDevron,theThird Cybertronian Warwas fought between the Destrons and the Protectobots (who were led by the new leaderNova Magnus).The Destrons emerged victorious, though many Cybertronian records were forever lost due to theGreat Purge.The AllSpark Almanac II
The Decepticons came to prominence as a sub-faction of the Destrons around 70 million years ago. They advocated the use of the AllSpark to bring Cybertron itself to life, that it might serve as a cosmic juggernaut that would allow the Transformers to return to the era of expansion and colonization of other worlds they had enjoyed nearly 700 million years beforehand. When the Decepticon leaderMegazarakwas ousted by charismatic rhetorician namedMegatron,tensions finally exploded, and the Autobots and Decepticons went towarfor possession of the AllSpark.
After something in the vicinity of six million years of civil war, things reached a crisis point when the Decepticons began a strategic bombing campaign on Cybertron, demanding the AllSpark be turned over in exchange for a cessation of hostilities.The AllSpark Almanac IIRather than give in to Megatron's demands, the Autobots instead sought to put the AllSpark beyond any Cybertronian's reach, launching it randomly through aspace bridgeto some distant corner of the galaxy, where it was hoped it would never be found.Transform and Roll Out The Autobots pulled a victory only due to their exclusive access tospace bridges,Project Omega,and their decision to send theAllSparkinto deep space. Defeated, the Decepticons dispersed, and, according toUltra Magnus,the only sight of them would be an occasional scout ship. In fact, they had been missing for so long,Optimus Primebelieved a Decepticon presence was a thing of the past. This was quickly reassessed upon encounteringMegatron'screw. The ensuing confrontation over the newly rediscovered AllSpark took Megatron - injured from an assassination attempt by his lieutenantStarscream- and the Autobots to Earth, where Megatron would be sent crashing to Earth. The Autobots' ship crash-landed inLake Erie,and during the next fifty years,Isaac Sumdacreverse-engineered technology from Megatron's severed head to build a robotic empire. Starscream would follow the AllSpark's trail to Earth, and the Autobots subsequently became heroes, though they were unaware of Sumdac's use of Megatron's technology.Transform and Roll Out
Megatron revived in Sumdac's lab and covertly manipulated the scientist into helping him build a new body, poising as an incapacitated Autobot.Home Is Where the Spark IsHis loyal DecepticonsLugnutandBlitzwingarrived on Earth to find him,Lost and Foundand when the time was right, helped restore him to a functioning body.Megatron Rising - Part 1Megatron killed Starscream for his betrayal, but in the ensuing battle with the Autobots, the AllSpark was dispersed across theDetroitarea. Though disheartened by the loss of the AllSpark, Megatron kidnapped SumdacMegatron Rising - Part 2and downloaded a schematic of an Autobot space bridge, plotting to build one to invade Cybertron from within. The three Decepticons made camp in an abandoned mine that shielded their signals from the Autobots,The Elite Guard,but were surprised when Starscream was reanimated by an AllSpark fragment. Megatron reestablished contact with his double-agent on Cybertron,Shockwave,and ordered his troops around the galaxy to begin attacking the Autobots' space bridges.Mission Accomplished.
Megatron would have his troops go after AllSpark fragmentsGarbage In, Garbage Outor supplies for his space bridgeRise of the Constructicons.Megatron also ordered a large bounty on the rogue Starscream.A Fistful of EnergonWhen the space bridge was completed, the Decepticons engaged in a fierce three-way battle with the Earthbound Autobots and Starscream's army ofclones.Megatron would emerge victorious with the Autobots captured and the Starscream clones defected to his side, though the space bridge ended up malfunctioning and sucked in him and Starscream. A long night of bickering ensued.A Bridge Too Close, Part II
Team Chaarand other Decepticons around the galaxy began succeeding in taking the Autobots' space bridges, but were dismayed when Megatron failed to arrive on Cybertron to begin the invasion. Megatron and Starscream were found by the comatoseOmega Supreme,and Megatron cut his losses and cancelled the invasion, seeking to use Omega to conquer Cybertron himself. He was able to bring the Autobot to Earth to attack Optimus Prime's crew, butRatchet's intervention trapped Megatron and Starscream inside Omega and sent them transwarping around the galaxy randomly.TransWarped
His cover about to be blown, Shockwave mortally injured Ultra Magnus before escaping with theMagnus Hammer,putting Cybertron in disarray.Where Is Thy Sting?Sentinel PrimehadLockdowncapture Lugnut, Blitzwing,Sunstorm,Ramjet,and the stasis-lockedSwindlefor him.Five Servos of DoomHowever, Swindle would be revived en route to Cybertron, and freed his fellow prisoners, though only he and Lugnut would escape the ship and not be recaptured.Decepticon AirLugnut found his way to Megatron, and Shockwave brought the groupArcee.This Is Why I Hate MachinesThe Decepticons returned to Earth and constructed a group ofdark clonesof Omega Supremes with the codes in Arcee's processor, and attacked Earth.Endgame, Part IAutobots and Decepticons did battle; Ratchet led a team to rescue Arcee and Omega Supreme, while Bulkhead andBumblebeedefeated and captured Lugnut and Shockwave. Starscream took control of the Lugnut Supremes, rigging them to blow and destroy Detroit.ProwlandJazzreconstructed the AllSpark, killing Starscream once and for all, and managed to use the power of the AllSpark to save Detroit. Megatron was captured by Optimus, and the Autobots returned to Cybertron with the Decepticon leader, Lugnut, and Shockwave as prisoners.Endgame, Part II
Megatron and his men would be incarcerated inTrypticon Prison,andStrikatook command of the Decepticons for the time being. She orderedTeam Stunticonto break out Megatron, but when they failed, Strika led an invasion of Cybertron's Energon farms.The Stunti-Con Job
Shattered Glass
Fun PublicationsShattered Glasscontinuity
The Decepticons began as a resistance group, rallied by the mathematicianMegatronagainstOptimus Prime's conquests. After managing to conquer back some portions of Cybertron, the Decepticons inventedtransformationas a means to hide in plain sight. When the Decepticons attempted to destroy the Autobot flagship, theArk,they were aided byCliffjumperfrom another universe who helped them succeed before joining their ranks.Shattered Glass
When a group of Decepticons stranded onEarthmade contact with Cybertron, Megatron opened diplomatic relations with the organic planet.TranshumanAfter Megatron had been reborn as Galvatron, another group of refugees from Cliffjumper's universe led byUltra Mammothjoined the Decepticons in their fight.Falling into Place
The Decepticons eventually establishedDecepticon Cityon EarthDistant Fissureswhere Galvatron, thanks toRodimus' trickery, was able to deal a fatal barrage to Optimus Prime, forcing the Autobots to retreat.Memory's SplinterRestoration
As the Decepticons followed back to Cybertron, the planet revealed itself as thealternate modeofPrimus,the Order Bringer attacking the displaced Earth ofPrimax 207.0 Epsilonfor its infringing on his perfect order. The Decepticons failed to match their creator's godly power, the deity only falling when Earth revealed itself asGaeawho, with aid from theKnights of Unicron,defeated the Order Bringer. After Gaea had transformed into a New Cybertron, the Decepticons settled onto the new planet as peacekeepers.The Future Buried...Though the war was considered over, the Decepticons and their dimensionally displaced allies still hunted for Rodimus' cell and Megatron'scounterparttrying to rebuild his own Decepticons.Divination
IDWShattered Glasscontinuity
The Decepticons began as a civil rights group protesting the corrupt rule of theSenate.When the political tensions of the time devolved into a full-scale war, the Decepticons fought against the ruling class of Autobots. When the fighting spread off-world, Megatron crashed on Earth, followed by the rest of the Decepticons who discovered that Earth was home toRarified Energon.The Autobots followed and continued the war on Earth. Despite the Decepticons' best efforts, they were outmatched, being forced to retreat as Megatron fought a delaying action. The Decepticons returned to Cybertron only for the Autobots to follow. Being defeated once again, the rudderless Decepticons scattered across Cybertron's underground. Megatron eventually managed to return to Cybertron but upon seeing the planet's sorry state, he set himself up as a hermit, instructing his former lieutenants not to contact him.Shattered Glass #2
AfterStarscreamhad found that his spark could be used to awaken theTitanMetroplex,he sought out Megatron. Convincing his former leader to restart the fight, the two infiltratedGold Cityto meet withSoundwaveand send out a rallying call only forGoldbug's forces to capture Starscream.Shattered Glass #3
WhileSkywarpand theInsecticonsmounted an ultimately unsuccessful rescue mission into Goldbug's fortress,Shattered Glass #4Megatron rallied the rest of his scattered forces. Though the Decepticons managed to conquer Gold City, Goldbug had managed to kill Starscream and claim his spark. As the Decepticons began to rebuild, Megatron offeredJetfirea chance to join them and help reclaim Starscream's spark.Shattered Glass #5
By the time thatUltra Magnushad overthrownOptimus Prime,the Decepticons had rechristened Gold City as "New Kaon". On Magnus' orders,Blasterinfiltrated New Kaon to take out the Decepticons' long-range communications. When he failed in this task, theWreckersbeheaded him and used his severed head to listen in on the Decepticons' movements.Shattered Glass II #2
Using Starscream's spark, Goldbug managed to reactivate Metroplex,Shattered Glass II #3the Decepticons massing at the feet of the Titan as he marched towards New Kaon.Shattered Glass II #4Soundwaveand Jetfire eventually managed to remove Starscream's spark from Metroplex, sending him back to stasis. As Soundwave began his march home, he reflected that the Decepticons would never stop in their fight for freedom.Shattered Glass II #5
Aligned continuity family
| “ | Sometimes deception is necessary, when those who should listen to the truth will not, and will only understand once they have been lied to and forced to see their own lies. | ” |
—Megatron. | ||
Megatronus,a member of the Thirteen, considered himself the first Decepticon.LockoutHe killedSolus PrimeBattlegrounds, Part 2and was imprisoned for it in an alternate dimension.Battlegrounds, Part 1
The Decepticons originated from those in thelower castesof Cybertronian society in theBadlands.Megatron, a gladiator who seized control of all the gladiatorial pits and assumed the name of The Fallen, began preaching to the dispossessed on the Grid. He allowed them to bomb Cybertron and throw their society into chaos, for he rightly believed if he denied any connection to their extremist behavior, it would elevate him in the eyes of theHigh Council.Even theSeekerStarscreamkidnappedSentinel Primefor him. When the Council questioned Megatron about the movement's name, he denied he had heard of it, though he also accepted it for reasons outlined above.
When Halogen appointed Orion the new Prime, Megatron declared his Decepticons would continue to fight for freedom. During the war they conquered eighty-five percent of the planet, as well as occupyingMoon Base OneandTrypticonStation, before poisoning thecoreitself withDark Energon.When the Autobots left aboard theArk,Trypticon transformed into theNemesisand followed them with Megatron, Starscream,Soundwave,andLugnutinto unknown space, whileShockwavetook control of the Cybertronian Decepticons.Transformers: Exodus
Primecartoon
Eons later, Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave,Knock Out,andBreakdownwere based onEarth,with a mass-producedVehiconarmy. During a three-year lull, Starscream was ordered to build aspace bridgeand to mine more Energon.Transformers: PrimeMegatron returned, but not with the army Starscream had hoped for. Instead he tried to raise an army ofTerrorconzombiesto eradicate humanity, but failed and perished in a space bridge implosion, leaving Starscream in command once more.Darkness RisingIt emerged he survived, and he was retrieved and placed in sickbay.Masters & StudentsMeanwhile, Starscream and Soundwave waited for opportunities to pounce onTeam Primewith their Vehicons.Con JobConvoy
Breakdown: "What color are their hands now?"
Megatron eventually returned to life, nearly killing Starscream for his part in his near-death in the space bridge explosion.Sick MindOut of His HeadShadowzoneDespite his brush with death, Starscream continued to secretly operate against MegatronOperation: Breakdown,which came to a grinding halt when Megatron forced him to beg for his life in an abandoned Energon mine.Rock BottomFinding neither respect from Megatron following this incident nor mercy from theAutobots,as well as seemingly being replaced by former rogueAirachnid,Starscream abandoned the Decepticons, becoming neutral, and leaving Airachnid to take his place.Partners
Seeking to attain more Dark Energon to coincide with a prophecy that he interpreted as his own destiny in theCovenant of Primus,Megatron raced to complete a second space bridge. Optimus Prime sought to stop this plot by finally ending the Decepticon leader's lifeOne Shall Fall,but a larger problem became apparent. Following an explosion of Dark Energon from a volcano, it was surmised thatUnicronwas awakening at theEarth's core.Rejected from Unicron's service,One Shall Rise, Part 1Megatron formed a shaky alliance with OptimusOne Shall Rise, Part 2to defeat the Chaos Bringer. During this time, acting Decepticon leader Airachnid attempted to abandon Megatron to Unicron's wrath, but following a humiliating defeat at the hands of Soundwave, relinquished command to the communications officer. With the power of the Matrix of Leadership, Optimus was able to defeat Unicron. However, Optimus' surrender of the Matrix's power also lost him his memories of being a Prime, and he took upon his old 'Orion Pax' persona.One Shall Rise, Part 3Megatron took advantage of Orion's amnesia, setting him to work onProject Iacon,to find various relics from Cybertron hidden on Earth.Orion Pax, Part 1Eventually, however, the Autobots were successful in restoring Orion Pax to Optimus Prime, halting work on the project.Orion Pax, Part 3
Former Seeker captainDreadwingarrived on Earth,Loose Cannonsand was promoted to second in command following Airachnid's departure and murder of Breakdown (whose remains were recovered by human terrorist organization MECH).CrossfireAirachnid later sent her armada ofInsecticonsto kill Megatron, but following her defeat at the hands of Arcee, the Insecticons were freed from her control and then integrated into Megatron's forces. However,Bulkhead'sactions caused theNemesisto crash on Earth,Armadaprompting Megatron to use Dark Energon to repair the ship. Unexpectedly, the Dark Energon enhancedNemesisgained sentience, and disabled the Decepticons and worked to complete Project Iacon and collect the relics around the world. Through the efforts oftheAutobots'humanallies,the ship's sentience was defeated, but had already located four Iacon relics.Flying MindThe Decepticon forces were sent to the four locations around the world: Knock Out and an Insecticon to New York City,Tunnel VisionDreadwing to Antarctica,TriangulationSoundwave to a forest,TriageandHardshellto a volcano around the equator.ToxicityKnock Out, Dreadwing, and Hardshell's endeavours all end in failure, Soundwave being the only victorious one.TriageAfter mistakenly reporting Bulkhead's destruction to Megatron, Hardshell was himself destroyed by a vengeful Wheeljack and Miko.Hurt
Breakdown's remains were used to save the mortally woundedNemesis PrimeMECH leader Silas - to Megatron and Knock Out's disgust - who attempted to join the Decepticon ranks, but when his offering of Project Damocles was destroyed by the Autobots, he was hauled away for dissection by Knock Out. The effort did bear fruit in that the location of Raf Esquivel's home was discovered,The Human Factornarrowing down the location of the Autobot base.Hard Knocks.The Decepticons lost the upper hand briefly when Optimus acquired theStar SaberLegacy,but the blade was destroyed by Megatron's knock-offDark Star Saber.Additionally, the Decepticons found the existence of theOmega Keyson Earth, though they were unaware of their true function.Alpha/Omega.Knock Out successfully retrieved a Key, while Dreadwing lost one, but it turned out new Autobot recruitSmokescreenis the final Key, and was promptly kidnapped by Soundwave.Hard KnocksMegatron learned of the Omega Keys' ability to revive Cybertron, but Smokescreen made off with the two Keys the Decepticons possessed. However, the rogue Starscream was able to steal all three Autobot Keys, and proposed to use them as a bargaining chip to return to the Decepticons.Inside Job
Naturally, Megatron was less than convinced of Starscream's loyalty, and watched his memories via cortical psychic patch to find his true motives. While evidence of Starscream's treachery was rampant, Megatron allowed him to return since the Decepticons must be united to revive Cybertron. However, Dreadwing was enraged and disillusioned by Megatron's pardon, since his leader was apathetic to Skyquake becoming one of the undead,Patchbut his attempt to murder Starscream was halted when Megatron killed him with his own blaster. Starscream returned to his position of second-in-command, and worked out the location of the Omega Lock on Cybertron. Megatron battled the Autobots on their home planet, lost the Keys, but Starscream, Knock Out and Soundwave kidnapped the Autobots' human allies and held them hostage.RegenerationThe Autobots handed over the Keys in exchange for the children, and Megatron turned the power of the Omega Lock on Earth to cyberform it. Optimus used the Star Saber to destroy the Omega Lock and all hope of restoring Cybertron, but Megatron launched a full-scale invasion of the Earth from his new fortress ofDarkmount,with his first act of aggression being destroying theAutobot base.Darkest Hour
In the wake of the Autobots' defeat, and having found no corpses in the base's remains, the Decepticons increased global surveillance to find them - also dealing a similarly devastating blow against the United States military with its fusion cannons. Megatron feigned a desire for peace to the US government, a cover for his eventual violent conquest of Earth. A search on Cybertron for the missing relics turned upShockwave,Darkmount, NVwho is quickly reinstated into the Decepticon command structure as first lieutenant of all scientific endeavors, to Starscream's chagrin. Efforts to find the Autobots resulted only in failure, leading Shockwave to unleash the massivePredaconhe cloned,Predakingto hunt down the Autobots,Scatteredonly for it to come home empty-handed.PreyThe Autobots were able to spread the Decepticon ranks thin and away from Darkmount, and the newly arrivedUltra Magnuslead the regrouped team to assault the fortress. The attack was eventually halted and the Autobots were taken prisoner, only for an upgraded Optimus Prime to arrive and single-handedly turn the tide. Earth's military was able to bring Darkmount crumbling to the ground, forcing the Decepticons to go on the defense and return to using theNemesisas their base of operations.Rebellion
The Decepticons turned their efforts to cloning, and enjoyed a string of successful ventures to retrieve Predacon fossils to engineer an army of the extinct beasts thanks to the efforts of Shockwave and Soundwave,Project Predaconthe Predacon,Chain of Commandand Knock Out.Plus OneJealous of Megatron's favoring Shockwave, Starscream coerced Knock Out to create an army of super soldiers with a mix of Dark andSynthetic Energon,starting with the imprisoned Cylas. However, this only created a new form of Terrorcon that craved and drained Energon from a victim, starting a plague that threatened the entire ship. The Decepticons struggled to repel the infected, until Cylas freed Airachnid from her stasis pod. The former prisoner killed Cylas and called the Insecticons to rejoin her, but Airachnid's latest attempt to overthrow Megatron was put down by Soundwave, who bridged her and her army to a dead moon of Cybertron. The crisis weakened the Decepticons with the loss of the Insecticons and the infected Vehicons, having depleted more than half of their military strength. Shockwave subsequently speeded up progress on Project Predacon,Thirstbut Predaking revealed his sentience and ability to transform on the verge of the project's completion. The former beast asked to lead the coming Predacons on Megatron's behalf, but the Decepticon leader and his command staff knew better than to give him control of a more powerful army than the depleted Decepticons. Following a plot engineered by Starscream, the Decepticons allowed the Autobots to destroy the Predacons before they escape their pods, to Predaking's horror and rage. The destruction of the lab, coupled with the presence of Synthetic Energon, resulted in the lab being filled with pureCybermatter.Evolution
Shockwave realized the Cybermatter could cyberform entire worlds. Megatron resolved to restore the Omega Lock and rule a cyberformed Earth and a revived Cybertron, but found the synthetic Energon formula was incomplete, and had Ratchet delivered to him by the captured Soundwave, while his lieutenants gathered human technology to repair the Omega Lock.Minus OneAs the device was being restored, Megatron appealed to Ratchet to finish the synthetic Energon formula, playing on the medic's love for his home to outweigh his reservations about aiding the leader of the Decepticons. Ratchet eventually consented when he was shown the nearly completed Omega LockPersuasionand soon completed the formula. In return, Megatron turned him over to the vengeful Predaking, but Ratchet - having learned the truth thanks to a slip up from Knock Out - revealed Megatron's plot to wipe out Project Predacon. Predaking turned on the Decepticons and slaughtered countless Vehicons, but was bested by Megatron in combat. Ratchet gave his comrades a way onto the warship, and Megatron mobilized his remaining army for their last stand.SynthesisWhile Megatron battled Optimus with the Dark Star Saber, Jack and Miko banished Soundwave to theshadowzoneon the bridge, while the other Autobots fought to capture the ship. Smokescreen and Bumblebee tried to get the Star Saber to Optimus, but Megatron killed Bumblebee as he tried to do so. However, the scout's corpse, having fallen info the Omega Lock, was revived by the Cybermatter, and ran Megatron through with the Star Saber, finally killing the leader of the Decepticons once and for all. Their leader dead, Shockwave, Starscream, and what few Vehicons remained abandoned ship, while Knock Out attempted to join the winning team. TheNemesiswas used to fire the Omega Lock into theWell of All Sparks,and Cybertron was restored.Deadlock
Most of the Vehicons had theoretically surrendered to the Autobots, and were part of an inept crew of construction workers under Bulkhead's watch. Though, not all hope was lost for the Decepticons. Shockwave & Starscream had been moving to the former's labs, cloning more Predacons to overthrow the Autobots in their newly restored home world. However, when Unicron took over Megatron's semi-lifeless body, thetwoPredaconsthey had cloned joinedPredakingin helping the Autobots save Cybertron from an army of Terrorcon-Predacons headed to corrupt the core once more, after Shockwave had been beaten up by the zombie dragons and encouraged the Predacons' decision. To make matters worse for them, Knock Out, who had been imprisoned by the Autobots, officially joined their side. When the Autobots put a stop to Unicron's plans and trapped Unicron in theAllSpark's container, Megatron officially disbanded the Decepticons after being victim of Unicron's eternal torture and realized the true meaning of oppression. With Starscream all alone, he returned to his roots and decided to take command of the no longer functioning faction, but the Predacons had something in store for their former abuser...Predacons Rising
Rescue Botscartoon
At some point during the Decepticons' campaign on Earth,Rescue Force Sigma-17arrived on the planet in response to the message sent into space byOptimus Prime.Prime judged them as not ready to face the Decepticons, and instead stationed them in the technologically advanced town ofGriffin Rock.Family of HeroesFor their protection, Optimus apparently kept their existence a secret from the Decepticons and seemingly the other Autobots, with the exception of Bumblebee and Ratchet.Bumblebee to the RescueWhile the Decepticon empire never touched the island, Optimus and Bumblebee occasionally lent a hand whenotherthreatsarose.It's a Bot Time
In an alternate timeline whereDoctor MoroccoruledGriffin Rock,Bumblebee mistook theMorBotsas Decepticons, only to have Heatwave correct him.Bot to the Future
2015Robots in Disguisecartoon
At some undetermined point, the Autobot prison shipAlchemortook off from Cybertron, its cargo ofstasis podscarrying several hundred of the most-wanted Decepticons, whofor some unexplained reasonall possessed robot orbeast modesbased on Earth animals. At least some of them were simply members of naturally-occurring, animal-shaped Cybertronian sub-races, reminiscent of the Insecticons of thePrimecartoon. After Megatron disbanded the Decepticons, any remaining Decepticons seemed to have been forced into hiding or had defected after the planet repopulated with Autobots. Megatron apparently kept his promise about not inflicting any more oppression as he had remained unseen by the time Bumblebee traveled to Earth.
In the aftermath ofCybertron's restoration, the population was overwhelmingly Autobot.Cyclonusand his troops quickly worked to overthrow the High Council and take over Cybertron. With the planet under their control, they began making preparations for the rebirth of the Decepticons.Freedom Fighters
Years later,Megatronuscaused theAlchemorto crash onEarthnearCrown City,its cargo being scattered around the countryside in the crash.LockoutTheMini-ConFixitsent a mayday, however onCybertron,Bumblebee,working as a street cop for the repopulated planet, was instead alerted by a vision ofOptimus Prime.Optimus gave Bumblebee a new mission on Earth, sending the young Autobot to the nearestspace bridge.Bumblebee unwillingly found himself accompanied to Earth by his cop partnerStrongarmand the delinquentSideswipe.Joined by the ex-Decepticon prisonerGrimlockand twohumans—Denny Clay,owner of a vintage salvage depot for the discriminating nostalgist (a scrapyard) and his sonRussell— Bumblebee and his team were tasked with tracking down the escaped prisoners and prevent harm coming to Earth or its native population.Pilot (Part 1)
Chief among the threats poised by the Decepticons was the charismaticSteeljaw,who sought to organize the escaped prisoners into an effective cabal to conquer the planet.Trust ExercisesSteeljaw first teamed up withMinitron,who took control of Grimlock and was able to snatch Underbite. Though Minitron was captured, Steeljaw made off with UnderbiteTrue Colorsand made an alliance with the Decepticon criminal,Thunderhoof.As the Kospego Commands!Setting up a base in an abandoned factory, Steeljaw was eventually able to assemble a new team of Decepticons - consisting ofUnderbite,Thunderhoof,Clampdown,the bounty hunterFracture(who had initially arrived on Earth to collect a bounty placed on Bumblebee by the High Council).Hunting Seasonand his Mini-Cons,AirazorandDivebomb.After a short battle with Bumblebee's team, Steeljaw's gang were apprehended by the Autobots, however, Steeljaw was able to free everyone and the team escaped.Sideways
Steeljaw and his "pack" went on to have a series of failed attempts at trying to free the captured Decepticons inside theAutobot's base.Seeking access to the scrapyard, Steeljaw engineered a diversion by usingKickbackas bait. While Bumblebee's team was distracted, Steeljaw broke into the scrapyard, and his gang quickly took Fixit, Russell, and Denny hostage. Steeljaw also rigged up a sub-sonic pulse that would disable the Autobots and prevent them from gaining access. Steeljaw tried to get Fixit to free the other Decepticon convicts, Fixit managed to stall long enough for the Autobots to break in and deactivate the sonic weaponry; in the ensuing fight, Steeljaw was defeated yet again by Bumblebee. Back at the Decepticon hideout, Steeljaw exploded at his comrades and ordered them to leave. The arrival of amysterious entitysnapped him out of his funk, and Steeljaw reluctantly agreed to build him a gateway and serve as his minion for the time being.Lockout
Steeljaw and his "pack" searched for materials and constructed a doorway for Megatronus to enter the material world, however the Autobots arrived to stop him and Steeljaw's portal was destroyed by a resurrected Optimus Prime. Despite this, Megatronus successfully made it throughBattlegrounds, Part 1and proceeded with his true plan: to merge the AllSpark and Anti-Spark together to destroy both Earth and Cybertron. With the revelation that the planet he intended to conquer would be destroyed, Steeljaw turned on Megatronus and attempted to fight him, only to be backhanded out of sight. The remaining members of his gang placed in stasis after the death of Megatronus, with Steeljaw and Kickback the only specific Decepticons known to be at large.Battlegrounds, Part 2
After a Groundbridge accident at the scrapyard,Soundwave(who was still trapped in the shadowzone after the end of the war) managed to escape, quickly dispatching the Bee Team. However, with a coordinated attack, he was sent back just as fast as he escaped.Portals
Steeljaw eventually managed to assume control of all Decepticons on Earth, intending to rebuild theDecepticon Empireon the planet,Decepticon Island (Part 1)before he was defeated and all the Decepticons were shipped back to Cybertron.Decepticon Island (Part 2)The High Council freed Steeljaw and a select few others to act as decoys for theBee Teamwhile they worked to continue their plans.ExilesFreedom Fighters
The High Council eventually sent a quartet of genetically-engineered ActivatorMini-Consto aid Soundwave in escaping from the Shadowzone so he could summonMegatronback home.King of the Hill (Part 2)The Great DivideRailroad RageFreedom FightersSoundwave was defeated however and placed inOptimus Prime's custody.Collateral DamageFreedom Fighters
When the Bee Team arrived on Cybertron, they discovered the High Council's true identities and, as a result ofCyberwarp's hesitations, managed to defeat their combined form ofGalvatronus,freeing Cybertron from Decepticon control.Strongarmtook Cyberwarp's desire for peace as a hopeful sign that Autobots and Decepticons might one day peacefully co-exist on Cybertron.Freedom Fighters
Rescue Bots Academycartoon
Wedgeused to be a Decepticon, but Optimus Prime saw potential in him and got him to join the Autobots. When the Rescue Bot recruits encountered the DecepticonLaserbeak,they assumed he'd be highly dangerous until Wedge told them his own backstory.Perceptorcleared Laserbeak to stay at the academy as his criminal record was clear.More Than Meets The EyeThough Laserbeak believed his past as a Decepticon prevented him from fitting in, the recruits thought otherwiseSpace Partyand Optimus later made him an official Autobot.Crash Of The Titan
Cloud
The Decepticons ofCloud Worldare made up of the disgruntled cast-offs of Cloud's society of multiversal sentinels, banned from interdimensional travel and exiled from its capitalMetropolisto the slums of theUnderground.
Cyberversecartoon
Megatronestablished the Decepticons as a political movement, opposing theCybertronianstatus quo. Standing alongside the former gladiator as he declared his vision of a Cybertron whereall would be onewereStarscream,Optimus,Soundwave,Arcee,Ratchet,andShadowstriker.Optimus, at least, would soon become disillusioned with Megatron's actions, finding his friend's chosen course too violent and power-hungry; after a final confrontation with his old friend where he failed to sway him from his course, he fully broke away to chart adifferent path.Megatron Is My Hero
Circa 66 million years ago, the Decepticons launched a plan to useVector Sigmato reprogram theAllspark,Megatron Is My Heroonly for the Autobots to send it off Cybertron.AllsparkWhile the Autobots manually searched for the lost Allspark in space,The Journeythe Decepticons remained on Cybertron and tracked the artifact remotely. Once it had been tracked to Earth,StarscreamsentSlipstreamto scout the planet,Fracturedwhile he rallied theDecepticon fleet,Siloedlaunching an invasion of the planet when theArkcrew had awoken.Eruption
When the Autobots acquired the Allspark and made for Cybertron, the Decepticons returned home via the space bridge,Escape From EarthusingChromiato bait a trap for their foes.The Crossroads
Upon arrival into Cybertronian orbit, Optimus' failure to raise Chromia led him to suspect a trap and set theArkon autopilot, leaving it to be destroyed by alaser snare,allowing the Autobots to ambush the Decepticons.Battle For Cybertron IBattle For Cybertron IIThe battle that followed saw the AllSpark restored to the planet's core, the fight ending in a stalemate.Battle For Cybertron IV
Off in space, the Cybertronian species was betrayed by Starscream to theQuintessonsThe End Of The Universe Iwith both Autobots and Decepticons ending up trapped in a virtual reality where theirsparkswere drained.The LoopAfterHot Rod's group freed the Cybertronian race,The Scientistthe Autobots and Decepticons allied to save their planet.The AllianceThough they managed to destroy the invadingJudgeand flagship, Starscream revealed himself as the new Judge.The JudgeSalvation for the Cybertronian race came from Megatron, who had stolen an alternate version of theMatrix of Leadership.Combining it with Optimus', the two leaders managed to kill Starscream. In the aftermath, Megatron divided Cybertron in two, leading his Decepticons to one hemisphere,The End Of The Universe IVand preparing for the arrival of "the Other One",the alternate version of himself from whom he'd stolen the Matrix from.The Other One
To prepare for his other self's impending invasion, Megatron began fashioning anunspaceweapon, his secretiveness causing friction in the ranks.Rack 'n' Ruin 'n' RatchetAfter Optimus Prime had been warned byAlchemist Primeto destroy the alternate Matrix,Dweller In The Depthsthe Autobots invaded Decepticon territory. As the Autobot strike team reached the Decepticon control room, the Other One'sDecepticon supersoldiersteleported in.Silent StrikeAfter two waves of the invaders had been defeated, the Other One arrived and reclaimed his Matrix, killing Megatron in the process. Though the Other One was ready to conquer this new reality, his Matrix had been infected by a psychic shard ofWindbladewho short-circuited the artifact allowing Optimus Prime to paralyze the alternate Megatron who was taken away byAstrotrain.The Other One
With Megatron dead,Shadow StrikerandSoundwaveassumed command of the Decepticons. Some time after the Other One's demise, the Autobots and Decepticons signed theTreaty of the Wall,ending theGreat War.The Immobilizers
Some time afterwards, Cybertron was invaded by the Other One's supersoldiers who, bereft of their master, had begun a civil war for leadership. Optimus and Soundwave were approached by one of the supersoldiers, calling himselfTarnwho asked for help in stopping the war. After the Decepticons had first made an attempt to destroy the invaders, Optimus and Soundwave helped Tarn find theCortex HelmofOnyx Primeonly for the supersoldier to take the Helm first using its power to exert control over his brethren before he crowned himself as the newDecepticon leader.As Tarn ordered all Decepticons to kill the other Autobots, he set the supersoldiers against Optimus. When the Prime fell, Tarn prepared to kill Optimus before the Autobots and the non-supersoldier Decepticons joined forces against Tarn. Disgusted by Tarn, Soundwave managed to pry the Helm off him and use it himself, giving the supersoldiers the free will to choose their path. Before Tarn could reclaim the Helm, Soundwave unleashed a massive sonic attack that killed both him and Tarn. With the supersoldiers standing down, Shadow Striker became the Decepticon leader, the two factions now living in peace.The Perfect Decepticon
Alternate universe
In Megatron X's timeline, the tyrant killed Optimus outright when the young Prime refused to stand beside him. Without Optimus to rally the Autobots into a proper resistance, the Decepticons quickly won the Great War. Once Megatron created his Perfect Decepticons, he turned them on the "unneeded" Decepticons, wiping them all out saveAstrotrainand theInsecticons.The Other OneThe Perfect Decepticon
Earthsparkcartoon
UnderMegatron,the Decepticons originally foughtthe waron the ideals of creating a more equal Cybertron. With the war's expansion to Earth however, Megatron soon came to realize how far his faction had strayed from his original vision and joined the Autobots in hopes of ending the conflict. When Megatron seemingly destroyed the AllSpark in the final battle of the war on Earth, the Decepticons found themselves stranded on Earth as the SpaceBridge to Cybertron was destroyed along with it. For his actions Megatron was branded a traitor by many of his former soldiers such asShockwaveandSoundwave.WarzoneDecoy
Stranded on Earth, Decepticons were forced to go on the run to evade imprisonment byG.H.O.S.T.and had to resort to stealing Energon.Secret Legacy, Part 1Even high ranking commanders such asStarscreamfound themselves becoming the prisoners of the Autobot-Human alliance.DecoyMany hapless Decepticons though found themselves working for the anti-Cybertronian scientist,Mandroid,as usually either mind-controlled slaves or as part of a deal to protect them from G.H.O.S.T.Secret Legacy, Part 2Age of Evolution, Part 1
While as prisoners of G.H.O.S.T., Decepticons such asSkullcruncherfound themselves being unwilling experiments that left them severely weakened. When the Terran,Hashtag,inadvertently hacked G.H.O.S.T.'s security systems she ended up disabling the shields of the prison cells containing their Decepticon prisoners, leading to a short-lived prison uprising.Hashtag: Oops
Many Decepticons found themselves participating in underground fighting rings known as "Bot Brawls" done for the amusement of their human audiences, the losers in these fighting bouts being chained to the ceiling and left to die. One of these being run by Mandroid who salvaged Cybertronian body parts from the losers for his own body modifications.Home, Part 1Following another defeat by the Terrans, Mandroid rendezvoused with G.H.O.S.T. director,Karen Croft,where she formalized a partnership between them to begin constructing more Cybertronian control badges to use at her disposal, offering Mandroid the Decepticon prisoners under her watch as his test subjects.Home, Part 2
Onefilm
We are Kremlings and proudly we stand/On the coastlines of our land
After killing Cybertron's corrupt leaderSentinel Prime,a vengeance-fueledD-16rallied the former members of Cybertron'sHigh Guard.Declaring the age of Primes and other false prophets over, D-16 declared that he would lead them into the future and renamed himself "Megatron". However,Orion Pax,reformatted by theMatrix of Leadershipinto Optimus Prime, defeated Megatron and banished him from Iacon, along with the High Guard for their role in the brief insurrection. From the shadows, Megatron and his new followers branded themselves with an insignia resemblingMegatronus Prime's faceplate and renamed themselves "Decepticons" to symbolize how they will not be blinded by the lies of others, swearing revenge on Optimus.One
Merchandise
Transformers(2007)
Transformers Movie Screen Cleaners
- Decepticon(2008)
- Released by Tomy Yujin on January, this dangler is afaction logo-shaped screen cleaner for your cell phone, with a stock image of Decepticon insignia printed on the other side.
Age of Extinction
- Decepticon Shield(3D Deco Light, 2014)
- A three-dimensional wall light fixture from3D Light FXin the form of a Movie-style Decepticon insignia. It uses purple LED lights and is battery powered. It comes with a sticker in the form of a wall crack, which is meant to look as though the insignia is somehow breaking through the wall.
Kidrobot
Enamel Pin Series
- Transformers logos(November 3,2017)
- Rarity:2 in 20
- Released byKidrobotin theirblindboxedTransformers vs. G.I. JoeEnamel Pin Series, this is a flat, enamel pin badge of the Decepticon symbol, packaged in with a similarAutobotpin in a release called "Transformers logos"[sic].
Icon Heroes
- Decepticon Faction Bookend(2022)
- A set of bookends in the form of the Decepticon insignia made of polystone and produced by Icon Heroes.
Transformers Character Card
- Destron Army and Unicron Set(December,2024)
- ID number:99 & 100
- Released as part of the thirteenth wave of thee-HOBBYexclusiveTransformers Character Cardseries, this pair of holographic trading cards depict super-deformed art of the Generation 1 Decepticons (as represented byMegatron,Soundwave,Laserbeak,Starscream,Shockwave,Stranglehold,andBanzai-Tron) andUnicronalong withcharacter profilesandtech specs.
Notes
- The suffix "con" is typically attached to Decepticon subgroups, such as theConstructiconsandPredacons.Notable exceptions would be theMini-ConsandOmnicons.
- In an earlier draft of the2007 moviecalled thePrime Directive,Optimus reveals that the Decepticons were named so for their betrayal of the dynasty of Primes.
Foreign names
- Japanese:Destron(デストロンDesutoron),Combatron(Car Robots,コンバットロンKonbatoron),Decepticon(ディセプティコンDiseputikon)
- Armenian:Deseptikonner(Դեսեպտիկոններ, "Decepticons" )
- Cantonese:Kwòng Pāǐ(Hong Kong, cuồng phái, "Con Faction", literally "Mad Faction" or "Crazy Clan" )
- Danish:Bedragerne(Marvel comic, "Betrayers" ),Bedraonerne(The Transformerscartoon)
- French:Deceptican(France,The Transformerscartoon,Unicron Trilogycartoons, IDWMovie universecomics),Decepticor(France,Beast Warscartoon),Decepticon(France, in other media and Canada)
- Hebrew:Shekernikim(שקרניקים, "Lie-niks" )
- Hungarian:Álcák(Marvel comic and 2007 onwards, "Disguises" ),Decepticonok(toy commercial, secondThe Moviedub,Armada),Varangyok(firstThe Moviedub, "Toads" ),Robotikák(first dubs ofEnergonandCybertron,"Roboticas" )
- Italian:Distructor,Distructors
- Korean:Evil Corps(악마군단Akmagundan),Destron(데스트론Deseuteuron),Decepticon(디셉티콘Diseptikon)
- Mandarin:Decepticon(Taiwan, địch tái cươngDísàigāng),Bàtiānhǔ(China, bá thiên hổ, "Heavenly Tyrant Tiger" )
- Polish:Szachraje(G1 VHS lector,"Tricksters"),Deceptikon,Decepcjokon(firstThe Moviedub, "Deceptiocon" ),Dezorientac(Beast Wars,Disorientator)
- Portuguese:Decépticos(Portugal comic),Malignus(Brazil comic)
- Russian:Decepticon(Десептикон)
- Serbian:Deseptikon
- Swedish:Bedragare(Marvel comic, "Betrayer" )
- Ukrainian:Obmanoyid(Обманоїд, "Deceitoid" ),Decepticon(Десептикон)
References
- ↑Megatron Megabolt on-package bio(scan at TFTechSpecs.com)
- ↑Axer'sRobots in Disguiseon-package bio
- ↑Movie Decepticons toy listing on Takaratomy.com
- Group stub
- Stub
- Upcoming toy releases
- Alternators
- Alternity
- Animated factions
- Armada
- Beast Machines
- Beast Wars
- Beast Wars: Uprising factions
- Beastformers franchise
- Cybertron franchise
- Dark of the Moon
- Decepticons
- Energon franchise
- Factions
- Generation 1 factions
- Generation 2
- IDW (2005) factions
- IDW (2019) factions
- Machine Wars
- Micromaster
- Movie
- Operation Combination
- Predacon subgroups
- Prime
- Return of Convoy
- Revenge of the Fallen
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- Universe (2003)
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