One story about Megatron’s backstory straight from Gladiator

The first reference to Megatron as a former wrestler is in “Transformers Annual 1986”, part of the UK exclusive “Transformers” comic series published by Marvel. The issue includes a prose story written by James Hale entitled “State Games.” This story is set on prehistoric Cybertron, and depicts Optimus Prime and Megatron as rival gladiators. (Prime represents the nation-state Iacon, and Megatron represents the city of Tarn.) After a civil war between Tarn and its rival city Vos, Megatron unites the survivors against Iacon, fighting under his banner as the Decepticons.

Simon Furman, who wrote most of Marvel’s “Transformers” comics, must remember “State Games.” In 2002, he wrote the new comic miniseries “Transformers: The War Within”, another prequel to the Cybertron group where Megatron was a former gladiator. (“The War Within” drawn by Don Figueroa and published by the now defunct Dreamwave.)

The 2007 comic strip “Megatron Origin” (written by Eric Holmes and Alex Milne) once again showed Megatron as a gladiator, while adding the idea that before that, he was a low-class miner. This added a new shade to the Decepticons: their struggle was not just one of conquest, but of class revolution, especially since the Autobots were originally depicted as Cybertron’s police force. So how did the Decepticons become imperialists while the Autobots became freedom fighters? I think that’s just a contradiction in “Transformers One.” (More on that soon.)

Due to constant reboots by different creators, the first two decades of “Transformers” were largely scattered. Only in the 2000s did parent company Hasbro begin to simplify, character names and designs would be used more consistently, and each new “Transformers” series would have the same basic lore about who created the Transformers, why the war started, and so on.

2010’s “Transformers: Prime” was the first animated film To bring a lot of previously exclusive comic lore to the anime, including the backstory of the gladiator Megatron. “Prime” Megatron (voiced once again by OG Frank Welker) won over the crowd, leading the masses of Kaon City to revolt against Cybertron’s oppressive class system. Of course, nowadays, he’s the same old warlord as ever – because all revolutions are corrupt, right?!

Throughout “Transformers: Prime”, Megatron is shown to be very proud of his roots. In the episode “Crossfire,” he is ambushed and locked inside a makeshift arena opposite Powerful insect. However, he prevails, and after decapitating the Bug, he shouts: “Let this be a warning to anyone who dares to cross the Gladiator of Kaon, whether Decepticon or Autobot!”

In the 2012 video game “Transformers: Fall of Cybertron”, Megatron finds himself back in the gladiatorial pits, cutting down treacherous Decepticons led by the usurping Starscream. Megatron boasts that he has already proven himself worthy of leadership in the same arena. “That day was a long time ago, Megatron,” Starscream taunts, to which Megatron responds: “This day will live on forever!”