Galvatron~Galvatron/Unicron Beast Wars II/Beast Wars Neo (1998/1999)

The self-proclaimed "new" Emperor of Destruction, when Galvatron (ガルバトロンGarubatoron) deigns to storm the battlefield, the Maximals know to run in the other direction. His ambition is as boundless as it is terrifying; Galvatron is a villain perfectly willing to annihilate entire planets and harness the lifeforce of primeval gods simply as a means to an end. A juggernaut on the battlefield in either his drill tank or dragon modes, opposing forces have found that he's an enemy who cannot be destroyed, merely contained or temporarily waylaid. And yet, no matter how deeply his enemies bury him, no matter how sure they are that "he's gone for good"... Galvatron always comes back.

Galvatron has two primary weaknesses which interfere with his mission of total universal conquest. Firstly is his rather unstable personality which can be affected by the excessive intake of energy sources such as energon, oil and (especially) Angolmois. Though Galvatron can convert such energies to vastly increase his power, the process renders him as much a danger to his troops as to the enemy, reducing him to little more than a rampaging behemoth. Secondly, he places a firm priority on the value of family, no matter how self-defeating that may be. Case in point is his younger brother Megastorm, who openly and relentlessly attempts to overthrow his elder sibling. Despite knowing full well of Megastorm's ambitions, Galvatron permits him to retain his high rank and close proximity simply out of a sense of familial loyalty.

Beast Wars II catalog
On planet Cybertron, Megatron once disagreed with Galvatron over opinions on galactic conquest and engaged him in battle over it. At the time, Megatron momentarily let his guard down and was defeated by Galvatron, who declared "Your era is over, Megatron!"

Later, Megatron noted that while Galvatron was ambitious, he cared for his underlings—and although he was loath to admit it, he acknowledged that Galvatron probably had all the regal bearing of a new Emperor of Destruction.

In the seventh month of the Space Year 1999, Galvatron's plans would bloom...

Beast Wars II cartoon

 * Voice actor: Tetsuo Komura (Japanese), Kwan-cheol Kim (Korean)

Seeking to control the mysterious and powerful Angolmois energy of the planet Gaea, Galvatron set course for the planet in his ship, the Galvaburg II, along his younger brother Megastorm, the Combatrons and the Autorollers. Knowing that the Maximal commander Convoy was sure to stand in his way, Galvatron staged a trap for his enemy, luring him into the depths of space and apparently destroying him with the explosion of an artificial planetoid. Despite the loss of their leader, Convoy's troops pursued Galvatron's forces to Gaea, but were soon captured by the Predacons. Little could Galvatron have realized, however, that the explosion did not kill Convoy, but had instead hurled him to Gaea, where the planet's Angolmois energy restored him as "Lio Convoy". In this new form, he rescued his troops, and they escaped Galvatron's clutches together.Seeking alternate modes for his Predacons scan, Galvatron investigated some ruins on Gaea and discovered an ancient, but still-functional, computer. The machine provided vehicular forms for his men, but when Galvatron demanded that the computer provide him with information on the strongest vehicle and creature from Gaean history, the resultant surge of data was so powerful that it knocked him offline.Galvatron's unconscious form was brought aboard the Galvaburg II, and he remained there, soundly sleeping, while Megastorm led the Predacons in his stead for some time.

Unfortunately for Galvatron, this gave Megastorm a taste for leadership, and he eventually decided to try and dispose of his brother so that he could take his throne for good. Hauling the unconscious Galvatron off the ship, Megastorm dropped his slumbering sibling into a well of Angolmois energy, thinking it would destroy him... only for Galvatron to re-energized, and rudely awakened! Exploiting his brother's slightly disoriented state, Megastorm claimed that it was the Maximals who had thrown him in the well, and Galvatron promptly set off to eliminate Lio Convoy and his team. Unable to deal any damage to Galvatron's new drill-tank alternate mode, the Maximals tried luring the Predacon Emperor to the rim of a volcano, where he unveiled the second form he had scanned: a colossal, fire-breathing dragon! The Maximals attempted to shoot out the ledge beneath Galvatron's feet and send him falling into the mouth of the volcano, but were unsuccessful. Megastorm, however, had been observing the battle from afar, and emulated their strategy with great aplomb, sending his brother sinking into the molten lava below.

What Megastorm had not realized, however, was that Starscream had also been watching the fight, and quickly recovered Galvatron from the volcano, bringing him back to the Galvaburg II, unconscious once more and sealed in a coffin of solidified lava.

This situation was not to last, as Galvatron eventually awoke under his own power a little later and broke free. Seeking to slake his thirst, Galvatron came upon a stockpile of tainted oil that Starscream had brewed in order to inebriate the Insectrons as part of a plan to have them destroy the Maximals and then each other. Naturally, Galvatron was unaware of any of this and began chugging the oil down, until he was completely sozzled and proved himself to be a really mean drunk by turning on the other Predacons and chased them out of their ship. Galvatron's rampage carried him to the site of the Insectrons' drunken battle with the Maximals, where the two sides sobered up enough in order to team-up and take Galvatron down. With the Insectrons' help, Lio Convoy was able to fire a round of missiles into Galvatron's mouth, causing an explosion that hurled him into a nearby river, from which he did not emerge.

Galvatron was subsequently "missing in action" for a while, spending his time tunneling around underground in vehicle mode, still not quite back in his right mind. Happening upon a pipeline set up by the Autorollers as part of an Angolmois-energy drilling scheme, Galvatron tore the pipe in half and happily began guzzling the energy that was flowing through it. This infusion of the ever-unpredictable Angolmois caused the Predacon leader to grow to huge size, and his temper did not improve when Starscream and BB, remembering the last time he had gotten drunk, shut off the flow of energy. To stop the rampaging Galvatron, the Maximals teamed up with the Autorollers, and employed Scuba's plan to do just the opposite of what Starscream and BB had tried: force-feeding Galvatron's Angolmois energy until he was overloaded. The plan was a success, causing a huge explosion that reverted Galvatron to normal, and sent him crashing into the sea, his mind restored, and his memories of his drunken rampage lost.

After his rampage, Galvatron was either found by his loyal troops or stumbled home himself, collapsing back into a deep sleep on board the Galvaburg II.

He recovered in time, and reclaimed leadership of the Predacons from Megastorm. As a massive new warrior named Tripledacus arrived on the scene, Galvatron ordered his Combatrons to eliminate the threatening creature. Unfortunately, his troops were unable to realize Tripledacus split up into three smaller Maximals, and so they ignored the Jointrons on several occasions before finally seeing the brothers merge.

Starscream had grown bolder in Galvatron's absence, and began openly vying for greater power and responsibility at Galvatron's side, in disrespect to Megastorm's position of authority. Seeing how little his younger brother had accomplished in his absence, Galvatron allowed the competition without directly acknowledging it, watching how Megastorm responded.

Galvatron initiated several schemes without getting directly involved with combating the enemy. He allowed Starscream to attempt to eliminate the Jointrons with a bacteria bomb he had concocted.

Later, Galvatron directed his men to capture the Jointrons instead, so that the Predacons could study their combination technique for themselves.

When the Autorollers discovered a Copy Machine in the ancient ruins that created evil clones of anyone it scanned, Galvatron saw a cunning use for the device. He had it planted where the Maximals would find it, and soon a dark clone dubbed Copy Convoy menaced the Maximals for him.

When the Seacons arrived on Gaea, they began harvesting Angolmois energy as well. Galvatron detected an explosion of Angolmois triggered when the Space Pirate Seacons fought the Maximals.

He sent Dirge and Thrust out to investigate the new visitors and determine if they were foes or potential allies.

The Predacons hoped to hire the Seacons to eliminate the Maximals for them. Megastorm conducted the negotiations and Galvatron initially congratulated his younger brother. However, Starscream then used basic math to point out that, if the Seacons were successful in eliminating every Maximal, their price would be the entire Angolmois energy storage of the Predacons. "Fortunately", the Seacons failed in their mission, mostly due to Megastorm's efforts to correct his own mistake.

Galvatron contacted the Seacons afterwards and insulted Halfshell's pride, insinuating that his failure to defeat the Maximals showed his general failures as a captain and a pirate. Spurned into action, Halfshell launched another attack on the Maximals, this time without the promise of payment, just as Galvatron intended.

For their next negotiation, Galvatron sent Starscream instead of Megastorm and got a much better price for the Seacons' services.

As the Seacons prepared to depart for easier treasures, Halfshell planned a one-on-one battle with Lio Convoy to gain the necessary energon. Starscream reported this to Galvatron, who authorized an observation mission to make sure Lio Convoy died, one way or the other. Unfortunately, Megastorm jumped the gun and fired on Lio Convoy before the bout was finished, interrupting the battle with Angolmois spurts caused by his blast.

Galvatron had summoned the artificial planet Nemesis from deep space, and it slowly made its way towards Gaea. On its path, Nemesis captured the Space Pirates for him, forcing the departing Halfshell and his crew to swear complete loyalty to Galvatron. Nemesis caused eruptions of Angolmois energy on Gaea, upsetting Megastorm and the Autorollers at one of their fortress sites. Galvatron laughed at their panic, and walked directly into one of the geysers, absorbing more power than ever before. However, Galvatron sensed a new source of Angolmois energy due to his connection with the substance. He tracked it down and discovered Lio Convoy's "son", Lio Junior, birthed from the Angolmois and Lio Convoy's own Energon Matrix. Galvatron attacked the Maximals, but Lio Junior was soon joined by Santon and Skywarp, who combined with him to form Magnaboss.With the assistance of Lio Convoy, Magnaboss was able to deliver a powerful strike with his Magma Blade to Galvatron's chest. The Predacon Emperor of Destruction was badly wounded, and returned to the Galvaburg II. Starscream saved his life with surgery, but Galvatron was once again comatose until he could fully revive. In Galvatron's absence, the newly reborn Gigastorm once again claimed leadership of his brother's forces.

Gigastorm felt he could not lose command of the Predacons again, and attempted to murder Galvatron in his sleep with a chainsaw. Starscream and BB arrived to stop him, but Gigastorm then tried to overload the sleeping Galvatron with Angolmois energy, having apparently learned absolutely nothing about how Galvatron and Angolmois go together. Sure enough, Galvatron awakened and was restored to full health by Gigastorm's actions. He proudly embraced his brother Megastorm for having upgraded using Angolmois energy like he did. Starscream told Galvatron about Gigastorm's treachery, but the Emperor of Destruction wouldn't hear him out.

When Lio Junior led a raid on an Angolmois facility, Galvatron ordered Gigastorm not to pursue them. Instead, he evacuated the Autorollers and sealed the base, trapping the Maximals inside. With the power of his Galva-Matrix, Galvatron connected with Nemesis and called down planetary fire to utterly destroy the facility with the Maximals inside. The enemy survived, however, and so the Predacons engaged them directly. While Galvatron fought Lio Convoy, Gigastorm made a brazen attempt to eliminate him brother by shooting him in the back, leaving Galvatron unable to ignore his brother's betrayal any longer. They fought, dragon to dinosaur, until Galvatron defeated Gigastorm with cunning by calling upon the Galvaburg II to shrink Gigastorm down to a more manageable size. He departed the field of battle in order to teach his brother a lesson in private.

Galvatron reasserted his authority, forcing Gigastorm firmly back into the role as his second, repeating Galvatron's orders for the other Predacons to hear. When Gigastorm learned Starscream and BB had intended to kill him with his Angolmois exposure, he tried to get them back, only for the duo to evolve into Hellscream and Max-B. When the evolved Cyborg Beasts began fighting amongst each other, Galvatron arrived in the Galvaburg II to put his house in order, forcing them all to fall back in line as his soldiers against the Maximals.

At some point, an alien device called a "teleport gate" crash-landed in the frozen wastes of planet Gaea. Sensing it might bring the Predacons great fortune, Galvatron immediately dispatched his warriors to secure it before the Maximals could. The Predacons were quickly defeated and driven away, however, the events of the battle resulted in the young Lio Junior receiving a military reprimand. Galvatron observed the hurt Lio Junior, who possessed the control unit needed to operate the teleport gate, flee into the forest on his own and hatched a scheme. Approaching the young and naive Maximal, Galvatron convinced him that the teleport gate was actually a weapon of mass destruction that would destroy all of Gaea if not shut down with the control unit. Lio Junior fell for the ruse and, after handing over the control unit, was immediately beaten and imprisoned on the Galvaburg II.

At the teleport gate, Galvatron ordered Gigastorm to summon Megatron, the most fearsome and vicious Transformer in history. Gigastorm screwed up and summoned the mighty Majin Zarak, instead. Galvatron was not displeased, though, as he considered Majin Zarak an even greater weapon than Megatron. Taking command of the behemoth in aircraft carrier mode, Galvatron steered the monster on a path of destruction toward the Maximals, defeating them all with ease. However, Lio Junior managed to escape Predacon custody and used the teleport gate to summon Optimus Primal to aid the Maximals. Primal then sent Galvatron a challenge via text message: "You think you've won, but we won't be defeated. Let us settle this. Come to point B-2." Galvatron angrily accepted the challenge and steered Majin Zarak toward point B-2.

A bad move on his part, as the location was actually a part of Optimus Primal's strategy. Point B-2 being a narrow canyon, Majin Zarak's great bulk made him ineffective in the tight arena. In the battle, Galvatron was thrown from Zarak's command deck and the behemoth, now under its own control, transformed into a giant kaiju. Galvatron was then picked up by Gigastorm in hovercraft mode and carried off to safety, swearing vengeance. The Maximals eventually succeeded in destroying Majin Zarak and, after sending Optimus Primal back home, destroyed the teleport gate as well

As Nemesis continued its approach, the Angolmois on Gaea became more corrupted and volatile. Galvatron noted with amusement when the Maximals attempted to control the Angolmois by freezing it or blocking its eruptions. He merely used his Galva-Matrix to communicate with Nemesis and consume the planet Jupiter, using that energy to accelerate the Angolmois corruption on Gaea and undo all the Maximals' efforts. When they persisted, he did send out the Cyborg Beasts to oppose them, but Galvatron knew the Maximals, at best, only delayed the inevitable.

Lio Convoy's next plot caused more concern to Galvatron. The Maximals were in possession of a massive artillery cannon, modified to conduct Angolmois energy, which could be used to shoot down Nemesis before it ever reached Gaea. Once he finally understood the danger, Gigastorm was ready to rush out after his Cyborg Beasts to attack the Maximals moving the cannon into position, but Galvatron told him to hold. Quoting Sun Tzu, Galvatron noted Lio Convoy was too cunning a tactician to show his entire hand like this. Sure enough, Hellscream and Max-B soon located a second cannon being moved underwater by Scuba. When both these cannons were destroyed and revealed as decoys by the Predacons, Galvatron and Gigastorm were still available to intercept Magnaboss and the real, third cannon as they reached the Angolmois volcano.

The Maximal combiner separated, letting Skywarp and Santon hold the Predacons back while a determined Lio Junior readied the cannon and fired. Fortunately for Galvatron, the cannon was not powerful enough to affect Nemesis. With the cannon destroyed and useless, Galvatron ordered a retreat as there was no more reason to fight that day. Gigastorm was yelling empty threats back at the Maximals when he tripped and fell into a gorge, needing the Galvaburg II to fish him out. Having seen Lio Junior on the battlefield that day, Galvatron reflected on how Lio Convoy seemed to be raising a much better successor than he was.

As Lio Junior staged a series of daring and successful attacks on Autoroller fortresses, Galvatron continued to be impressed with the young cub. On his next attack, Galvatron appeared to Lio Junior as a hologram, touting their similar connection to the Angolmois energy. When Lio Junior didn't bite, Galvatron triggered an Angolmois reaction in the ground, pulling Lio Junior into a pit of corrupted Angolmois while appearing to him on the astral plane as well. As they mentally communicated, Galvatron insisted that the Predacons wanted universal peace as much as the Maximals, but they were willing to fight for that peace, and accumulate power in order to maintain it. Lio Junior's pure Angolmois energy was corrupted by that under Galvatron's power, so that when he emerged from the pit, he was brainwashed with Galvatron's words. Lio Junior attacked Lio Convoy on behalf of the Predacons, but Convoy eventually saved his protégé by using the connection between their Energon Matrixes to siphon off the corrupted Angolmois and expel it. Galvatron holographically appeared again, and expressed his regret that Lio Junior no longer saw things his way, but still hoped to recruit the young warrior one day.

When Nemesis passed Mars, it triggered a circuit that sent a small emissary robot to Gaea, where the Maximals found it. The robot claimed to be capable of controlling the Angolmois energy on Gaea once it connected with the mother computer in the ancient ruins. Unlike his unfortunately dim brother, Galvatron immediately grasped the significance of this and ordered the Cyborg Beasts to stop the Maximals.

The little robot was a greater threat than Galvatron first realized. It intended to alter the moon's orbit, crashing the satellite into Gaea to destroy the planet and prevent the Angolmois from being used by anyone. When he noticed the moon growing closer in the sky, Galvatron ordered Gigastorm to stop distracting the Maximals from saving them all and withdraw his troops. As they did, Galvatron followed at a discreet distance until he found the Maximals trying to blast their way through the mother computer's defenses to allow their A.I. NAVI access to the computer's inner core. At a key moment, Galvatron unleashed a blast from his Galva-Matrix to make the opening large enough for NAVI to succeed.

Lio Convoy of all the Maximals registered Galvatron's momentary presence and its significance, and he found the Emperor of Destruction outside once the moon was back in its proper orbit. In a moment of openness, the two leaders debated the true meaning of peace in the universe, and what they were philosophically willing to do in order to achieve it. Despite their past encounters, Lio Convoy offered his hand in friendship to Galvatron, hoping to build bridges so that together they could achieve a lasting peace to both their likings. After a moment's consideration, Galvatron opened fire on his rival and spat on his weakness. For emphasis, he returned to the Galvaburg II and let Gigastorm bomb the entire valley with as much explosives as the warship could muster. Galvatron's answer was clear: There would only be peace when all who opposed him were destroyed.

Despite that show of force, Galvatron was largely unconcerned with the Maximals as Nemesis began to bear down on the planet. Even the discovery of the Maximals' base by Dirgegun and Thrustor barely registered for Galvatron, for they would soon be destroyed anyway. When Hellscream found a missile catapult, however, Galvatron realized Lio Convoy had strategies in play that could truly hinder his plans, and ordered the catapult's destruction. Ultimately, however, Galvatron and the Predacons failed to stop the Maximals from boarding their starship or leaving the planet to intercept Nemesis.

Galvatron had plans within plans, though, and unleashed his thralls, the Space Pirate Seacons, to delay the Maximals long enough for him to catch up with his foes in the Galvaburg II.

When the Maximals arrived on the Nemesis, Galvatron intercepted Lio Convoy and Scuba as they tried to destabilize Nemesis at its core. Lio Convoy sent Scuba on while he and Galvatron debated and battled over the fate of Gaea. Galvatron laughed at Lio Convoy's weak ideas on justice, championing the idea that power and justice were one and the same. With his victory nigh, Galvatron called upon Nemesis to begin draining all the corrupted Angolmois energy from Gaea. As the potent energy began to flow through the tunnels, Galvatron chuckled at the weak shield generated by Lio Convoy's Energon Matrix to save him, and knew the Angolmois would soon eat through the field and destroy his adversary.

As he stalked the tunnels (unaffected by the Angolmois he had bonded with), Galvatron crossed paths with Lio Junior. Equally connected to the Angolmois, Lio Junior was desperately searching for a sign his father still lived. Galvatron respected Lio Junior devotion and determination, but told the boy Lio Convoy was surely dead already and once again offered Lio Junior a place by his side. Lio Junior refused and continued the search for his father, much to Galvatron Is Not So disappointment He's Lucky He knows Kids.

Back on the surface, Galvatron informed Maximal and Predacon alike of Lio Convoy's apparent demise. He silenced Gigastorm's disrespectful gloating, and told him to honor a true foe. When Gigastorm whined about how Galvatron seemed to prefer Lio Junior to him, Galvatron responded that Lio Junior loved his commander so much he was willing to die for him. Galvatron gave Gigastorm the chance to say the same, but his younger brother found he could not. Before the Predacons could finish off the remaining Maximals, however, a great green light emerged from the tunnels. A Green Lion filled with energy confronted Galvatron and the Predacons. In response, Galvatron turned his back on the new foe, and told Gigastorm this was his chance to prove his devotion to his emperor. Gigastorm tried to prove his love, but the full force of his attacks was absorbed by the entity, and Gigastorm was defeated.

As he began to go off-line, Gigastorm tearfully begged his elder brother to forgive him for failing again. Out of respect for his actions, Galvatron told Gigastorm he fought commendably, the first praise he ever really gave his little brother. With Gigastorm out of energy, Galvatron turned his rage on the Green Lion, but even his Drill Destroyer attack was turned back by the new foe. The Lion revealed itself as the combined form of Lio Convoy and Lio Junior, their Energon Matrixes working as one. Events continued to turn against Galvatron, for the all-but forgotten Maximal Scuba had reached Nemesis's core in the meantime and arranged for the artificial planet to self-destruct in a short time.

Galvatron refused to acknowledged Nemesis's defeat, and returned to the core to access all the accumulated Angolmois energy. Lio Convoy and Lio Junior followed after him, and the three had a confrontation at the source of Galvatron's power. Galvatron absorbed the Angolmois energy of Nemesis directly into himself, becoming a colossal dragon. Galvatron was nigh-unstoppable in this form, and so Lio Convoy and Lio Junior recreated the Energon shield Convoy created when first assaulted by the Angolmois flow a thousand times over, encapsulating the Angolmois energy in the walls and inside Galvatron's body and spreading those capsules throughout space. Galvatron's essence was so entwined with the Angolmois energy, however, that his body was deconstructed with the Angolmois capsules as well.

When the effort was over, Galvatron was restored to his original size. In one last show of defiance, Galvatron claimed the very last of the Angolmois energy was still preserved in his Galva-Matrix, and challenged Green Lio Convoy to final conflict. The merged hero regretfully met Galvatron's Scissor blades sword-to-sword before mirroring into his two halves as Lio Convoy struck the Galva-Matrix dead center, shattering it. Galvatron commended his old foe on the worthy blow as he died, and Nemesis exploded all around them.

Beast Wars Neo cartoon
Galvatron/Unicron (ガルバトロン/ユニクロン)

Teams of Maximals and Predacons, led by Big Convoy and Magmatron respectively, then raced to collect the Angolmois capsules, as their energy effects were wreaking havoc on planets all over the galaxy.

They eventually collected all the capsules only to find themselves attacked by the mysterious and freakish Blendtrons. The Blendtrons, in truth servants of Unicron seeking to engineer his rebirth, proved nearly invincible, and stole the capsules from each team.

They released the Angolmois energy and allowed it to possess Galvatron's dead body, restoring Unicron to life in a new form.

After stealing all the Angolmois capsules from Magmatron and Big Convoy, the Blendtrons released the energy into the corpse of Galvatron. Galvatron's body then served as the vessel of the reborn Unicron.

Unicron absorbed the last remaining ounce of stray Angolmois energy—the Blendtrons themselves—and left to settle his score with Cybertron. Great Convoy attempted to hold Unicron off with the entire Maximal armada, but Unicron's fiery serpent mode proved too much and he effortlessly destroyed the armada and Great Convoy along with it. Unicron then possessed Vector Sigma, the mother computer of Cybertron, effectively possessing the planet, and morphed Cybertron into his new body.

Unicron then briefly exited Vector Sigma to deal with the last remaining Cybertronian resistance. Big Convoy, his Maximal new recruits, Lio Convoy and Magmatron all fought side-by-side against Unicron, but all they managed to do was stall him. Big Convoy then powered up his Big Cannon with his own Matrix, transforming it into the Matrix Buster. Big Convoy shot Unicron with the weapon, the powerful blast seemingly destroying the Chaos Bringer.

With Unicron's spirit evicted from Vector Sigma, Cybertron returned to normal. The Maximals and Predacons then put aside their differences to help rebuild the planet