Who is the best Megatron?

[Crazy Jetty]

Of all the Megatrons there have been, and all the variations of, whom is your favorite Megatron and why?

[Crazy Jetty]

My vote has to go to Beast Megatron. He's the first and only transformer to bare the name Megatron who actually won.
I feel he is the best villain in the whole franchise. After all these years, his speeches still send shiveres down my spine.
And he took over Cybertron and stole the soul of every transformer on the planet. Ha!

[beastovjudgement]

I am going with IDW Megatron. In my opinion, he is the most well-written - particularly in the "Revenge of the Decepticons" and "Chaos" story arcs - and formidable incarnation of the character. He is depicted as being nearly unstoppable, and someone to be feared. Beast Wars Megatron is also great, but loses a few points with me for not actually being the "real" Megatron. The IDW-based stealth bomber Megatron figure is very cool, but really should have been a much larger mold.

[Crazy Jetty]

I will say (Though aside from the book that came with the stealth bomber) I haven't read anything post All Hail Megatron. But up until McCarthy's trainwreck that basically screamed "ZOMG TEH CARTOON WAS SO COOL EVERYTHING MUST BE EXACTLY LIKE THAT ONLY MOAR BADAZZ ZOMG!" the IDW Megatron was the only G1 Megs that was even halfway respectable as a villain and/or leader.
Though since they kicked Furman off of IDW and out of the universe he built, nothing IDW has done has remotely impressed me enough to pick up a comic.

But yeah. IDW would have to be my third choice, with Animated being second.

[beastovjudgement]

I did also like the Marvel Comics Megatron, especially in the issue (#25?) where Shockwave sent the Predacons to try to assassinate him, and Megatron won. Marvel was very inconsistent, though. The IDW Transformers series are actually among the only comics I will still occasionally read. That spotlight issue included with the figure was weak, and not indicative of the typical books. I don't know who is writing currently, but the books are pretty good. For Megatron enthusiasts, the aforementioned "Revenge of the Decepticons" is gold. Megatron was not only physically dominating, he succeeded in destroying Optimus Prime's alliance with humans. The events therein also led to the end (so far) of Earth-based Transformers comics. I have always really disliked the human supporting casts in Transformers fiction (their absence helped make Beast Wars as great as it was), and the kids in the early IDW books were especially annoying. IDW's handling of Megatron has been very good typically. Even his recent return, and the way his inflexibility was used as his downfall, was done well.

[Crazy Jetty]

Now see, I thought Hunter, Jimmy, and especially Verity were some of the best humans in the franchise. Killing them off as such a blatant fan suck up move as IDW pulled when they kicked out Furman (Which was also a suck up move to the vocal minority of their forum) is exactly one of the things that turned me off of IDW.
But, to each their own.
Though, I still think Marvel did humans best. Zarak, Hi-Q, Galan, GB Blackrock were all great.

I have read a few things post AHM. I stuck with the ongoing through about half way before I dumped it. I've read Last Stand of the Wreckers, the five books released with the current generations wave, a few other things, and a friend who's fairly pushy sometimes about keeping me updated about what's happening in "RiD" and MTMTE, and none of it has really done anything to impress me. In fact, a lot of it turns me off even more.
A lot of it sounds just as bad as Shattered Glass and Funpub's terrible writing.

[beastovjudgement]

I have no knowledge of the politics behind IDW. I never looked at the forms or anything. I came into the series with All Hail Megatron, and checked out the earlier from there. I aggressively disliked Hunter and company, even more than I did cartoon Spike. I hated their character quirks, and especially the way they were supposed to be "relatable" to readers. I wanted them destroyed from the first I read of them. This is why I liked the later issues, where the character devolopmentbwas done with the actual robots, rather than human foils. I had forgotten about Blackrock; he was actually pretty good for a supporting fleshling. IDW Spike wasn't terrible, either. He had a lot more layers to his character than the average token human sidekick.

Megatron: Origin was also quite good. I liked a lot of the background stuff between Megatron and Prime. Especially following the vacuous Dreamwave books, I am generally impressed by IDW Transformers. I didn't see much cartoon aping in the books, but then I haven't seen the cartoon in over 25 years. I haven't seen any of the Shattered Glass stuff, but what I have heard doesn't sound all that great. IDW has a good amount of human carnage which is absent from most of the fiction. I am a bit of a robot supremacist when it comes to Transformers stories. I even think the movies could have been halfway decent with at least 75% less humans.

Apart from the mostly excellent Beast Wars, I haven't seen any of the cartoons since the original, so I can't comment on any of their versions of Megatron. Like GI Joe, most of my faliliarity with the characters comes from the comics. Another aspect of IDW I appreciated was reestablishing Megatron and Galvatron as completely separate characters. I never liked the "upgrade" version. I much prefer the cast of RID to that of MTMTE, as far as the current books. I don't buy monthly comics of any kind these days, but the trades are worth a look.

[Crazy Jetty]

And see, I feel that human contact is what makes transformers. It's an important turning point for them. It also makes the "Robots in Disguise" catchphrase pointless when they have no need to disguise themselves.
Human characters when they're well written are every bit as great as the transformers. Sari, Blackrock, Verity, Hi-Q, Zarak... and as much as I hate Sunbow.. even Chip Chase and Sparkplug were pretty good. Spike being passable, but not one of the good ones. Even Koji in the real RiD.
When they suck, they really suck, like the Armada kids and Miko. I also find IDW Spike to be the most rediculous and pointless human ever. Pretty much McCarthy's second mary-sue, next to Drift.
Although, IMO, Shia Labouf was the only thing that made the TF movies even remotely watchable. Without him they'd be a total nausiating loss. That's not saying much, because Sam was pretty obnoxious. I just found him less obnoxious than most of the robots.
Buit, I respect your opinions so I'll just agree to disagree. Just expressing my own opinions.

Also, if you haven't seen anything since Beast Wars, give Animated a shot. it is the absolutely most solid television series since. Completely fresh take on many many things, excellent voice acting, and the best writing since Beast Wars. Deep and complex characters, and a finely focused cast. It can go from brilliant comedy to pretty serious and dramatic moments effortlessly. Honestly if Hasbro didn't cancel it so it wouldn't compete with RotF, and had another great season like the third, it'd have replaced Beast Wars as my favorite.

[1987olds442]

IDW Megatron gets my vote followed closely by Beast Wars Megatron and then Prime Megatron. Toy wise my favorite two match up with my favorite Primes for a G1 Takara's versions of the voyager Classics figures, and just for a cool Megatron & Prime toy it's their large Cybertron toys.

[Shockprowl]

I've voted for G1 Megatron from the IDW 'Infiltration' story. Even though we never actually got to see his, what I'm assuming was a, Tank mode, he just looked so powerful. The G1 gun Megatron is very nostalgic to me. But in recent years the idea of the Decepticon leader transforming into a gun and has to be held by others doesn't quite sit well with me. Now, a powerful Tank, that transformers into a 'G1ick' Megatron robot mode, that seems more like a Decepticon leader to me!

Also, in 'Infiltration', I loved the way Megatron seemed so cold, so intelligent, and so manevolent.