Sure, he loves killing autobots and kicking Starscreams' @$$, and loves the Decepticon cause, but has he ever loved another bot? Not necessarily like in a relationship, but in a brotherly way, or as a comrade in arms. I think he cared a lot for Ravage (frankly I thought he favored Laserbeak in the G1 toon) and showed that when he got killed in the IDW comics, but I don't know if he loved him.

 

Megatron's ability to care about anyone other than himself varies by continuity. And most of them don't.

 

Broadly speaking, for the last however many continuities, Megatron has been written as someone who doesn't get to have emotions like love; as someone who led an uprising (rightly or wrongly depending on the continuity) and felt (again, rightly or wrongly) that bit by bit he had to cast off human attachments to run that uprising effectively. And you know, even if he started from good intentions, that slowly turned him into a monster, etc etc.

That would obviously be an opening for a story in which someone he once loved tries to reground him, to be either turned away or not depending on the story. I can think of multiple examples where that story has been written, but the person trying to ground him is always Optimus Prime. So uh... adjust your collar, avoid eye contact, and make of that what you will.

 

I think that's the best answer. I could see IDW 1.0 Megatron absolutely being capable of that. Maybe 2.0 before I stopped reading it (for financial reasons over opinions). Maybe the WFC animated series one with a lot of inner guilt. Most others though are still in the 80's villain old school way of thinking to be capable of that (though I know some fans think there was some spark he had for Nightbird).

 

Only once did Galvatron show emotion for a loss and that was in the TOEIverse (Headmasters). And that was after Soundwave died.
Transformers Headmasters - Soundwave and Broadcast duel - YouTube

I'd say that qualifies for caring, at least.

 

I always got the sneaking suspicion that the guy that was his friend before the war that was revealed in Lost Light was something like that...

 

In the G1 cartoon, he definitely has a lot of affection for Soundwave and his cassettes. The most logical reason for that is probably that they're his most loyal soldiers, but there could be more to it than just that. He gets snappy at Shockwave a few times, but they both care for each other most of the time.

Why be awkward about it? That sounds like a super interesting thing to explore. In at least a few continuities, they definitely have a great deal of respect for each other. Why not take that further?

 

I'm joking, it would be fine, and is absolutely the subtext of like the whole back half of IDW 1.0.

 

His love for his fusion cannon is beautiful.

 

Spoiler

I think Terminus was meant to be like a father figure to IDW Megatron. The way they interact, the fact that Terminus was a much older bot than Megs, and how he reacts to Terminus' disappearance and later return, it comes off as a parent/child relationship between the two of them. It was Terminus' poor condition and the lack of care by senate that drove a lot of his early writings, after all, and it was losing Terminus that started him down his path. Termagax takes that position in IDW2. However, IDW2 Megatron's relationship with Termagax is quite different from IDW1 Megs and Terminus. Termagax taught IDW2 Megatron everything he knows, including the ideology that has blossomed into the Decepticons, and he readily blasted her to pieces (except it wasn't her) when she challenged the path he's chosen.

 

Excellent   There's quite a bit of tension in G1 too, and it's all over TFP. TFP might have the strongest case for a potential romantic relationship between Optimus and Megatron.

 

Just to play Devil's Advocate here, O.G. Skeletor and Evil-Lyn are apparently supposed to be an item, and their son would've been a character in an unproduced series proposed by Lou Scheimer.

That's not a line of argument I would take up seriously though. Even if those two are into each other enough to do the deed, there's no sign of tenderness or affection between them. So I don't think it counts, but I guess it depends on how we'd answer the question "what is love?"

Baby don't hurt me. Don't hurt me, no more...

 

There was a time in this fandom where people would argue about Nightbird for a subject like this.

 

Honestly, there is only one person that Megs loves... himself. Seriously, even when Nightbird was created, I get the feeling that after her usefulness had ended, Megs would just blow her to pieces. He just doesn't care.

 

This is the only thing in this thread worth reading.

 

No, he will never care about anyone or anything except power, destruction, and control.

 

His power, and his fusion cannon.

 

Which IDW 1.0 Megatron ?

 

But then we got DVDs and streaming, and we could all watch that episode without misremembering it. And now we don't argue about it  

 

Uh... IDW 1.0 Megatron. There's just the one.