I like villains with depth, but I'm starting to wonder if people think they overexplain Megatron in various media. He was like a brother to optimus and helped him rule the planet in Bayverse, he was a miner/gladiator/social crusader who liked poetry, he and Optimus were besties, he and Optimus were senators together, and so on.

What if he's just...Lord Megatron, leader of the Decepticons and has been for longer than most Cybertronians have even been alive (possible that they defeated him once and he's a spooky legend now). No one knows much about him.

 

You can't have a character with depth unless you actually do explain them.

I'm not a fan of the 2005 IDW series Megatron, but I can't deny he's a character with depth because they spent a lot of time on his character.

 

So, like Animated Megatron then?

 

I guess a better question is: does Megatron need depth in every continuity? Or can he just be a scary warlord whose mystery is part of his character?

YES, exactly. I keep forgetting to add him to my Megs lists. He might be the best version of the character tbh.

 

TF Armada Sideways ticks your boxes here for mysterious evil. Cannon Unicron for the overarching evil.

Megatron was/is maniacal, self focused and fundamentally all about the preservation of Cybertron and the TF (decepticon race). Collateral damage and loss of life to achieve this to him is an unfortunate by-product of his ambitions and purpose

From a TF perspective he isn't an 'Evil'. Prime however would happily see the end of his species to save another.

I don't think you can make Megatron more mysterious and certainly not a mysterious force of evil.

This role is much better suited to other side-characters herald to or born of Unicron who neither exist for the benefit of the transformers species nor other life bar Unicron.

 

I prefer my bad guys to not be enigmatic, it leaves them either one-note or just a blank wall.

 

I was thinking this or galaxy force megs/galvy.

 

I'd say yes, Megatron should have depth, but this doesn't exclude the possibility of mystery, nor does it entail having an overexplained backstory. Animated did this brilliantly. There, we're introduced to Megatron as the mysterious warlord, but as time goes on, we learn more about who Megatron is and what he stands for. This adds layers to the character, showing us how dangerous Megatron really is, that he absolutely warrants his legendary status. And it accomplishes all this without overexplaining anything.

That goes to say, an element of mystery can be good initially, but the purpose of a mystery is to be unraveled, and as such, can't constitute an entire character, especially not a main one. By trying to keep the shroud up for too long, we run the risk of turning Megatron into a caricature, an unfulfilled promise, so to speak. That's not to say mystery is necessarily bad, and to be honest, Megatron would probably benefit from a little more mystique, so long as it's substantiated by a strong character beneath.

 

You raise excellent points on both sides of the argument. IDW's problem was that on top of overexplaining him, they created a monster and expected us to sympathize with him.

 

One moment I'll always adore is when TFA Megs walks into the ship and the rest of the Decepticons, who were all screeching at each other, immediately shut up and fall into line. Without a word, not even a gesture, Megatron asserts unquestioned control. His mere presence alone cows others. Screamer got his nerve back, true, but for a brief moment, we understand exactly this is a robot no-one fucks with.

As much as I adore, say, the WfC Megs who is belligerent and loud because he will fight anyone no matter how big, I really do want more of a cold and quiet Megatron who simply lets his reputation speak the words, hiding the real monster inside just a little bit longer.

 

I prefer Megatron with a glass of orange juice and between two slices of bread.

 

Yeah, I don't need the background for the evil guy. He's evil and wants to destroy everything and rule. Don't need more. IDW Megatron had a great backstory, but I couldn't see him as the tyrant anymore, that he supposedly was. I'd rather have black and white good guys and bad guys. I want more thought put into the mythology, but not truly explained. I want it to fuel my fantasy.

 

They do overexplain everything these days, hence why characters are souless.

There is almost nothing left to imagination or interpretation, nothing left to work your own brain over and reach the logical conclusions that follow certain patterns.

I am not speaking about incomplete or bad writting.

 

I think a concept for this would work better for Galvatron.

 

...while i greatly appreciate the depth IDW gave megatron's character, i'm profoundly disappointed in the megatron / optimus fetish fostered upon the franchise since '87; the decepticon/autobot conflict should be far greater in both ideology and scope than any single character, and those two individuals should serve as only the current placeholders in a historic sweep of leadership across both sides of the great war...

...does that mean megatron might be characterised as a mysterious malevolent leader?..sure, if it's done well, but only if he doesn't fill the role of the big bad boss against whom all his forces diminish by comparison; leadership should be good leaders, not the absolute strongest warriors of their respective sides...

 

Dive into his backstory and so on get some depth

 

Nah. Hasbro kinda sucks at the whole mysterious thing. Him just being the d-con leader just winds up back where he started. As a generic "Big Bad." I like backstory.

 

In print media, any long written character is eventually given depth. That is the nature of the beast as writers have to flesh out core characters.

Cartoons, nah. They get a pass due to the fact they are cartoons.

 

It all depends on writing and what the writer wants to put into a character, especially with villians.

A character can have a complete backstory all the way to childhood, or be a mysterious entity with no story. As long as their path serves a purpose, they work really well.

I'll use some examples from other media. In the Legend of Korra, the villain, Amon, works so well because of his mystery. He has mysterious powers, he doesn't show his face, he has a presence. All of that crumbles once you learn his backstory and he's defeated shortly there after. But his goal is clear from the get go, he wants to force the public eye into the discussion of equality.

Another mysterious villain from the show, Zaheer, acts more like a legend than a mysterious entity. And the more you see and learn of him, the better he gets. His goals are similar in that he wants to create equality by removing the special, Korra the Avatar.

Villains like the Joker from the Dark Knight work great as a mysterious force. You know nothing about him but are immediately compelled by him. He has a presence and is well characterized. And even though you know nothing about him, and he says he doesn't have a plan, his goals are clear. He wants to reveal the truth to Gotham that it's people are cruel, self serving, and willing to sacrifice others for their own benefit.

Thanos's backstory served him very well and made his motives quite clear in Infinity War. Then, they threw away all their momentum and made him a generic villain in Endgame. And Endgame suffers because of this.

All in all, a well written villain should definitely have that presence, but should never consider themselves the villain. Their goals must be clear, and actions, supportive of those goals. Even a tyrannical Megatron should have reason behind his actions.

My ideal version of Megatron, and Transformers in general, is quickly morphing into something less black and white, and more grey. I want Megatron, even if he is a Tyrant, to consider himself a hero. I want him to fight this civil war, not for absolute power or to rule over everything, but because he thinks that his actions will lead to a better future.

 

Same here. IDW over complicates things. He can just be a power hungry messianic bad guy. Does it have to be a "Brave heart" style romanticized back story?