The Transformers is an American-Japanese animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro and Takara Tomy's Transformers toy line. The first television series in the Transformers franchise, it depicts a war among giant robots that can transform into vehicles and other objects.

Megatron is the main antagonist of the Transformers media franchise produced by the American toy company Hasbro and the Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. He is the tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a villainous faction of alien robots that seeks to conquer their home planet of Cybertron and the rest of the known universe, and serves as the archenemy of Optimus Prime, the leader of the rival Autobot faction. As with all Cybertronians, Megatron can disguise himself by transforming into vehicles or weapons. His alternate modes have included a Walther P38 handgun, a particle-beam weapon, a telescopic laser cannon, a Cybertronian jet, and various tanks, depending on which continuity he is depicted in.