MEGATRON

megatron-drones-sw-intromegatron-drones-sw-fullish-detail


Real Name: Megatron

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial robot/mecha

Occupation: Warrior

Group Membership:  None

Affiliations: "Drone" race (notably Drone-X), manipulated by the "Primal One" (Maur-Konn)

Enemies: Shogun Warriors (notably Richard Carson/Raydeen, Ilongo Savage/Danguard Ace)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The bottom of the ocean off the coast of Madagascar;
    formerly mobile aboard the Drone ship


First Appearance: Shogun Warriors#18 (July, 1980)



megatron-drones-sw-punch

megatron-drones-sw-fingerblasts

Powers/Abilities: Megatron was a giant battle-robot that was carried within the Drone ship.

    Powered by the life-forces of the three-hundred Drones who served the Primal One and controlled by Drone-X, Megatron was larger (perhaps twice the height or more) and much stronger and more powerful than any of the Shogun Warriors.

    It was durable enough to withstand numerous attacks from a pair of Shogun Warriors without harm. It was fast enough to swing an arm to block an attack from the fast Firehawk form of Raydeen.

    It could fire blasts from its finger tips, and it could put its hands together and combine both arms into a powerful blaster weapon.

    It was packed with powerful weapons, although only a limited number of such weapons were shown in its limited appearances.

    However, he couldn't fly or swim and thus was defeated when toppled into the ocean.

   

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 200'-300'; it looked to be 2-3x the size of Danguard Ace (see comments))
Weight: Unrevealed (impossible to estimate, given unidentified construction)
Eyes: None
Hair: None

   

   
   

megatron-drones-sw-mergedarmblastHistory:
(Shogun Warriors#20 (fb) - BTS) - While passing near Earth, a Drone starship (on which Megatron was based) detected a call for aid being transmitted using a Charter communications link.

    Obeying the Charter summons, the crew followed Charter rules and traveled to a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean where they were met by a being who appeared to be a member of the Charter race known as the Primal Ones.

    However, this "Primal One" was actually an artificial energy-being created and sustained by the technology of the Myndai sorcerer/scientist Maur-Konn who controlled it remotely.

    By the time the Drones learned the truth, Maur-Konn had already used an energy-spell that enslaved the crew to the will of his false Primal One.

(Shogun Warriors#18 - BTS) - Aboard the Drone ship orbiting Earth, at the "Primal One" (Maruk-Konn)'s command, Drone-X placed the pendant worn bymegatron-drones-sw-toppled Ilongo Savage in the aura-detector and used it to pinpoint Savage's location to the eastern shore of Madagascar. The Primal One then ordered Drone-X to lead his crew on a mission to capture the Shogun Warrior Dangard Ace or, failing that, to destroy the robot and, if necessary, its pilot, Savage.

    The Drone ship descended to hover above Savage's position and demanded that he surrender his robot, but Savage escaped and made his way to Dangard Ace to counter-attack. The Drone ship dove under the water, then rose up beneath a cruise ship. With the liner trapped on its back, Dangard Ace was lured into range of its weapons and shot out of the sky, crashing onto the Drone ship.

(Shogun Warriors#18) - Drone-X and his crew boarded their giant battle-robot Megatron and exited the ship to confront Dangard Ace, dwarfing the 100' tall Shogun Warrior.

    After Megatron punched Danguard Ace to the ground, Savage sent a distress message to his teammates, Richard Carson and Genji Odashu, through their mecha, Raydeen and Combatra. Carson heard the message and flew Raydeen from California, converting Raydeen to its supersonic Firehawk form and arriving minutes later.

    Danguard's photon spheres failed to faze Megatron, and Carson flew to strike Megatron from behind, but the Primal One's warning allowed Megatron to swing back an arm and block the attack. As Carson converted Firehawk back into the more humanoid Raydeen form, Danguard Ace blasted Megaton from behind, encouraging Raydeen to blast it from the front.

    However, unharmed by Danguard's attack, Megatron fired blasts from its fingertips, knocking Danguard Ace down as it advised "Megatron cannot be hurt from any side!" Grabbing Raydeen my the arm, Megatron continued boasting, "Megatron is invincible...Megatron hears, Megatron obeys, Megatron triumphs!"

    Savage then fired Danguard's rocket fist into Megatron's mid-section to little effect, after which Megatron combined his arms into a blast weapon that again knocked down Danguard Ace.

    While Megatron seemed readily capable of destroying both Shogun Warriors, the Primal One then changed his plan and retracted his command to destroy.

    Aboard Megatron, Drone-X was distracted by the new orders long enough for the Shogun Warriors to consider that Megatron was extremely massive. Asked if he could swim, Megatron replied, "Megatron is a powerful fighter...not a fish!", after which Carson had Raydeen get down on all fours behind Megatron while Savage had Danguard Ace fly full force into Megatron, causing it to trip backward over Raydeen and fall over the edge of the drone ship.

    Unable to fly or swim, Megatron fell into the ocean where it sank like a stone, taking Drone-X and his crew with it.

(Shogun Warriors#18) - The Drone ship subsequently quickly retreated into space
 



Comments: Created by Doug Moench and Herb Trimpe.
    Megatron previously had a sub-profile under the "Drones" race, originally published 01/17/2005.

    We don't know if Megatron was built by the Drones or for the drones...

megatron-drones-sw-tower     How tall were the Shogun Warriors?
    The Samurai Destroyer, who was built from cannibalized Shogun Warrior parts and an incomplete fourth Shogun Warrior, was listed as 100' tall in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
    Loki provided this summary of what we know about their size relative to objects and beings against which we could compare them:

    In the original anime the toys were based on, Raydeen was 52 meters (approx 171 feet), Danguard Ace was 200 meters (655 feet), and Combatra 57 meters (187 feet). Obviously that doesn't work for the comics though, as Danguard Ace doesn't tower over its two partner mecha. 

    The toy versions are taller than Godzilla incarnation that is part of the line (see the bottom image  Yesterville Toy Room: 1978 Mattel Shogun Warriors Godzilla) but again I don't think we can count on that to match the comic versions. 

    The final panel of Shogun Warriors#1 shows the pilots as tiny stick figures standing at the feet of two of the robots. Measuring them in Photoshop the robots are around 18.1111 recurring times bigger than the humans. ASSuming the humans are around 5'7" (give or take a few inches either way), then that would make the robots around 101 feet tall, give or take a foot or two either way. 

    Of course, in Shogun Warriors#17's last page, panel 1, we see one of the robots standing next to the air traffic control tower in San Francisco International airport, and the tower just comes up to its kneecaps, or about 40% the total height of the robot. Trouble is, Google tells me the tower in the 1970s was 178 feet tall, so the robot would be over 400 feet tall. However, since the control tower doesn't look like the real life tower of the time, I'm thinking that in the pre-internet days they had no clue about the tower and just drew something generic. So I'd still stick with the heights calculated from #1. 

    Shogun Warriors#19, p15, pan3, and Combatra stands on top of the Baxter Building. The robot is 45% of the height of the overall building. Trouble is, despite multiple past handbook entries, it seems we've never been told the building's actual height. We are told there are 35 floors and each floor is 24 feet high (which seems a tad big for the residential or office floors), which would be 840 feet, and which would make Combatra in turn around 378 feet. Again, inconsistent.

    I'm thinking the first option fits best - artists might not know the proper heights of buildings but they would for humans, so those human to robot proportions seem the most likely to be accurate imo. Plus around the 100 feet mark would put the three Shogun Warriors around the same height as Red Ronin and the Samurai Destroyer, which feels fitting. 

    Megatron previously had a profile under the Drones race, originally published 01/17/2005

   This profile was completed 05/18/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent the Shogun Warriors.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Megatron should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
Shogun Warriors#18, pg. 11 (confronting Danguard Ace);
       pg. 12, panel 1 (punching Danguard Ace);
       pg. 13, panel 4 (towering over Danguard Ace);
       pg. 14, panel 4 (good full body shot while blasted behind);
            panel 5 (fingertip blasters);
       pg. 15, panel 9 (combined hand/arm blaster);
       pg. 16, panel 8 (tripped);
Appearances:
Shogun Warriors#18 (July, 1980) - Doug Moench (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Al Milgrom and Jim Shooter (editors)
Shogun Warriors#20 (September, 1980) - Doug Moench (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Al Milgrom and Jim Shooter (editors)

First posted: 09/18/2026
Last updated: 05/19/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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