what did g1 cartoon megatron turn into on cybertron. what about blaster and perceptor? or the triple changers blitzwing and astrotrain?
Dear Alt-Mode Anxious,
It may not surprise you to learn that their alt-modes were similar to what they ended up having on Earth. As this may seem a little routine, I have elected to expand a little on their circumstances, as I understand some of their histories may not be as well known.
Megatron turned into a powerful fusion cannon, and along with Shockwave, Kiloton, and Treadshot, formed what was known as the "Kolkular Gun Club." They all had minds suited for strategy and warfare, and were among the elite of the Decepticons. Few were surprised when Megatron deposed Trannis and seized control of the faction. It must be stated that Megatron's size changing abilities were not tied to his alternate mode, which hovered above the battle, raining down fire upon his enemies. Instead the size changing came from a plot where Megatron and Soundwave tried infiltrating Iacon, having their power chip rectifiers modified to allow them to sneak in unnoticed. Teletraan-1 did take this power into account when choosing Megatron and Soundwave's new alternate modes.
Blaster turned into the core Iacon base's communications array, a powerful computer system that proved invaluable to the Autobot resistance. In fact, it was this alternate mode that made him the first to hear Teletraan-1's distress signal from the Decepticon attack on the Ark. He relayed this to Elita One, and she instructed Perceptor to try and find the vessel.
At the time, Perceptor turned into a powerful X-Ray telescope, although he had long held a distaste for this alternate mode, feeling a strong sense of disquiet from the empty cosmos. Of course, during war there was little time for comforts, and he dutifully scoured the skies for the likely location of the Autobot's last signal. When he located the, ahem, backwards system they'd likely be, Elita One dispatched the pair of them to go on a rescue mission. They managed to reach Earth, and had been scanning the system to locate the Ark.
Unfortunately a wave of energy disrupted their ship, sending it crashing to Earth where they slept for millions of years.
They were eventually dug out... by Megatron and the Decepticons, who found a group of Autobot warriors in stasis the perfect tool to strike against the Autobots. Having Soundwave wipe their memory circuits, Megatron easily deceived them into believing they were Decepticons, and they had been sent to kill Optimus Prime. He gave them alternate modes of his own design, and had them launch a surprise attack on a human city. Of course, the memory wipe couldn't erase their personalities. When they witnessed the Autobots risking their lives to save humanity, the two felt their inner Autobot programming emerging. Surrendering, they were welcomed back into the Autobots on Earth, although they still had trouble with the memories they had lost. Blaster never forgave Soundwave for his intrusion, and vowed to give him a taste of his own medicine one day.
As for Blitzwing, he had been just another Decepticon air warrior piloting the tetrajet-fighters across Cybertron. It took little effort to convince him to become one instead of merely piloting one, and he was enrolled as an early member of the Skyraiders.
When Megatron took over the Decepticons, he put Shockwave to work enhancing his army. One of the methods Shockwave came up with was the triple changer, with Blitzwing being his first experiment. He supercharged the Skyraider's transformation cog until he was able to coax out a destroyer tank mode, turning Blitzwing into the perfect Ground and Air Commando.
Astrotrain had been a lowly cargo hauler, one of the Decepticon workers who brought needed materiel from the weapons factories to the front lines. He jumped at the chance to become a triple changer, viewing it as a necessary upgrade to enable him to finally become a warrior. Unfortunately, he found himself gaining a courier shuttle and mass transit carriage modes, apparently further cementing his role as a cargo transporter. It wasn't until Megatron called for reinforcements on Earth, millions of years later, that he finally got to join the frontlines himself—even if his Earthly alternate modes ended up being similar to those on Cybertron.
