Overlord (Transformers)

Overlord is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes.

Transformers: Generation 1

Overlord/Gigatron

Overlord in Transformers: Zone
Decepticon
Sub-group	Powermasters
Function	Ambassador of Destruction
Motto	"I stand my ground, I accept any challenge, I am hungry for conflict."
Alternate Modes	Tank & SR-71 Blackbird / Defense Base
Series	Transformers: Generation 1

Animated series

Outside of Japan, Overlord's sole animated appearance was in the toy commercial aired in Europe.

In Japan, Overlord was a villain in the Masterforce animated series. The story of Overlord begins with the mysterious alien energy-being, Devil Z, who sought to create the ultimate super-robot lifeform. Stealing a selection of Transformer Transtectors – lifeless robot bodies designed to merge with smaller robots – from a sector of space known as the G Nebula, he scattered them across the Earth, intending for them to absorb the planet's energies, known as "Chichokon", in addition to the heavenly "Tenchokon" energy they had acquired from the G Nebula. Alongside the largest of the eight Transtectors brought to the planet, Devil Z slumbered deep within an ocean trench, awaiting the day that his plan could come to fruition, and human souls would bond with the Transtectors, endowing them with "Jinchokon", the power of man, and giving the resultant lifeforms, the Godmasters, the power over the three primal energies of life.

That day came when two human beings, a husband and wife named Giga and Mega, came into Devil Z's service and were both bonded with the largest Transtector (the animated series offers no explanation for how this occurred, but the accompanying manga strongly implies that the couple died at sea and had their bodies recovered and resurrected by Devil Z). The duo now controlled the dual aspects of the Transtector – Giga piloted the "Gigatank", while Mega controlled the "Megajet", which could combine together to form either a defense base or the giant robot known as Overlord.

With Devil Z already having brainwashed BlackZarak, the commander of the evil Decepticons – currently engaged in battling the heroic Autobots in the depths of space – Overlord was branded as a Decepticon, the "Amabassador of Destruction" with Devil Z as the emperor. While Devil Z's other agents, the Decepticon Pretenders and Headmaster Juniors, kept the small Autobot force remaining on Earth occupied, the so-dubbed "Lord Giga" and "Lady Mega" set about locating other Godmasters on Earth, finding the German brothers Buster and Hydra and recruiting them to the Decepticon side. After the two groups of Decepticons were then gathered together under Giga and Mega's command, a race ensued between the Autobots and Decepticons to locate the remaining Godmasters, only for the Autobots to acquire three.

Incensed by this failure, Giga and Mega took matters into their own hands, taking their Transtectors into battle for the first time. Luring the Autobot commander Ginrai into the desert, Giga and Mega confronted him as Overlord and immediately proved their physical superiority by thrashing him so badly that he was near death. Overlord subsequently departed into space, taking control of a weather-monitoring base on the moon in order to rendezvous with the approaching BlackZarak there. Pursued by Ginrai, now merged with the drone Godbomber as the powered-up God Ginrai, Overlord and BlackZarak battled him and the Autobot battleship Grand Maximus; refusing to follow Overlord's instruction to return to Earth, BlackZarak ultimately met defeat and fled back into space.^[1]

When Black Zarak returned, Devil Z's plans escalated to the destruction of all human life on Earth, shocking Giga and Mega; where Devil Z had come to fear the power of Jinchokon that dwelled within all human beings, the couple celebrated their humanity. Dissention grew as Devil Z fused with BlackZarak and abandoned the Headmaster Juniors in the ruins of the destroyed Decepticon base, and Buster and Hydra, believing that their inability to defeat Ginrai was the result of human limitations, were transformed into fully robotic beings through Devil Z’s power. Confronting God Ginrai for one final time, Overlord vowed to fight him without weapons, battling him only through the use of his physical strength, through the power of his human flesh. When Devil Z turned on Buster and Hydra for their own failures, however, Overlord attempted to attack him, only to be on the receiving end of the emperor's wrath. Rescued by God Ginrai, Giga and Mega finally turned against Devil Z, but when they aided God Ginrai in combating their former master, they were struck down and forcibly separated from their Transtector, which was brought to life through Devil Z's power. As their Masterbraces vanished from their wrists, Giga and Mega died, regretting that they could not settle their rivalry with Ginrai honorably.

With the subsequent destruction of Devil Z at God Ginrai's hands, the now-living Overlord Transtector fled into space with the other Decepticons, and joined with the main Decepticon force in space. After a series of short, silent cameos in the next series, Transformers: Victory, as a continued opponent for God Ginrai,

Overlord returned in 1990's Transformers: Zone as one of the nine great Decepticon generals under the command of the mysterious insectoid being, Violenjiger.^[2]

Dreamwave Productions

Later, during Dreamwave Productions' 21st Century re-imagining of the Transformers universe, "Gigatron" was said to be an ancient robot credited with the creation of Powermaster technology.

IDW Productions

Overlord was one of Megatron's "phase sixers", who were extremely powerful Decepticons tasked with obliterating a planet on the verge of collapse, but he refused to settle for this and flew away, knowing that Megatron would chase him. Several years later, he arrived at the Autobot detention facility on Garrus-9 during a Decepticon attack and took over the active forces, killing General Skyquake in the process. After he seized the facility, he transformed the planet into a vast arena where he forced his troops to hunt Autobots or participate in gladatorial combat. All of this was part of his plan to attract Megatron, as Shockwave concluded upon getting reactivated by Overlord. However, his plans were cut short by the arrival of the Wreckers, who sought to liberate the prisonners and extract vital data. Overlord fought and killed most of them, only to suffer grievous damage and learning that Megatron has been dead for long. Realizing that the Decepticon leader never bothered himself with chasing Overlord, he fell on his knees and asked to be finished. He was then taken by the remaining Wreckers for a trial.

Toys

• Generation 1 Powermaster Overlord (1988)

Not available outside of Japan in its original release year of 1988, Overlord was later sold in Europe in 1991 as the rival to the Autobot Motorvators. His function reclassified as "Self-Contained Nomadic Assault", Giga and Mega became nameless "Energon mini-figures" and Overlord’s new biography depicted him as a legend among Decepticons by virtue of his very existence. Capable of handling any location or terrain, and apparently capable even of dimensional travel, Overlord keeps the Autobots perpetually uneasy – his body even contains an entire arms manufacturing plant capable of producing a vast array of weaponry, and his base mode serves to pave the way for the arrival of the Decepticon battle fleet. Overlord is, without a doubt, a robot ready for all-out war.^[3][4] The Overlord toy transforms from a robot to two separate vehicles - a SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft and an M1 Abrams tank, which is something of a rarity among Transformers toys. The aircraft forms the robot's upper body while tank forms its legs.

• Generation 1 Gigatron

A model of Overlord was amongst the figures released in the fifth wave of the Japanese "Super Collection Figure" series of PVC figurines. Later exported to America as part of the "Heroes of Cybertron" line, the figure was renamed "Gigatron", designated as a Powermaster (the English version of Godmasters) and given a bio derived from Overlord’s European release, along with the same motto, while retaining his original Japanese function as "Ambassador of Destruction".

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Gigatron is the Japanese name for Megatron.

Shattered Glass

Overlord

Decepticon
Alternate Modes	Tank & SR-71 Blackbird / Defense Base
Series	Transformers: Timelines

Overlord was presumably a heroic Decepticon who was killed by the Autobots. He is a dimensional counterpart to the Generation 1 version of the character.

Fun Publications

Clench, Krok, Overlord and Skyquake's bodies are seen decorating the Autobot headquarters in the Transformers: Timelines story "Shattered Glass" by Fun Publications.

References

1. ^ http://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/supergod
2. ^ Jim Sorenson & Bill Forster (July 22, 2008). Transformers: The Ark II. IDW Publishing. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-1600101809. 
3. ^ Alvarez, J.E. (2001). The Unofficial Guide to Japanese and International Transformers. Schiffer Publishing Ltd.. p. 41. ISBN 0764312820. 
4. ^ Tomart's Action Figure Digest #28, 1996