Transformers One Reveals Why Starscream Hates Megatron

This post contains spoilers for “Transformers One.”

“Transformers One,” the fully-animated prequel, has arrived. Set on Cybertron, home planet of these autonomous robots, the movie depicts how Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) went from best friends — and nobodies named Orion Pax and D-16 — to leading two sides of a galactic civil war. (Read /Film’s “Transformers One” review here to find out whether or not it succeeds.)

Even with its brief 104-minute runtime, “Transformers One” shows the beginnings of the other most important conflict in Megatron’s life: The one with his future second-in-command, the Decepticons’ treacherous Air Commander Starscream (Steve Buscemi, using the same serpentine voice he used as Randall in “Monsters Inc.”).

Starscream’s defining quality has always been a desire to overthrow Megatron and supplant him as Decepticon leader. He’s too ambitious and egomaniacal to accept serving under someone else, but in the end, he can never surpass Megatron as a warrior or leader. Starscream is so synonymous with his character archetype that TV Tropes even uses his name to label it.

“Transformers” has mixed this schtick up over the years. Sometimes Starscream is competent and only comes up short next to Megatron, other times he’s a total buffoon and his repeated failures become comic relief. Anime series “Transformers: Armada” reimagined it as more of an abusive father-son dynamic. Starscream wasn’t out to betray or usurp Megatron, only to gain his leader’s respect and favor — which Megatron always withheld. That turned Starscream’s feelings into hatred and a desire to defeat his leader.

Sometimes Starscream will try and feign loyalty, while other times Megatron gets sick of the backstabbing. See “Transformers: Infilitration” by Simon Furman and E.J. Su: 

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The original 1986 “The Transformers: The Movie” also saw Megatron, reborn as Galvatron, blast Starscream into dust after one too many betrayals.

But no matter how a series depicts the particulars of their dynamic, Megatron and Starscream are almost always butting heads. The major exception is, amazingly, the live-action “Transformers” movies. These films couldn’t be bothered to characterize the robots, so Starscream was just a toady — his first line “I live to serve you, Lord Megatron” is delivered without a hint of sarcasm or backhanded praise. “Transformers One,” though, plants the seeds of this franchise-defining rivalry. Starscream’s often claimed that without Megatron around, he’d be the Decepticon leader, and this new movie shows he wasn’t embellishing.