Age of the Primes Megatronus The Fallen

Prelude: He has fallen, he is on fire, and he speaks almost entirely in dark, ominous clichés. He is The Fallen, sometimes known as Megatronus, the Judas Prime. And while there have been quite a few toys called The Fallen or Megatronus in the past, this here is but the second official figure of The Fallen as he first appeared. So, prepare to traverse the fringes of infinity, etch your chaotic stigmata into the worldskin, and gaze in wonder at the angles of dissolution as we say go!

Robot Mode: In a time when most Leader Class figures are basically Voyager figures with extra parts, I am always glad to get Leader figures like this one here: big, beefy, and really solid-looking. The Fallen (I don’t really like the Megatronus name, so for me, he’s the Fallen, full stop) is a big and broad figure with a menacing look. Mostly black, grey, and dark purple, he has numerous bright yellow “slits” on his face and torso, making it look like he’s a walking furnace, glowing from the inside. Very nice.

Articulation is great, no complaints or limitations. The Fallen has big feet, so he has a stable platform for all sorts of poses. In some poses you can see that said feet are basically just frames with nothing in them (see picture 8, the kicking pose). It doesn’t hurt him, but it looks a bit weird. He has a bit of tank kibble on his back, but otherwise he has a very clean silhouette with no real clue what he transforms into. Very nice. The only slight downside is that his chest shield doesn’t quite tab in solidly, but that is really a minor thing.

Despite being a big figure all by himself, the Fallen does come with numerous add-on parts. First and most important: the fire effect parts. His whole thing is that he’s constantly on fire, so he comes with four effect parts for his shoulders and back kibble to simulate flames. It works way better than I thought it would. 

Apart from the flames, he comes with numerous weapons. First among them is the Requiem Blaster, which he can attach to either arm or store on his back. The blaster is like a shorter version of Megatron’s famous fusion cannon, but it can elongate by flipping it open. And then you can elongate it AGAIN by attaching the extra barrel he comes with (which is for the tank mode, really, but you can use it here, too). Very nice. 

The second weapon is a multiple homage. It’s a sword and a short spear that combine into a longer spear. The sword is based on RID 2015 Megatronus’ weapon, the spear is a Spark fuser weapon from the same cartoon, and combined into a spear it homages the weapon carried by the Fallen’s Revenge of the Fallen incarnation. Not a bad weapon, but not something I’d really have needed. Sword, spear, and extra barrel can all be stored on the back. Finally, there is a small sculpted missile launcher he can clip on top of his shoulder.

So bottom line for the robot mode: brilliant. A great representation of the Fallen with just very, very minor complaints.

Alternate Mode: Now this figure here is based on the Fallen as depicted in the Dreamwave comics (more on that below) and in said comics he never transformed into an alternate mode. That said, Pat Lee (or some other artist he didn’t credit, possibly) did design an alternate mode for the Fallen, so this is what this toy’s altmode here is based on. It’s basic design is an H-tank, somewhat similar to Armada Megatron and with a somewhat similar transformation, too. The transformation isn’t difficult, though I advise looking into the instruction sheet the first time you do it.

The tank looks great and sufficiently science-fiction-y for my tastes, too. The turret can turn and the tank barrel can elevate a bit, too. Sadly it’s not entirely stable, as it’s basically just the elongated Requiem Blaster between the two robot arms. So when you turn it, the three parts can wobble a bit. Otherwise, though, everything works just fine. The spear can attach to the tank’s side and all four flame effect parts can attach here, too, though it doesn’t look quite as good as it does in robot mode.

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. It’s a cool sci-fi tank mode, based on the Fallen’s original (if unused) design. The turret could be more stable, but pretty good otherwise.

Remarks: The Fallen was first introduced in Dreamwave‘s second War Within mini-series, subtitled “The Dark Age”. Among the original 13 Primes, he was the Judas, the one who betrayed his creator Primus to Unicron and was exiled for it. And possibly cursed to be eternally on fire, who knows? It was only later that his name was revealed to be Megatronus, the inspiration for Megatron’s name, and ever since Megatronus has been one of the 13, though he’s not the traitor in every continuity. This figure here, however, is clearly the Fallen from the Dreamwave continuity, the ever-burning traitor to his own kind.

The first and so far only official the Fallen figure was Titanium The Fallen, which was cool, but not great. Then MakeToys brought out Paladin/Chaos, which was pretty great, but included a somewhat superfluous smaller robot mode. Now, finally, we have a proper the Fallen and it’s a pretty great figure. Some minor flaws in both modes, but still a great-looking and nicely playable figure. And I love those flame effects, too. So bottom line: if you like the Fallen, this is the figure you should get.

Rating: A-