Beast Wars: Transformers

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Beast Wars TV series logo.

Beast Wars (Beasties in Canada) was a line of toys under the Transformers banner, released by Hasbro between 1995 and 1999. The toys spawned a full-CG animated series set in the Transformers universe, produced by Mainframe Entertainment of Canada. The series debuted in 1996, as a sequel to the original Transformers which debuted in 1984 as both a television series and as a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The television series was followed by various limited comic book stories from several companies including Dreamwave comics and IDW.

The series follows the adventures of the "Maximals" and the "Predacons", rival factions of beings who transform between their natural robot and alternative "beast" modes. The Maximals are descendants of the Autobots from the original series, while the Predacons's ancestors were the Decepticons. An interesting element of the series frequently leans the balance of power in the favor of the Predacons, many of whom have spent their lives in the art of warfare. The Maximals, mainly comprised of scientists, have been drawn into an ongoing conflict beyond the scope of their experience. Overall, Beast Wars is one of the most beloved Transformers series made as many fans across the world cherish it for its sophisticated writing and in-depth character development.

The story editors for the Beast Wars TV series were Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio. All three seasons are currently available on DVD in the USA and other DVD Region 1 territories and Season 1 is avalible in Australasia thanks to madman.com.au.

The Production Designer for the show, Clyde Klotz, won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in 1997. This award was for his work on Beast Wars, making the series an Emmy award winning show. [1]

Pilot episode

The two-part pilot episode, entitled "Beast Wars", chronicles the arrival of both the Maximals and Predacons on a mysterious, uncharted planet. The Predacons have stolen a Golden Disk which was the most valued relic of the planet Cybertron (the home of the Transformers) and supposedly held the location of a rich Energon source, which could make the Predacons invincible. The Predacons flee into outer space with the stolen Predacon ship the Dark Side, seeking Earth. (Their reasons for seeking Earth are first explained as finding energon, but alternate motives are revealed later.) They are pursued by a Maximal exploration ship Axalon, which was the only ship in the vicinity able to lock on to the Predacon ship. The opening scene shows the Predacon ship emerging from an apparent wormhole, closely pursued by the Maximal ship.

Being an exploration vessel, the Axalon is not equipped for an all-out battle, a factor that the Predacons exploit, firing at the Axalon until it is severely crippled. However, a lucky shot (and timing) from the Maximals manages to deal damage to the Predacon ship as well. Thus, both ships are critically damaged and plummet to the planet surface.

Both the Maximals and Predacons are stranded on the planet (which we later learn is prehistoric Earth, although there is conflicting evidence for exactly when and where it would have taken place in real life), which they soon learn is rich in Energon. Although Energon is vital to the survival of the Transformers, an environment as Energon-rich as that which they now find themselves in is harmful——causing them, when in robot-form, to short-out within anywhere from a few minutes to mere seconds, depending on the Energon concentration levels in the vicinity. Thus both the Maximals and Predacons scan the surrounding terrain for lifeforms, which they can then use as a template for their new beast-forms that protect them from the radiation.

The four Maximals take on the forms of a gorilla (Optimus Primal, their leader); a cheetah (Cheetor); a rhinoceros (Rhinox); and, a giant rat (Rattrap). Meanwhile, the leader of the Predacons (named Megatron, like his Generation One counterpart) takes on the form of a purple tyrannosaurus rex. His minions take on the form of a velociraptor (Dinobot); a giant wasp (Waspinator); a giant tarantula (Tarantulas); a pterosaur (Terrorsaur); and a giant scorpion (Scorponok).

Dinobot quickly defects to the side of the Maximals, due to his dissatisfaction with Megatron's failure to bring them to the correct planet (specifically, he calls Megatron an "idiot" and challenges him for leadership of the Predacons. However, he is subsequently attacked by Scorponok, and is blasted away from their company as a result). Dinobot's reasoning for believing that they're on the wrong planet is the presence of two moons, a decent enough reason for anyone to think it's not Earth.

Later, Cheetor encounters Waspinator when he runs off on the Maximals, too eager to test the speed limits of his new beast form. After a short battle, Cheetor is forced to retreat, and the other Maximals rush to his rescue, unaware that the other Predacons are also on their way. Both forces clash eventually, with Optimus taking a risk to save Cheetor (since Rattrap did not want to do so as ordered).

Having rescued Cheetor, the Maximals beat a hasty retreat, with Optimus and Rattrap bickering over the post of leadership, the latter obviously dissatisfied with the former. It is here that Optimus makes one of his more popular statements: "I would not give an order that I was not willing to do myself!"

On their way back to the Axalon, the Maximals are forced to cross a narrow bridge of land overlooking a gorge, and (as luck would have it) Dinobot blocks their passage on the far side of the bridge, challenging the Maximals - for leadership.

Optimus initially does not wish to fight, but Dinobot forces him into battle, and both transformers duke it out on the narrow bridge. At first, Dinobot seems to have the upper hand, but refuses to strike Optimus when the latter slips and falls, stating that the move would be without honour.

Alas, the Predacons catch up to the Maximals, and Megatron wastes no time in exploiting the situation to its fullest, ordering his forces to fire on the bridge in an attempt to kill two birds with one stone. The bridge is blown up as the other Maximals make a dash for their leader (and their base), and Optimus saves Dinobot from certain death, earning the respect of the Predacon.

Though Megatron failed to destroy both traitor as well as Maximal commander, he is alerted that a wayward missile, fired during the battle, has blown the top off a nearby mountain, exposing an enormous deposit of energon within!

As expected, both factions make a mad dash for the energon, and a small skirmish between the Maximas (plus Dinobot now) and the Predacon fliers (Terrorsaur and Waspinator) en route to the mountain leaves Rattrap bickering with Dinobot over the ex-Predacon's would-be change in allegiance.

Eventually, both Maximals and Predacons arrive on the mountaintop, and a battle between beasts ensues (due to the rich energon concentrations, robot modes cannot be used), with the now evenly-matched factions dueling one-on-one. However, Megatron grows impatient, and transforms to robot mode after biting Optimus' leg, whereupon he fires a cluster grenade at the crippled Maximal commander. However, Dinobot deflects the grenade at the last moment with his tail, and it strikes the energon and starts a chain reaction!

With the mountain on the verge of exploding, the Maximals and Predacons beat a hasty retreat, Megatron using one last burst of energy to leap from the mountain just as his robot mode shorts out. Optimus thanks Dinobot for his help and officially welcomes him to the Maximals, and Dinobot considers his debt to Optimus (during the battle on the bridge) paid in full.

Thus began the Beast Wars, as the Maximals and Predacons battle on the mysterious planet for control of the Energon source.

Further adventures

Before the Maximal ship crashed on the planet's surface, it ejected dozens of stasis pods, containing dormant Transformers (Maximal Protoforms), into a safe orbit. When the stasis pods come down to the planet's surface, the pod's computer scans the immediate area for animals (searching for a suitable beast form). Eventually, a new Transformer emerges; upon detecting the pods' electronic signals, the Maximals and Predacons each race to rescue (or reprogram, in the Predacons' case) the Protoform first.

Thus, as the first season progresses, the cast of characters is built up in this way. The characters that come out of statis pods in season 1 are Tigatron and Airazor (both Maximals), Blackaranchia and Inferno (both Predacons, although Blackarachnia's allegiance becomes questionable by the end of the second season). Later, Silverbolt and Quickstrike (both Predacons at first, but Silverbolt quickly defects to the Maximals) emerge in season 2. Another two interesting characters make their appearances from stasis pods in season 2: Rampage and Transmutate.

The subsequent seasons of the Beast Wars saga see dramatic changes to the characters, including the introduction of the Transmetals, characters whose exostructures became mutated by a transwarp explosion at the beginning of season 2, making them highly resistant to energon exposure. These were based on the Hasbro Transformer toys which feature three modes of transformation, not just two, clearly meant to recall the three and six-changer transformers.

Another new group of characters were the Fuzors, in which the Beast Mode of the Transformer consists of a combination of two different animals (in Silverbolt's case, a wolf and an eagle).

Characters who became Transmetals were Optimus Primal, Megatron, Rattrap, Cheetor, Tarantulus, Blackaranchia (becoming a Maximal in the process), Rampage, Depth Charge and Dinobot II (a Predacon clone of the original Dinobot from season 1). Fuzor characters are Quickstrike and Silverbolt. An even more interesting character was introduced near the end of season 3: Tigerhawk, a Fuzor (actually Tigatron and Airazor combined into one body) AND a Transmetal!

Beast Wars introduced the concept of spark, a mechanical term for "soul". Each Transformer carries his own spark within it and when critically injured, the Transformer dies and its spark leaves its body. Note that a true Transformer "death" is different from "stasis lock", which is more appropriately described as simply losing consciousness, as the Transformer's spark is still intact. Both Maximal and Predacon sparks return to "the Matrix", the "Allspark" from which all Sparks come. Sparks and mortality would play a major role in Beast Wars.

Eventually (or early, depending on how much thought you put into the script, because Optimus makes reference to the "Great War" in the beginning of season 1 - a statement that most fans believe refers to Transformers Generation 1) it was revealed that Maximals and Predacons were the descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons, and that the Autobots were the eventual winners of the wars in the original Transformers saga. The Decepticons were, for the most part, dismantled or made second-class citizens, or as Megatron referred to them, "slaves."

Later in the series it is revealed that the Maximals and Predacons had in fact traveled back in time, using transwarp technology installed on the Axalon, and had landed on Earth after all, though in prehistoric times. Also on Earth at this time is the Autobot Ark, containing the stasis-locked (i.e., in suspended animation) Autobot leader Optimus Prime, his officers, and the Decepticons who boarded the Ark before it crashed. Thus, the Beast Wars storyline can be said to have taken place on Earth sometime between the Generation 1 Transformers' crash 4 million years ago, and their subsequent activation in the year 1984 (when they would start the Great War).

Also, the Golden Disk that Megatron stole from the Maximals was in fact the Voyager Golden Record, and the location of Energon was Earth itself. The original Megatron had inscribed additional information onto the disc, hinting at the location of the Ark, as well as the location of a major energon source (in this case, Earth).

It is also revealed that the original Megatron had a back up plan in case he failed to conquer Earth during the Great War in 1984. He had secretly encoded the details of his scheme onto the Golden Disc sometime after the Voyager spacecraft had been launched. His plan was to call for any possible Decepticon decendants (in this case, the Predacons) to go back in time to destroy the first early humans (thus depriving the Autobots of a valuable ally), or kill Optimus Prime as he lay in stasis, thus reversing the Decepticons' defeat by the Autobots (and the Predacons' subseqent "subjugation" by the Maximals).

In fact, the future of the human race is nearly lost when a group of prehistoric humans are almost destroyed by the Predacons (Megatron wasting no time after discovering, through the Golden Disk, that altering the past WOULD indeed change the future). It is thanks to a valiant effort on Dinobot's part that the prehistoric humans survived, the ex-Predacon battling and defeating Inferno, Blackarachnia, Waspinator, Rampage and Quickstrike one after the other.

With only Megatron left to confront, the badly-damaged Dinobot makes an honourable last stand, knocking Megatron down (with an improvised stone axe, no less) and retrieving the Golden Disk from the Predacon commander. With his last drop of energy, Dinobot shatters the Golden Disk - and dies soon after.

It is while watching Dinobot fight, and studying the crude axe he made, that the early humans eventually learn to use tools and fight for themselves.

Characters

Maximals

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They were based in the spaceship Axalon, and later they moved to the volcano that houses the Ark.

Optimus Primal

Supreme Commander of the Maximals whose beast-form is a silver-back gorilla, without a silver back. Also, the face is more cartoonish, and less oblong. Optimus is a sensitive leader with much concern for his friends and comrades. In addition, he is also imperfect (sometimes making flawed judgements, a trait that sets him apart from other Autobot leaders) and prone to losing his temper under pressure. He uses the word "Prime" often, usually in a sarcastic fashion as a descriptive or an expletive ("...Well, that's just Prime...", or "Guess who's back, and feeling Prime!"). He was killed saving everyone from the Vok Planet Killer, but resurrected as a Transmetal, able to fly using a hoverboard. Then, when he housed the spark of Optimus Prime while his predecessor's body was being fixed, he evolved into Optimal Optimus. Rattrap often referred to him as "the Boss Monkey," while Cheetor was prone to calling him "Big Bot."

Rhinox

Second-in-command to Optimus Primal and proficient in technological creation and repair; beast form is a rhinoceros. Rhinox's personality is a two-sided coin. On one side, he is a gentle giant who loves peace and quiet and smelling flowers; on the other, when agitated Rhinox is prone to making threats or using his imposing body to gain compliance. Rhinox seems generally as capable of leadership as Optimus Primal, and Optimus Primal has told him as much. However, Rhinox abhors the babysitting and loss of independence that come with being a full-time leader. He is indisputably loyal to Optimus Primal; their mutual respect is so strong that Rhinox is the only Maximal that Optimus Primal seeks advice from (causing mild, intermittent jealousy among a few other Maximals). Though never confirmed, it is implied that Rhinox might be older than Optimus Primal, and a once-great (but burned-out) ex-leader. Rhinox's true abilities come out when, in the episode "Dark Designs", he is reprogrammed into a Predacon- only to outwit and damage every other Predacon, to the dismay of Megatron. Rhinox is the only Maximal whose form does not change or evolve for the duration of the series, though in the toyline he did become a Transmetal. The nickname of his two hand held miniguns, though never said on screen, were "The Chain Guns of Doom". He spent much of the second and third season minding the Maximal bases rather than going out on missions.

Rattrap

Lieutenant (third-in-command - although was second-in-command to Optimus in one episode) and a somewhat pessimistic smart-aleck whose beast form is a rat. Rattrap fills the comic relief portion of the show; he also seems to be the Maximals' covert ops/spy and once defected to the Predacons to find out secret information. As a Transmetal, his vehicle mode is a high-powered car. Second to Rhinox, Rattrap has some knowledge about mechanics, especially sabotage and demolition/explosives. Rattrap often criticized Cheetor's immaturity and would at times defy Optimus Primal when he felt Optimus's ideas were unreasonable, too risky or stupid. Rattrap also was very suspicious of Dinobot's loyalty throughout his time as a Maximal. The two often bickered, but for the most part were friendly rivals right up until the time of Dinobot's death in Code of Hero (although Rattrap never quite completely trusted Dinobot entirely after the events of Maximal No More, in which Dinobot briefly returned to his original Predacon allegiance). Dinobot often made jokes about Rattrap's odor. As Dinobot lay dying, Rattrap was shown to be affected by Dinobot's bravery and passing. Rattrap was the most eager of the group to go home to Cybertron. Rattrap was constantly giving his comrades nicknames, both derogatory and buddingly friendly, often calling Optimus "the Boss Monkey", Cheetor "Spots", Tigatron "Tigatron the Barbarian", Dinobot "Chopperface", Depth Charge "Captain Herring" or "The Tin Minnow", Tigerhawk "thunder-butt", Blackarachnia as "Legs" or "Webs" and Silverbolt as "bird dog" (at one point he called Silverbolt "Sir Drools-a-Lot"). Dinobot often referred to Rattrap as "Vermin". Despite his tendency to give his comrades nicknames, Rattrap was in fact a capable leader, and in Primal or Rhinox's absence would take the mantle of leadership.

Cheetor

Cheetor functions as jungle patrol, acts immaturely and possesses the beast form of a cheetah. He underwent two Transmetal upgrades during the series. The first one added two jet engines on stub wings, allowing him to fly in Vehicle Mode. The second changed the two flight jets into one big jet on his back, allowing him to run at Mach 5 (Despite popular belief that Cheetor could no longer fly, he did clearly do so in the season 3 finale). The Transmetal 2 upgrade brought his feral side closer to the surface, making his personality occasionally (almost uncontrollably) aggressive. For the first half of the series, Cheetor idolizes Optimus Primal. He tries, with little success, to model himself after him and gain his approval. He later begins to reject Optimus as a role model. Cheetor had an unreciprocated love interest for Blackarachnia around the time of his second transformation. In pursuit of this, he conducted himself as he had in the beginning of the series with Optimus, by trying desperately to impress Blackarachnia and win her respect and admiration. He became jealous of Silverbolt for his relationship with Blackarachnia. His interest in Blackarachnia faded after she stated he was “sick of his stupid little crush.” Cheetor's character was similar to that of a teenager in the early series, and that of a young adult in Beast Machines. He matures into one of the more competent and dependable Maximal outside of Optimus, becoming second-in-command and leading the team during Primal’s bouts of instability during the middle run of Beast Machines.

Dinobot

Seemingly merciless, Klingon-esque Combat Specialist. He was a former Predacon whose beast form is a Velociraptor (this has been debated as whether or not is correct), and shares the name of a sub group of near-indestructible Generation 1 Autobots. Like a samurai, Dinobot has a high sense of honor and duty -- one that often blinds him to concepts like compromise or forethought. Dinobot is impatient and naturally suspicious; the Maximal's lingering distrust of him, particularly Rattrap, who often called Dinobot "Chopper Face" while Dinobot called Rattrap "Vermin", for being a turncoat only heightens this. Dinobot was short-tempered and ever-ready to sharply criticize those he disagreed with -- even Optimus Primal, whom he secretly harbored deep respect for. Despite a seemingly insufferable persona, Dinobot was fiercely loyal to the Maximal cause (or perhaps merely channeling his hatred of Megatron), displayed surprising integrity, and was even (rarely) empathetic. He sacrificed his life to stop Megatron from killing the primitive humans in the episode "Code of Hero" (considered by many fans to be the best episode of any of the Transformers series).

Tigatron

The first Maximal protoform to be awakened from an Earth-fallen stasis pod, Tigatron served as the team's recon. His beast form was a white tiger that lived in the Arctic. Of all the Maximals, Tigatron was the one most 'in harmony' with his beast form and shares a love for the beauty of nature with Airazor. During his long travels through primeval earth, he managed to merge his animal instincts with his Maximal brain, uniting his beast and robotic forms. His personality is that of, at best, a buddhist monk, or at worst an over concerned environmentalist “tree-hugger” (as at one point he was willing to abandon his friends out of misplaced over-concern of the environment); he is slow to anger, lives in harmony with the world around him, is a pacifist, and is wise and well-spoken. Tigatron's unwavering adherence to his moral convictions (including a belief that fighting should always be the final resort) often put him at odds with the Maximals. His early relationship with Optimus Primal was uneasy, but Tigatron ultimately became one of his most loyal followers. As a result he was viewed as aloof, despite possessing some of the most powerful weaponry of all the Transformers. Tigatron was less willing to participate in pre-emptive military actions, but always willing to run to the Maximal's rescue whenever they were on the brink of disaster or ultimate Predacon victory. He and Airazor were abducted by the mysterious alien race known as the Vok, who fused them into Tigerhawk (TigerFalcon). (In the noncanon BotCon fictions, he was later revived by the Vok to assist Primal Prime.)

Airazor

The second Maximal protoform, her beast mode was a large Peregrine Falcon. Brash and self-confident, Airazor is the Maximal's aerial scout during the better part of the series' first season. When her stasis pod crashed, the locking chip of Airazor's protoform was damaged. Rhinox transplanted Cheetor's locking chip into Airazor's protoform and giving her a chance of survival. Together with the locking chip, Airazor inherited some of Cheetor's personality-quirks, and sees Rhinox as something of an "uncle" figure. She had a romantic relationship with Tigatron before being abducted by the Vok and fused into Tigerhawk. (She was later revived by the Vok to aid Primal Prime. Airazor was male in the Japanese version of the series, but was female in the manga.)

Silverbolt

Silverbolt is the maximal equivalent to the "white knight in shining armor." Maximal flyer and Fuzor; his Beast mode is a fusion of an eagle and a gray wolf. Among them, he was the most righteous and stood up for both the Transmutate and the formidable Predacon Blackarachnia. He was sort of a contrast to Dinobot (who embodied Predacon honor, similar to the Samurai code of bushido); Silverbolt embodied the Maximal version of honor which was like the chivalry of the medieval knights, which sometimes left his team mates feeling befuddled at just how seriously he took his ideals. Often, a cheesy theme would play whenever Silverbolt said or did something heroic (especially where a certain female Predacon was involved), sounding somewhat like an old English fanfare for the Knights of old. Like Tigatron, Silverbolt was slow to anger but wouldn't back down from a fight. Rattrap often called him "Bird Dog" and, at one point, called him "Sir Drools-a-Lot". Waspinator often referred to Silverbolt as "Doggy-Bot". Silverbolt himself didn't seem to mind and generally let whatever criticisms people made of him roll off his back. Silverbolt fell in love with Blackarachnia, and had charmed her (via his unshakeable integrity and commitment to protect her no matter the circumstances) into grudgingly falling in love with him, at the end of Season 2; when Rattrap made a derogative remark about Blackarachnia's well being, Silverbolt threatened to harm him brutally.

Depth Charge

Marine Commander and former Maximal Security Officer; beast form was a transmetal manta ray with a third flight mode. He had a vendetta against Rampage (who he usually referred to as "X", Rampage originally having no name and merely identified as "Protoform X" until the Beast Wars) who was contained at the colony he served at and when Rampage broke loose he killed Depth Charge's squad as well as the entire inhabitants of the colony under Depth Charge's care. Depth Charge was a quiet, brooding warrior, traumatized and obsessed with killing Rampage. His voice, personality and back-story were reminiscent of a spaghetti western sheriff. He 'joined' the Maximals but preferred to work by himself and did not get along well with the rest of the team, particularly Optimus, whose orders he often ignored or right out disobeyed. In the end, he died when he impaled Rampage's spark with a piece of raw Energon, thus causing an immense explosion. (Ironically this was the one fight with his nemesis in which Depth Charge was not hunting Rampage and actually wanted to avoid, not because he did not wish to fight “X” but because at the time he was attempting to stop Megatron from acquiring the Nemesis starship.) An interesting fact was that Rampage actually stopped resisting Depth Charge's attempts to impale his spark, and laughed insanely as Depth Charge finished him off.

Tigerhawk

Merged form of Tigatron and Airazor, sent to Earth by the Vok to destroy Megatron. Originally possessed by a pair of Vok, who were later removed and infused within Tarantulas. The Sparks of Tigatron and Airazor, pursuing their fused body, merged together to inhabit the new Maximal. Though extremely powerful (with the ability to control the weather and incredibly powerful weapons, he is easily the most powerful, and by a wide margin), Tigerhawk was destroyed shortly afterward by the Nemesis. (There is some speculation to the “gender” of Tigerhawk, being created from a fusion of both a male and female Cybertionian. He is usually considered masculine as he has a definite male physical appearance, personality and voice, Tigertron’s voice actually. This is further supported by the toy which, like the Optimal Optimus and Dragon Megatron models, sported a secondary spark chamber, which presumably housed Airazor’s spark.)

Predacons

Note: The Predacon spaceship in the U.S./Canada has never been canonically named, but the de facto name for it is the Darkside. Originating in fan circles, the name was derived from the Terrorsaur's quote, "Welcome to the dark side!" from the episode "Equal Measures," and was later used in an official capacity in the episode descriptions in the DVD box sets and in the PS1 "Beast Wars Metal" video game. In Japan, external media such as trading cards and magazine articles, but is never explicitly referred to as such in the show except for once episode by Terrorsaur. There are some claims that the vessel's actual name was the Terror Crasher.

Megatron

Devious Leader of the Predacons, and part-time inventor, whose beast mode was a Tyrannosaurus rex, but later tranforms into a dragon. He is considered a megalomaniac among his peers and some of his followers, and unqualified to be their leader. That has lead many Predacon subordinates to periodically plot against him or defect. The Tripredacus Council also considers him to be untrustworthy which is why Tarantulas was sent undercover to keep an eye on him. Megatron shares the name with the Decepticon leader Megatron. His trademark is saying the word "ye-e-e-sss" in an exaggeratedly self-impressed way after certain statements, or as a stand-alone emphatic phrase, when Blackarachnia asked him why he talked to himself so, he replied that no one else was intelligent enough to have an actual intelligent conversation with him. Megatron always has a secret agenda which is usually convoluted and involves calculated risks, gambles, and manipulating other Transformers, and usually leads him to near, but rarely complete, victory. His ultimate goal is the conquest of Cybertron, where he is currently branded a criminal. His favourite toy is a yellow rubber duck, which he sometimes takes with him into the oil bath.

Scorponok

Unmovingly loyal second-in-command to Megatron as well as the Predacon Engineer; beast form was a giant scorpion. He possesses some technical knowledge, though behind Tarantulus and Blackarachnia in skill, and is notoriously incompetent. However, his faith in Megatron was unmatched, almost to the extent of looking up to him. He died along with Terrorsaur in the Season 2 premiere, falling into a pit of magma as the quantum surge hit the planet from the destroyed Alien planet buster. It is interesting to note there was never a transmetal toy of Skorponok.

Tarantulas

Lieutenant (third-in-command), Scientist (mad?), Weapons Inventor, and Lieutenant of the Predacon Secret Police in the service of the Tripredacus Council. Always trying to save himself first (and last), his beast form was a giant tarantula. Megatron often relied on Tarantulas because of his technological and strategic brilliance, but was always suspicious of his intentions and aspirations as well as his somewhat psychotic nature. Well known for his frequent maniacal laughter. Shortly before his demise, Tarantulas made a remark implying that he, as well as the Tripredacus Council, were not descended from the Autobots or Decepticons that crashed landed on Earth, "I, like the Tripedacus Council, have different origins" (Megatron later refers to Tarantulas as "Unicron's spawn". Although this is never built upon in this series and may have originally been intended as a generic insult, it has been embraced by the later fictions -- Megatron's knowledge of this was never explained, and it may have simply been an insult that ironically turned out to be true). He later died from an accidental shot from his own ray gun while fighting the Vok influence which he had extracted from Tigerhawk. (In the BotCon comics, it is revealed that his death was merely a ruse to deter the alien Vok. His spark corrupted the extracted Vok, and he was now capable of utilizing their power to his own ends. Tarantulas soon built Tripredacus Agent (speculated to contain the spark of Ravage) and engineered various leftover protoforms with Transmetal 2 technology. In Transformers: Universe, Tarantulas returned to his true master and creator, Unicron.) He also had an intense lust interest in Blackarachnia (whom he reprogrammed from a Maximal Protoform with the full intention of her being his mate and partner), but was consistently rejected.

Waspinator

Stupid and easily intimidated flyer; beast form was a giant wasp. Waspinator often refers to himself in the third person, and generally has a gloomy outlook on his own life ("...Inferno blow up, Waspinator must salvage; Waspinator blow up, nobody salvage! Why universe hate Waspinator??"). His body is blasted apart, crushed or dissembled numerous times throughout the series ("Oh sure...don't mind Waspinator; Waspinator just lie here and suffer...drag himself to CR tank..."). Even his fellow Predacons had little respct for Waspinator, often letting him take the shots in battles. Despite the fact that Waspinator never actually led or participated in a rebellion against Megatron, he was not loyal to the Predacon Tyrant but merely too cowed and frightened of Megatron to overthrow him, a sentiment which only got worse as Megatron grew more powerful during the series. (This can be best observed not only during the Series Finale were Waspinator resigned from the Predacons, but during the First Season were Waspinator in a private conversation to himself reveals his desire to, like most Predacons, overthrow Megatron and establish himself as Leader and also in the Second Season where, in a bold and surprising move, he attempts to steal the Golden Disks from Megatron, only to be beaten to it and subsequently scrapped by Dinobot.) At the end of the war Waspinator tires of being destroyed so often (or as he called it 'slagged') quits the Predacons, only to be left behind on Earth when the Beast Wars ended to be worhipped by the pre-humans. Among the original Predacon crew, he was the only one, ironically, that survived to the continue onto the beast machienes series (other then Megatron). Waspinator is one of the the only two Predacons whose form does not change or evolve for the duration of the series. Outside of Optimus Primal and Megatron, he had a tendency to address his comrades and enemies by nicknames that vaguely described their personas or transformation modes. Examples: Cheetor = Cat-Bot, Dinobot = Lizard-Bot, Silverbolt = Doggy-Bot, Tarantulus = Spider-Bot, Quickstrike = Two-Head.

Terrorsaur

Technical Advisor and Aerial Combatant; beast form was a pterosaur. Terrorsaur was the most openly disloyal member of the Predacons. Much like the Decepticon Starscream, Terrorsaur attempted numerous times to overthrow Megatron so that he could become leader. Megatron kept him in service despite knowledge of Terrorsaur's treachery because of the limited number of troops under his command. He seemingly died in the Season 2 Premiere after colliding with Scorponok and falling into a lava pit. A transmetal toy of Terrorsaur was made, but never utilized in the show, since he seemingly died just before the quantum wave turned some of the cast into transmetals, though his hand was seen glowing in the same way as the other Transmetals before sinking into the lava. (He returned in the pages of Transformers: Universe. Since Unicron was pulling victims from different times and dimensions, it's possible he pulled Terrorsaur from just before he died in the lava.)

Blackarachnia

Saboteur, spy, and master of electromagnetic energy. Maximal protoform that was converted into a Predacon by Tarantulas; beast form is a giant black widow spider. Blackarachnia has some skills in mechanics and science, 2nd to Tarantulas. In Season 1 and 2, she largely assisted Tarantulas in his machinations and was briefly possessed by him (later, when Tarantulas was returned to his new Transmetal body, he maintained a psychic link with Blackarachnia for a few episodes). Later she joined up with the Maximals after falling in love with Silverbolt and was able to gain a new Transmetal 2 form. Her Transmetal 2 form came after a failsafe, installed by Tarantulus, killed her. Resurrected as full Maximal by the Transmetal II Driver (an alien device modified by Megatron), the way she was supposed to be, but she still considered herself a "bad-girl". Blackarachnia possessed multiple weapons, and the ability to spin webs that could electromagnetically drain energy from Transformers caught in it. She also displayed some form of telekinesis, though such powers are never fully explored. Although a transmetal toy of Blackarachnia was made, it was never utilized for the character in the show, and she went straight from her organic form to transmetal 2.

Inferno

Maximal Protoform converted by Tarantulas and later second-in-command after Scorponok's death; beast form is a giant fire ant. A glitch in this process resulted in Inferno believing he really was an ant (albeit a transformable ant), although his impenetrable personal loyalty made Megatron (whom he often referred to as his "Queen," to Megatron's chagrin, and referred to the Predacon Base as "The Colony" and his comrades as "Drones") forgive his quirks. Inferno was extremely tough and powerful, while at the same time being amazingly simple-minded, even laughing during an energon overload while he ignited a patch of raw energon in an attempt to destroy Optimus Primal and Cheetor. Inferno was unintentionally killed by his "Queen" in the Beast Wars finale (during an attack on the early humans).

Quickstrike

Originally a Maximal Fuzor, he joined the Predacons due to his more violent nature. His Fuzor form is a giant scorpion with a cobra acting as his tail. Quickstrike had something of a crush on Blackarachnia (which she exploited by appealing to his ego), calling her "sugar-bot" even after she became a Maximal. Quickstrike attempted to seize power with Tarantulas, by slagging Megatron during the Predacon infiltration of The Ark. His attempt (Tarantulas was mainly in charge) failed and his 'trial for treachery' did not conclude. He was saved from being destroyed by Rampage and Dinobot (2), acting on Megatron's orders, by an unanticipated attack by the alien Vok. Quickstrike was unintentionally killed (along with Inferno) by Megatron in the Beast Wars finale. He often came off as a cartoonish "Old West" gunslinger caricature ("What say we slag us some Maximal keester, pardner?!").

Rampage

Warlord. A Maximal experiment gone horribly wrong; Maximal scientists were attempting to recreate Starscream's mutant immortal Spark, creating the hopelessly psychotic Protoform X (Rampage's original designation). "X" destroyed countless Maximals, razing entire colonies including Starbase Rugby and Omicron. Rampage (whose beast form is a giant metal king crab, with a third tank mode) is a sadist who loves nothing more than death and destruction. He was recruited by Megatron when the latter removed half of Rampage's spark, which Megatron uses to keep him in line by crushing it whenever Rampage disobeys. He was killed by Depth Charge at the end of the series by using raw energon to pierce Rampage's spark. Although Rampage's love for pain, suffering, and fear is well known, many consider Rampage not to be evil (at the level of the Predacons) but to be a simply dark, disturbed, and lost transformer who was shaped by the Maximals themselves.

Dinobot 2

Blank protoform equipped with half of Rampage's Spark, Transmetal 2 technology, and Raptor DNA, Dinobot 2 was created as a clone of the original Dinobot. Without any of Dinobot's honor, this Dinobot was a formidable foe, as well as a calculating and cunning strategist. After Rampage died, Dinobot 2 regained the personality of the original, likely due to Rattrap uploading the original Dinobot's personality datatracks into Dinobot 2 during the 'lost' episode "Dark Glass"; and thus refused to attack his former comrades. He died when the Autobot shuttle tore through Nemesis, although there is the chance he might have survived because his half-posession of Rampage's indestructable spark.

Non-Aligned Characters

Jak and Una

Two hominid children who befriend the Maximals. Jak and Una are originally saved by the Maximals from a cyborg raptor created by Megatron. Subsequently, Blackarachnia and Cheetor are sent to escort them home. Later, Cheetor attempts to educate them in basic technology, and they quickly begin to develop. Una is shortly afterward abducted by Waspinator, as the Predacons need her to finish work on an Energon cannon they are developing but cannot get too close to. However, thanks to her still primitive mindset, Una unwittingly manages to sabotage the cannon by stealing a stablizer crystal. Jak and Una also appear in the last episode of the series, where they fight against a Predacon invasion of the human settlement. Though they are too young to do much fighting, Una does an admirable job of pounding on Waspinator's head.

Hammer

An adult hominid and the strongest non-machine combatant in the Beast Wars. Not actually named in the series, he first appears with other early humans in the episode "Code of Hero", where he is held hostage by Megatron to prevent violence on the part of Dinobot. As such, he witnesses Dinobot's stunning defeat of Megatron, when the Maximal attaches a stick to a rock to form a primitive weapon/tool, using it to subdue Megatron. The curious anthropoid takes the abandoned weapon, and learns that it can be used both to get food and to fight. Upon realizing the latter, he bellows at the sky, and a light-presumably Dinobot's spark-flashes in the sky. In later episodes, Dinobot's influence appears to have caused accelerated development in the early humans, as they are now using basic tools with Hammer as their leader. Despite the fact that he is no real match for the Predacons, he does an admirable job defending the young Jak and Una, and is the first to discover the vulnerabilities of the cyborg raptors. Hammer's last appearance is in the final episode of the series, where he battles against Inferno and Quickstrike. He is targeted by the Nemesis' fusion cannon, but fortunately manages to escape. He is also likely the one who first rebelled against Waspinator's establishment of himself as a deity over the proto humans, leading to the Predacon's exile and his presence in Beast Machines.

The Vok

A race of semi-divine aliens. They travelled through time and space conducting several experiments. Prehistoric Earth became one of their testing grounds, seeding it with vast amounts of raw Energon deposits and other anomalies such as flying islands, a Stonehenge-like formation, a golden disk, etc. They even constructed a second moon, which was in reality, a giant cannon capable of wiping all life off the face of the Earth should they need to "sterilise" the Earth. This was seen as a necessary step when the Maximals and Predacons arrived from the future and started the Beast Wars. The Beast Wars tainted the experiment on earth with its outside influence, and the Vok chose to wipe the planet clean to start the process again. After losing direct contact with the Beast Wars Transformers, the Vok abducted Tigatron and Airazor, and reactivated them fused together as their emissary, Tigerhawk. The Vok element was removed from Tigerhawk by Tarantulas, who wanted to gain its power. Both were apparently destroyed by a weapon fired at Tarantulas. The Quintessons consider the Vok's existence to be an aberration. It is unknown how many Vok exist. (However, as the noncanon BotCon Beast Wars: Primeval Dawn Storyline claims that Tarantulas and the two Vok survived, and battle once more. It is also claims that the Vok species evolved from the Swarm (as seen in the Transformers: Generation 2 comic book) and that the Vok sought to correct the 'sins' they had committed as the Swarm and went on a mission to maintain creation.)

Transmutate

A Maximal created from a stasis pod that was so extensively damaged that it created her with permanent neurological and physical impairments. Transmutate was inarticulate in speech or thought, and unable to transform, but deeply emotional and powerful; she was capable of flight and energy projection. Transmutate befriended both the Maximal Silverbolt, who sought to protect her, and the Predacon Rampage, who knew the pain of being labelled a "freak," and sought to form a sympathetic friendship with her. Megatron saw Transmutate as having no value as a combatant and initially wanted to destroy her. With Transmutate's immense physical powers but limited mental capacity, Optimus Primal viewed her as a threat and thought it best if she were shut down. This caused a moral divide between Optimus Primal and Silverbolt. Silverbolt and Rampage battled over custody of Transmutate. Unable to tolerate watching her friends fight, she sacrificed herself to protect Silverbolt and Rampage from each other, leaving Maximal and Predacon to mourn for her passing. Her episode served as an extremely powerful metaphor for euthanasia and is arguably one of the most morally provocative stories ever written for Transformers.

Generation 1 characters included

Starscream

(From the original Transformers series) guest starred in one episode. His spark is immortal (the result of a random aberration that so far cannot be completely duplicated, though Rampage is apparently the closest that has ever come to it.), and one day it was able to possess Waspinator, resulting in an all-too brief return of the Air Commander of the Decepticon battle fleet. Waspinator, predictably, enjoyed dramatically enhanced combat abilities during this unlikely fusion.

Ravage

Intelligence/Saboteur. Another returning Decepticon from the original series that appeared in the 3 part episode, "The Agenda". After the Great War, several of the Decepticons that had been captured or that surrendered were granted amnesty. In time, one was reprogrammed and rebuilt as a Predacon, Ravage. In his upgraded form, Ravage was more humanoid and possessed active camouflage, although he could still transform into a tape cassette. When the Maximals on prehistoric Earth were finally able to send a "signal" back to Cybertron, it was intercepted by the Tripredacus Council, secret leaders of the Predacons, who diverted the signal and ordered Ravage on a clandestine mission to the planet aboard an advanced stealth warship, with orders to kill Megatron and all witnesses including the Maximals. Initially, Ravage aided the Maximals in capturing Megatron. However, the imprisoned Megatron then informed Ravage of his true agenda in coming to Earth; the original Megatron had encoded a message on the Voyager Golden Record. The message would only have been found if Megatron was defeated in the Great War (which he was), and it ordered any remaining loyal followers to go to Earth (whose coordinates the record provided) in the past and attempt to attack the Autobot Ark ship while Optimus Prime was still frozen in stasis-lock. On hearing these orders from his former commander, Ravage switches sides and joined the Predacons in a massive but ultimately thwarted attack on the Maximals. Destroyed in the explosion of his ship, his last words were "Decepticons forever!". (Ravage was later revived by the corrupted Vok as a Transmetal 2 and aided Tarantulas in battling Primal Prime in the noncanon BotCon Storyline: Primeval Dawn.)

Optimus Prime

Leader of the Autobots. When the Maximals discovered the Ark, Megatron attacked Optimus Prime to wipe them from history. To save Prime, Optimus Primal took his Spark into his own body for a time, resulting in his mutation into Optimal Optimus. After Prime's body was repaired, his Spark was returned. (The Autobot Matrix of Leadership was later used by the Vok to bring life to Primal Prime in the noncanon BotCon Storyline: Primeval Dawn.)

Megatron

Leader of the Decepticons. First seen in a secret message Megatron discovered on the Golden Disk. Found aboard the Ark along with Optimus Prime and his crew. Megatron later infiltrated the Ark and absorbed his ancestor's Spark, resulting in the birth of Megatron in his Red Dragon form. Despite this, Megatron was defeated, and the original Megatron's Spark was returned in a deleted scene from the show.

Characters mentioned in the show included Unicron (who appeared in a flashback with Starscream), Arcee, Shrapnel and Galvatron.

Also, characters seen in the show include Soundwave and several other Autobots and Decepticons seen in stasis in the Ark.

Transmetals

The aftermath of a Transwarp wave from the end of Season 1, all most all of the Season 1 characters were reformatted into new stronger bodies. The selection as to who was changed is as follows - Cheetor, Rattrap, Megatron, Tarantulas, Terrosaur, and Optimus Primal. It is seen that Scorponok and Terrosaur were killed when they fell into lava, Dinobot and Rhinox as well as Waspinator never changed since they were in CR Chambers/Tanks at the time of the wave. All other characters( Blackarachnia, Tigatron, Airrazor, and Inferno) were not changed due to the fact that they were "born" on earth via stasis pods. Primal had his body recreated when Rhinox left an Ion Trail to a blank protoform for Primal's spark to follow. Rampage was altered inside his prison-like stasis pod, (it is unclear how he became a crab as he did not land in a beach area) Depth Charge was altered when he traveled back in time to reach Rampage and was effected by a "copy" of the Transwarp wave which altered him.

Sequel

Beast Wars was followed up by a new series with a new creative team in charge of the cartoon. This was called Beast Machines. As a sequel, it was not initially well received amongst fans mostly due to the surviving Maximals and Predacons being out-of-character to a certain degree. Others did not find its techno-organic Cybertron concept to be agreeable, as the planet was always referred to previously as never having organic life. However, in more recent years, it has been held in much higher regard, especially compared to the newer, Japanese produced series although the newfound reception is still nowhere near universal.

DVD Release

In 2003, Beast Wars: The Complete First Season, was released on DVD by Rhino Entertainment. It's official release date was August 12, 2003. Over the next two years, Beast Wars: The Complete Second Season and Beast Wars: The Complete Third Season were released.

The Complete First Season was released in Australia by Madman Entertainment on March 15, 2006. Each Season will be released over the course of the year and coincides with the 10th Anniversary of Beast Wars toy to be released in Australia from April. These sets will include the same special features as their US counterparts, plus audio commentary by Beast Wars writers Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio and Transformers consultant Benson Yee among many other new additions.

Universal Pictures UK, the license holder for Beast Wars in the UK, hasn't announced any plans for a release.

Botcon Comic

In the BotCon comics, two particular Beast Wars storylines are tapped.

In the Point Omega storyline, several events lead up to a tremendous battle against Shokaract, a Predacon fueled by the Dark Essence of Unicron himself. This also serves as an introduction for Apelinq, and the only appearances of Windrazor, Sandstorm, Antagony, and Cataclysm.

In the Primeval Dawn story, Tarantulas comes back from the dead alongside Ravage, Spittor, Iguanus and Razorclaw to complete the mission he set out to do, while the Vok create Primal Prime to stand in his way; Primal Prime teams up with Airazor, Tigatron and Ramulus, who have come back from the dead as well.

Japanese treatment

The Japanese series Beast Wars II (ビーストウォーズセカンド Biisuto Uoozu Sekando） and Beast Wars Neo （ビーストウォーズネオ Biisuto Uoozu Nuo） were created to fill the gap while the second and third seasons of Beast Wars were being translated into Japanese (called Beast Wars: Metals). The characters originate from the future that the Beast Wars teams left, but the events of the series take place in the far future. The series are noted primarily for the return of Unicron, but more negatively, for their childish, comedic nature. Beast Wars II spawned a theatrical movie (「ライオコンボイの危機」: "Lio Convoy's Crisis"). See Transformers Series for more details. The Beast Wars Neo toyline was created to cater to the Japanese market. Whereas the cybernetic Transmetal Beast Wars Transformers sold well in Western markets, Japanese fans preferred more realistic looking beast modes. Beast Wars Metals was not as successful with Japanese fans. The Beast Wars Metal show and toy line only lasted a few months before being quickly replaced by Transformers Car Robots (later released in English-speaking countries as Transformers: Robots In Disguise) in the following new year.

Comic books

File:Magmatron-grimlock.jpg

Beast Wars Magmatron vs. Grimlock from IDW.

Dreamwave comics released a Summer Special which contained a Beast Wars story. It introduced three new characters, Optimus Minor, Bonecrusher and Wolfang. The comic had a survey as to whether Dreamwave's new comic would be Robots In Disguise or Beast Wars. Beast Wars won.

Dreamwave Productions had plans to release a Beast Wars comic in early 2005. After Dreamwave filed for bankruptcy in January 2005, the license for all Transformers comics, including Beast Wars was picked up be IDW Publishing, and is scheduled to be released in early 2006. The series will been written by Simon Furman and drawn by Don Figueroa. James "Brad Mick" McDonough and Adam Patyk were originally planned to write the series until they left Dreamwave after not being paid for several projects. The Beast Wars comic takes place parallel to the third season of Beast Wars and will introduce new characters like Magmatron, Razorbeast, and Injector. Generation 1 characters are expected to join the cast too, such as Grimlock in his Beast Wars (recolored Dinobot toy) body and Ravage in his Transmetal 2 "Tripredacus Agent" incarnation.

Cast (Canada and US)

• Gary Chalk (actor) - Optimus Primal
• Richard Newman - Rhinox
• Ian James Corlett - Cheetor, Sentinel, Seaclamp
• Scott McNeil - Rattrap, Dinobot, Waspinator, Silverbolt
• Blu Mankuma - Tigatron/Tigerhawk
• Pauline Newstone - Airazor
• David Sobolov - Depthcharge
• David Kaye - Megatron
• Don Brown - Scorponok
• Alec Willows - Tarantulas
• Doug Parker - Terrorsaur, Starscream
• Venus Terzo - Blackarachnia
• Jim Byrnes - Inferno
• Colin Murdock - Quickstrike
• Campbell Lane - Rampage
• Elizabeth Carol Savenkoff - Predacon Ship Computer
• Lee Tockar - Ravage
• Susan Blu - Transmutate, Una

Cast (Japan)

• Takehito Koyasu - Convoy
• Daiki Nakamura - Rhinox
• Wataru Takagi - Cheetas
• Kappei Yamaguchi - Rattor
• Keiji Fujiwara - Dinobot
• Koichi Tochika - Tigatron/TigerFalcon
• Tetsuya Iwanaga - Airazor
• Mitsuo Iwata - Silverbolt
• Kiyoyuki Yanada - Depth Charge
• Shigeru Chiba - Megatron
• Masashi Endo - Scorpos
• Nobuo Tobita - Terrorsaur, Quickstrike, Sentinel
• Yūichi Nagashima - Tarans
• Kenso Kato - Waspittor
• Ryoka Yuzuki - Black Widow, Destron Computer(Naviko)
• Shinichiro Miki - Inferno
• Nobuyuki Hiyama - Rampage
• Kazuki Yao - Starscream
• Hidetoshi Nakamura - Vok Unicron
• Haruna Ikezawa - Transmutate
• Furin Cha - Cicadacon
• Yukimasa Kishino - Ramhorn
• Joji Yanami - Seaclamp
• Toshiyuki Morikawa - Jaguar

Trivia

• Originally, the series was going to be set in the present, with certain Generation 1 characters reborn in new bodies. This was very much evident in the Tech Specs of the first line of toys. The writers of the series, however, knew next to nothing about the original series at first, and since they were given free reign to do what they wanted with a series whose purpose was to promote what was, at the time, a dying franchise, they rewrote the premise so that it apparently had no connection to Generation 1 outside of a few recycled names. When Bob Forward and Larry Ditillio discovered an online Transformers chat forum and learned more about the original series however, they began to work in elements from G1, placing the series in the same universe.
• While the toy line was lauded for its innovative joint construction and the show mostly liked by fans, some Transformer purists still decry the entire series as a mistake, having gone as far as to devise slogans like "Truk not munky" to show their disgust over the use of animals instead of vehicles for the line's alternate forms.
• The third season of the TV show was originally supposed to include an episode called "Dark Glass", written by Christy Marx. The script of the episode depicted an encounter between Rattrap and Dinobot II, where Rattrap finds that the datatracks of the original Dinobot in the ship's computer, and goes on a suicide mission to install it into the Transmetal 2 clone in a desperate bid to bring his old friend/foil back. However, the script was seen as "too dark" for little children to watch, and so the episode was never produced. A considerably lighter and more jocular episode called "Go with the Flow" was shown in its place. Transcripts of the episode survived, however, and it is now considered part of the Beast Wars continuity among fans, mainly for its explination on how Dinobot II regained the original's personality after Rampage was destroyed at the end of Season 3.
• Actor Scott McNeil voiced five characters in the series; Rattrap, Silverbolt, Waspinator, and the two incarnations of Dinobot.
• While the Beast Wars and Beast Machines series officially exist as the future of a G1, it is not a specific G1, incorporating bits and pieces of continuity from both the original television series and the Marvel comics, while introducing new elements into the Transformer mythos, such as sparks and protoforms (however, it should be noted that beyond use of the comic-only term, "The Ark", and the comic book deity, Primus, all of the show's references are based on the G1 cartoon). This would be carried on into the Dreamwave comics, which seemed to integrate elements from both lines while working towards maintaining continuity with Beast Wars.
• Despite living all the way to the series finale, Waspinator is either shot, framed, or somehow blown-up in almost every episode. (similar to the character Kenny in the cartoon South Park).
• Among others, Transformers fan and proprieter of www.bwtf.com Ben Yee had been called on many times to provide insight into the Transformers mythos to Mainframe so they could properly incorporate them into the show. As thanks for his help, Ben Yee is given a commendation within an episode of the show as an in-joke. When Rhinox was reprogrammed as a Predacon, he sabotaged various aspects of the base, and even Waspinator's personality. When Black Arachnia referred to him as "wacko," Waspinator replied "Wacko? No, Wonko! Wonko the Sane!" This is a reference to a character from Douglas Adams' So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and was the screen name of Ben Yee at the time.
• In addition to Ben Yee, other fan references were spread throughout the series. Notable fan references include:
  • Episode 24 Before The Storm - "Code A.T.T.," spoken by Megatron, in reference to fan forum alt.toys.transformers, and "...it is beyond imagination!", again spoken by Megatron, in reference to Hooks' website "Beyond Imagination," which at the time included interviews with the writers and spoilers for upcoming episodes.
  • Episode 35 Code of Hero - "Got a blue plate sighting in Tengu Sector," spoken by Cheetor, in reference to fan Tengu.
  • Episode 37 The Agenda Part One - "Rampage, position yourself in Subsector Hooks", spoken by Megatron, another reference to Hooks.
  • Episode 39 The Agenda Part Three - "It's made entirely of die-cast construction, its a lost art." Primal says as the Maximals try to enter the Ark, this is a reference that fans were unhappy with the fact that Hasbro decided to no longer use die-cast parts in the Transformers which is said to have been too expensive.
  • Episode 44 Feral Scream Part One - "Grid Tallories", spoken by Optimus Primal, in reference to fan Tallories.
  • Episode 51 Nemesis Part One - "This is Optimus, encoding transmission M Sipher" in reference to M "Quote" Sipher.
  • Episode 51 Nemesis Part One - "You failed, just like you failed at Starbase Rugby, it inhabitants were quite tasty, as I recall" Rampage mentions, Starbase Rugby, the name is reversed and is Rugby Starbase a small internet store that had taken many TF toys and created a somewhat official TF continuity, this is also where the name Omacron comes from.
  • Episode 52 Nemesis Part Two - "Targeting grid 3H, full power to weapons, Fire!" Megatron mentions 3H which was the name of the group who was in control of the botcon convention at the time, 3H stands for, Jon and Carl Hartman, and Glen Hallit, these three used their last names as in that there are 3 of them and all of thirer last names begin with H.
• The series also made several tips of the hat to the original Transformers toys. For example, in the third segment of the story arc "The Agenda", the Maximals are under fire from the automated defenses of The Ark, the vessel of the original G1 Autobots. When Cheetor exclaims that the Maximals weapons are failing to damage the ship's hull, Primal responds with "Die-cast construction....It's a lost art." This is a reference to the fact that the original Transformers toys were partly made from die-cast metal, a practice which had largely fallen out of use at the time of Beast Wars.
• The toyline of the Beast Wars included "Mutant Heads". They were going to include the heads in the television series, but the graphic designers weren't that up to date on graphics to put them in.
• The show was originally going to feature a much larger cast of characters, but limitations on CGI at the time meant that the animators had to shorten the cast to five members on both sides, adding new characters sparingly. Bob Forward has credited this as being part of the reason why the show was so successful, because a smaller cast meant he could focus on character development and personality for every character, as opposed to the ungainly task of writing for an entire army's worth of characters.
• Initially, Waspinator, not Terrorsaur, was to die at the beginning of Season 2. Because people enjoyed Waspinator as comic relief for the series, the creators decided to kill off Terrorsaur instead. Waspinator went on to be the only Predacon to survive both Beast Wars and Beast Machines (not counting Black Arachnia, who defected in season 3 of Beast Wars).
• Also, instead of Tigatron, the toy-only character Wolfang was supposed to be in the show, but was replaced at the last moment to conserve money, as Tigatron was a repaint of Cheetor in the toy line, and thus would be easly to tweak the existing Cheetor CGI figure to look like the white tiger Maximal. This reuse of character CGI figures to introduce new characters is a fairly common money-saving tactic for most CGI-based television shows, and was used in Beast Wars to make Blackarachnia (a remap of Tarantulas) and Ravage (a slightly more complex re-render of Transmetal Cheetor), both recolors/remolds in the toy line.
• Out of all the characters introduced in the show, only two - Predacon Ravage and the Vok - were never made into toy form outside of Japan (Ravage was made into toy form as a remold of Transmetal Cheetor as an exclusive in Japan's Metals toy line; this remold was reused for the Botcon exclusive Transmetal Tigatron figure, while the Vok has never been made into a toy, at all). Hasbro has expressed great interest in making a Predacon Ravage figure for their Beast Wars 10th Anniversary line, but claim to be having trouble locating the mold. Transmutate - a character featured in the episode of the same name - was made into a multi-part figure for the initial phase of the 10th Anniversary line, but never had a figure made in the original line.
• Beast Wars has the somewhat-dubious honor of being the first Transformers line to have a video game made of it outside of Japan. In fact, there has been two such games, both for the Playstation and Nintendo 64 home systems, though one (the first one) was released for the PC, as well. The first, based on the first season of the show, is a third person shooter in which you can control either the Maximals or the Predacons in a series of missions to undermine the other faction's attempts at gaining enough resources to win the war between them and escape the planet. This one was released in 1998 by Hasbro Interactive. The other, a Fighting Vipers-style fighting game based on the second season, was also released by Hasbro Interactive, though only the Playstation version; the Nintendo 64 version was released bam! Entertainment. Neither of these games did well, commercially, and were overall panned by critics and fans alike, although the second game was memorable for having most of the voice actors from the show itself reprise their roles as the characters. The PC version of the first game also has a multiplayer feature (removed from the console releases) that allowed up to 8 players to play over LAN, and had its own play rooms in the MSN Gaming Zone, though it's been subsequently removed. A third game was in the works for the Playstation 2, but was scrapped in pre-production, without any official word as to why, or how far the project was before the plug was pulled.1

External links

• Cybertronian Alliance - Beast Wars RPG and huge database of TF related images.
• TFU.info - growing online archive of nearly every Beast Wars and Transformers toy.
• Beast Wars at IMDB
• Beast Wars at TV.com
• Beast Wars: Transformers at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• V7ndotcom Elursrebmem Europe's largest and most popular Transformers Fan Site
• Transformers Network
• Ben's World of Transformers
• Madman's Official Beast Wars site
• Transformers Toys Database
• BW International
• Transformers @ The Moon
• Lucky Draw Transformers