The commander of the Maximals and their ship the Axalon. A brave and compassionate leader, Optimus named himself after a great hero of old: Optimus Prime. He can make rash decisions but is compelled to defeat the Predacons. He dies briefly when he destroys an alien death ray, but is revived by Rhinox as a Transmetal giving him a hover board in beast mode. He later becomes Optimal Optimus, a large new Transmetal form he gained by briefly absorbing the spark of Optimus Prime. His beast mode is a silverback gorilla, and when he becomes Optimal Optimus, he gains an assault aircraft and a ground assault vehicle forms.
Second-in-command and Optimus' oldest friend as well as the chief scientist and mechanic of the team. He is not really a fighter and more of a strategist, but he can let it rip with his two chainguns, commonly referred to by fans as the "Chainguns of Doom"[citation needed]. He prefers nature to technology at times. He is very intelligent and skilled in multiple forms of science and technology. Rhinox is the only original Maximal to not gain a new body, but he plays a key role in defeating Megatron in the show's finale. His beast mode is a rhinoceros.
The smart-alek sometimes third-in-command of the Maximals. Often pessimistic and sarcastic, Rattrap is usually a survivalist, even though he always believes the Maximals are going to die. Despite the fact he is the smallest Maximal, this works to his advantage several times in the series. He often clashes with fellow Maximal Dinobot, calling him "Chopperface", as he nicknames all his allies and some enemies. Rattrap gains a Transmetal form, including a wheeled mode of his beast mode. His beast mode is a rat.
The youngest member of the original Maximals, Cheetor is rather immature and reckless. He looks up to Optimus and tries to get onto his good list by achieving any mission given to him, but his reckless behavior can lead him into trouble. He matures over the course of the series, with each form he gains. He gained a Transmetal form first, also gaining a flight mode. He later gained a Transmetal II form after being shot into the overload of a Transmetal II generator, gaining a feral beast mode but a new Transmetal II form. His beast mode is a cheetah.
A former Predacon, Dinobot is a warrior who follows a strict code of honor. Betrayed by Megatron, Dinobot joined the Maximals, becoming an asset to their team, even though his tactical methods were rather extreme at times. Dinobot often fought with Rattrap, who he named "Vermin" to counter Rattrap's remark of calling him "Chopperface". Dinobot's loyalty is often changed by his own decisions, but he remained a Maximal to the end. Dinobot honourably sacrificed himself to protect the evolving human race from the Predacons, defeating the whole team but dying in the process. He fights with a sword, and shoots lasers from his eyes. Beast mode is a Velociraptor.
Tigatron
The first Maximal protoform to crash-land on Earth, Tigatron gained a natural love for Earth and considered it as his home. Peaceful and wise, Tigatron does not really enjoy battle, as seen when his tiger friend Snowstalker is accidentally killed during a battle. Tigatron developed a close relationship with fellow Maximal Airazor, but both were kidnapped by the Vok and later fused together into Tigerhawk. His beast mode is a White tiger.
Airazor
The only female Maximal on the team, until the recruitment of Blackarachnia. Airazor's spark nearly died at birth but she was saved by Rhinox and Cheetor, considering them her "uncle" and "brother". She developed a close relationship with Tigatron during their time on Earth, but both were kidnapped by the Vok and later fused together into Tigerhawk. Her beast mode is a Peregrine Falcon.
Tigerhawk
An emissary of the Vok, created from the bodies of Tigatron and Airazor. Tigerhawk is sent to Earth the apprehend Megatron, but his primary program is altered when the sparks of Tigatron and Airazor join his body. Tigerhawk has amazing powers, capable of manipulating the weather. Tigerhawk is destroyed with a large energy cannon fired by Megatron from the Nemesis. Beast mode is a White Tiger/Peregrine Falcon hybrid.
Silverbolt
A Fuzor, a hybrid of a wolf and a golden eagle. He is a stereotypical hero and follows a code of honor, but one not as extreme as Dinobot's. Silverbolt falls in love with Blackarachnia whom he refers to as the "dark poison of my heart". It is Silverbolt who convines her to joining the Maximals, which she does eventually. Silverbolt was briefly a Predacon, but defected after realising his place was with the Maximals. Beast mode is a Gray Wolf/Golden Eagle hybrid.
Blackarachnia
A former Predacon, turned Maximal, Blackarachnia is Silverbolt's love interest. She longed to become a Transmetal II, in order to survive the Beast Wars. She achieves this using the Transmetal II driver. The same device used to create Dinobot II. Beast mode is a black widowspider. (Blackarachnia later appeared in Beast Machines and in Transformers Animated.)
Depth Charge
The only aquatic member of the Maximals, Depth Charge comes to Earth in search of Rampage, who leveled his home Colony Omicron. He was struck by the transmetal wave giving him a flight mode. Depth Charge started out as a rogue, refusing to work alongside the other Maximals, but over time he became a full member of the team. He was eventually killed in a confrontation with his rival Rampage. Beast mode is a manta ray
The charismatic mastermind commander of the Predacons. Megatron stole the Golden Disk from Cybertron and headed off into space, pursued by the Maximals. The two teams crashed on prehistoric Earth where they battled for Energon. Megatron is a rather sociable person, but dislikes failure. He gained a Transmetal form giving him a flight mode. Near the end of season 3 he gained a Transmetal II form after being tossed into a pit of lava. He attempted several times to alter Cybertron's history throughout the past. His beast modes are a Tyrannosaurus and later a dragon.
The loyal, if dim-witted, second-in-command (after Dinobot's 'departure') of the Predacons. Scorponok is devoted to serving Megatron, but is rather dense at times. He found rivalry when Inferno showed. Scorponok eventually died when a transwarp explosion struck Earth sending him and Terrorsaur into a pit of lava. Beast mode is a scorpion.
Cunning, deceptive, treacherous. As a Tripedicus Secret Police member acting as a member of Megatron's force, he always has another agenda on his mind. Obsessed with leaving the planet, he uses his knowledge of technology to get what he wants. He gained a Transmetal in season 2. He was killed near the end of season when he accidentally vaporized himself with his own machinery. Beast mode is a tarantula.
Usurper and aerial combatant; his beast form is a red pteranodon. As well as his aerial prowess, Terrorsaur's offensive weaponry included laser cannons in his optics, similar to that of Dinobot, but his preferred weapons were his shoulder-mounted cannons, forearm mounted double barreled cannon and hand-held pistol. He often attempted to overthrow Megatron for leadership of the Predacons (reminiscent of his Decepticon Air Commander predecessor: Starscream) but was never successful in the end. Like Scorponok, he also was destroyed by lava during the Quantum Surge. His beast mode was a Pteranodon.
A not-very-bright and easily intimidated flyer; his beast form is a wasp. Waspinator often refers to himself in the third person, and generally has a gloomy outlook on his own life. Through bad luck, Waspinator was often shot at or damaged throughout the series, by Maximals and Predacons alike. Later in the show's lifespan, this became a cartoony gimmick, in that Waspinator was blown to bits in every episode. Waspinator had a hand held gun, firing projectiles which would explode on impact. He could also fire poisonous barbs. He fired purple laser beams from his optical cannons in season 1, but he never used this ability in season 2 or 3. In 'Nemesis, Part 1', Waspinator renounced his Predacon allegiance, claiming that he was sick of being a Predacon, sick of being evil, and sick of being blown to scrap (ironically, this outburst led him to being blown to scrap). He did not reappear until the very end of 'Nemesis, Part 2', where he was being treated like a god by the humans. He ended up having the last piece of dialogue in the entire series when he said "Waspinator happy at last."
Blackarachnia
Saboteur, spy, and mistress of techno-gadgets, originally a Maximal protoform, Blackarachnia's alliance was switched to the side of the Predacons by Tarantulas, who also chose her beast mode: a black widow spider.[1] She often aligned herself with Tarantulas over Megatron, possibly because he was the one who activated her and had the opportunity to introduce modified programming. Given the choice, however, she always looked out for her own skin, and only joined either of the two when she had no choice. Though still containing Predacon programming, Blackarachnia joined the Maximals when Megatron tried to destroy the original Optimus Prime, which would have resulted in eradication of the Maximals and the Maximal protoforms, including herself. She later attempted to give herself a transmetal II form using the Transmetal Driver, but doing so caused her Predacon shell program to fail. To save her life, Rhinox had to remove the shell program; after this, she became an 'official' Maximal. Her weapons were spider legs that doubled as machine guns and a blaster that could shoot missiles, energy blasts, paralytic blasts as well as a grappling hook. She is known for saying "Even when I'm good, I'm still bad."[2] Blackarachnia is one of the first female Transformers toys.[3][4]
Maximal protoform converted by Tarantulas and later second-in-command after Scorponok's death; his beast form was a fire ant. Due to damage to his programming when he was activated, the instincts of his beast form integrated into his shell program, which causes him to have a personality close to an ant. This gives him predetermined instincts to "defend the colony" (the Predacon base), and an unquestionable allegiance to his 'queen' and 'royalty', Megatron. He would, ironically, be killed by Megatron when he is accidentally obliterated by the guns of the Nemesis. Inferno wielded a large gun; sometimes two. These guns appeared to function identically to every other 'missile launching' handgun in Beast Wars, but Inferno's guns fired white hot plasma bolts, missiles and even functioned as flamethrowers.
Quickstrike
Originally a Maximal protoform, he joined the Predacons due to his more violent nature. His Fuzor form is a scorpion with a cobra's head acting as his tail. His personality closely mimics a "Wild West" gunslinger, and even talks in the typical gunslinger drawl with phrases like "what in tarnation!" and "giddy-up". He would be accidentally killed along with Inferno at the end of the series by Megatron with the weapons of the Nemesis. His snake-head shot out a type of paralyzing cyber-venom as well as laser blasts.
A Maximal experiment gone horribly wrong; Maximal scientists once attempted to recreate Starscream's mutant immortal spark, but instead made the hopelessly psychotic "Protoform X". "X" destroyed countless Maximals, razing Colony Omicron and earning him the eternal enmity of Depth Charge (who was Omicron head of security). When his stasis pod crashed on Earth, it was thought that his spark had finally extinguished, but this was not the case as an Energon explosion and subsequent storm awoke his dormant spark. He was forced to join the Predacon ranks by Megatron, who gave him the name Rampage and removed half his spark, using it to torture Rampage whenever he stepped out of line. He was eventually killed in a confrontation with his rival Depth Charge. Rampage's beast form is that of a transmetal crab with a third form that resembles a tank. His weapons were a missile launcher with three rotating barrels, which he could use in robot or vehicle mode, and a laser rifle.
A clone of the original Dinobot, created by Megatron and enhanced with transmetal II technology, the Dinobot clone served as one of Megatron's most loyal warriors (and is not to be confused with the very first clone of a Dinobot, a direct duplicate unable to transform). The details of his creation are unique: His body was originally a lifeless blank protoform, one of many that crashed as a result of the Vok's attempt to destroy the planet Earth. In a twisted experiment, Megatron infused the blank protoform with Dinobot's D.N.A. and was given life by the spark of Rampage (half of which Megatron had removed to keep the reluctant Predacon in line), and so could squeeze his own spark to force Rampage to obey him. However, Rattrap was able to download the original Dinobot's personality into him with aid from Depth Charge (in the missing episode "Dark Glass"), having no effect until Rampage's death. At the end of the series, he betrayed Megatron, and when the Nemesis was finally destroyed, he chose to go down with the ship.
Non-aligned characters
Jak and Una
Two human children who befriend the Maximals. Jak and Una are originally saved by the Maximals from a cyber 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, despite her primitive mindset, Una manages to sabotage the cannon by stealing a stabilizer 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, Una does an admirable job of pounding on Waspinator's head.
Hammer
An adult human 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. 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 (Inferno and Quickstrike are killed instead). He is also likely the one who first rebelled against Waspinator's establishment of himself as a deity over the early humans, leading to the Predacon's exile and his presence in Beast Machines.
A mysterious and powerful alien race. They travelled through time and space conducting several experiments, Prehistoric Earth being one of their testing grounds. Seeding it with vast amounts of raw Energon deposits and other anomalies such as flying islands, Stonehenge-like formations and golden disks, they even constructed a second moon. The artificial moon was in reality a giant heat ray capable of igniting the planet's Energon deposits should they need to "sterilise" their experiment. 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 fused them 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.
A Maximal from a stasis pod that was so extensively damaged, it created her with permanent neurological and physical impairments and without a beast mode or any alternate form. 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 alike to mourn for her death.
Characters from the original series in the 80s
Most of these characters can be seen lying around the Ark in stasis lock.
Leader of the ancient Autobots. Optimus would be seen in the Agenda pt 3 and Optimal Situation as the whole reason that the Predacon Megatron had come to Earth, as part of a plan by the original Galvatron to change history. With the unwilling help of Blackarachnia, Megatron gained access to the Ark and blasted Optimus in the head with a full power blast, blowing his head open. Blackarachnia, however, betrayed Megatron and allowed Optimus Primal to safeguard Prime's life by taking his spark into his own body, resulting in his mutation into his "Optimal" body. Once the Predacons were defeated, Prime's spark would return to its rightful owner.
Leader of the ancient Decepticons. Even though Megatron was long since defeated, his shadow still fell over the Beast Wars. Before the conflict started, a Predacon named Megatron (taking his name from the Covenant of Primus as well as the original character) discovered a message from his namesake on the Golden Disk, detailing how to use transwarp technology to go back in time and change history. Although Beast Wars Megatron would steal the golden disk and head back in time, he was reluctant to carry out his namesake's plan, especially with the discovery of vast Energon deposits. Megatron would then attempt to carry out his ancestor's instructions and kill Optimus Prime, changing the future. He failed, but this was not the last we would see of the original Megatron. Encouraged by the mutation of Optimus Primal into a massive new Optimal form, Megatron attempted to duplicate the experiment with his ancestor's spark. Shortly after taking the spark of the Decepticon Megatron, he was betrayed by Quickstrike and Tarantulas, and hurled into a lava pit. Unexpectedly however Megatron rose from the lava pit, in a new twisted transmetal dragon form. Although Megatron did not return his namesake's spark himself, the spark of the Decepticon Megatron would be returned to its rightful owner in a deleted scene from the Beast Wars third season DVD.
Air Commander of the ancient Decepticons, killed by Galvatron. He made a cameo appearance in his jet form in a dream Cheetor had in the episode "The Web". In the episode "Possession", Starscream's spark briefly possessed Waspinator's body for one episode, but he was soon defeated by Optimus Primal and cast out again. The reason for Starscream's ability to survive beyond death was revealed in the second season – a mutation in his spark had rendered it indestructible, and the Maximal attempts to duplicate this resulted in the insane Rampage. Starscream is also seen (in the "Agenda, Part III") in stasis lock in the hull of the Ark as Megatron makes his way past in an attempt to kill Optimus Prime.
One of the original Megatron's loyal lieutenants, and communications officer. Was seen in emergency stasis lock in the episode, "The Agenda, Part III".
Intelligence/Saboteur Agent. Another returning Decepticon from the original series that appeared in the three 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 and even still made the same transforming sounds as the original Transformers. When the Maximals on prehistoric Earth were finally able to send a "signal" back to Cybertron, it was intercepted by the Tripredacus Council, the 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!"
Other Characters
Characters mentioned in the show include; Unicron (who would also appear in a flashback with Starscream in the episode "Possession") and during the Vok interrogation of Optimus Primal, Arcee, whom Rattrap humorously indicates he was related to, and briefly brain-damaged Waspinator claims he is the InsecticonShrapnel in the episode 'Dark Designs'. Also, characters seen in the show include Prowl, Skywarp, and several other Autobots and Decepticons seen in stasis in The Ark.
References
^Transformers: the fantasy, the fun, the future - Page 29 by Erin Brereton
^The Christ Literalist: Complete Quotes from the World's Most Renowned Revoutionary By Lou Meza page 148
^Transformers toy line remains popular with adults and children as new movie opens today. Chattanooga Times/Free Press, July 3, 2007
^Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye, Jul 16, 2007, page 63, Jet - Vol. 112, No. 2
