Beast Wars: The First Real Continuation of Generation One Transformers
As a child of the late 70s & early 80s I was fortunate enough to grow up when all the good cartoons were on. Out of my 3 favorites - Thundercats, He-Man and Transformers - I must say that Transformers was definitely the best! Years from then I was fortunate enough to stumble upon its successor, another show I've grown to love and deeply appreciate - Transformers Beast Wars.
Fast forward to 1996 when I happened to stumble upon the Transformers Beast Wars series on TV one day. Having already been disgusted with the horrible quality of newer cartoons, I gasped at the thought of them destroying Transformers. After 30 seconds of ultimate disgust at the thought of them making Transformers into animals, I turned off the television, flipped it the bird and went about my business! Even though the CGI animation style looked great, I refused to give it the time of day.
Fast forward once again to the year 2000something when I happen to be flipping through channels and what do I see? A CGI animated Optimus Prime! As in the original Optimus Prime! At this point I start to wonder what I'm watching and after a few minutes I realize - it's Beast Wars.
At this point my interest is piqued and I start to conduct some research on the show. What I realized is rather than a reboot of the franchise like these newer transformers cartoon series, Beast Wars is actually set in the future of the original Transformers cartoon. That's right! The future of the same Generation 1 Transformers show we grew up on and loved as kids. Generation 1 refers to the original Transformers series and for purposes of this article and to stay current with Transformers geek lingo, we'll be referring to generation 1 Transformers as G1 for the duration of this article.After this revelation I immediately went out and purchased season 1 of the Beast Wars and have loved it ever since. I especially love how this series also treats us to more classic references from the original G1 Transformers cartoon as time goes on.
So how do the Beast Wars fit into the original G1 transformers universe? Read on for more information & for those who have never seen Beast Wars, no worries, I will do so without divulging spoilers.
More about Transformers Beast Wars
A glimpse into the setting and plot of the Beast Wars
The two main factions of "Transformers" in the Beast Wars series are descendants of the two main factions in the original G1 cartoon: the Maximals are the descendants of the Autobots and the Predacons are the descendants of the Decepticons.The leader of the Predacon team is Megatron who took his namesake from the greatest decepticon leader of all time: the original Megatron. He and his forces are a group of predacons searching for powerful crystals known as Energon in order to gain power and dominance, much like the decepticons in the original G1 transformers series.
A Maximal exploration ship led by Optimus Primal who took his namesake from the original Optimus Prime, is sent to stop them. Together, Megatron & Optimus Primal's ships plunge through a time/space phenomenon created during their battle in space at which point they crash land on a mysterious planet.
What does this have to do with them transforming into beasts? There's an excellent explanation for this so please read on.
Beast Wars Season 1 Intro
Transformers Opening Titles: Beast Wars Season 1
Opening titles from Season 1 of "Transformers: Beast Wars".
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Why do they transform into Beasts on Beast Wars?
Beast Modes and how it helps these transformers to survive
The mysterious planet the Transformers have landed on is found to be rich in deposits of raw Energon. This unrefined form of Energon proves to be poisonous to both sides' robot forms which forces them to take on alternate organic forms for protection until their robot forms are needed. Hence, the robots take on the forms of certain beasts they happen to be within a certain radius of. Just think of their need to refine Energon as our need to consume milk that has been pasteurized!Remember in the very first episode of the original G1 transformers how their ship computer starts to scan the immediate area for objects they can transform into? Well the same concept applies here. Optimus prime did not come to Earth as a tractor trailer as there are no tractor trailers in the vast reaches of outer space. A tractor trailer just happened to be in the general vicinity and it happened to work with his robot mode, so that's what he became for his vehicle mode. Well in Beast Wars, due to the raw Energon issue, they had to scan the vicinity for organic forms they could use for their alternate modes and in this instance it was beasts.
Beast Wars Transformers
The Complete First Season
What are Protoforms in the Beast Wars Series?
Some info on the important role which "protoforms" played in the Beast Wars
Before crashing, the Axalon releases its cargo of stasis pods which contain Maximal protoforms. Protoforms are Transformer robots with vulnerable and undeveloped physical forms, which are left to orbit the planet as an alternative to possible destruction in the initial crash landing. Throughout the series, stasis pods lose altitude and crash-land on the planet, and the Maximals and Predacons race and fight to acquire them, as protoforms acquired by Megatron's forces can be reprogrammed to become Predacons, as is the case with Inferno and Blackarachnia. The stasis pods are used as a plot device to introduce new characters into the series.Let's move on to discuss the characters of this series. I'm only going to start with the the characters in the 1st episode of Beast Wars Season 1 as not to divulge any spoilers. I will discuss the other characters further down the page. Please note that as the series progresses it also gets progressively better and new characters are added as well as upgrades to the allready existing characters. We're going to start with the Maximals!
Beast Wars Characters and Bios
Optimus Primal
Faction: Maximals
Optimus Primal is the commander of the Maximals and their ship the Axalon. He is a brave and compassionate leader who doesn't think twice about throwing himself in the line of fire for his comrades.Optimus named himself after a greatest hero of all times: Optimus Prime! He can make rash decisions but is compelled to defeat the Predacons.
His beast mode is that of a Silverback Gorilla throughout the series as you can see from the image. Like his ancestor, the original Optimus Prime, he gained the respect of his fellow Maximals through his excellent leadership, bravery and proved to be an excellent leader and mentor to his fellow Maximals throughout the duration of the Beast Wars.
Optimus Primal proved throughout the series that a true hero never gives up. He has displayed this time and time again thoughout the series no matter how hopeless the odds seemed.
The original Optimus Prime would have been proud to have his name carried on by such a courageous and compassionate individual. Let's hear it for Optimus Primal. The transformer with all the makings of a true hero!
Transformers Takara Japanese Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Optimus Primal
Rattrap
Faction: Maximals
Rattrap is the sarcastic and sometimes 2nd in command member of the Maximals. He tends to be a survivalist, even though he always believes the Maximals are going to perish. Despite the fact he is the smallest Maximal, this works to his advantage several times throughout the duration of the series. Although Rattrap is the smallest member of the Maximals, he makes up for it with a HUGE personality. Along with being a skilled fighter, he is also a talented technician and successfully helps the Maximals through many dangerous situations. Overall, Rattrap is a much loved character and a very important asset to the Maximals. Rattrap's beast mode is, you guessed it, a rat! Rhinox
Faction: Maximals
Rhinox also sometimes serves as 2nd in command throughout the series. He is Optimus Primal's oldest friend as well as the head scientist and mechanic of the team. He is not really a fighter and more of a strategist, but he sure does tear it up when he needs to with is trusty Chainguns, commonly referred to as the Chainguns of Doom. He is highly intelligent and skilled in multiple aspects of science and technology. Rhinox's beast mode is a rhinoceros.
Transformers Takara Japanese Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Rhinox
Cheetor
Faction: Maximals
Cheetor is the youngest member of the Maximals and can be quite immature and reckless at times. He looks up to Optimus Primal and tries to get on his good side by achieving any mission given to him, but his reckless behavior tends to lead him into trouble. Despite him being stubborn and headstrong at times, he is definitely another important asset to the Maximals. His beast mode is a cheetah.
Dinobot
Faction: Predacons/Maximals
Dinobot was a former Predacon and is a warrior who follows a strict code of honor. Betrayed by Megatron, Dinobot joined the Maximals in episode 1 and became a valuable asset to their team, even though his methods were rather extreme at times. Dinobot often argues with Rattrap, who he named "Vermin" to counter Rattrap's remark of calling him "Chopperface". Dinobot's Beast mode is a velociraptor.
Transformers:
Beast Wars Classic Deluxe > Dinobot Action Figure
Megatron
Faction: Predacons
Megatron is the charismatic commander of the Predacons. Although he took his namesake from the original Megatron, he is much different in his methods. This Megatron is a skilled leader, a careful planner, doesn't lose his temper quickly and altogether a very vital component in the beast wars who excels at gaining the upper hand in almost any situation in which he is placed.
Tarantulas
Faction: Predacons
Tarantulas is deceptive, cunning, treacherous, clever and is always scheming with a hidden agenda. Tranatulas is also a scientist and even has his own lair where he is always developing new weapons and devices for the Predacons to use in their cause but mostly used the lair to develop things in secret for his own agenda. His beast mode is a tarantula.
Waspinator
Faction: Predacons
Waspinator often refers to himself in the third person and generally has a very gloomy outlook on his own life. Through constant bad luck, he is often shot at or damaged throughout the series, by Maximals and Predacons alike. This later becomes a gimmick throughout the show as he is blown to bits in nearly every episode. Despite all this, he just keeps coming back for more and is still a formidable opponent. He's extremely loyal and follows every order till the bitter end. Waspinator's beast mode is a wasp.
Transformers Beast Wars Biocombat Deluxe Predacon Waspinator
Terrorsaur
Faction: Predacons
Terrorsaur is basically the Starscream of the series. He often attempts to overthrow Megatron for leadership of the Predacons but is nowhere near cunning enough to pull one over on mighty Megatron. What he lacks in intelligence is more than made up for with his fighting skills. Terrorsaur's arsenal includes a hand-held pistol, double barrel cannon mounted on his forearm and even has laser cannons in his optics. His beast mode is a pteranodon.
Scorponok
Faction: Predacons
Scorponok is second-in-command of the Predacons. He is very devoted to Megatron but can be rather dense at times. Along with being second in command, he is also a scientist for the Predacons and tries to invent things to assist the Predacon cause. His Beast mode is a scorpion.Now let's talk about characters seen after the first episode of Beast Wars.
All further information and character descriptions are of those after episode one!
Remember the information I gave earlier pertaining to the Protoforms? Well here is a description of the ones that crash-landed later in the series that went on to become either Maximals or Predacons.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!
Blackarachnia
Faction: Predacons
Blackarachnia was the first and only female Predacon to appear in the beast wars.. When her stasis pod crash landed, originally a maximal protoform, it was Tarantulas who got to her 1st. Tarantulas chose her beast mode (a black widow spider) in the hopes she would someday be his mate. These hopes were shot down as Blackarachnia was her own spider as well as smart and sneaky. Like Tarantulas, she always has her own agendas and she used her feminine appeals to con her teammates as well as her enemies into doing things for her.
Blackarachnia Transformers Beast Wars Black Widow spider 1996 hasbro
Tigatron
Faction: Maximals
Tigatron is the first Maximal protoform to crash-land on Earth. He gained a natural love of the planet and considered it to be his home. Tigatron is very peaceful and wise and prefers now to battle, however, he can certainly clean house when he needs to! Tigatron also develops a close relationship with his fellow Maximal Airazor. His beast mode is a white tiger.
Inferno
Faction: Predacons
Inferno was another maximal protoform converted by Tarantulas and later became 2nd-in-command after Scorponok's death. His beast mode is that of a fire ant. As a result of damage to his programming when he was activated, the instincts of his beast mode were integrated into his shell program, causing him to have the personality close to that of an ant. This gave him instincts such as "defending the colony" and "defending the queen". This provided comic relief for the show as he would constantly refer to Megatron as "my queen" which Megatron found quite annoying. Equipped with an arsenal of flame throwing weapons, Inferno proved to be a brave combatant and an asset to the Predacons.
Airrazor
Faction: Maximals
Airazor is the only female Maximal on the team, until they recruit of Blackarachnia. She is also another protoform that crash landed to Earth later on in the series. Airazor's spark nearly died at birth but she was saved by Rhinox and Cheetor and thereby considered them her "uncle" and "brother". Throughout her time on Earth she developed a relationship with Tigatron. Her beast mode is a peregrine falcon.
Transformers Beast Wars Maximal Airazor
Transformers Beast Wars AIRAZOR Exclusive Action Figure with Video
Quickstrike
Faction: Predacons
Quickstrike was also originally a Maximal protoform who joined the Predacons due to his more violent nature. He was known as a fuzor because his beast mode consisted of a combination of two creatures: a cobra and a scorpion. His personality closely resembles that of a "Wild West" gunslinger, and even talks in the typical gunslinger. In his beast mode he resembled a scorpion with a cobra head for his tail which shot out a paralyzing type of cyber venom as well as lasers.
Silverbolt
Faction: Maximals
Silverbolt, also a fuzor like Quickstrike, is a hybrid of a wolf and a golden eagle. He is a stereotypical hero and follows a code of honor. Silverbolt is very brave but sometimes let's his code of honor come in the way of his missions. He falls in love with Blackarachnia, convincing her to join the Maximals, which she eventually does. Silverbolt's Beast mode is a gray wolf/golden eagle hybrid.
Rampage (also known as Protoform X)
Faction: Predacons
Rampage was a Maximal experiment gone horribly wrong! Before the beast wars, Maximal scientists once attempted to recreate Starscream's mutant immortal spark, but instead made the hopelessly psychotic and destructive "Protoform X". "X" destroyed countless Maximals, including the colony of which Depth Charge was the head of security for. 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 caused his dormant spark to waken. Megatron forced him to join the Predacons by removing half his spark and using it to torture "X" whenever he stepped out of line. He was given the name "Rampage" By Megatron.His beast mode is that of a crab with a third form which resembles a tank.
Depth Charge
Faction: Maximals
Depth Charge is the only aquatic member of the Maximals. He comes to Earth in search of Rampage (Protoform X). He wants to take vengeance on Rampage for destroying his home Colony: Omicron. Depth Charge started out as a rogue who refused to work alongside the other Maximals, but over time he became a full fledged member of the team. His beast mode is a manta ray.
What are The Vok?
The Vok are mysterious energy-based alien creatures who developed experiments on prehistoric Earth for their own designs. The Vok are dedicated to "the Project", which consists of mysterious and sometimes contradictory plans for the planet. As a result of their experiments, there were a number of anomalies on the Earth, including a hollowed-out moon which is later revealed to be a cannon capable of destroying the entire planet.This cannon, known as the "planet buster", is later destroyed. As a result of the Planet Buster's explosion, a quantum surge is released which causes a mutation in several of the Transformers. This mutation which occurred changed the Transformers into what is known as "Transmetals".
Not only do the Transformers look flashier in their transmetal forms - they are stronger, more agile and most of them have a 3rd transformation mode. They can now change into beast, robot and vehicle mode.
See the Transmetals Picture Gallery below
Transmetals Action Figures
Other Transformations within Beast Wars
Optimal Optimus
In season 3 of the Beast Wars, the Maximals & Predacons discover the location of "The Ark", the original ship that crash-landed on Earth which contained the original transformers. Just like the original G1 Transformers cartoon series, the Ark contained the original Transformers in stasis since they crash-landed 4 million years ago to Earth. This is also the time period of the Beast Wars.
Megatron had a plot to rule the future by destroying the spark of the original Optimus Prime. In order to protect the spark, Optimus Primal placed the spark in his own body, thus becomming Optimal Optimus. This was the strongest version of Optimus Primal. Not only did he grow much larger, but he also had 4 transformation modes as shown above: Robot Mode, Beast Mode, Ground Vehicle Mode and Flying Mode.
Megatron (Red Dragon)
Megatron wanted to replicate the effect Optimus Prime's spark had on Primal so he deliberately took the spark of the original Megatron and placed it in his body. He transformed into a powerful Red Dragon in beast mode and is very powerful in his new robot mode as well.
A Transmetal 2 refers to a Transformer who has been mutated to a more advanced degree than the Transmetals during the Beast Wars. Where Transmetals are marked by a mode-based inversion concerning biological & mechanical elements, Transmetal 2 transformers have those elements blended in equal parts between their beast and robot modes.
Some of the Transmetal 2s also exhibit a degree of supernatural abilities such as telekinesis and rapid healing. Transmetal 2 was the result of experiments Megatron conducted utilizing Vok technology, which also resulted in producing warriors with advanced strength, speed and more savage impulses.
Transmetals 2 Screenshot Gallery below
Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Action Figures
Tigerhawk
Airazor + Tigatron merged with Vok technology
Tigerhawk is is the combination of Airazor's and Tigatron's spark fused into one in order to bring justice to the time-disrupting Predacons on prehistoric Earth.
Tigerhawk is the most powerful Transformer in the Beast Wars saga. He is also the first and only Transmetal 2 Fuzor and can even control the weather at times.
Original G1 Transformers appearing in the Beast Wars
As I mentioned earlier, there are not only tie-ins to the original Transformers, but some of the original Transformers themselves appear in the Beast Wars series. See the gallery below for screenshots showing G1 Transformers as they are shown in the Beast Wars. See them in mind-blowing CGI!
Gallery of G1 Transformers appearing in Beast Wars
More on the Beast Wars Action Figures
They could = your retirement!
If only my mother never sold my original G1 Transformer toys at a garage sale, I'd be sippin' tropical drinks on some Carribbean Island right now! Just take a look on ebay, there are certain G1 toys going for thousands of bucks!Fortunately, being that Beast Wars came out 10 years later, the prices haven't climbed tremendously, although they are starting to imitate the trends seen in G1 Transformer toys.
I suggest scooping up as many of these as possible, locking them in an air tight box and then selling them 10 years from now for an exponential return on your investment!
CLICK HERE
for more amazing Beast Wars toys. More on the DVDs
Most amazing Transformers series to grace planet Earth!
All I have to say is, get these DVDs! The series spands 52 action packed episodes. Season 1 consists of 26 episodes while seasons 2 & 3 span 13 episodes each. You will love the Transformers nostalgia this serious provides along with an interesting cast of characters, deep plotlines & awesome CGI animation.Just like a fine wine, Beast wars progressively got better with age, from the upgrades to the original Transformers tie-ins & cameos. A must have for any true Transformers fan, collector, or just anyone who loved the original 80s cartoon.
Beast Wars Transformers
The Complete First Season
Beast Machines
The direct continuation of the Beast Wars
After the Beast Wars ended, a direct continuation to it was released. It's called Beast Machines and contains 26 episodes. Beast Machines takes place on Cybertron and picks up directly where Beast Wars left off. I won't go into a great deal of detail and while I prefer Beast Wars, Beast Machines is worth watching, especially if your a completist like me.
Final Thoughts
I hope you all enjoyed this lense and that you will take an interest in Beast Wars. I'm not the only one that feels that way as it is a well-respected series amongst many Transformers fans as well as non-Transformers fans.Don't forget that the original G1 (Generation One) transformers series is now on DVD as well and has been re-mastered as well for excellent quality. You can pick that up to complete your collection below.
My Favorite Transformers Toy
20th Anniversary Optimus Prime Figure
Transformers Optimus Prime 20th Anniversary Figure
Amazon Price: $179.99 (as of 12/30/2009) 
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