Beast Wars: Transformers

File:Beastwarslogo.jpg

Beast Wars TV series logo.

Beast Wars (Beasties on YTV) was a Transformers toyline released by Hasbro between 1995 and 1999. The toys spawned a full-CG animated series set in the "original" Transformers universe, produced by Mainframe Entertainment of Canada. The series debuted in 1996, as a sequel to the original Generation One Transformers cartoon series (which was later followed by various limited comic book stories from several companies including Dreamwave comics and IDW.)

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 Region 1 territories. In Australia, to coincide with the show's tenth anniversary in 2006, Madman Entertainment has released two of the seasons thus far, with the third scheduled for a November release. The DVDs are loaded with special features.

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

Basic plot

Early Beast Wars techspec cards painted a picture of the Transformers taking on life-sized forms in the present era (similar to the '80s series it was based upon). However, when Forward and DiTillio began writing the show, they instead chose a considerably earlier setting; this would later be revealed to be Earth roughly four million years ago, after the original Transformers ship the Ark crash-landed inside a volcano. Larry DiTillio revealed that the decision to make the planet Earth, was not yet made until the end of the first season. They gave the planet two satellites and decided that they would destroy one moon if the planet was indeed to be Earth.

The premise for the series was that two groups of robots from the planet 'Cybertron' crash-landed their ships, the Axalon and Darkside (nicknamed the Darkside by fans due to an offhanded comment by Terrorsaur) on a mysterious planet after a brief firefight in space. Before crashing, the Axalon deployed several stasis pods, which orbited the planet throughout the rest of the series. The two main factions, were the Maximals, descendants of the Autobots and the Predacons, descendants of the Decepticons. The names were intended stem from the terms Mammal and Predator but were not necessarily consistent with the alternate forms of the Transformers. In Beast Machines, the process during which Autobots and Decepticons gave rise to Maximals and Predacons, respectively, was called "The Great Upgrade". Optimus Primal was the leader of the Maximals and Megatron was the leader of the Predacons.

In the premiere episode, it was revealed that Optimus' crew was a team of four scientists on an exploration mission and that Megatron's crew was a band of six recently freed convicts who had stolen the Golden Disk and an experimental Transwarp ship, claiming to be searching for the planet Earth, which the Golden Disk said contained high amounts of Energon, the Transformers' power source. To survive volatile levels of Energon, the Transformers changed their alternate modes from vehicles to animals. These animals or their skeletons were scanned by ships or stasis pods, when a new protoform came online. All attempts at peace between the Maximals and Predacons failed, and their continuing conflicts were referred to as "The Beast Wars".

Eventually, more characters were added to the cast and Megatron's true intentions for seeking out Earth were revealed. He intended to either destroy the humanity before they could assist the Autobots in their war against the Decepticons, or to gain access to the Autobot Ark, and kill the deactivated original Optimus Prime. The latter plot was directly told to him by G1 Megatron on a video played from the Golden Disk. He actually succeeded in this, but Optimus Primal took the Spark of Prime into his own body (which transformed his body into the Optimal Optimus form) while Rhinox and the other Maximals performed vital repairs on Optimus Prime's head. When the repairs were complete, the timeline was restored to its original state.

Early concepts for the series show that the original faction leaders (Primal and Megatron) were in fact going to be reimaginations of the original Generation One faction leaders, Optimus Prime and G1 Megatron, but the series itself shows that they are indeed separate characters. (Both Primal and Megatron come face-to-face with the currently-deactivated forms of their ancestors inside the Ark at different points.) The idea of both faction leaders being the G1 characters was probably abandoned when the idea of the series taking place in modern times (as a continuation of the Generation 2 series) was dropped.

When the Axalon initially began to crash, it released several Stasis Pods--chambers with an undeveloped Transformer called a Protoform. These Stasis Pods were used as a plot device to introduce new characters to the show during the first and early second seasons. A Pod would crash to the Earth, and then the Maximals and Predacons would be alerted of it, and set out to retrieve it--usually resulting in a battle, in which the victor would usually get the Pod, and the resulting character from inside it. Sometimes the pod would have a "blank" which is a protoform containing no spark.

Beast Wars was the first Transformers series to include deaths in the television episodes (the original 80s series had several characters die in the theatrical movie, but no characters died in the series itself). The most memorable death was that of the character Dinobot in Code of Hero. Also of note is the character Waspinator, who was blown to pieces or otherwise dismantled in almost every episode of the series, but never officially "died." Even in the sequel series Beast Machines, Waspinator survived, albeit in a new body and identity, as Thrust.

Characters

Maximals

File:Maximals-bw1.jpg

Promotional photo of the Maximals taken from a scene in The Low Road.

Optimus Primal

Leader-figure of the Maximals whose beast mode is a silver-back Gorilla. Primal 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 Autobot leaders in other series) and prone to losing his temper under pressure. Rattrap often referred to him as "the Boss Monkey", or "Fearless Leader" while Cheetor was prone to calling him "Big Bot." Primal sacrificed himself at the end of season 1 against the Vok's deadly alien weapon, but was revived by Rhinox at the start of Season Two, in a new transmetal body. He became Optimal Optimus after briefly being a host for Optimus Prime's spark in the season 3. Primal's original season 1 form was armed with two dual-barrel guns in his forearms (nicknamed "shotguns," by fans), as well as two shoulder missile launchers, and two curved Spinal Swords. His transmetal form had a handheld gun and a hoverboard, plus clubs that could also be used as turrets. His final "Optimal Optimus" form had two retractable chest-mounted blasters. Optimus Primal's catchphrase for bad situations was "Well, that's just prime."

Rhinox

Mechanic robot who is 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. In one particularly interesting instance (the episode "Aftermath"), he breaks up an argument between Rattrap and Dinobot by grabbing the latter by the throat and saying, "I'm in a bad mood...", to which Dinobot quickly agrees. Rhinox's weaponry consisted of two machine gun weapons that were quickly identified as chainguns of first-person shooter popularity, and were soon "officially" named 'the Chainguns of Doom' by Bob Forward on Internet message boards. This name was officially acknowledged by Hasbro on the packaging of the 2006 reissue of the toy.

File:Transmetalrattrapbeastmode.jpg

Transmetal Rattrap

Rattrap

Lieutenant and a somewhat pessimistic smart-aleck whose beast mode is a rat. While he fills the comic relief portion of the show, Rattrap is the Maximals' covert ops/spy and once "defected" to the Predacons to retrieve a salvaged Maximal decoder chip that was being used to intercept Maximal communications. His favorite saying in the first seasons was, "We're all gonna die," often followed by the other Maximals retorting "Shut up Rattrap". As a transmetal, his vehicle mode is a high-powered dragster. Rattrap developed a "friendship" with Dinobot, though it was veiled beneath constant bickering and arguing. Rattrap's weapon in both his original and his Transmetal form was a pistol, though the action figure of his transmetal form was equipped with only a serrated whip.

Cheetor

Cheetor functions as jungle patrol, acts immaturely and has the beast mode of a cheetah. Cheetor is one of the characters to receive two upgrades during the series; each one seemingly helping to mentally mature the character a bit. While Cheetor started the series as an immature child character, by the end he has matured to a late adolescent or early adult. He also shows feelings for the Maximal-turned-Predacon-turned-Maximal Blackarachnia, even going as far as having a picture of her in his room. Cheetor's original form had two separate guns (although only one of which was used at a time, usually the "gut gun," nicknamed for its pink organic-looking intestines appearing at the top of the gun, and the other formed from the Cheetah's hind quarters, sometimes nicknamed the "ass gun" by fans). His transmetal upgrade eliminated the guns (with the exception of a sniper rifle used in Feral Scream Part I), but he could now hold together both of his hands (which had the head of his Cheetah form attached to them) to fire blasts of energy from the mouth section. He also gained flight capabilities. His final transmetal 2 form gave him a large missile launcher that was usually attached to his back that when in beast mode, would act as a rocket that could propel him to speeds of at least mach 2.

File:Beastwarsdinobot.jpg

Dinobot

Dinobot

Seemingly merciless, Combat Specialist, and lives by a strict yet complex code of honor. He was a Predacon who left Megatron and allied himself with Optimus Primal's group whose beast mode is a velociraptor (this is confirmed by a taunt from Rattrap "...Do ya wanna know just how Velociraptors got extinct!"), and shares his name with a sub group of near-indestructible Generation 1 Autobots. He is very aggressive and has a short temper. He often argued with Rattrap, calling him "Vermin" commonly. Dinobot briefly returned to the Predacons, but then defected back to the Maximals. Dinobot died after destroying Megatron's Golden Disk, and saving the protohumans (and therefore the entire human race) from an attack from the Predacons. Dinobot's weapons were a sword resembling a spinal chord, and a rotating tail shield, as well as Laser Eyes. Several clones of Dinobot were made by Megatron during the series. Later in the series, Megatron creates a clone of him with the transmetal 2 alien driver and half the spark of Rampage. Dinobot was scheduled to return in the defunct Transtech show.

File:Tstigatron.jpg

Tigatron

Tigatron

The first Maximal protoform to be awakened from an Earth-fallen stasis pod, Tigatron served as the team's recon. His beast mode was a white tiger that lived in the Arctic. He was abducted by the Vok and killed along with Airazor, but was restored briefly as the transmetal fuzor Tigerhawk. Tigatron's only form was based on a repaint of Cheetor's with several cosmetic modifications, so (while only use of the "gut gun" was ever seen, in scenes with Tigatron, Cheetor would use the other gun) it can be assumed that Tigatron has his own versions of both Cheetor's guns. Airazor and Tigatron briefly had a romantic interest, but it was interrupted by their aubduction by the Vok. He returned to life in the Botcon Primeval Dawn comic series.

File:Untitled.JPEG

Airazor

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. She was restored briefly as Tigerhawk, fused with Tigatron. Airazor was equipped with wrist-mounted guns. The toy was designed as androgynous, as Hasbro feared a female toy would not sell well. After the success of Blackarachnia, Airazor was made female, but the ambiguity of the design allowed the character to be male in the Japanese dub. She showed a romantic interest in Tigatron. She returned to life in the Primeval Dawn comic series.

File:Tssilverboltiii.jpg

Silverbolt

Silverbolt

Silverbolt is the Maximal equivalent to the "white knight in shining armor." He has a strong sense of morals but is a tad naive at times throughout the series. His beast mode is known as a Fuzor, a combination of two animals; in Silverbolt's case, a fusion of an Eagle and a Gray Wolf. Originally tricked by Megatron into joining the Predacons, Silverbolt later joined the side of the Maximals after viewing the Predacon's evil intentions. He fell in love with Blackarachnia, whom he helped join the Maximals. Silverbolt was armed with wing-mounted missile launchers that doubled as swords.

Depth Charge

Marine Commander and former Maximal Security Officer. His beast mode was a transmetal manta ray with a third flight mode. Before joining the Beast Wars he was the Chief Security Officer upon the Omicron Starbase. Once created he was charged with hunting down and capturing of Rampage. Sadly this happened too late and Starbase Rugby was destroyed with all of his friends, leaving him bitter and thirsting for vengeance. Going as far as to retune his own scanners to pick up the spark of Rampage. He never called him by Rampage's given name, instead simply calling him "X", an abbreviation of "Protoform X", Rampage's name while still in development stages. Depth Charge originally ignored the other Maximals, preferring to head off after Rampage, but after botching an attempt to retrieve Sentinel from the underwater Axalon, he agreed to officially join. He died in the explosion after stabbing Rampage with a raw shard of energon. He was also scheduled to return in the Transtech series which was never produced, but eventually returned in the Transformers: Universe line.

File:Tigerhawk.jpg

Tigerhawk

Tigerhawk

Merged transmetal 2 form of Tigatron and Airazor, sent to Earth by the Vok to destroy Megatron. Tarantulus removed the Vok influence from his body, the result of which killed him. Tigatron and Airazor's sparks then merged, creating their 'child'. He was killed by the Decepticon warship Nemesis in the second part of the series finale. Tigerhawk easily is the most powerful of all of the Transformers in Beast Wars - his shaman-like ability to manipulate energy and weather alone being enough to destroy the entire Predacon base.

Predacons

File:Predacons-s2.jpg

Quickstrike, Tarantulas, Megatron, Inferno and Waspinator in season 2.

Megatron

Devious Leader of the Predacons, and part-time inventor, whose Beast Mode was a purple Tyrannosaurus Rex. He is considered a megalomaniac among his peers and some of his followers, and unqualified to be their leader. That has led many Predacon subordinates to periodically plot against him or defect. Became a Transmetal T-Rex after the Quantum Surge. Megatron later took the spark of G1 Megatron into his own body, similar to what Primal had done with Optimus Prime--this ended with Megatron being thrown into a lava pit in the Ark volcano, only to come out later as a Transmetal 2 Dragon. Original form had a laser and missile launcher in the T-Rex head, as well as a claw tail weapon. The Transmetal body had a claw tail with a toothed edge, and could also fire energy from this edge--It was this weapon that almost killed Optimus Prime. The Transmetal 2 form, similar to his Season 1 body, had the dragon head mounted on one arm, allowing him to fire flaming plasma or ice in robot mode. G1 Megatron's Spark was originally thought not to be returned to its body, but a cut scene from the finale episode shows Primal removing it and inserting it in G1 Megatron's body again.

File:Tsscorponokii.jpg

Scorponok

Scorponok

Unmovingly loyal second-in-command to Megatron (After Dinobot's departure from the Predacon ranks) as well as a Predacon Engineer; beast form was a giant Scorpion. He possesses some technical knowledge, though behind Tarantulus and Blackarachnia in skill, and is notoriously incompetent. Later, he was destroyed when he fell into lava during the quantum surge, along with Terrorsaur.

Tarantulas

Lieutenant (third-in-command), mad Scientist, Weapons Inventor, and, unknown to Megatron, Lieutenant of the Predacon Secret Police in the service of the Tripredacus Council. Because of this he works behind Megatron's back constantly and keeps much of his work secret in his private lair. Always trying to save himself first, his beast form was a giant Tarantula. The quantum wave gave him a transmetal form with a third motorcycle transformation. Although he died in the third season of the television series, vaporising himself with his own weapon, he returned in the pages of the comics.

File:Waspinator.jpg

Waspinator

Waspinator

Not-very-bright 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??"). He was the only original Predacon to not change or die during the series - although there was a transmetal toy of Waspinator. He defected at the end of the series, and would rule over the proto-humans for a time.

Terrorsaur

Usurper, Technical Advisor and Aerial Combatant; beast form was a Pterosaur. Like Scorponok, he also was destroyed by lava during the quantum wave. He often attempted to overthrow Megatron for leadership of the Predacons ( reminiscent of his Generation One Air Commander predecessor - Starscream), and was never successful in the end. Although he died in the television series, he returned in the pages of the Transformers: Universe comics. As well as his aerial prowess, Terrorsaur's offensive weaponry included laser eyes, similar to that of Dinobot.

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. She often aligned herself with Tarantulas over Megatron, possibly due to the fact that 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. Originally a Maximal-aligned protoform, Blackarachnia's alliance was switched to the side of the Predacons by Tarantulas (who also chose her Beast Mode). 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--which included herself. During an attempt to give herself a Transmetal II body (and thereby more power), she triggered a protocol in her core systems that would wipe her mind and leave her a blank. After the Predacon systems in her were cleaned, she became an 'official' Maximal. Her weapons in her original body were exact copies of Tarantulus, minus her gun which doubled as a grappling-hook.

Inferno

Maximal Protoform converted by Tarantulas and later second-in-command after Scorponok's death; beast form is a giant fire ant. Due to damage to his programming when he was activated, instincts of his beast form integrated into his shell program, which causes him to have a personality close to an ant. This gives him pre-determined instincts to "defend the colony" (his base), and an unquestionable allegiance to his 'queen', Megatron. Through the series, Megatron repeatedly asked Inferno not to call him 'Queen.' Eventually Inferno refers to Megatron as 'royalty'. He would, ironically, be killed by Megatron when the latter accidentally obliterated him with the guns of the Nemesis. Inferno wielded a large flame throwing gun, a unique type of weaponry in the beast wars universe.

Quickstrike

Originally a Maximal protoform, he joined the Predacons due to his more violent nature. His Fuzor form is a giant Scorpion with a Cobra acting as his tail. His personality closely mimics a "Wild West" gunslinger, and even talks in the typical gunslinger drawl. He would be killed at the end of the series by Megatron, accidentally killed by the weapons of the Nemesis. His snake-head shot out mechano-venom as well as laser blasts.

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 Colony Omicron, earning him the eternal enmity of Depth Charge (who was head of security for Omicron). When his stasis pod crashed on Earth, it was thought that his spark finally extinguished, but this was not the case as an Energon explosion and subsequent storm awoke his dormant spark. He was tortured over to the Predacon side by Megatron, who removed half his spark and used it to hurt 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 king crab with a third form that resembles a tank.

Dinobot 2

A clone of the original Dinobot, created by Megatron and enhanced with Transmetal 2 technology, Dinobot 2 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, named "Clone One"). The details of his creation are unique - he 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. Stronger due to Transmetal 2 technology and without any of the original Dinobot's honour, Dinobot 2 was a formidable foe. 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... His beast mode was a Transmetal 2 Velociraptor. In robot mode he had blades on his hands and feet, and his energy weapon is mounted on his left eye.

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 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 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 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/archive/job">job</a> 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 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. A moon which 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. 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.) Larry DiTillo also stated in an interview that his plans were to relate the Swarm to the Vok.

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 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?go=flight">flight</a> and energy projection. Transmutate befriended both the Maximal Silverbolt, who sought to protect her, and the Predacon Rampage, who knew the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/archive/pain">pain</a> 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 and Rhinox viewed her as a threat and thought it best if she were put in stasis until she could be repaired. 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.

Generation 1 characters included

Most of these characters can be seen lying around the Ark in stasis lock.

Optimus Prime

Leader of the ancient Autobots. Optimus would be seen in the Agenda pt 3 and Optimal Situation as the whole reason that the Beast Wars incarnation of Megatron had come to Earth, as part of a plan by the original Megatron 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.

Megatron

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 rather than the G1 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. Later, with his options exhausted, Megatron revealed to Ravage the message from G1 Megatron, prompting him to immediately switch sides. 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 G1 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. But the spark of G1 Megatron attempted to take over his descendant's body. As the two battled for control a controlled Optimal Optimus hurled the conflicted Megatron into a lava pit. This seemed to actually help and Megatron rose from the pit in a massive new red Dragon form. After Megatron's eventual defeat, the spark of G1 Megatron would be returned to its rightful owner(in a deleted scene from the Beast Wars third season DVD).

Starscream

Air commander of the ancient Decepticons. His 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 invunerable, and the Maximal attempts to dupilicate 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 II makes his way in an attempt to kill Optimus Prime.

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 and, rather oddly, still made the same transforming sounds as the original Gen 1 Transformers. 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 and would also return in a transmetal form in the unconnected IDW Publishing story Beast Wars: The Gathering.)

Other characters

Characters mentioned in the show included Unicron (who appeared in a flashback with Starscream), Arcee, whom Rattrap, perhaps humorously, indicates he is related to, and Shrapnel. Also, characters seen in the show include Prowl, Skywarp, Soundwave, and several other Autobots and Decepticons seen in stasis in the Ark.

Episode List

Season One

Episode Number	Title	Airdate
01	Beast Wars (1)	September 16, 1996
02	Beast Wars (2)	September 17, 1996
03	The Web	September 18, 1996
04	Equal Measures	September 23, 1996
05	Chain of Command	September 24, 1996
06	Power Surge	September 25, 1996
07	Fallen Comrades	September 30, 1996
08	Double Jeopardy	October 7, 1996
09	A Better Mousetrap	October 8, 1996
10	Gorilla Warfare	October 14, 1996
11	The Probe	October 15, 1996
12	Victory	November 1, 1996
13	Dark Designs	November 4, 1996
14	Double Dinobot	November 5, 1996
15	The Spark	November 11, 1996
16	The Trigger (1)	November 18, 1996
17	The Trigger (2)	November 19, 1996
18	Spider's Game	January 6, 1997
19	Call of the Wild	January 7, 1997
20	Dark Voyage	January 27, 1997
21	Possession	February 3, 1997
22	The Low Road	February 10, 1997
23	Law of the Jungle	February 17, 1997
24	Before the Storm	February 21, 1997
25	Other Voices (1)	March 31, 1997
26	Other Voices (2)	April 1, 1997

Season Two

Episode Number	Title	Airdate
27	Aftermath	October 26, 1997
28	Coming of the Fuzors (1)	November 2, 1997
29	Coming of the Fuzors (2)	November 9, 1997
30	Tangeled Web	November 16, 1997
31	Maximal, No More	November 23, 1997
32	Other Visits (1)	February 8, 1998
33	Other Visits (2)	February 15, 1998
34	Bad Spark	February 22, 1998
35	Code of Hero	March 9, 1998
36	Transmutate	March 10, 1998
37	The Agenda (1)	March 11, 1998
38	The Agenda (2)	March 12, 1998
39	The Agenda (3)	March 13, 1998

Season Three

Episode Number	Title	Airdate
40	Optimal Situation	October 25, 1998
41	Deep Metal	November 1, 1998
42	Changing of the Guard	November 8, 1998
43	Cutting Edge	November 15, 1998
44	Feral Scream (1)	January 31, 1999
45	Feral Scream (2)	February 7, 1999
46	Proving Grounds	February 14, 1999
47	Go With the Flow	February 18, 1999
48	Crossing the Rubicon	February 22, 1999
49	Master Blaster	March 15, 1999
50	Other Victories	May 5, 1999
51	Nemesis (1)	May 6, 1999
52	Nemesis (2)	May 7, 1999

Beast Machines

Main article: Beast Machines

Beast Wars was followed up by Beast Machines, a new series with a new creative team in charge of the cartoon. As a sequel, it was not initially well received among fans mostly due to the surviving Maximals and Predacons being out-of-character to a certain degree. Others did not find its technorganic 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 somewhat 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, released over the course of the year, coincided with the 10th Anniversary of Beast Wars toys released in Australia from April 2006. These sets are more heavily packed with extra features than their US counterparts, including audio commentaries by Beast Wars writers Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio and Transformers consultant Benson Yee, documentaries, TV spots, convention panels and toy galleries.

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 Wōzu Sekando) and Beast Wars Neo (ビーストウォーズネオ, Biisuto Wōzu Neo) 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, as the Transformers franchise is aimed at a very young age group in Japan in comparison to the United States. Beast Wars II spawned a theatrical movie. 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, thus Beast Wars Metals was not as successful with Japanese fans. The Beast Wars Metals 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 were picked up by IDW Publishing, and was released in early 2006 as a four-issue miniseries. The series was 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 introduced characters who were not shown in the original series such as Magmatron, Razorbeast and Injector. Other characters who made an appearance are Grimlock in his Beast Wars body (recolored Dinobot toy) and Ravage in his Transmetal 2 "Tripredacus Agent" incarnation.

Beast Wars The Gathering

See Beast Wars: The Gathering for more details. Magmatron was displeased with the Predacon political disposition and often organized gatherings to rally support for his cause. Lio-Convoy (of the Japanese Beast Wars II) makes an appearance as Razorbeast's commanding officer. He recruited Razorbeast to be part of an undercover investigation in his activities and that the ranks among the Maximals wouldn't know his existence. Lio-Convoy warned Razorbeast that his mission will be secret and that he's on his own should anything go wrong. Razorbeast agreed to the terms of his mission and had his Maximal signature modified to Predacon's. He then joined in Magmatron's expedition. Magmatron was suspcious of Razorbeast's intentions, but he didn't have a choice in the matter since Razorbeast knew various aspects of technology that Magmatron needed in order to make his mission successful. Once on pre-historic earth, Magmatron and the rest of his Predacons took various forms of the local biology and started their plans to mass an army of Predacons by reprogramming the remaining stasis pods that have all landed on Earth. While some of the pods were activated, most of the pods remained dormant until Magmatron's arrival.

Magmatron had Razor Beast construct a specialized broadcasting device that would simultaneously activate all the pods and reprogram all the protoforms into Predacons. When the device first activated all seem to be well, Predacons began to come out of their pods...then the battle began as suddenly several pods began emerging Maximals. The moment Magmatron realized this he demanded an explanation from Razor Beast, but Razor Beast already made a run for it in his Warthog beast mode. Razor Beast helped create the broadcasting system, but he altered the systems coding in a subliminal manner. When the system activated the secondary coding activated and started to activate the Maximals without altering their programming. Razor Beast then used his own internal communication system to summon all the activated Maximals to gather for a counter-offensive. The plan was to repair a transwarp signal booster to call for reinforcements from Cybertron while they wait things out. Magmatron acted fast and began to implement his plans even though his plans didn't go smoothly. He constructed a portable transwarp portal gate in an attempt to retrieve Megatron (in his season 2 purple transmetal form).

While Magmatron was busy retrieving Megatron he knew the Maximals would be a problem and he had the idea to revive the presumed dead Ravage. Ravage's body was broken, but his spark was still intact and was transferred into a blank protoform. When he was revived his form looked very similar to the Transmetal 2 Cheetor. Ravage took the mission to search and destroy the Maximals. Optimus Minor and Razor Beast left his main group behind as they try to find Magmatron and try to stop his plans further interfering the timeline. Grimlock appeared by chance and distracted Magmatron long enough for Razor Beast and Optimus Minor to return Megatron to his timeline. The Maximals temporary lair was discovered by Ravage and the Predadons converged on them as they just fixed the transwarp signal booster (after salvaging parts from the Autobot Ark). While under attack they activated the signal booster (only one shot or nothing). As the situation began to worsen the remaining maximals appeared and defeated the Predacons. Since then the Maximals created a temorary outpost and patiently wait for the Cybertron Maximals arrival (if they ever got the transmission). Mean while somewhere between Earth and Cybertron, other things began to develop...

References

Beast Wars is known for its frequent fan references. Transformers fan and proprietor 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 G1 content 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 Blackarachnia referred to him as "wacko," Waspinator replied "Wacko? No, Wonko! Wonko the Sane!" before saluting the screen. 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, it's a lost art." Primal says as the Maximals try to enter the Ark. This is a reference to how the G1 Transformers toys used die-cast metal in their construction, but this practice had ceased by Beast Wars, hence it being a "lost art."
• Episode 44 Feral Scream Part One - "Sector Tallories", spoken by Optimus Primal, in reference to fan Tallories.
• Episode 47 Go with the Flow - "Quarry detected - Grid Joona", in reference to a Finnish Transformers fan. However, the name is mispronounced as "jeu-nah", while the original Finnish pronunciation is "yaw-nah".
• Episode 51 Nemesis Part One - "This is Optimus, encoding transmission M Sipher" in reference to M "Quote" Sipher.
• Episode 51 Nemesis Part One - "Like you had no time for Starbase Rugby? You had friends there, as I recall... Tasty ones too!" Rampage mentions Starbase Rugby; the name reversed 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 Omicron 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: Jon and Carl Hartman, and Glen Hallit.

While not as common, Beast Wars also makes a few entertaining pop culture references. One of them appeared in the episode Victory when the Axalon's engines were failing. The crash was avoided thanks to Optimus, who guided the ship to a landing position using his Prime Jets and incredible strength. To add further comic relief, the Maximals suggest that it could be "a bird" or "a plane" until they realize that it is Optimus flying to their rescue. This is a clear reference to the DC Comics hero, Superman.

Other references appeared in The Agenda. Blackarachnia said "No slag Sherlock" to Silverbolt, indicating an equivalent word for "slag". No shit, Sherlock was a common expression of the time. This appeared in the script but not the episode. In the show, Rattrap said "Knievel mode" instead of beast mode which likens his driving form to the daredevil Evel Knievel.

In the episode Victory, when the Maximals are inspecting the deserted Darkside, Cheetor waves some of Tarantalus' legs at Dinobot. Dinobot grabs them and says "Alas, poor Tarantalus. I knew him, Cheetor." This is a direct reference to the play Hamlet when Hamlet holds a skull and says "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio."

One of the most comical references appeared in Possession, when Optimus defeated Starscream, saying "hasta la vista Starscream" referring to Terminator. Sunglasses also appeared over his eyes briefly.

In one episode, Rhinox and Inferno fight each other in the style of Rockem Sockem Robots. Rhinox wins resulting Inferno's head to come up, Megatron shoots Rhinox and shoves Inferno's head back down.

Optimus primal's Gorrilla form and Megatron's T-rex forms are also an homage to King Kong and Godzilla

Cast (English)

Actor	Character
Gary Chalk	Optimus Primal
Richard Newman	Rhinox
Ian James Corlett	Cheetor
Scott McNeil	Rattrap / Dinobot / Dinobot II / Silverbolt / Waspinator
Blu Mankuma	Tigerhawk / Tigatron
Pauline Newstone	Airazor
David Sobolov	Depth Charge
David Kaye	Megatron
Don Brown	Scorponok
Alec Willows	Tarantulas
Doug Parker	Terrosaur / 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
• Chafurin - 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 explanation on how Dinobot II regained the original's personality after Rampage was destroyed at the end of Season 3. This was however made in a comic 1
• 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.
  • There's also evidence that the series exists as the future of Marvel Comics' Generation 2 series, if only tentatively; during the timeline of the Beast Wars series, Earth is deemed off-limits by both factions' ruling parties, a decision made by Earth's citizens at the end of the G2 comic.
• Despite living all the way to the series finale, Waspinator is either shot, fallen on, framed, or somehow blown-up in almost every episode. (similar to the character Kenny in the cartoon South Park).
• 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 Blackarachnia, 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 easy 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 slight remodel and 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, with the exceptions of 1985 and 1986 home computer games based on the original series. [1] [2] In fact, there have 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, Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals, is a Fighting Vipers-style fighting game based on the second season and 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.2
• Due to the influence from Hasbro, the term "Fuzor" was also integrated into the fourth Zoids anime series, "Zoids: Fuzors".
• In the North American opening credits, we see the words "Beast Wars: Transformers" on the screen and we hear the words "Beast Wars!" chanted repeatedly. In the Mexican version, the entire phrase "Beast Wars: Transformers" is translated and chanted. Thus, instead of a two syllable "Beast Wars" we hear an eight syllable "Guerra de Bestias Transformers," or "War of Transforming Beasts" if translated literally back into English.
• The name "Beast Wars" did not go over well with Canadian authorities (CRTC), "war" being the offending word. The show was renamed as "Beasties" for broadcast in Canada. The opening song has the name "Beasties" chanted instead of "Beast Wars".
• A number of voice actors who portrayed characters in the series also portrayed characters in the later X-Men: Evolution. This includes David Kaye, who was both Megatron and then Professor X, Scott McNeil, who was Silverbolt, Rattrap, Dinobot, and Waspinator and Wolverine, and Venus Terzo, who was Blackarachnia in this series and Jean Grey in the X-men show.
• According to Bob Forward, the beast modes of the characters in the show were 'fully functional', as evidenced by their oft-shown ability to eat organic materials, 'bleed' from wounds, and the fact that they had actual animal instincts that they could utilize in this mode (though it could take over their mind under certain circumstances). A minor article of debate with fans is exactly how functional their beast modes would be, and the purpose and consequences of making these forms so detailed.
• The characters Terrorsaur and Starscream have a lot of similarities: both were treacherous (and were often slagged for it), their voices were similar (in the episode 'Possession', in fact, the same voice actor voiced both parts...Terrorsaur was given limited dialogue in the episode to disguise the similarity). Both also died in their series.
• The giant Vok spirit that speaks to Optimus Primal takes on the form of the head of Unicron, the only remaining piece of him after his destruction in Transformers: The Movie.

External links

• Official site for Australian Beast Wars DVDs
• Official Beast Wars UK site
• Beast Wars: Transformers at IMDb
• Beast Wars at TV.com
• Beast Wars: Transformers at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Beast Wars toys checklist
• TFU.info - online archive of nearly every Beast Wars and Transformers toy.
• Ben's World of Transformers
• Transformers @ The Moon
• Beast Wars International Largest Beast Wars Fansite
• Dark Glass Comic