Beast Wars

Beast Wars (Beasties in Canada) was a line of toys in the Transformers range, released by Hasbro in the late 1990s. The toys spawned a full CG animated series set in the Transformers universe, produced by the Transformers Production Company Inc. The series was made in the 1990s, and some have seen it as a sequel to the original Transformers cartoons of the 1980s, though others point to story elements originating in other versions of the Transformers story.

Each 1/2 hour episode of the series follows the adventures of the protagonist "Maximals" and the antagonist "Predacons", both of which are beings who transform between "robot" and "beast" forms. The Maximals, in this new series take on the role of the Autobots in the original series, while the Predacons take on the role of the Decepticons.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Pilot episode

The two-part pilot episode, entitled Beast Wars chronicles the arrival of both the Maximals and Predacons on a mysterious, uncharted planet. The Predacons have stolen a golden disc which was the most valued relic of the planet Cybertron (the home of the Transformers) and supposedly held the location of a rich Energon source which could make the Predacons invincible. They have fled into space with it in their spacecraft, seeking Earth. (The reason they are seeking Earth is not yet explained). However, they are pursued by a Maximal exploration ship, which was the only ship able to lock onto the Predacon ship. The opening scene of the whole series is where the Maximal ship emerges from what is supposedly a wormhole in space, closely pursued by the Predacon ship. (Apparently they became the pursued rather than the pursuers somewhere in the course of events). In a brief battle over the unknown planet, both ships are critically damaged, and plummet to the surface.

Both the Maximals and Predacons are stranded on the planet, which they soon learn is rich in Energon. Although Energon is vital to the survival of the Transformers, an environment as Energon-rich as that which they now find themselves in is harmful to them - causing their robot-forms to short out within a few minutes. Thus both the Maximals and Predacons scan the surrounding terrain for powerful lifeforms, which they then use as a basis for their new beast forms.

The four Maximals take on the form of a gorilla (their leader, Optimus Primal), a cheetah (Cheetor), a rhinoceros (Rhinox) and a rat (Rattrap). The leader of the Predacons, (Megatron) meanwhile takes on the form of a giant purple Tyrannosaurus rex, while his minions take on the form of a Velociraptor (Dinobot), a wasp (Waspinator) a tarantula (Tarantulus) a pterodactyl (Terrosaur) and a scorpion (Scorponok). Dinobot quickly defects to the side of the Maximals, due to his disillusionment with Megatron's failure to bring them to the correct planet (specifically, he calls Megatron an "idiot" and is blasted away from their company as a result).

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

Further adventures

Before the Maximal ship crashed on the planet's surface, it ejected dozens of stasis pods, containing dormant Transformers into a safe orbit. When the stasis pods come down to the planet's surface, a new Transformer emerges, and the Maximals and Predacons race to rescue or reprogram him or her. Thus, as the first season progresses, the cast of characters is built up in this way.

The subsequent seasons of the Beast Wars saga see dramatic changes to the characters - including the introduction of the Transmetals (characters based on the Hasbro toyline where there are three modes of transformation, not just two) and the Fuzors (in which the Beast Mode of the Transformer consists of a combination of two different animals (for example, a wolf with wings)).

Further developments come with the revelation that the Transformers have been stranded on prehistoric Earth, and the Autobot Ark, containing Optimus Prime and his officers. Also, the the 'Golden Disks' were in fact the Voyager Golden Records, and the location of energon was Earth itself.

It is also revealed that Megatron's mission was a futuristic slave rebellion - destroy the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime as he lies in stasis, and free his people from years of practical slavery after the Great War.

Notes on animation techniques

The entire Beast Wars series is rendered in 3D computer graphics, which at times is a joy to watch, while at other times leaves a little to be desired. For example, one of the most superb effects is the highly expressive rendering of Megatron and Optimus Primal in their (respectively) T. rex and gorilla beast-forms, and, in general, the rendering of all the characters is well done. The visual effects most significantly fail in the unconvincing attempts to place the beast-form characters against the natural landscape of the planet. This is perhaps most clearly seen in the scene in Part I of the pilot, in which Cheetor is racing over a plain, looking very computer-generated and unnatural.

Original Characters: Maximals

Optimus Primal: leader of the Maximals; beast form was a gorilla

Rhinox: proficient in technological creation; beast form was a rhino

Rattrap: demolitions expert; beast form was a rat

Cheetor: speed demon, acted very child-like; beast form was a cheetah

Dinobot: defected from the Predacons early on, proficient in physical combat; beast form was a Velociraptor. Later resurrected by Megatron in a new TM2 through the use of his memory engrams.

Soon Tigatron, Airazor, Silverbolt, and Depth Charge joined the ranks.

Tigatron: Maximal protoform, he was fused with Airarzor in Other Victories to become Tigerhawk.

Airazor: Another Maximal protoform, she had a romantic relationship with Tigatron before being abducted by the Vok and fused into Tigarhawk.

Silverbolt: Maximal flyer. He was a fuzor of an eagle and a wolf. Among them he was the most chivalrious and stood up for both the transmutate and Blackarachnia.

Depth Charge: Former Maximal Security Officer. He had a vendetta against Rampage who was contained at the planet he served at and when Rampage broke loose he killed many of Depth Charge's friends. In the end, he died when he impaled Rampage's spark with a piece of energon thus causing an immense explosion.

Original Characters: Predacons

Megatron: leader of the Predacons; beast form was T. rex and and later a dragon.

Tarantulus: scientist and secret agent of the Tripredacus council, always trying to save himself; beast form was a spider. He later died when he was shot with his own ray gun.

Waspinator: stupid, yet loyal flyer; beast form was a wasp. Among the original crew he was the only one that survived to the end of the BM finale.

Terrorsaur: technical adviser and flyer; beast form was a pterodactyl. He also died in the season 2 premier after colliding with Scorponok and falling into lava.

Scorponok: loyal second-in-command to Megatron; beast form was a scorpion. He died along with Terrorsaur in the Season 2 premier.

Soon Blackarachnia, Inferno, Quickstrike, and Rampage joined the ranks.

Blackarachnia: Maximal stasis pod that was subverted into a predacon. In season 1&2, she largely assisted Tarantulas in his machinations and was briefly possessed by him. Later she joined up with the Maximals after falling in love with Silverbolt and was able to gain a new TM2 form.

Inferno: Psychotic ant. He was also a maximal protoform subverted by Tarantulas. However he was fanatically loyal to Megatron whom he saw as his Queen.

Quickstrike: Originally a maximal fuzor, he switched to the Predacons due to his more violent nature. His fuzor form with a scorpion with a rattlesnake acting as his tail.

Rampage: He was a former Maximal that was the test subject of the Maximal elders who sought to duplicate Starscream's immortal spark, but they instead ended up with a psychotic like Rampage who had a resilient though not immortal spark. The true purpose of the Axalon was to dump his stasis pod in some uncharted region.

Second series

By the time that "Beast Wars" was ending, there was a large demand by fans of the show who wanted to know what was going to happen to the stranded Transformers, who were now able to leave Earth and return back to their home of Cybertron. As such, a sequel was created known as "Transformers Series for more details.