List of Beast Wars and Beast Machines characters

This is a list of characters from the animated television series Beast Wars and the follow-up series Beast Machines. The shows are part of the Transformers franchise, based around alien robots transforming into animals and vehicles.

Maximals

Optimus Primal

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 both an assault aircraft form and a ground assault vehicle form.

Supreme Commander and leader of the Maximals in Beast Machines. His beast mode is a technorganic gorilla. His leadership degrades as his fanaticism to defeat Megatron grows. He blames himself for the current state of Cybertron and also for the loss of his comrades Rhinox and Silverbolt. Upon discovering Tankor was Rhinox, Optimus made a choice to allow Rhinox to carry out his own goals. Tankor manipulates both, but Megatron knows of Tankor's treachery, and in the end Optimus and Tankor perished. Optimus was later reborn with help from his friends and the Matrix, and continued to battle Megatron until both perished in the rebirth of Cybertron as a technoorganic world. Optimus could absorb incoming energy blasts and fire it right back at his attackers. He could also fire energy shuriken from his chest.

Transformers: Universe saw Optimus Primal return in a new version of his original Beast Wars body to aid the Children of Primus-the new Autobots-battle the Minions of Unicron-the new Decepticons. The series was cancelled part of the way through, eliminating chances for an announced plotline in which Optimus would have formed an alliance with the returned Megatron to battle their common enemy. Botcon storyline later revealed that Optimus would receive another new body and a "purification Matrix" to help counter the influence of Unicron, who later disappeared due to the events of Transformers: Cybertron.

Rhinox

Second-in-command and Optimus's 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. 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.

Although never appearing materially in Beast Machines, Rhinox appeared several times. He was captured by Megatron alongside Silverbolt and became Tankor. Rattrap awoke Rhinox's memories, but instead of rejoining the Maximals, Rhinox shocked everyone by revealing that he planned to cleanse the planet of all of the chaos and rule over it himself, his gentle Maximal personality having been completely overwritten by Megatron’s sinister Vehicon programming. He used Megatron and Optimus to activate the Key to Vector Sigma and the Plasma Energy Chamber to carry out his plan. Tankor/Rhinox was destroyed at the end of season one. Realizing his mistakes, Rhinox joined the Matrix despite his transgressions.

Transformers: Universe saw Rhinox being brought back to life by Primus at Optimus Primal's request, in order to fight in the war against Unicron. Unlike Depth Charge, who resented being called back to a life of conflict, Rhinox was grateful for the chance to redeem himself. He later did battle with an alternate version of himself, still in the form of Tankor. Rhinox also received a Transmetal form for the toyline but not the animated series; this toy would later be recolored and released as an alternate version of Rhinox in Transformers: Armada, and end up as one of the Four Horsemen of Unicron in the Transformers: Energon comics.

Rattrap

The smart-aleck and sometimes third-in-command of the Maximals. Often pessimistic and sarcastic, his trademark catchphrase is "We're all gonna die". Ironically, Rattrap is an expert survivalist, and he is, in fact, one of the only two Maximals who fought from the beginning of the Beast Wars and survived to the end of Beast Machines. Despite the fact he is the smallest Maximal, this works to his advantage several times in the series, and he makes up for it with his expertise in many different skills, such as stealth, espionage, sabotage, demolitions, hacking, and his wits. He often clashes with fellow Maximal Dinobot, calling him "Chopperface", as he nicknames all his allies and some enemies. He forms a dynamic, but confrontational team with Dinobot, often working together with him toward good results, despite having the least trust in the former Predacon. He would also clash with future teammate Depth Charge. Rattrap gains a Transmetal form, including a wheeled mode of his beast mode. His beast mode is a rat.

He appears again in Beast Machines. Beast mode is a technorganic rat. He is the last of the original four Maximals to learn how to transform, because he was impatient. Then to his dismay, he discovered his short-wheeled robot mode had no weapons. Rattrap soon learned he could access the computers of Cybertron and gain secret information, making him extremely vital to the team as their hacker. He also continues to serve the team as their engineer, building various weapons and cloaking devices for the team. Rattrap had no direct weapons to speak of, hence part of a character flaw, but he has a built in toolbox located in his back which he can use to build various gadgets, such as seed grenades and a spark extractor. He is also equipped with a visor that he could use to scan his peripheral environment and use his onboard computer systems to hack other computer systems. Near the end of the series, Rattrap fell in love with fellow Maximal, Botanica and Rattrap became second-in-command. He and Cheetor are the only two Maximals who fought from the beginning of the Beast Wars and lived to see the new Cybertron at the end of Beast Machines.

Cheetor

The youngest member of the original Maximals, Cheetor was rather immature and reckless at the beginning of the Beast Wars. He looked up to Optimus and tried to get onto his good list by achieving any mission given to him, but his reckless behavior 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 2 form after being shot into the overload of a Transmetal 2 generator, gaining a new Transmetal 2 form but a feral beast mode. His beast mode is a cheetah.

In Beast Machines, Cheetor is the second-in-command. Beast mode is a technorganic cheetah. He is the second to transform into his new robot mode. He is now a mature, but still hot-headed adult in the Beast Machines. Cheetor still looks up to Optimus as his idol, though the two can get into heated arguments when either of them make rash decisions. Cheetor's new beast mode allows him to move much faster than before. Cheetor was one of the four Maximals to appear on Cybertron with no memory of what happened before, even though he hears the words of Optimus Prime's spirit before he disappeared to the stars. Cheetor survives the Beast Machines war and appears to become the leader of the Maximals, and the Oracle's new representative as Optimus was previously. Cheetor's weapons included an enhanced super speed and a pair of sabers, which he pulled from his back. The sabers could be used to deflect incoming energy blasts, could be thrown as boomerangs and attached at the hilt to form a glider and in the end, he became the new Maximal commander after Optimus sacrificed himself and Cybertron was reformatted into a technorganic planet. He and Rattrap are the only two Maximals who fought from the beginning of the Beast Wars and lived to see the new Cybertron at the end of Beast Machines.^[1]

BotCon 2006 featured a Pre-Beast Wars version of Cheetor, and an Animated version recolored from Blurr was later featured as an Official Transformers Collectors Club exclusive.

Dinobot

A former Predacon, Dinobot is a warrior who follows a strict code of honor. Betrayed by Megatron, he joined the Maximals, becoming an asset to their team, even though his tactical methods were rather extreme at times. He fights with a sword and rotating propeller blades, and shoots lasers from his eyes. Dinobot often fought with Rattrap, whom 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 honorably sacrificed himself to protect the evolving human race from the Predacons, defeating the whole team but dying in the process. His presence would eventually be replaced by Transmetal Dinobot II, a less independent-minded clone, who served the Predacons, but also eventually reformed, providing the Maximals a final chance to win the Beast Wars. His beast mode is a Velociraptor.

Dinobot was intended to receive a Transmetal form, but no actual toy was created and the series never reflected this idea. A McDonald's toy was created that was intended as a Transmetal Dinobot, but was never employed in any media. The Dinobots subline of Beast Machines indicated that they were based on Dinobot, and a Pre-Beast Wars version of him was featured in BotCon's 2006 storyline. Dinobot is the only member of the Beast Wars Maximals to die during the series and not be revived in an outside comic series or be shown to have an alternate counterpart.

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. He 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.

"Beast Wars: Primeval Dawn" and "The Wreckers" saw Tigatron return to life as a Transmetal who joined the Wreckers under Primal Prime. BotCon 2006 later featured a Pre-Beast Wars Tigatron, who with Airazor lost his original body while pursuing the Predacon ship Darkside but was saved by a Spark transfer to a blank protoform aboard Optimus Primal's Axalon.

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.

Like Tigatron, Airazor would return in a Transmetal form-based on a toy form of her that was never adapted into the show-in the "Beast Wars: Primeval Dawn" comic miniseries as one of Primal Prime's Maximals. However, the series was cancelled before it reached conclusion, and Airazor was conspicuously absent from "The Wreckers." Storyline for BotCon 2006 introduced a Pre-Beast Wars Airazor who was a pilot enlisted by Tigatron in pursuit of Megatron's crew. An alternate version of Airazor-recolored from her Transmetal form-was featured in the Armada toyline, briefly as a heroic Autobot before being turned into one of the Four Horsemen of Unicron. Another character resembling Airazor would also appear in IDW Comics' Transformers Christmas special.

Tigerhawk

An emissary of the Vok, created from the bodies of Tigatron and Airazor, whose Sparks they removed so that two Vok could possess the new merged form. Tigerhawk was sent to Earth to destroy Megatron and prevent his interference in the past, but was halted by Optimus and then captured by Tarantulas. Tarantulas' efforts to take control of him led to the apparent demise of Tarantulas and the two Vok, and the Sparks of Tigatron and Airazor occupied the new form together after following it back to Earth. Tigerhawk had amazing powers, capable of manipulating the weather. Tigerhawk is destroyed with a large energy cannon fired by Megatron from the Nemesis. His beast mode is a white tiger/peregrine falcon hybrid.

"Beast Wars: Primeval Dawn" indicated that Tigerhawk's fused Spark survived the destruction of his body, but was later split back into two to revive Airazor and Tigatron as separate Transmetals. Transformers: Universe featured an alternate version of Tigerhawk known as Razorclaw, who served as one of Unicron's lieutenants.

Silverbolt

A Fuzor, a hybrid of a wolf and a golden eagle. He was tricked by Megatron into thinking he was a Predacon, but soon switched sides and became a Maximal. He follows a strong code of honor, and is stereotypically chivalrous, poetic, and noble, to the point that comes across as humorously cheesy. Silverbolt falls in love with Blackarachnia, whom he refers to as the "dark poison of my heart". It is he who convinces her to join the Maximals, which she does eventually. Beast mode is a gray wolf/golden eagle hybrid.

Appearing in Beast Machines, Silverbolt is one of the original six Maximals to survive the Beast Wars and Blackarachnia's love interest. He disappeared when the Maximals returned to Cybertron. It is later revealed that his spark was implanted in the Vehicon General Jetstorm. Silverbolt had taken on a samurai-like appearance and the beast mode of a condor. However, he was bitter to his friends initially because of his Vechicon experiences. Blackarachnia learned later that Silverbolt actually had enjoyed the atrocities he committed while being Jetstorm, believing he had been freed of his code of honor by Megatron. In the last episode he survived and appeared to regain his former noble personality. His feathers can serve as throwing knives and explosive darts.

Blackarachnia

She was a female Maximal protoform, reprogrammed into Predacon near the start of the series, but eventually became a Maximal, after she fell in love with Silverbolt. As a Predacon, she was crafty, cunning, and an agile fighter, and like her fellow spider ally, Tarantulas, she often worked separately from the others, plotting for her own benefits. After Megatron planned to target the Ark and destroy the Autobot leader inside, she changed sides, realizing the need to help the Maximals preserve history. While on the side of the Maximals, she longed to become a Transmetal 2, in order to survive the Beast Wars. She achieves this by using the Transmetal II driver, the same device used to create Dinobot II. Her beast mode is a black widow spider.

She later appears in Beast Machines. Beast mode is a techno-organic black widow spider. She is now a true Maximal and the fourth-in-command, but still has her crafty and bad-girl personality. She is the third to figure out how to transform. She eventually frees Silverbolt from his evil form Jetstorm, but he is bitter about his revival. In the end, Blackarachnia and Silverbolt are properly reunited. Her weapons include a very limber athleticism, venomous webbing and deadly fighting skills. She can use her webbing to create a shield to protect her from incoming fire. She has a pair of stingers which she could use to deliver powerful blasts of bioelectrical energy. She also had web stars which could cover Vehicons in paralyzing webbing, hit them with paralyzing energy and cut them to pieces.

McDonald's toy intended as a Transmetal version of Blackarachnia was released, but never appeared in any storyline.

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 was a tough and detached Maximal, and had a bitter history with Optimus Primal. He started out as a rogue, refusing to work alongside the other Maximals, but over time he became a full member of the team. At the end of the series, he fought his archenemy, Rampage, both to the death. Beast mode is a manta ray; he was the only Maximal shown to be capable of fighting underwater, on land, and in the air.

In the Transformers: Universe comic series that followed up Beast Machines, Depth Charge was among the warriors revived by Primus to fight against the minions of the evil Unicron, though he objected to serving under Optimus Primal again. An alternate version later appeared in OTFCC storyline for 2011.

Nightscream

Nightscream appears in Beast Machines. A young impetuous hothead, Nightscream was the sole survivor of the eradicating virus that infected Cybertron and was inadvertently merged with the beast mode of a bat, later reformatted by Optimus to a technorganic form of the same animal. Being the only survivor of the planet-wide virus, he remained alone for a time. When he joined the Primal's Maximal team, he came across as an hotheaded child, replacing Cheetor's role in Beast Wars in this regard, but was much more rude, disrespectful, bitter and at odds with the others, even accusing them of losing the Beast Wars, and urging the team to expel Rattrap for a recent failure. It is worth noting though, that Nightscream, being less likely to take the other Maximals on trust, is the first to question Optimus' fanatical obsession with the Oracle's missions, and his observations are usually accurate, if not diplomatically phrased. His robot mode weapons included a hypersonic scream and a vampiric bite that sucks the energon out of his target.

An alternate Nightscream appeared in the Transtech storylines in various BotCon comics.

Savage/Noble

Although not considered an official member of the Maximals, Savage/Noble still does count among their number. After his discovery as the beast known as Savage, the Maximals took him into their group. However, it became clear that Noble was really Megatron trapped in a fully organic body until he left Noble's body. However, later the allegedly comatose Noble reawakened as a true beast, loyal to Nightscream. Noble sacrificed himself to save the Maximals from Megatron.

Botanica

Botanist and Bioscientist. A strange Maximal who crash-landed on Cybertron during the Vehicon War, who was discovered and helped by the Maximals. She is a calm minded, peace-oriented female who, due to being crossed with a plant, has an innate awareness of the new growth on Cybertron. She becomes Rattrap's romantic interest. She could control any form of plant life on Cybertron and had a cannon mounted on each hip.

An alternate Botanica was featured as a senator and girlfriend to Rattrap's counterpart Rattles in Transformers: Animated storyline outside the cartoon series.

Predacons

Scorponok

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.

Material associated with Beast Wars: The Gathering indicates that Scorponok survived the plunge into lava and later emerged with an unusual Transmetal form based on his McDonald's toy.

Tarantulas

Cunning, deceptive and treacherous, eventually revealed to be a member of the Predacon Secret Police sent to keep tabs on Megatron's rebel force, he always has another agenda on his mind. Tarantulas struck out on his own early in the series and rejoined Megatron only rarely in later episodes. Obsessed with leaving the planet, possibly due to an enhanced understanding of whatever is really happening, his skills with technology give him an edge in any battle. He gained a Transmetal body in season 2, which allowed him to take on a motorcycle-like vehicle mode. He was apparently killed near the end of season 3 when he accidentally vaporized himself with his own machinery during an encounter with the Vok, the aliens who had been manipulating the planet since before the Transformers' arrival there. Beast mode is a tarantula.

The Beast Wars: Primeval Dawn and Transformers: Universe comic lines featured Tarantulas surviving his apparent demise and absorbing the power of the two Vok who entered his body prior to his demise. After waging a failed conflict with forces under the Maximal leader Primal Prime, he would join the forces of Unicron. A remark by Megatron in the two-part series finale of Beast Wars has led to dispute as to whether Tarantulas may not have in fact been created by Unicron. Transformers: Timelines also featured a Pre-Beast Wars incarnation of Tarantulas as one of the Cybertronians apparently engineered by Jhiaxus. BotCon 2016 later announced a box set themed after the Generation 1 "Combiner Wars" line that featured Tarantulas as a repaint/remold of Combiner Wars Rook.

Terrorsaur

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.

Material associated with Beast Wars: The Gathering indicates that Terrorsaur survived the fall into the lava pit and later emerged in a Transmetal form seen in the toyline. This form was one of several Beast Wars toys that were recolored for use in the Transformers: Armada toyline, which featured a Decepticon Terrorsaur. Terrorsaur's toy form saw a number of repaints in various Beast Wars associated toylines, and another repaint of his Transmetal form was intended for a version of BotCon's Fractyl but subsequently cancelled.

Waspinator

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. He is briefly taken over by the spark of Starscream, and becomes the leader of the Predacons, before being defeated. 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 early humans. He ended up having the last piece of dialogue in the entire series when he said "Waspinator happy at last."

Other versions of Waspinator appeared in other Transformers storylines, including Animated and Timelines. The latter would feature a heroic version from another universe, a version known as Thrustinator because he combined elements of Waspinator's Predacon form with those of his Vehicon Thrust persona, and a version who would side with counterparts of the G1 Decepticons. Like several characters featured in the TV series, Waspinator had a Transmetal form released as a toy, but never took this form on television.

Inferno

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.

A Transmetal Predacon ant named Scavenger was introduced in the toyline that bore a strong resemblance to Inferno, and was apparently originally intended to be his Transmetal form.

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.

Rampage

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 Omnicron and earning him the eternal enmity of Depth Charge (who was Omnicron's 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.

An alternate version of Rampage would be featured in BotCon storyline for 2014, where he and a still-living Transmutate ran afoul of the Destructicons.

Tripredacus Council

The ruling body of the Predacon alliance, who appeared only in "The Agenda, Part 1" but were mentioned in a number of subsequent episodes. As the legal rulers of the Predacons, they harbor resentment towards the Maximals and their Council of Elders, but unlike Megatron prefer to await a more opportune moment in which to rise up and claim Cybertron. As such, they regard Megatron as a dangerous renegade, and upon learning of his continued existence following the disappearance of his ship and Optimus Primal's dispatched one of their Tripredacus agents, Ravage, to eliminate him. It would subsequently be revealed that the Council had planted Tarantulas, a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police, as a mole in Megatron's crew. Tarantulas later revealed that he and the Tripredacus Council shared a common origin separate from that of other Maximals and Predacons descended from the Autobots and Decepticons aboard the Ark.

While not identified individually in the series, the members of the Tripredacus Council had individual toys with animal alternate modes: Sea Clamp turned into a lobster, Cicadacon turned into a Cicada, and Ram Horn-who shared his name with a Generation 1 Autobot-turned into a beetle. All three also had a combined robot form known as Tripredacus. Transformers: Timelines later did a story in which a Pre-Beast Wars Tarantulas emerged from one of four strange stasis pods found amongst the cloned legions of Jhiaxus; the other three are presumably intended to be the future Tripredacus Council members. BotCon 2016's box set, "Dawn of the Predacus," would feature the Tripredacus Council represented by toys from the Combiner Wars line recolored and remolded with head sculpts resembling their in-show appearances. Ramhorn was retooled from Combiner Wars Brawl while Cicadacon was retooled from the line's Skydive figure, both of them sporting red coloring and Cicadacon featuring wing decoration based on insect wings as a nod to his beast form. Sea Clamp was retooled from Combiner Wars Silverbolt; the combined set featured a new headsculpt based on the Tripredacus figure from the Beast Wars toyline.

Dinobot II

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 genetic material 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.

Vehicons

Megatron

The antagonist of the Beast series and the charismatic yet devious mastermind former commander of the Predacons and Vehicons. In "Beast Wars", 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.

In "Beast Machines", Megatron has conquered all of Cybertron by incapacitating the population of the planet and overrunning it with his mindless Vehicon drones. Utilizing a system that connected him to the very core of Cybertron, he controlled the planet and his Vehicons from the Council Citadel, hunting down all organic life on the planet. Due to a side effect from the Key to Vector Sigma and the Plasma Energy Chamber, he became trapped for a short time in a purely organic body. He gained a new body in the form of a space fortress resembling his head and became even more powerful. When that body was captured by the Maximals, he eventually built a duplicate of Optimus Primal's previous Optimal Optimus form, minus the Beast Mode it once had, and used it to attack the Maximals, hoping to remake Cybertron as a purely metallic planet. Megatron was destroyed when Optimus sacrificed himself to throw Megatron into the Cybertronian core.

Jetstorm

Raving, sarcastic and all around thorough villain, the Vehicon Jetstorm always had something to say with a very vicious snap to it. He controls the Aero-Drones. During the first season of Beast Machines, Blackarachnia uncovered that he was actually Silverbolt, his spark moved into a new body. Upon returning to a Maximal form, Silverbolt regretted being changed back as he loved the freedom from the shackles of his normally intense nobility that that form brought. He also experienced intense guilt due to the acts he had committed as Jetstorm.

Tankor

Large, powerful, but dull witted, Tankor was usually the first and most blunt of the Vehicons to attack the Maximals. He controlled the Tank-Drones. His slow witted thinking was actually the opposite of his true Maximal personality as the spark that resided in him was none other than that of Rhinox. After awakening, he subscribed to Megatron's belief that organic - or, indeed, autonomous in any form - life had no place on Cybertron, However he further realized that Megatron himself was the biggest flaw in his own plan, being partly organic himself. He spent the rest of season one playing both sides against the other until his own demise at the season's end.

An alternate version of Tankor was featured in Transformers: Universe as a minion of Obsidian who helped him overthrow Megatron before both were recruited by Unicron. This Tankor later met his end at the hands of the main universe's Rhinox.

Thrust

Smooth talking and confidant and the only truly loyal Vehicon General, Thrust had a very low, whispery voice when he spoke. He controlled the Cycle-Drones. He was very adrenaline-charged and often enjoyed attacking the Maximals, though he was cautious and didn't attack them alone as often as the others did. It was uncovered by Blackarachnia that his spark was actually that of Waspinator, although she believed him to hold Silverbolt's spark up to this discovery.

Besides Megatron, Waspinator was the only surviving Predacon from the Beast Wars. After being dethroned from his position of ruler of the humans on prehistoric Earth (which he achieved at the end of Beast Wars), Waspinator returned home to Cybertron under his own power, stating that it 'took forever but waaaay worth it!', and was soon after made into the Vehicon General Thrust, in whose form Waspinator spent the majority of the series. In the series finale, after the final battle, Waspinator is returned to his original identity, albeit as a small insect with Thrust's head and a wasp's body.

Diagnostic Drone

Diagnostic Drone was a drone built by Megatron to help him remove all organic elements in his body. Built with artificial intelligence but no spark, he was programmed to obey only Megatron. He continuously failed to remove the organic elements from Megatron's body time and time again. He is equipped with several tools built into his arms. When Tankor gained the memories of Rhinox, he reprogrammed the drone to serve him only. The drone obtained the Key to Vector Sigma from the Oracle and sent false visions to Optimus Primal. Megatron later destroyed him along with Tankor. Several other Diagnostic Drones were later seen, one serving briefly as a body even for Megatron's spark.

Obsidian

Remembered as a masterful strategist and tactician during a war with the Predacons sometimes after The Great War along with Strika, Obsidian was awakened by Megatron to assist in the defeat of the technorganics. Though he briefly played the part of a brain-washed machine similar to Tankor, his true intelligence was revealed when victory seemed inevitable, though the Maximals escaped shortly after. After participating in several battles he and Strika were launched into Cybertron's orbit shortly before the reformatting of Cybertron. In a cut scene, he and Strika would have returned to Cybertron but refused reformatting as punishment for their transgressions.

An alternate, less noble Obsidian would appear in Transformers: Universe as a minion of Unicron who conquered his Cybertron with the aid of Tankor and overthrew Megatron. Other versions of Obsidian appeared in various toylines, with Timelines introducing a version of him from before the Beast Wars.

Strika

Also a strategist during the war with the Predacons, Strika shared an existence parallel to that of Obsidian, as his partner and consort. It is important to realize that they believed they were serving Cybertron as Megatron had reprogrammed them to think he and the planet were one and the same. During Megatron's absence and presumed demise, during the second season, the two Generals operated much like Maximals, even forging a temporary alliance with them.

Strika, like many other characters, would have alternate versions of her introduced. This included Nemesis Strika of Transformers: Universe, a minion of Unicron; Animated Strika, a Decepticon commander; and Timelines Strika, a Pre-Beast Wars version of the character.

The Drones

The entire force that makes up Megatron's army of Vehicons, the drones are sparkless and are all programmed to follow orders from their generals or Megatron. The drones are split into groups: Aero, Tank and Cycle – with Assault and Copter replacing Aero and Tank in the second season but serving the same function. Mole and Diagnostic Drones, which oddly did not transform, directly served under Megatron without generals of their own. All the other drones resembled their generals by with slightly different coloring and smaller size. Presumably they were all reformatted at the end of the series into bodies for the freed Maximal sparks. In the toyline, the only Aero, Tank and Cycle Drones were released.

Non-aligned characters

Jak and Una

Two pre-historic 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 a powerful Energon cannon they are developing but cannot operate on their own without being overloaded. 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 Wielder

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 the Hammer Wielder 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. The Hammer Wielder'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 were 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.

The Vok

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 "sterilize" their experiment. This was seen as a necessary step when the Maximal's and Predacon's 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; BotCon comics would claim that they were in fact corrupted by Tarantulas' influence and granted him greater power, forcing the other Vok to form a Maximal team to stop him and his Predacon mininons.

Transmutate

A Maximal from a stasis pod that was so extensively damaged, it created it 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; it was capable of flight and energy projection. Transmutate befriended both the Maximal Silverbolt, who sought to protect it, and the Predacon Rampage, who knew the pain of being labelled a "freak", and sought to form a sympathetic friendship with it. Megatron saw Transmutate as having no value as a combatant and initially wanted to destroy it. With Transmutate's immense physical powers but limited mental capacity, Optimus Primal viewed it as a threat and thought it best if it 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 its friends fight, it sacrificed itself to protect Silverbolt and Rampage from each other, leaving Maximal and Predacon alike to mourn for its death.

Beast Wars: Uprising, a comic storyline, would feature a new version of Transmutate who traveled in the company of Protoform X, formerly known as Rampage.

Characters from the original series in the 80s

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 sole reason that the Predacon 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.

Optimus Prime also appears twice in Beast Machines, once as a metallic statue which is destroyed by Vehicons, and once as holographic statue of Prime used by Megatron to fool Optimus into giving him the power of the Oracle.

Megatron/Galvatron

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 originally 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 an unused and unfinished scene from the Beast Wars third season DVD. His second persona, Galvatron, would be mentioned in connection with Starscream, the latter claiming that he had lost his body defending Galvatron from Unicron. In actuality, Galvatron had destroyed Starscream for betraying him while he was still Megatron.

Starscream

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 a psychotic mutation that would later be known as "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.

Soundwave

One of the original Megatron's loyal lieutenants, and communications officer. Was seen in emergency stasis lock in the episode, "The Agenda, Part III".

Ravage

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 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!"

Several toys were created for Ravage, all of them either repainted or remolded from molds created for Cheetor. One such mold was a black repaint of the original Cheetor figure which, while designated as "Shadow Panther," has been identified as Ravage. A second toy was created from the Transmetal Cheetor figure, remolded to feature Ravage's panther head in robot mode and dual blaster pistols similar to those used by Ravage in the series; however, due to its base figure it transformed into a panther and a panther with flight jets as opposed to the cassette. The Transmetal 2 Cheetor figure was subsequently repainted in black, silver and yellow to create Ravage, who was identified as "Tripredacus Agent."

Though of course Ravage, as a Generation 1 character, appeared in various other incarnations of the Transformers series, his Beast Wars self would play a role in other Transformers media. His Transmetal 2 incarnation appeared in BotCon's "Beast Wars: Primeval Dawn" storyline as a minion of Tarantulas. Transformers Binaltech saw the creation of an alternate Generation 1 timeline in which G1 Ravage was given a new body and reprogrammed with personality info obtained from his Beast Wars counterpart's wreckage. Beast Wars: The Gathering and The Ascending saw Ravage secretly contact Predacon leader Magmatron with intelligence regarding his mission to prehistoric Earth, before being revived following his demise in the show in his Transmetal 2 form, though he remained in Beast Mode for the entirety of the arc. BotCon later announced that their 2016 box set would be the "Dawn of Predacus" Combiner Wars theme, with Ravage appearing as one of the components having been repainted and remolded from the Combiner Wars Breakdown mold.

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 Insecticon Shrapnel 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