MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Tarantulas (BW)

2010-12-19T21:42:52Z

187.158.178.109:

{{factions|predacon|unicron}}
{{disambig2|the Predacon from Beast Wars|the Decepticon from Transformers Animated|Tarantulas (Animated)}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]]. He is sometimes known as '''Tarantulus'''.''

[[Image:Tarantulasbw.jpg|right|300px|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]

'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[Trademark|trademarked]] laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, Tarantulas has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. Tarantulas is actually an agent of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas, admiting he is not very fond of public opinion|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

:''Japanese name:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu'')
:''Chinese name (Taiwan):'' '''Jr-jū''' (蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Húng Jr-jū''' (紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider")
:''Chinese name (Mainland):'''''Láng-Zhū''' (狼蛛，tarantula)
:''Italian name:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal)
:''Polish name:'' '''Tarantulator'''
:''Brazilian name:'' '''Tarântulos'''

==Fiction==
===First wave toy bios===
[[Image:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m-- oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas is a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he's suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirl of giant cocoons where he stores his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Later, Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

{{note|This comic, along with the on-package [[Bio|bios]] of the first wave of Beast Wars toys, predate the development of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon and its backstory. They seem to present the characters as a direct continuation of the previous Autobot/Decepticon conflict, with Optimus Primal actually being a new form of Optimus Prime and Megatron being his Generation 1 counterpart, and their battles taking place on present day, [[human]]-inhabited Earth, rather than in the distant past. Once the cartoon launched, the toyline adjusted itself to match that continuity instead, relegating this one to an aborted [[micro-continuity]].}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====Theft of the Golden Disk====
[[Image:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|300px|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the Golden Disk, freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

====Dawn of Future's Past====
[[Image:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|right|180px|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with a member of the [[Tripredacus Council]]. (The reflections in his helmet show the silhouette of [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]].)

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}
{{-}}
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
:''Voice actor:'' [[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish)

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of Megatron's original crew, a mole inside his organisation feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron as last. Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback.

[[Image:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an oversized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their beast modes. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[Image:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|right|thumb|240px]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[Image:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs (episode)|Dark Designs}}

[[Image:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realised he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realised that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[Image:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|240px|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[Image:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|right|280px|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilise it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[Image:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|220px|thumb]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[Image:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the [[Tripredacus Council]] sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, to his infuriation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of bombs at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[Image:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal|Transmetalized]]—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[Image:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]

Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens (now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]) sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed dead. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of Tarantulas's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
{{-}}

====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''====
[[Image:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Beast Wars Diorama Story|Motorarm Chapter}}
{{-}}

====3H comics====
Tarantulas is the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[Image:PrimevalDawn2-TarantulasMatrix.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Universe (2003 comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

[[Image:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Basically I just never die.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the influence of [[Unicron]] swayed [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust, while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (issue)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to Cybertron to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacons]] and directions to the chamber through a structural weakpoint near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (issue)|Homecoming}}
{{-}}

====A Meeting of Minds====
{{note|This story takes place immediately after "[[Master Blaster]]."}}

The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]], berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' comic===
Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, the ''[[Hindenburg]]'', Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. An angry Optimus Primal then proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Raise the Curtain for Beast Wars Metals!!}}

===Fire in the Dark===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crashlanded on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their leader, enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "glowing rose crystals." Eventually, the Maximals came and freed the humans. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

===IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics===
Tarantulas programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty.{{storylink|Beast Wars Sourcebook}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game===
:''Voice actor'': ?
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the first season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}
[[Image:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}
{{Note|Tarantulas is a playable character in the Predacon mode of this game for normal gameplay.}}
[[Image:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

All of the Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it.Tarantulas warred against both the Maximals and the evil extra-dimensional aliens dubbed the [[Skriix]].
{{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)}}
{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. As such, each character's page only lists said character's actions when they fill the role of antagonist during gameplay. To view the various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode, it is told on the pages of the [[Optimus Primal|several]] [[Cheetor (BW)|Maximals]] [[Rattrap|included]] [[Dinobot (BW)|as]] [[Rhinox|opponents]] in this game, as well as the game's main antagonists, the [[Skriix]], wherein Tarantulas fills the role of the nameless Predacon. To view the plot as a whole view the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)]] page.}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' video game===
[[Image:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|300px|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the second season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}
:''Voice Actor:'' [[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[Image:N64_Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the Nintendo 64 game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}
{{-}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle'' video game===
[[Image:DuelFight_Tarantulas.gif|thumb|left|200px|]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle}}
{{--}}

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[Image:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Hey, guess who's going to be [[redeco]]ed into a hot girl?]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
** ''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a robot-mode weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot-mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)#Toys|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[Image:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|right|300px|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[Image:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|right|thumb|300px|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot-mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[Image:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|right|300px|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza slicer.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the little-seen second wave of [[Toys"R"Us]] [[exclusive]] "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "'''Steel Force Tarantulas'''", a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Universe (2003 comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[Image:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|right|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}
===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[Image:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|He's not here to help assemble [[Transmutate]]. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Trans-Mutate]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Merchandise==
* '''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].

===Robot Heroes===
[[Image:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[Image:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Not terribly appealing.]]
* Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.

[[Image:TarantulasArm.jpg|right|150px|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]

* In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.

* The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in beast mode, as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.

* Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].

* In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.

* In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.

[[Image:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
* From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[Image:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|right|Pew! Pew!]]
* Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally; it was to have been a generic insult rather than a statement of fact.<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> (Forward's own inkling, albeit never realized, was that they might be descended from [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]'s Cybertronian Empire.) A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward.

* Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]].

* Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].

* From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in robot mode. Neat!

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Security officers]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]

Tarantulas (BW)

2010-12-19T21:33:07Z

187.158.178.109: /* Beast Wars cartoon */

{{factions|predacon|unicron}}
{{disambig2|the Predacon from Beast Wars|the Decepticon from Transformers Animated|Tarantulas (Animated)}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]]. He is sometimes known as '''Tarantulus'''.''

[[Image:Tarantulasbw.jpg|right|300px|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]

'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[Trademark|trademarked]] laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, Tarantulas has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. Tarantulas is actually an agent of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

:''Japanese name:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu'')
:''Chinese name (Taiwan):'' '''Jr-jū''' (蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Húng Jr-jū''' (紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider")
:''Chinese name (Mainland):'''''Láng-Zhū''' (狼蛛，tarantula)
:''Italian name:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal)
:''Polish name:'' '''Tarantulator'''
:''Brazilian name:'' '''Tarântulos'''

==Fiction==
===First wave toy bios===
[[Image:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m-- oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas is a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he's suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirl of giant cocoons where he stores his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Later, Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

{{note|This comic, along with the on-package [[Bio|bios]] of the first wave of Beast Wars toys, predate the development of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon and its backstory. They seem to present the characters as a direct continuation of the previous Autobot/Decepticon conflict, with Optimus Primal actually being a new form of Optimus Prime and Megatron being his Generation 1 counterpart, and their battles taking place on present day, [[human]]-inhabited Earth, rather than in the distant past. Once the cartoon launched, the toyline adjusted itself to match that continuity instead, relegating this one to an aborted [[micro-continuity]].}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====Theft of the Golden Disk====
[[Image:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|300px|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the Golden Disk, freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

====Dawn of Future's Past====
[[Image:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|right|180px|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with a member of the [[Tripredacus Council]]. (The reflections in his helmet show the silhouette of [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]].)

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}
{{-}}
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
:''Voice actor:'' [[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish)

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of Megatron's original crew, a mole inside his organisation feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron as last. Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback.

[[Image:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an oversized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their beast modes. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[Image:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|right|thumb|240px|These rapid-firing legs are neat, if only they could stop VIBRATING!]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[Image:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs (episode)|Dark Designs}}

[[Image:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realised he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realised that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[Image:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|240px|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[Image:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|right|280px|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilise it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[Image:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|220px|thumb]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[Image:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the [[Tripredacus Council]] sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, to his infuriation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of bombs at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[Image:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px|My new rapid-firing shoulders will continue the work my rapid-firing legs started.]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal|Transmetalized]]—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[Image:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]

Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens (now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]) sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed dead. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of Tarantulas's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
{{-}}

====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''====
[[Image:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Beast Wars Diorama Story|Motorarm Chapter}}
{{-}}

====3H comics====
Tarantulas is the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[Image:PrimevalDawn2-TarantulasMatrix.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Universe (2003 comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

[[Image:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Basically I just never die.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the influence of [[Unicron]] swayed [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust, while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (issue)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to Cybertron to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacons]] and directions to the chamber through a structural weakpoint near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (issue)|Homecoming}}
{{-}}

====A Meeting of Minds====
{{note|This story takes place immediately after "[[Master Blaster]]."}}

The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]], berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' comic===
Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, the ''[[Hindenburg]]'', Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. An angry Optimus Primal then proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Raise the Curtain for Beast Wars Metals!!}}

===Fire in the Dark===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crashlanded on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their leader, enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "glowing rose crystals." Eventually, the Maximals came and freed the humans. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

===IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics===
Tarantulas programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty.{{storylink|Beast Wars Sourcebook}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game===
:''Voice actor'': ?
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the first season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}
[[Image:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}
{{Note|Tarantulas is a playable character in the Predacon mode of this game for normal gameplay.}}
[[Image:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

All of the Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it.Tarantulas warred against both the Maximals and the evil extra-dimensional aliens dubbed the [[Skriix]].
{{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)}}
{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. As such, each character's page only lists said character's actions when they fill the role of antagonist during gameplay. To view the various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode, it is told on the pages of the [[Optimus Primal|several]] [[Cheetor (BW)|Maximals]] [[Rattrap|included]] [[Dinobot (BW)|as]] [[Rhinox|opponents]] in this game, as well as the game's main antagonists, the [[Skriix]], wherein Tarantulas fills the role of the nameless Predacon. To view the plot as a whole view the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)]] page.}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' video game===
[[Image:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|300px|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the second season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}
:''Voice Actor:'' [[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[Image:N64_Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the Nintendo 64 game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}
{{-}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle'' video game===
[[Image:DuelFight_Tarantulas.gif|thumb|left|200px|]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle}}
{{--}}

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[Image:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Hey, guess who's going to be [[redeco]]ed into a hot girl?]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
** ''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a robot-mode weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot-mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)#Toys|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[Image:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|right|300px|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[Image:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|right|thumb|300px|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot-mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[Image:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|right|300px|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza slicer.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the little-seen second wave of [[Toys"R"Us]] [[exclusive]] "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "'''Steel Force Tarantulas'''", a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Universe (2003 comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[Image:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|right|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}
===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[Image:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|He's not here to help assemble [[Transmutate]]. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Trans-Mutate]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Merchandise==
* '''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].

===Robot Heroes===
[[Image:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[Image:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Not terribly appealing.]]
* Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.

[[Image:TarantulasArm.jpg|right|150px|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]

* In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.

* The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in beast mode, as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.

* Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].

* In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.

* In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.

[[Image:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
* From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[Image:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|right|Pew! Pew!]]
* Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally; it was to have been a generic insult rather than a statement of fact.<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> (Forward's own inkling, albeit never realized, was that they might be descended from [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]'s Cybertronian Empire.) A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward.

* Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]].

* Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].

* From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in robot mode. Neat!

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Security officers]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]

Tarantulas (BW)

2010-12-19T21:26:25Z

187.158.178.109: /* Beast Wars cartoon */

{{factions|predacon|unicron}}
{{disambig2|the Predacon from Beast Wars|the Decepticon from Transformers Animated|Tarantulas (Animated)}}
{{featured}}
:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]]. He is sometimes known as '''Tarantulus'''.''

[[Image:Tarantulasbw.jpg|right|300px|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]

'''Tarantulas''' is the scheming mad scientist of the Predacon crew. He's the type of mad scientist who experiments on living beings, cackling in his [[Trademark|trademarked]] laugh all the while, and then if things go wrong, happily eats what's left as his midday snack. The eating is what he was really looking forward to, anyway. It's this focused perversity that turns off even his fellow Predacons. Tarantulas's emotional detachment from their war also rubs his peers the wrong way. Fighting Maximals and following orders is just a required chore; his real passion is the unmentionable projects stashed in [[Tarantulas's lair|his "secret" lair]].

Nominally, Tarantulas was one of the Predacons to join [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] during his theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] and the search for [[Earth]]. In addition to being an utterly psychotic, sadistic sociopath, Tarantulas has a record for treachery rivaled by few other Transformers. Tarantulas is actually an agent of the [[Tripredacus Council]], which is trying to coax the Beast Wars toward an unspecified goal, where neither Autobot or Decepticon won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Who knows what other [[Unicron|dark secrets]] lie in his past.

If anything upsets Tarantulas, other than losing a potential meal, it's those pompous aliens who call themselves the [[Vok]]. He harbors a hatred for them strong enough to make him work to eliminate them by any means.

{{bigquote|You're ''insane.''|[[Tigerhawk]]}}
{{bigquote|So they ''saa''-aay! Wbrrwbrrbbppth!|Tarantulas|"[[Other Victories]]"}}

:''Japanese name:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu'')
:''Chinese name (Taiwan):'' '''Jr-jū''' (蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Húng Jr-jū''' (紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider")
:''Chinese name (Mainland):'''''Láng-Zhū''' (狼蛛，tarantula)
:''Italian name:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal)
:''Polish name:'' '''Tarantulator'''
:''Brazilian name:'' '''Tarântulos'''

==Fiction==
===First wave toy bios===
[[Image:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m-- oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas is a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he's suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirl of giant cocoons where he stores his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

Later, Tarantulas was guarding the Predacons' jungle-based genetics lab along with Megatron and Waspinator. When the Maximals discovered them, he engaged [[Razorbeast]] in combat briefly before Megatron called retreat and destroyed the lab. {{storylink|Optimus Primal vs Megatron!}}

{{note|This comic, along with the on-package [[Bio|bios]] of the first wave of Beast Wars toys, predate the development of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon and its backstory. They seem to present the characters as a direct continuation of the previous Autobot/Decepticon conflict, with Optimus Primal actually being a new form of Optimus Prime and Megatron being his Generation 1 counterpart, and their battles taking place on present day, [[human]]-inhabited Earth, rather than in the distant past. Once the cartoon launched, the toyline adjusted itself to match that continuity instead, relegating this one to an aborted [[micro-continuity]].}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====Theft of the Golden Disk====
[[Image:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|300px|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the Golden Disk, freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

====Dawn of Future's Past====
[[Image:Tarantulasdawn.jpg|right|180px|thumb|See? A Planet X key in the corner of the pic. He's working for Unicron! Get him!]]
As [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] and his rogue band of Predacons escaped [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in their stolen ship, the ''[[Darksyde]]'', Tarantulas was in charge of scanning the disk for a desired set of coordinates. While Megatron was not watching, he was in secret communication with a member of the [[Tripredacus Council]]. (The reflections in his helmet show the silhouette of [[Cicadacon|General Cicadacon]].)

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}
{{-}}
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
:''Voice actor:'' [[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Hervé Joly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish)

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of Megatron's original crew, a mole inside his organisation feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins, with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron as last. Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback.

[[Image:TheWeb Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Not arachnophobic, eh? I can fix that.]]
As Megatron's technical leader, he manned the scanners to appropriate beast forms based on the most powerful local creatures, choosing the form of an oversized spider for himself. He cheerfully took part in the first battle of the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]], only to succumb to energon buildup while the Maximals were escaping. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons uncovered a stash of energon crystals atop a mountain, but were forced to fight in their beast modes. Tarantulas and [[Rattrap]] fought in this manner until Megatron triggered a chain reaction which caused the energon to explode. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[Image:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|right|thumb|240px|This rapid-firing legs are neat, if only they could spot VIBRATING!]]
It wasn't long before Tarantulas had set up his own [[Tarantulas's lair|underground lair]] to keep his experiments away from Megatron's prying eyes. After helping [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] recover a mega-cannon, Tarantulas managed to capture [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]], trapping the young Maximal in a web in his lair with the intent of feeding later. Rattrap mounted a rescue, during which the cavern caved in on Tarantulas {{storylink|The Web}} Tarantulas was blasted by Rattrap during the battle at the [[Standing Stones]], and later accompanied Megatron and [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] to attack the ''Axalon'' after it appeared that [[Optimus Primal]] had perished. After the Maximals got the ship's shields back up, he suggested to Megatron that they return to the Standing Stones. Unfortunately once there, the Maximals managed to retrieve Primal from the [[Vok probe|alien probe]] at the site, and Tarantulas was one of the first victims of the restored Maximal commander. {{storylink|Chain of Command}}

Terrorsaur, his power boosted, defeated Megatron in combat before leaving Tarantulas in charge of the other Predacons. Tarantulas promptly tailed Terrorsaur to find out what his new power source was, and discovered it was a [[flying mountain]] topped with a cache of super energon. Before he could do anything with the knowledge, he encountered Rattrap, who'd come to destroy the mountain. Their fight ended with Tarantulas falling from the side of the mountain. {{storylink|Power Surge}} He subsequently took part in an attack on the Maximal base after a [[stasis pod]] crashed. While Megatron kept [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] distracted, Tarantulas and Scorponok ambushed the Maximal from behind. Unfortunately for them, Dinobot had time to activate the base defenses, and Tarantulas was blasted into the distance by the auto-guns. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}}

When the Predacons finally captured a stasis pod, Tarantulas made sure that the [[protoform]] was given a spider beast mode, creating [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]. Megatron suspected he had ulterior motives, but was nonetheless pleased by the new soldier. Tarantulas seemed happy to follow Terrorsaur when the Predacon mounted another takeover attempt with the aid of Rattrap, but spent most of his time skulking around the ''Darksyde'' in search of rats to eat. He spotted Rattrap sneaking around, but the Maximal blasted him before he could do anything. He subsequently limped back to the others to find that Megatron had reasserted his leadership. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} After one of Scorponok's viruses turned Primal into a berserker, the Maximal leader broke into the Predacon base and, completely ignoring Tarantulas's attempts to stop him, pinned the spider to a wall using Tarantulas's own weapon. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[Image:Tflocklens&tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"Behold my latest invention... THE DISCO BALL VERSION 2.0!"]]
One of Tarantulas's many inventions, the [[transformation lock lens]], was instrumental in preventing the Maximals from contacting a [[temporal probe]] doing a flyby of the planet. He used it to ensnare [[Tigatron]] and Cheetor, then wreaked havoc with the Maximals' attempts to build a communications array, before he was finally defeated by Primal. Although his new toy was destroyed by the recovered Cheetor and Tigatron, the damage was already done, and the probe flew by uncontacted. {{storylink|The Probe}} After the Predacons discovered a Maximal spy camera in their base, they faked a mutiny and hid in a crevice. Tarantulas spent his nights being hugged like a stuffed toy by [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and his days eating stray rats. While the Maximals repaired the ''Axalon'', the Predacons were discovered by Dinobot, and gave chase. Though they attacked the Maximal ship in an attempt to capture it, the affair ended with the ''Axalon'' crashing back to the ground. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} After a Maximal victory, largely due to the efforts of Rhinox, Tarantulas captured the rhino in a web on Megatron's orders, so that he could be converted into a Predacon by the [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]]. In return, the new Predacon poisoned him and Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Dark Designs (episode)|Dark Designs}}

[[Image:Spider'sGame Taratulas hauling stasis pod.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Ever the engineer, Tarantulas invents the low-tech equivalent of a tow truck.]]
Tarantulas detected another stasis pod landing in [[Grid Scavos]], but Megatron refused to let him go and assist in the recovery, much to his disgust. {{storylink|The Spark}} The next time a stasis pod crashed, Tarantulas was more prepared. From his lair, he used a [[magna pulse]] to disable both the ''Darksyde'' and ''Axalon'' to allow him to investigate without interference. Unfortunately for him, Blackarachnia had found his lair, and insisted on coming along to help. At the pod, Tarantulas reprogrammed the new arrival into a Predacon, but was disappointed that a beast mode had already been chosen, and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] would not be another spider. In the confusion that followed, he made off with the real prize — the stasis pod itself. Unfortunately for him, Tigatron destroyed the pod before he could get very far, and he was forced to retreat when Megatron arrived. Later, in his lair, he inadvertently told Blackarachnia that the planet was doomed, and she realised he was intending to build an escape ship, however he threw her out before she could work out any more of his plans. {{storylink|Spider's Game}}

Tarantulas took part in a diversionary attack while Waspinator and Terrorsaur stole the Maximals' [[rectifier coil]]. After the Maximals went feral, the Predacons mounted a hunting expedition, though Tarantulas was stuck supporting the back end of Megatron's chair. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} On another occasion, Tarantulas detected what appeared to be walking energon. Megatron realised that an earlier battle had left four of the Maximals contaminated and blinded, and ordered Tarantulas to send Terrorsaur to investigate. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}} After Waspinator was possessed by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], Tarantulas took part in the attack on the ''Axalon'', and pointed out once they'd conquered it that their own base was now undefended. Megatron's answer was to leave Starscream in charge of the ''Axalon'', a decision which would come back to bite him later. {{storylink|Possession}}

[[Image:Dinobottarantulasrattrapthelowroad.jpg|thumb|left|240px|"See? I told you I was taller than Tarantulas."]]
During an attack on the Maximal base, Tarantulas was able to infect Rhinox with an [[energon discharge virus]], though he himself was injured by Dinobot during the retreat. He was tracked by Dinobot and Rattrap, but eventually turned the tables by getting the drop on them, only to be flattened by a huge boulder. After recovering, he took advantage of their incessant arguing by trying to get the drop on them again, only to be knocked unconscious by a double punch. Finally, Dinobot attempted to use Tarantulas's body as a hostage, only for Megatron to blast it aside. Perhaps his only consolation was that he avoided the indignity of the fate that befell the rest of the Predacons. {{storylink|The Low Road}}

With the return of the [[Vok|aliens]] a certainty, Tarantulas stole a [[transwarp cell]] from the ''Darksyde'', slagging Waspinator in the process. Megatron detected the theft and used Blackarachnia as a distraction while he remotely inserted his own programming into the cell. The two spiders later took part in an attempt to prevent Tigatron from escaping the Predacon base, and were squished by a boulder Dinobot had set up. They were relatively uninjured and able to haul their damaged comrades back to the ship. {{storylink|Before the Storm}} The two spiders teamed up again, infiltrating the Maximal base and disabling Rhinox and Dinobot while the other Maximals were busy with the latest alien construct to appear. They became aware that the planet's second moon had just been revealed as an artificial, alien ''doomsday weapon'' in disguise, with Tarantulas remarking it was "the beginning of the end" for the planet. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} In the cargo hold, Tarantulas used the transwarp cell and a stasis pod to construct a ship, but was interrupted by Inferno, who torched the spider. Fortunately, Blackarachnia entered Tarantulas's mind to obtain the information to complete the escape ship, and he was able to set up a permanent neural link between the two Predacons. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}

[[Image:ComingFuzors1 Tarantulas lives.jpg|thumb|right|280px|A new look, and he didn't even have to [[Spider-Man|sell out]] to [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] for it!]]
When the [[quantum surge]] caused by the "second moon's" destruction knocked out all of the Transformers on the planet, Tarantulas's body was upgraded to a [[Transmetal]] form, and he forced Blackarachnia to drag it from the Maximal base, even getting her to ignore Megatron's command to stay and fight the Maximals. {{storylink|Aftermath}} With Blackarachnia's hard work and some serious-looking electrical arc generators, Tarantulas was restored to life. Megatron soon called him to the battlefield, so he left Blackarachnia to root around in their leader's computer files: by this point, the loss of the "moon" and the damages to the planet had revealed it to be ''prehistoric Earth'' all along... {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}}

Using his new cycle mode, Tarantulas quickly reached the Maximals' position. During the fight, he kept in contact with her, until a shot by Dinobot put him temporarily out of commission. After he came around, Blackarachnia reported that she'd failed to get the data he needed. The Predacons were soon routed by the resurrection of Optimus Primal, and forced to return to base. There, Megatron and Tarantulas questioned Blackarachnia, only to be told the vital data had been lost. Neither of them believed her, but didn't call her out. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}

With his old lair destroyed by the Planet Buster, Tarantulas was fortuitous in that Megatron assigned him with Blackarachnia and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] to check out a cave filled with energon. He quickly surmised that it would make an excellent new lair, and attempted to get his two comrades interested in going it alone. Blackarachnia was more interested in getting rid of the neural link the two of them shared, and cracked an energon crystal, sending feedback through the link, to force him to sever it. By a fortunate coincidence, the three Predacons were soon attacked by [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] and Rattrap, and during the battle Tarantulas was able to convincingly fake the destruction of the cave, allowing him to utilise it as his own lair. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} When Dinobot defected to the Predacon side, Tarantulas offered to verify his programming, but Megatron decided it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Tarantulas into Dinobot's processor. {{storylink|Maximal, No More}}

[[Image:OtherVisits1 Tarantulas beast mode.jpg|left|220px|thumb]]
Back in his lair, Tarantulas's instruments detected the aliens again, and he rushed off to the site. He arrived shortly after Tigatron and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] had been abducted, and zapped Cheetor, but was forced to retreat when more Maximals arrived. He visited Megatron, claiming to no longer be under the tyrant's command, but willing to help. The Predacons returned to the alien site to set up equipment, during which Blackarachnia revealed that she had learned through the broken neural link that Tarantulas hated the aliens. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 1)}} Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas recovered quickly from the energy wave put out by the new [[Metal Hunter|alien construct]], and after Tarantulas's [[refractive web]] was activated, the trio ventured inside. Once Megatron had control of the construct, he terminated his alliance with Tarantulas, dropping the Predacon from a great height. Infuriated, Tarantulas helped the Maximals attack the construct, infiltrating it along with Rattrap, and sabotaging the transwarp cells which Megatron installed, causing the ship to explode. {{storylink|Other Visits (Part 2)}}

Though a bug planted on Megatron's chair, Tarantulas learned that Blackarachnia had been sent to recover a new protoform, and took the opportunity to threaten her to try and extract the information he suspected she'd gained from Megatron's computers. Unfortunately for him, Silverbolt stepped in and defended Blackarachnia, shortly before an energon explosion separated everyone. Though Tarantulas found the stasis pod, [[Rampage (BW)|its contents]] found him, and his body parts were spread liberally over a wide area. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Dinobot later tracked down Tarantulas in an attempt to find out what Megatron's latest scheme was. Though Tarantulas didn't know, Dinobot forced him to act as transport, and they soon found Megatron preparing to torch a valley fill of [[Protohuman]]s. Tarantulas took advantage of Dinobot's distraction to shoot the Maximal, only for Dinobot to drop a boulder on him. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}

[[Image:Agenda3 Tarantulas button push.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Tarantulas presses the History Eraser Button.]]
Alerted by the [[transwarp wavefront]], the [[Tripredacus Council]] sent covert agent [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] to capture Megatron. The former Decepticon led the Maximals to apprehend Megatron, and Tarantulas assisted by taking down the ''Darksyde''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> defense system. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}} Megatron, to his infuriation, was later informed by Ravage that the spider was a lieutenant in the Predacon Secret Police; Tarantulas joined in the diss by laughing over a comm-screen at his former boss. Tarantulas was able to instruct the Maximals in the location of a stash of energon crystals that Megatron had hidden. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} When Ravage was persuaded to change sides by the Predacon leader, Tarantulas appeared to come too, manning the [[transwarp cruiser]]'s weapons systems for an attack on the ''Axalon''. Alas, Rattrap chewed his way into the ship and tossed a couple of bombs at Tarantulas, which stuck to his hands before exploding. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}}

Tarantulas survived, though, and was quickly put back together by his [[arachnoid]]s. He was repaired in time to witness the destruction of the ''Axalon''. {{storylink|Optimal Situation}} He was soon seen back at the Predacon base, working under Megatron's command once again with no mention of his former secession. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} However, around this time he was also working on another scheme: restoring the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'', the flagship of the [[Decepticon]] fleet! At some point, he'd found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and was ensuring it would not only fly again but had a Predacon control console and a transwarp cell that could take it back to Cybertron... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

He battled the Maximals alongside Megatron's [[cyber raptor]]s, taking the opportunity to try out his new Transmetal [[cyber venom]] to great success, though he was stomped on by a cyber raptor once the Maximals worked out how to destroy their controls. {{storylink|Cutting Edge}} He assisted in the construction of Megatron's [[disruptor cannon]], suggesting that they abduct an early human to complete the device when the other Predacons were unable to get too close to it due to the unstable power source. While the cannon was completed by [[Una]], she managed to use her knowledge of levers to tip a piece of heavy equipment on him. Though he survived that, Una had taken the cannon's stablizer crystal, and it exploded in the Predacons' faces when they tried to use it. {{storylink|Go with the Flow}}

[[Image:CrossingRubicon Tarantulas fires on Silverbolt.jpg|thumb|left|260px|My new rapid-firing shoulders will continue the work my rapid-firing legs started.]]
When the Maximals attempted to remove Blackarachnia's shell program, he revealed to Megatron that he had included "certain safeguards" that guaranteed she would not survive, and joined the other Predacons in an attack on the Maximals that was meant to disrupt the attempted shell removal. He fired the missile which knocked the Maximals' power off-line at a crucial instant, seemingly bringing an end to his "treacherous creation". Enraged by the death of his beloved, [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] attempted to kill the scientist, but was thwarted by [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]], who was later defeated by a revived—and [[Transmetal|Transmetalized]]—Blackarachnia. {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}}

Tarantulas participated in the Predacons' next attempt to retake the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], utilising his latest invention to allow Quickstrike to take control of Optimus Primal... and ''that'' was when he made his move, at last. He manipulated [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] into throwing Megatron into the nearby lava while he himself set the Ark's engines to overload. Megatron survived his lava-dunking, gaining a new body in the process. However, he had lost his patience. While he'd tolerated Tarantulas's treachery, he could not tolerate incompetence. Tarantulas survived his punishment and fled back to his lair. {{storylink|Master Blaster}} This appears to have ''not'' been what Quickstrike thought he was going to do, and neither he nor Megatron had any idea why he'd planned to destroy the whole Ark.

[[Image:TarantulasVok SignOfTheCross.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"Save me, X-Men!"]]

Tarantulas was left ranting in his lair about how the Tripredacus Council's plans were wrecked, while his systems monitored the ''Nemesis'' (which was finished by this point). However, his rant and Nemesis plans were interrupted when the aliens (now revealed to be called the [[Vok]]) sent their emissary [[Tigerhawk]] arrived on Earth. Tarantulas let him take out the Predacons, then used his arachnoids to disable and capture him. Tarantulas intended to force the all-powerful being into his servitude by drawing the Vok influences out of his body and reprogramming him, and then have him obliterate the Ark: he cheerfully told the emissary that as he nor the Council had Autobot or Decepticon origins, they'd survive the resulting timestorm, turn Cybertron into a universe-conquering force, and one day even conquer the Vok themselves!

The scheme backfired, however, as his energy beam device expelled two ''actual Vok'' out of Tigerhawk. The formless spectres attempted to take over Tarantulas' body. Panicking, he made a religious sign to ward them off and then opened fire on them—a futile gesture that merely served to spin the energy device around 'til its rays were blasting him and his lab equipment. Overloaded by the beams, Tarantulas exploded, leaving nothing behind but his boots. The remainder of his equipment detonated seconds later, blowing the lair to rubble. Cheetor managed to rescue the inert Tigerhawk, and Tarantulas was presumed dead. {{storylink|Other Victories}}

Megatron knew that Tarantulas must have had some schemes on the go that the Predacons could pick up and use, and had his men search the ruins of Tarantulas's lair. During this, he offhandedly referred to him as "[[Unicron's Spawn]]". He ended up discovering and using the working ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
{{-}}

====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''====
[[Image:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Movie (franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Beast Wars Diorama Story|Motorarm Chapter}}
{{-}}

====3H comics====
Tarantulas is the inventor of the [[mind-drill]]. [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] "borrowed" it from him to get information out of [[Antagony]]. {{storylink|Herald, Covenant, Schism, Paradox|Herald}}

[[Image:PrimevalDawn2-TarantulasMatrix.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}}

The remaining Vok anticipated Tarantulas's plan to destroy the rest of them, take their power, and fashion the timestream to his desires, and so they assembled an army of their own consisting of [[Primal Prime]], [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], and [[Tigatron]]. Tarantulas met this opposition in battle, overwhelmed them, and triumphantly ripped the [[Matrix of Leadership]] from Primal Prime's chest. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 2}}

Wounded critically, the Maximals withdrew to the Ark, while Tarantulas and his Predacons returned to his lair, where he directed them in the construction of a transwarp portal. Upon completion, Tarantulas planned to bring his stolen prize to his master, Unicron. Since his troops were getting restless, he promised them they could assault the Ark once they finished construction. Tarantulas was true to his word, and as Ravage led the Predacons against the Maximals, Unicron's spawn tried to stabilize the portal and prepared the Matrix for transport. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 3}}

{{note|[[3H Productions]] dissolved before this storyline could be completed. Based on the subsequent ''Wreckers'' and ''[[Universe (2003 comic)|Universe]]'' storylines, it can be assumed that the Matrix of Leadership was restored to Optimus Prime's body at the end of this altercation, the Maximals were triumphant and used Tarantulas's portal to return home to Cybertron, and that Tarantulas somehow fled to Unicron.}}

[[Image:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Basically I just never die.]]

A year after the [[Great Reformatting]], the influence of [[Unicron]] swayed [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to the side of darkness. As she was escorted by [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Reptilion]] into the heart of the Chaos Bringer, she was surprised to see Tarantulas (still in his undead body) greet her as she joined the ranks of the [[Minion of Unicron|Minions of Unicron]]. She hissed with disgust, while Tarantulas noted that it was just like old times. {{storylink|Escape (issue)|Escape}}

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to Cybertron to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacons]] and directions to the chamber through a structural weakpoint near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (issue)|Homecoming}}
{{-}}

====A Meeting of Minds====
{{note|This story takes place immediately after "[[Master Blaster]]."}}

The [[Megatron (G1)|original Megatron]], now inside the mind of [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]], berated the Predacon leader's failures—in particular, being led astray time and again by such treacherous subordinates as Tarantulas. {{storylink|A Meeting of Minds}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' comic===
Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, the ''[[Hindenburg]]'', Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. An angry Optimus Primal then proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Raise the Curtain for Beast Wars Metals!!}}

===Fire in the Dark===
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crashlanded on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the protohumans as gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]," under instruction from their leader, enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "glowing rose crystals." Eventually, the Maximals came and freed the humans. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

===IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics===
Tarantulas programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty.{{storylink|Beast Wars Sourcebook}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game===
:''Voice actor'': ?
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the first season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}
[[Image:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}
{{Note|Tarantulas is a playable character in the Predacon mode of this game for normal gameplay.}}
[[Image:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

All of the Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it.Tarantulas warred against both the Maximals and the evil extra-dimensional aliens dubbed the [[Skriix]].
{{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)}}
{{Note|Due to the nature of this game, a player may select various individual characters to perform the feats required in every level, and complete the game's narrative. Thus, any playable Maximal can fill the role of protagonist in Maximal Mode, and any playable Predacon can fill the role of protagonist in Predacon Mode. As such, each character's page only lists said character's actions when they fill the role of antagonist during gameplay. To view the various feats Tarantulas can accomplish throughout gameplay in Predacon Mode, it is told on the pages of the [[Optimus Primal|several]] [[Cheetor (BW)|Maximals]] [[Rattrap|included]] [[Dinobot (BW)|as]] [[Rhinox|opponents]] in this game, as well as the game's main antagonists, the [[Skriix]], wherein Tarantulas fills the role of the nameless Predacon. To view the plot as a whole view the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)]] page.}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' video game===
[[Image:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|300px|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the second season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}
:''Voice Actor:'' [[Alec Willows]] (English), ??? (Japanese)

Tarantulas found a way to escape prehistoric Earth and return to Cybertron. The Beast Wars progressed in his absence for a time...

[[Image:N64_Tarantulus.jpg|frame|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the Nintendo 64 game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Tarantulas's fate in those outcomes.}}
{{-}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle'' video game===
[[Image:DuelFight_Tarantulas.gif|thumb|left|200px|]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle}}
{{--}}

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[Image:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Hey, guess who's going to be [[redeco]]ed into a hot girl?]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
** ''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-4'''
**''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: Part of the first wave of [[Beast Wars (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' product]], Tarantulas transforms into an organic generic spider (''not'' a tarantula). His abdomen contains a spring-loaded missile launcher, which fires the anchor-missile kept in his spider-butt. This missile is attached by a string so he can hang from things like a real spider. The launcher can be removed and used as a robot-mode weapon, using any of his front four spider-legs as missiles. Like all early Deluxe-and-up ''Beast Wars'' toys, he has two different robot-mode "heads"; a robotic face and a "mutant" face. He is almost always depicted using the mutant face.

: There is a variation of this toy in the [[Hasbro]] line: Later releases (the smooth bubble) lack the yellow paint on his elbows.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro release. Later, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)#Toys|Blackarachnia toy]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[Image:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|right|300px|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
*'''Brutal Showdown: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''VS-4'''
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Currently, it is unknown if the latter "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was ever released in a VS set.

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[Image:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|right|thumb|300px|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-44'''
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: Part of the first assortment of Deluxe [[Transmetal]]s, Tarantulas transforms into a robotic spider. He also has a third "transport" mode, flipping down a wheel from his abdomen and a saw-blade from under his beast-head, making a spidey-cycle. The saw detaches for robot mode to become a hand-held weapon.

: The Japanese version is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot-mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Transmetal Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[Image:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|right|300px|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza slicer.]]
*'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe "Fox Kids" Transmetal, 1999)
**''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: A [[redeco]] of the Transmetal Tarantulas toy in grays, silver and black. He and a Transmetal [[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]] redeco were part of the little-seen second wave of [[Toys"R"Us]] [[exclusive]] "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "'''Steel Force Tarantulas'''", a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Universe (2003 comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. With the toy's limited availability, secondary-market pricing for this item due to its fictional use has gone up.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1999/Predacon/FKTMTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Fox Kids Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===MicroVerse===
[[Image:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|right|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The Thing]], I swear!]]
*'''Orcanoch''' ([[MicroVerse]], 1997)

: A small, non-transforming micro-figure of Tarantulas came with the [[MicroVerse]] [[Orcanoch]] playset. It was presumably painted based on the original design, as its upper body is copper rather than purple. Its only articulation is at the waist, letting it sit in any of the MicroVerse mini-vehicles or playset stations.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Maximal/Orcanoch/orcanoch.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas (via Orchanoch) at TFU.info]

{{-}}
===Beast Wars 10th Anniversary===
[[Image:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|He's not here to help assemble [[Transmutate]]. That leg's his dinner.]]
*'''Predacon Tarantulus''' (Deluxe, 2006)
**''Accessories:'' Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

:This toy is a slight [[redeco]] of the original Tarantulas toy, more closely resembling Tarantulas's appearance in the cartoon (save the big Predacon faction sigil tampograph). Part of the second wave of [[Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars'' 10th Anniversary product]], he came with a DVD of the episode "[[Spider's Game]]," plus the left leg to [[Trans-Mutate]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Merchandise==
* '''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].

===Robot Heroes===
[[Image:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' ''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'', this PVC figurine of Tarantulas' original body has articulation in the shoulders and neck. He was available only in a "Beast Wars Series" two-pack with [[Optimus Primal/toys|Optimus Primal]] (amusingly enough, the [[Maximal]] he also came with in the ''[[MicroVerse]]'' [[Orcanoch]] playset).

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Predacon/RHTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Robot Heroes Tarantulas at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[Image:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Not terribly appealing.]]
* Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.

[[Image:TarantulasArm.jpg|right|150px|thumb|He tastes everything he holds.]]

* In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.

* The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in beast mode, as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.

* Tarantulas's toy bios paint him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. Both of his [[Tech Spec]]s give him an intelligence of 4, even the numbers that accompany his ''Transmetals'' bio which mentions the cartoon's [[quantum surge]].

* In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.

* In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.

[[Image:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
* From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
[[Image:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|right|Pew! Pew!]]
* Tarantulas's origins are a bit complicated. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] have origins other than Autobot and Decepticon, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the Ark. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" was apparently not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally; it was to have been a generic insult rather than a statement of fact.<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/f06828ec523295c1?dmode=source&output=gplain Larry DiTillio's take on Tarantulas origins! at alt.toys.transformers]</ref> (Forward's own inkling, albeit never realized, was that they might be descended from [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]'s Cybertronian Empire.) A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("[[Other Victories]]"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward.

* Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]].

* Tarantulas is probably the only [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Minion of Unicron]] who avoided being labeled a [[Decepticon]].

* From what can be observed from art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in robot mode. Neat!

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Security officers]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys "R" Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]

Terrorsaur (BW)

2010-12-19T21:11:36Z

187.158.178.109: /* Beast Wars cartoon */

{{factions|predacon}}

{{disambig3|Terrorsaur}}
:''Terrorsaur is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''

[[Image:Terrorsaur-jp.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Smugly Starscreamish]]
Power-hungry and opportunistic, but lacking in the courage department, '''Terrorsaur''' never misses a chance to improve his standing within the Predacons. From cutting deals with [[Maximal|Maximals]] to finding and keeping new power sources for himself, Terrorsaur is always thinking two steps ahead. Unfortunately, the big guns of the Beast Wars are usually thinking at least ''four'' steps ahead, and Terrorsaur always ends up on the short end.

As the only fliers in the Predacon platoon, Terrorsaur and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] are permanent partners. The two seem to get on, working as a somewhat formidable team and sometimes having banter about their mission.

:''Japanese name:'' '''Terrorsaurer''' (テラザウラー ''Terazaurā'')
:''French-Canadian name:'' '''Dinomenace'''
:''Chinese name (Taiwan):'' '''Yì-lúng''' (翼龍, "Pterosaur")
:''Chinese name (China):'' '''She Niao''' (蛇鸟, "Snake-Bird")
:''Italian name:'' '''Metal Terrorsaur''' (Transmetal)
:''Spanish name:'' '''Terrorsaurio'''
:''Portuguese name:'' '''Terrorssauro'''

==Fiction==
===First wave toy bios===
Megatron personally supervised Terrorsaur's genetically engineered creation, resulting in a stealth fighter who remains hidden until the opportunity to strike arises! Terrorsaur is nothing short of absolutely terrifying, having been compared to a demonic dragon. On top of it all, he is an absolute glutton, devouring entire flocks of birds by simply flying mouth-opened through their flight formations. {{storylink|#Toys|Terrorsaur Bio}}
{{note|The on-package [[Bio|bios]] of the first wave of Beast Wars toys, predate the development of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon and its backstory. They seem to present the characters as a direct continuation of the previous Autobot/Decepticon conflict, with Optimus Primal actually being a new form of Optimus Prime and Megatron being his Generation 1 counterpart, and their battles taking place on present day, [[human]]-inhabited Earth, rather than in the distant past. Once the cartoon launched, the toyline adjusted itself to match that continuity instead, relegating this one to an aborted [[micro-continuity]].}}
{{-}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Timelines''====
[[Image:Terrorsaurbwdawn.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Don't let him name your stolen ship.]]
While the Predacon [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] stole the [[Maximal]] relic, the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]], the Predacon who would later call himself Terrorsaur, along with [[Waspinator (BW)|the future Waspinator]] and [[Buzzbomb]], secured a getaway ship. They were meant to be working for [[Cryotek (RID)|Cryotek]]—however, Megatron had his own agenda that "Terrorsaur" was in on and Buzzbomb wasn't. True to form, "Terrorsaur" shot Buzzbomb in the back. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

"Terrorsaur" and "Waspinator" stole the Predacon gang's ship. The two had a contest to decide who would get to name the ship, and "Terrorsaur" won. He settled on ''[[Darksyde]]'', though Megatron agreed that the loser's suggested name, ''Buzzerbot'', would have been more desirable.

Picking up the rest of their group, with the Golden Disk in tow, they left [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s orbit. After a space battle with the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']], the ''[[Chromia 10]]'', and an unidentified Predacon ship, both the ''Axalon'' and the ''Darksyde'' entered a [[transwarp]] portal to an undisclosed time and place. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}
{{-}}
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
:''Voice actor:'' [[Doug Parker]] (English), [[Nobuo Tobita]] (Japanese), [[Marcos Henrique Melo Hailer]] (Portuguese), [[Oliviero Corbetta]] (Italian), [[Holger Potzern]] (German), [[Héctor Lee]] (Latin American Spanish, 1st voice), [[Herman López]] (Latin American Spanish, 2nd voice), [[Luis Gaspar]] (Castilian Spanish)

[[Image:BeastWars2 Megatron strikes Terrorsaur.jpg|right|thumb|200px|"And I'll tell you ''another'' thing about Megatr... he's standing behind me, isn't he."]]
Terrorsaur was one of the original members of Megatron's crew. After the ''Darksyde'' crashed on a [[Earth|mysterious planet]], he picked a Pteranodon for his beast mode, and the Predacons began searching for the [[Maximal]]s. Terrorsaur took part in the first battle, until the Maximals retreated and the Predacons started suffering from Energon buildup. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons followed the Maximals to their base and attacked [[Optimus Primal]] and [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] as the two battled on a natural rock bridge. When the attack failed to eliminate any Maximals, Megatron thumped Terrorsaur out of frustration. The uncovering of a large cache of Energon gave the Predacons a new mission, and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] and Terrorsaur attempted to slow the Maximals down so that the Predacons could get there first. They were seen off by one of Primal's missiles, but rejoined the other Predacons and took part in the battle atop the mountain of energon. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[Image:Terrorsaurseated.jpg|left|250px|thumb|I don't think they had pteranodons in mind when they built this thing, Chewie.]]
Much later, Terrorsaur and [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] were assigned to install a mega-cannon as part of the defences for the Predacon base. {{storylink|The Web}} When an energon accident caused [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] to be teleported into the Predacon base, Terrorsaur gave him a warm welcome. Cheetor managed to throw him through the teleport to the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', where he attempted to talk Dinobot into teaming up with him to defeat both sides. Dinobot went along with him long enough to get information, and then stuffed him into a waste disposal unit. Terrorsaur returned to the Predacon base, where he and Megatron cornered Cheetor, only to discover that the Maximals had sent a bomb through the teleport. Once Cheetor detached the bomb from the console, Terrorsaur flew it into the sky and was blown up for his troubles. {{storylink|Equal Measures}}

During a battle at the [[Standing Stones]], Terrorsaur blew up the pile of energon in the center, earning Megatron's ire at the loss. Whatever punishment he got wasn't enough to prevent him from taking part in a subsequent attack on the ''Axalon''. He was able to bring the ship's shields down, but [[Rattrap]] managed to raise the shields again, as well as blasting Terrorsaur out of the air. He was still able to attempt to stop the Maximals retrieving Primal from an [[Vok probe|alien probe]], but the Maximals ultimately succeeded, and the Maximal leader chased off the Predacons. {{storylink|Chain of Command}}

[[Image:Power Surge Terrorsaur pointing.jpg|right|220px|thumb|[[Burning Justice|BURNING INJUSTICE!]]]]
Terrorsaur's shining moment came when he discovered a [[flying mountain]] with a huge source of powerful energon at the top. Powered-up, he immediately returned to the ''Darksyde'' and defeated Megatron, declaring himself the new leader of the Predacons. Having exhausted his charge, Terrorsaur left [[Tarantulas]] in charge and went to refuel at the mountain. (None of the other Predacons paid attention to any of the commands Terrorsaur had made) Unfortunately for him, Optimus Primal and Rattrap had already found the mountain. While he was able to defeat Primal, Rattrap had set up charges, and Terrorsaur was forced to flee. When he returned to the Predacon base, he discovered that Megatron had been repaired in his absence and was very, very angry. {{storylink|Power Surge}}

[[Image:TerrorsaurcagedRT.jpg|left|200px|thumb|He's so happy with his new lieutenant that he granted him with his own personal cage.]]
When a Maximal [[stasis pod]] crashed, Waspinator and Terrorsaur ambushed Optimus Primal outside the Maximal base, taking the Maximals' only flier out of the game. After reporting back to Megatron, the pair were dispatched to reach the pod first and ensure the [[protoform]] inside became another Predacon. On the way, Terrorsaur and Waspinator encountered the Maximals, going by ground, and delayed them by knocking out an ice bridge. The two Predacons reached the pod first, but a transmission sent by Primal and Dinobot had already activated the protoform, and they were attacked by [[Tigatron]]. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}} Sent out to eliminate Rattrap, Terrorsaur instead teamed up with the Maximal and again overthrew Megatron. After having Rattrap and Megatron both locked up, Terrorsaur found himself at a loss when the Maximals attacked and the other Predacons looked to him for leadership. Megatron, having freed himself, deferred leadership until it was made plain that Terrorsaur was incompetent as leader. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}}

Terrorsaur was subsequently assigned with Waspinator and [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to dig under the Maximal base so that they could use a [[sonic emitter]] to break in. Unfortunately, Waspinator alerted the Maximals to their presence, and while the trio were arguing over when to set the device off, Tigatron stole it. As they attempted to get it back, Tigatron triggered the emitter, and the three Predacons fled before it went off. {{storylink|A Better Mousetrap}} After Scorponok's [[Cyberbee]] turned Primal into a berserker and he invaded the ''Darksyde'', Terrorsaur and Blackarachnia attempted to keep the other Maximals out of the Predacon base. There were unable to stop Cheetor from slipping inside to rescue Optimus. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[Image:Victory Terrorsaur guns out.jpg|right|250px|thumb|HAW HAW H-]]
When Scorponok spotted the Maximals building a communications array, he passed footage of the device to Terrorsaur, who flew it back to Megatron. The Predacons quickly discovered the tower was meant to communicate with a Maximal [[temporal probe]] which was passing through the system. Terrorsaur successfully distracted the Maximals at the array long enough for the other Predacons to sneak up from the other direction. {{storylink|The Probe}} Terrorsaur took part in a mock rebellion after the Predacons discovered they'd been bugged. After making the Maximals believe they'd been destroyed, the Predacons hid until the ''Axalon'' was made operational, intending to take the ship themselves. When their hiding place was discovered by Dinobot, Terrorsaur and Waspinator were the first to pursue their former comrade, only to be squashed by a large rock. Terrorsaur still recovered in time to rejoin the fight outside the ''Axalon'', managing to shoot down a distracted Optimus Primal before Cheetor blasted him out of the sky. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}}

After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] was turned into a Predacon by Megatron's [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]], Terrorsaur realised that Rhinox was actually working to undermine Megatron's leadership. Terrorsaur suggested teaming up to overthrow the Predacon commander, but was somewhat roughly turned down. Once Megatron discovered Rhinox's deception, the former Maximal was able to reveal Terrorsaur's duplicity, and an outraged Scorponok attacked Terrorsaur, until the both of them were pounded by Rhinox. After the whole sorry affair was over, Terrorsaur attempted to explain to his less-than-receptive leader. {{storylink|Dark Designs (episode)|Dark Designs}}

[[Image:TheSpark Terrorsaur's head.jpg|left|thumb|200px|....awwww. :(]]
Terrorsaur helped out Dinobot one time, when Dinobot was complaining of being bored. Terrorsaur lured him into a cave and trapped him there, so that Megatron could put into effect a plan involving a [[Clone One|clone of Dinobot]]. {{storylink|Double Dinobot}} After another stasis pod crashed, Terrorsaur and Waspinator arrived to face Cheetor. Although Waspinator was quickly defeated, Terrorsaur blasted Cheetor and proceeded to the pod, only to encounter the newly awakened [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], who blasted him to pieces. {{storylink|The Spark}}

[[Image:CalloftheWild Terrorsaur shot up.jpg|right|thumb|200px|I'm sensing...]]
Waspinator and Terrorsaur attacked Tigatron while the Maximal was trying to radio base. The pair pursued Tigatron into a cloud, only to be blasted by some sort of [[Brigadoon|flying island]], and subsequently reported back to Megatron. {{storylink|The Trigger, Part 1}} After repairs were made, the two fliers started back for the island, only to tangle with Rattrap and Optimus Primal. Terrorsaur found himself acting as Rattrap's transport, temporarily at least. He and Waspinator later attempted to catch up with Blackarachnia on the island, but she tricked them into firing, so that the island's defences took them out. {{storylink|The Trigger, Part 2}}

During a Predacon attack on the ''Axalon'', Terrorsaur and Waspinator stole the [[rectifier coil]] from the Maximal base. When remaining in their beast modes drove the sleep deprived Maximals to be overcome by their beast instincts, the Predacons hunted them through the jungle, at least until the Maximals were able to regain control and fight back. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} After some of the Maximals were blinded by an energon explosion, Terrorsaur and Waspinator were dispatched to try to finish them off. Unfortunately, even blinded, the Maximals were able to fight them off. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}}

After Waspinator was possessed by the [[spark]] of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], the Predacons attacked the ''Axalon''. Terrorsaur attempted to stop Primal escaping, only to get a face full of monkey fist. When Starscream was subsequently given command of the Maximal ship, Terrorsaur complained about the Decepticon getting promoted, but was swiftly silenced by Megatron. {{storylink|Possession}} Later, Terrorsaur was among the Predacons blasted into a tree by Rhinox's almighty fart. {{storylink|The Low Road}} On another mission, Terrorsaur was given leadership of Waspinator and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]]. Partway through the battle, Terrorsaur realised that Waspinator wasn't doing anything—as it turned out, he was still awaiting Terrorsaur's signal to attack. Later, the trio successfully defeated Dinobot, but their victory was short-lived, as Optimus turned up and blew Terrorsaur and Waspinator away. {{storylink|Law of the Jungle}}

[[Image:Before the Storm Terrorsaur.jpg|left|thumb|240px|...a trend here.]]
During a rare truce between the two sides, Terrorsaur found Tigatron snooping around the Predacon base and sounded the alarm. He and Scorponok collided while trying to prevent the Maximal's escape and were sent out to try to get Tigatron back. The Maximals employed "non-violent" means to aid in Tigatron's escape, and Terrorsaur found himself running into a piece of bulkhead. He then attempted to charge Rattrap, only to be sat on by Rhinox. He returned to base by stretcher. {{storylink|Before the Storm}}

[[Image:BW Scorponok Terrorsaur deaths.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Terrorsaur, Scorponok, we're condemning you to a fiery death cause Waspinator has a bigger fan club.]]
Terrorsaur was one of the Predacons who turned up at the alien bungalow. He was blasted by Rattrap and left lying over a rock as the construct blasted a signal into space, exposing one of the moons as a [[Planet Buster]] weapon. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} A short time later, he was back at the Predacon base, able to monitor the escalating situation. Megatron's admiration for the aliens surprised him, and he pointed out loudly that the aliens were trying to kill them. As it turned out, Megatron had matters in hand, and the alien weapon was soon destroyed. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}} The weapon's explosion sent out a [[quantum surge]], which began mutating the forms of some of the [[Transformer]]s. Both Terrorsaur and Scorponok lost control of their hover platforms, colliding with each other and plunging into the lava below. No one seemed to notice or care. {{storylink|Aftermath}}
{{-}}

====Transmetals toy bio====
Not only did the quantum surge resulting from the [[Planet Buster]]'s destruction enhance Terrosaur physically, but it has also pushed his destructive tendencies to new heights. Not only has his rage towards the Maximals intensified to an alarming degree, but his greater resilience has filled with new found courage... giving him a new battle strategy of crashing into things at high speeds, kamikaze style. To top it all off, he now possesses a pyromania that he satisfies by igniting the terrain as he flies above it. {{storylink|#Toys|Transmetal Terrorsaur Bio}}
{{note|The on-package [[Bio|bios]] of the Transmetal sub-line presented a micro-continuity where all of the characters receiving a new toy were transmetalized due to the initial quantum surge, instead of a select few.}}
{{-}}

====''Universe'' comics====
[[Image:TFUjailbreak.jpg|left|300px|thumb|You all fight Razorclaw, I'll go make sure the escape routes are... clear. Yes.]]

Terrorsaur (or an alternate-universe incarnation of him) was one of the many Cybertronians kidnapped from his timestream by agents of [[Unicron]] and held in the [[Cauldron]]. Terrorsaur escaped and (presumably) returned to his timestream thanks to the efforts of [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]]. He appeared in his original Earth body. {{storylink|Escape (issue)|Escape}}
{{-}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' comic===
[[Image:MetalsTerrorsaurMangaDeath0.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Even when he lives, he dies.]]

Having survived the quantum surge, Terrorsaur was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. However, these days were short-lived. After recovering the mindless body of Optimus Primal, Megatron attempted to turn it into a Predacon slave. Rhinox was able to return Primal's spark to its body just in the nick of time. Now a Transmetal himself, Optimus Primal proceeded to go on a rampage, taking out all of Megatron's drone forces and slicing Terrorsaur in half with his mace. Terrorsaur showed woeful disappointment in this turn of events as he died. {{storylink|Raise the Curtain for Beast Wars Metals!!}}

===IDW Beast Wars continuity===
Terrorsaur survived the quantum surge, along with [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] and eventually became a Transmetal, though it was after a period of stasis lock. {{storylink|Beast Wars Sourcebook}}
{{-}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game===
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the first season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}
{{Note|Terrorsaur is a playable character in the Predacon mode of this game for rescue missions only.}}
Terrorsaur was absent from the main conflict with both Maximals and the Skriix, instead flying rescue missions, using his flight capabilities to rescue captured Predacons from the Maximals' prison ships. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals'' video game===
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the second season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}[[Image:N64_Terrorsaur.jpg|frame|right|[[JaAm|And I'll transform into some weird deformed THING! HA!]]]]
{{note|Terrorsaur is only accessible for game play in the Nintendo 64 version of this game.}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[Doug Parker]] (English), ??? (Japanese)

At the end of a decisive battle, Terrorsaur stood the victor, having defeated all of the other beast warriors. As a result, Terrorsaur took command of the Predacon forces, dethroning Megatron. Under his leadership, the Maximals were beaten into submission, and the Predacons took control over them. Unfortunately, Terrorsaur loved being in command too much... so much so that he forgot to devise a plan to escape prehistoric Earth. Then the ice age came around, and froze the entirety of the Predacon forces. Terrorsaur thus has the next hundred thousand years to contemplate his fate, as he remains encased in an icy prison. {{storylink|Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the N64 version of the game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Terrosaur's fate in those outcomes.}}
{{-}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle'' video game===
Megatron was capable to summon Terrorsaur forth to the battlefield in his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[Image:BWtoy-Terrorsaurbasic.jpg|right|300px|thumb|You ignore my god-damn throat-legs.]]
*'''Terrorsaur''' (Basic, 1996)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''D-5'''
**''Accessories'': Pistol

: Part of the first wave of ''Beast Wars'' toys, Terrorsaur transforms from an organic ''Pteranodon'' to robot mode with a spring-loaded one-step transformation. A small gun stores in his robot mode back which can be removed, unfolded, and pegged into his robot mode fist. In Japan, there are two different versions of this toy: one nearly identical to the [[Hasbro]] version, another with a more show-like coloration, lacking the green spots and purple paint, adding yellow to its beak, lightening the black plastic to gray, and changing the light red to a darker red.

: This mold was later used for [[Fractyl]], [[Hydra (BWN)|Hydra]], [[Lazorbeak]] and [[Dinobots (toyline)|Dinobots]] [[Terranotron (Dinobots)|Terranotron]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Terrorsaur/terrorsaur.htm More information on Terrorsaur at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[Image:BW-toy_TerrorsaurTM.jpg|right|thumb|300px|]]
*'''Terrorsaur''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''D-43'''
**''Accessories'': Left & right wing-blades

: Transmetal Terrorsaur transforms into a robotic ''Pteranodon''. It has a third "vehicle" mode; reconfiguring its wings and revealing VTOL fans, plus its tail section splits open to reveal twin thruster engines. In robot mode, its wing-tips detach to form blade weapons. In Japan, this mold featured green vacuum-metalized paint rather than yellow, added silver detail added to his face, and had the words Destron replace his tampo-graphed name.

: This mold was later [[redeco]]ed and slightly [[retool]]ed to make ''[[Beast Machines (toyline)|Beast Machines]]'' [[Terranotron (BM)|Terranotron]], and then redecoed and retooled ''differently'' to make ''[[Armada (toyline)|Armada]]'' [[Terrorsaur (Armada)|Terrorsaur]]. The mold was also the base model for the non-toy characters of ''Wreckers'' [[Fractyl]] and ''Armada'' [[Ravenus]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Terrorsaur/terrorsaur.htm More information on Transmetal Terrorsaur at TFU.info]''

==Merchandise==
* '''Terrorsaurer''' (candy toy kit, 1997)
:A [[Kabaya]] "[[candy toy]]" version of Terrorsaur was made available in Japan. Since he was [[Gang-molding|gang molded]] with the other three toys in the assortment, this unpainted plastic kit was mainly peach and yellow.

* '''Beast Wars magnet set''' (1997)
:An adorable "super-deformed" magnet of Terrorsaur was made as part of a set of show-cast Beast Wars magnets in Japan.

* '''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Terrorsaur was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}

==Notes==
* Similarly to [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], his fellow Predacon flyer, the toyline profile for Terrorsaur made him out to be a formidable and vicious fighter- almost animalistic in his savagery. His [[transmetal]] profile adds pyromania to the list.

* Terrorsaur apparently knows how to disarm a bomb (if he has enough time), since in "[[Equal Measures]]" Megatron orders him to disarm the Maximal bomb that was sent into the Predacon base.

* As Terrorsaur was dying in lava, his hand was briefly seen glowing, indicating that Terrorsaur was going through [[Transmetal|transmetalization]]. This was probably included as a "Trap Door" so the writers could resurrect Terrorsaur or Scorponok if they needed them later.

*Terrorsaur's hand sinking into the lava is similar to the scene at the end of [[wikipedia:Terminator 2|Terminator 2: Judgment Day]], when the Terminator sank into the molten steel.

* Terrorsaur's CGI model in "Theft of the Golden Disk" is based on [[Skyblast (Energon)|''Energon'' Skyblast]] with a new head design. However, his CGI model is slightly different from his appearance in "Dawn of Future's Past".

*Terrorsaur is the first known contributor to the plight of the Bald Eagle, by eating one.

*[http://www18.tok2.com/home/jackhama/transformers/bwtcard_1/img/017.jpg A Japanese trading card] renders this character's Japanese name as "Terrorsaur". This, of course, skips over the fact that the Katakana indicates the last vowel sound to be an extended "a" sound.

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]

Terrorsaur (BW)

2010-12-19T21:10:39Z

187.158.178.109: /* Beast Wars cartoon */

{{factions|predacon}}

{{disambig3|Terrorsaur}}
:''Terrorsaur is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''

[[Image:Terrorsaur-jp.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Smugly Starscreamish]]
Power-hungry and opportunistic, but lacking in the courage department, '''Terrorsaur''' never misses a chance to improve his standing within the Predacons. From cutting deals with [[Maximal|Maximals]] to finding and keeping new power sources for himself, Terrorsaur is always thinking two steps ahead. Unfortunately, the big guns of the Beast Wars are usually thinking at least ''four'' steps ahead, and Terrorsaur always ends up on the short end.

As the only fliers in the Predacon platoon, Terrorsaur and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] are permanent partners. The two seem to get on, working as a somewhat formidable team and sometimes having banter about their mission.

:''Japanese name:'' '''Terrorsaurer''' (テラザウラー ''Terazaurā'')
:''French-Canadian name:'' '''Dinomenace'''
:''Chinese name (Taiwan):'' '''Yì-lúng''' (翼龍, "Pterosaur")
:''Chinese name (China):'' '''She Niao''' (蛇鸟, "Snake-Bird")
:''Italian name:'' '''Metal Terrorsaur''' (Transmetal)
:''Spanish name:'' '''Terrorsaurio'''
:''Portuguese name:'' '''Terrorssauro'''

==Fiction==
===First wave toy bios===
Megatron personally supervised Terrorsaur's genetically engineered creation, resulting in a stealth fighter who remains hidden until the opportunity to strike arises! Terrorsaur is nothing short of absolutely terrifying, having been compared to a demonic dragon. On top of it all, he is an absolute glutton, devouring entire flocks of birds by simply flying mouth-opened through their flight formations. {{storylink|#Toys|Terrorsaur Bio}}
{{note|The on-package [[Bio|bios]] of the first wave of Beast Wars toys, predate the development of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon and its backstory. They seem to present the characters as a direct continuation of the previous Autobot/Decepticon conflict, with Optimus Primal actually being a new form of Optimus Prime and Megatron being his Generation 1 counterpart, and their battles taking place on present day, [[human]]-inhabited Earth, rather than in the distant past. Once the cartoon launched, the toyline adjusted itself to match that continuity instead, relegating this one to an aborted [[micro-continuity]].}}
{{-}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Timelines''====
[[Image:Terrorsaurbwdawn.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Don't let him name your stolen ship.]]
While the Predacon [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] stole the [[Maximal]] relic, the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]], the Predacon who would later call himself Terrorsaur, along with [[Waspinator (BW)|the future Waspinator]] and [[Buzzbomb]], secured a getaway ship. They were meant to be working for [[Cryotek (RID)|Cryotek]]—however, Megatron had his own agenda that "Terrorsaur" was in on and Buzzbomb wasn't. True to form, "Terrorsaur" shot Buzzbomb in the back. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

"Terrorsaur" and "Waspinator" stole the Predacon gang's ship. The two had a contest to decide who would get to name the ship, and "Terrorsaur" won. He settled on ''[[Darksyde]]'', though Megatron agreed that the loser's suggested name, ''Buzzerbot'', would have been more desirable.

Picking up the rest of their group, with the Golden Disk in tow, they left [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s orbit. After a space battle with the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']], the ''[[Chromia 10]]'', and an unidentified Predacon ship, both the ''Axalon'' and the ''Darksyde'' entered a [[transwarp]] portal to an undisclosed time and place. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}
{{-}}
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
:''Voice actor:'' [[Doug Parker]] (English), [[Nobuo Tobita]] (Japanese), [[Marcos Henrique Melo Hailer]] (Portuguese), [[Oliviero Corbetta]] (Italian), [[Holger Potzern]] (German), [[Héctor Lee]] (Latin American Spanish, 1st voice), [[Herman López]] (Latin American Spanish, 2nd voice), [[Luis Gaspar]] (Castilian Spanish)

[[Image:BeastWars2 Megatron strikes Terrorsaur.jpg|right|thumb|200px|"And I'll tell you ''another'' thing about Megatr... he's standing behind me, isn't he."]]
Terrorsaur was one of the original members of Megatron's crew. After the ''Darksyde'' crashed on a [[Earth|mysterious planet]], he picked a Pteranodon for his beast mode, and the Predacons began searching for the [[Maximal]]s. Terrorsaur took part in the first battle, until the Maximals retreated and the Predacons started suffering from Energon buildup. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} The Predacons followed the Maximals to their base and attacked [[Optimus Primal]] and [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] as the two battled on a natural rock bridge. When the attack failed to eliminate any Maximals, Megatron thumped Terrorsaur out of frustration. The uncovering of a large cache of Energon gave the Predacons a new mission, and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] and Terrorsaur attempted to slow the Maximals down so that the Predacons could get there first. They were seen off by one of Primal's missiles, but rejoined the other Predacons and took part in the battle atop the mountain of energon. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 2)}}

[[Image:Terrorsaurseated.jpg|left|250px|thumb|I don't think they had pteranodons in mind when they built this thing, Chewie.]]
Much later, Terrorsaur and [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] were assigned to install a mega-cannon as part of the defences for the Predacon base. {{storylink|The Web}} When an energon accident caused [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] to be teleported into the Predacon base, Terrorsaur gave him a warm welcome. Cheetor managed to throw him through the teleport to the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', where he attempted to talk Dinobot into teaming up with him to defeat both sides. Dinobot went along with him long enough to get information, and then stuffed him into a waste disposal unit. Terrorsaur returned to the Predacon base, where he and Megatron cornered Cheetor, only to discover that the Maximals had sent a bomb through the teleport. Once Cheetor detached the bomb from the console, Terrorsaur flew it into the sky and was blown up for his troubles. {{storylink|Equal Measures}}

During a battle at the [[Standing Stones]], Terrorsaur blew up the pile of energon in the center, earning Megatron's ire at the loss. Whatever punishment he got wasn't enough to prevent him from taking part in a subsequent attack on the ''Axalon''. He was able to bring the ship's shields down, but [[Rattrap]] managed to raise the shields again, as well as blasting Terrorsaur out of the air. He was still able to attempt to stop the Maximals retrieving Primal from an [[Vok probe|alien probe]], but the Maximals ultimately succeeded, and the Maximal leader chased off the Predacons. {{storylink|Chain of Command}}

[[Image:Power Surge Terrorsaur pointing.jpg|right|220px|thumb|[[Burning Justice|BURNING INJUSTICE!]]]]
Terrorsaur's shining moment came when he discovered a [[flying mountain]] with a huge source of powerful energon at the top. Powered-up, he immediately returned to the ''Darksyde'' and defeated Megatron, declaring himself the new leader of the Predacons. Having exhausted his charge, Terrorsaur left [[Tarantulas]] in charge and went to refuel at the mountain. (None of the other Predacons paid attention to any of the commands Terrorsaur had made) Unfortunately for him, Optimus Primal and Rattrap had already found the mountain. While he was able to defeat Primal, Rattrap had set up charges, and Terrorsaur was forced to flee. When he returned to the Predacon base, he discovered that Megatron had been repaired in his absence and was very, very angry. {{storylink|Power Surge}}

[[Image:TerrorsaurcagedRT.jpg|left|200px|thumb|[[He's so happy with his new lieutenant that he granted him with his own personal cage.]]]]
When a Maximal [[stasis pod]] crashed, Waspinator and Terrorsaur ambushed Optimus Primal outside the Maximal base, taking the Maximals' only flier out of the game. After reporting back to Megatron, the pair were dispatched to reach the pod first and ensure the [[protoform]] inside became another Predacon. On the way, Terrorsaur and Waspinator encountered the Maximals, going by ground, and delayed them by knocking out an ice bridge. The two Predacons reached the pod first, but a transmission sent by Primal and Dinobot had already activated the protoform, and they were attacked by [[Tigatron]]. {{storylink|Fallen Comrades}} Sent out to eliminate Rattrap, Terrorsaur instead teamed up with the Maximal and again overthrew Megatron. After having Rattrap and Megatron both locked up, Terrorsaur found himself at a loss when the Maximals attacked and the other Predacons looked to him for leadership. Megatron, having freed himself, deferred leadership until it was made plain that Terrorsaur was incompetent as leader. {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}}

Terrorsaur was subsequently assigned with Waspinator and [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] to dig under the Maximal base so that they could use a [[sonic emitter]] to break in. Unfortunately, Waspinator alerted the Maximals to their presence, and while the trio were arguing over when to set the device off, Tigatron stole it. As they attempted to get it back, Tigatron triggered the emitter, and the three Predacons fled before it went off. {{storylink|A Better Mousetrap}} After Scorponok's [[Cyberbee]] turned Primal into a berserker and he invaded the ''Darksyde'', Terrorsaur and Blackarachnia attempted to keep the other Maximals out of the Predacon base. There were unable to stop Cheetor from slipping inside to rescue Optimus. {{storylink|Gorilla Warfare}}

[[Image:Victory Terrorsaur guns out.jpg|right|250px|thumb|HAW HAW H-]]
When Scorponok spotted the Maximals building a communications array, he passed footage of the device to Terrorsaur, who flew it back to Megatron. The Predacons quickly discovered the tower was meant to communicate with a Maximal [[temporal probe]] which was passing through the system. Terrorsaur successfully distracted the Maximals at the array long enough for the other Predacons to sneak up from the other direction. {{storylink|The Probe}} Terrorsaur took part in a mock rebellion after the Predacons discovered they'd been bugged. After making the Maximals believe they'd been destroyed, the Predacons hid until the ''Axalon'' was made operational, intending to take the ship themselves. When their hiding place was discovered by Dinobot, Terrorsaur and Waspinator were the first to pursue their former comrade, only to be squashed by a large rock. Terrorsaur still recovered in time to rejoin the fight outside the ''Axalon'', managing to shoot down a distracted Optimus Primal before Cheetor blasted him out of the sky. {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}}

After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] was turned into a Predacon by Megatron's [[Transmuter (BW)|Transmuter]], Terrorsaur realised that Rhinox was actually working to undermine Megatron's leadership. Terrorsaur suggested teaming up to overthrow the Predacon commander, but was somewhat roughly turned down. Once Megatron discovered Rhinox's deception, the former Maximal was able to reveal Terrorsaur's duplicity, and an outraged Scorponok attacked Terrorsaur, until the both of them were pounded by Rhinox. After the whole sorry affair was over, Terrorsaur attempted to explain to his less-than-receptive leader. {{storylink|Dark Designs (episode)|Dark Designs}}

[[Image:TheSpark Terrorsaur's head.jpg|left|thumb|200px|....awwww. :(]]
Terrorsaur helped out Dinobot one time, when Dinobot was complaining of being bored. Terrorsaur lured him into a cave and trapped him there, so that Megatron could put into effect a plan involving a [[Clone One|clone of Dinobot]]. {{storylink|Double Dinobot}} After another stasis pod crashed, Terrorsaur and Waspinator arrived to face Cheetor. Although Waspinator was quickly defeated, Terrorsaur blasted Cheetor and proceeded to the pod, only to encounter the newly awakened [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], who blasted him to pieces. {{storylink|The Spark}}

[[Image:CalloftheWild Terrorsaur shot up.jpg|right|thumb|200px|I'm sensing...]]
Waspinator and Terrorsaur attacked Tigatron while the Maximal was trying to radio base. The pair pursued Tigatron into a cloud, only to be blasted by some sort of [[Brigadoon|flying island]], and subsequently reported back to Megatron. {{storylink|The Trigger, Part 1}} After repairs were made, the two fliers started back for the island, only to tangle with Rattrap and Optimus Primal. Terrorsaur found himself acting as Rattrap's transport, temporarily at least. He and Waspinator later attempted to catch up with Blackarachnia on the island, but she tricked them into firing, so that the island's defences took them out. {{storylink|The Trigger, Part 2}}

During a Predacon attack on the ''Axalon'', Terrorsaur and Waspinator stole the [[rectifier coil]] from the Maximal base. When remaining in their beast modes drove the sleep deprived Maximals to be overcome by their beast instincts, the Predacons hunted them through the jungle, at least until the Maximals were able to regain control and fight back. {{storylink|Call of the Wild}} After some of the Maximals were blinded by an energon explosion, Terrorsaur and Waspinator were dispatched to try to finish them off. Unfortunately, even blinded, the Maximals were able to fight them off. {{storylink|Dark Voyage}}

After Waspinator was possessed by the [[spark]] of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], the Predacons attacked the ''Axalon''. Terrorsaur attempted to stop Primal escaping, only to get a face full of monkey fist. When Starscream was subsequently given command of the Maximal ship, Terrorsaur complained about the Decepticon getting promoted, but was swiftly silenced by Megatron. {{storylink|Possession}} Later, Terrorsaur was among the Predacons blasted into a tree by Rhinox's almighty fart. {{storylink|The Low Road}} On another mission, Terrorsaur was given leadership of Waspinator and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]]. Partway through the battle, Terrorsaur realised that Waspinator wasn't doing anything—as it turned out, he was still awaiting Terrorsaur's signal to attack. Later, the trio successfully defeated Dinobot, but their victory was short-lived, as Optimus turned up and blew Terrorsaur and Waspinator away. {{storylink|Law of the Jungle}}

[[Image:Before the Storm Terrorsaur.jpg|left|thumb|240px|...a trend here.]]
During a rare truce between the two sides, Terrorsaur found Tigatron snooping around the Predacon base and sounded the alarm. He and Scorponok collided while trying to prevent the Maximal's escape and were sent out to try to get Tigatron back. The Maximals employed "non-violent" means to aid in Tigatron's escape, and Terrorsaur found himself running into a piece of bulkhead. He then attempted to charge Rattrap, only to be sat on by Rhinox. He returned to base by stretcher. {{storylink|Before the Storm}}

[[Image:BW Scorponok Terrorsaur deaths.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Terrorsaur, Scorponok, we're condemning you to a fiery death cause Waspinator has a bigger fan club.]]
Terrorsaur was one of the Predacons who turned up at the alien bungalow. He was blasted by Rattrap and left lying over a rock as the construct blasted a signal into space, exposing one of the moons as a [[Planet Buster]] weapon. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 1}} A short time later, he was back at the Predacon base, able to monitor the escalating situation. Megatron's admiration for the aliens surprised him, and he pointed out loudly that the aliens were trying to kill them. As it turned out, Megatron had matters in hand, and the alien weapon was soon destroyed. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}} The weapon's explosion sent out a [[quantum surge]], which began mutating the forms of some of the [[Transformer]]s. Both Terrorsaur and Scorponok lost control of their hover platforms, colliding with each other and plunging into the lava below. No one seemed to notice or care. {{storylink|Aftermath}}
{{-}}

====Transmetals toy bio====
Not only did the quantum surge resulting from the [[Planet Buster]]'s destruction enhance Terrosaur physically, but it has also pushed his destructive tendencies to new heights. Not only has his rage towards the Maximals intensified to an alarming degree, but his greater resilience has filled with new found courage... giving him a new battle strategy of crashing into things at high speeds, kamikaze style. To top it all off, he now possesses a pyromania that he satisfies by igniting the terrain as he flies above it. {{storylink|#Toys|Transmetal Terrorsaur Bio}}
{{note|The on-package [[Bio|bios]] of the Transmetal sub-line presented a micro-continuity where all of the characters receiving a new toy were transmetalized due to the initial quantum surge, instead of a select few.}}
{{-}}

====''Universe'' comics====
[[Image:TFUjailbreak.jpg|left|300px|thumb|You all fight Razorclaw, I'll go make sure the escape routes are... clear. Yes.]]

Terrorsaur (or an alternate-universe incarnation of him) was one of the many Cybertronians kidnapped from his timestream by agents of [[Unicron]] and held in the [[Cauldron]]. Terrorsaur escaped and (presumably) returned to his timestream thanks to the efforts of [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]]. He appeared in his original Earth body. {{storylink|Escape (issue)|Escape}}
{{-}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' comic===
[[Image:MetalsTerrorsaurMangaDeath0.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Even when he lives, he dies.]]

Having survived the quantum surge, Terrorsaur was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. However, these days were short-lived. After recovering the mindless body of Optimus Primal, Megatron attempted to turn it into a Predacon slave. Rhinox was able to return Primal's spark to its body just in the nick of time. Now a Transmetal himself, Optimus Primal proceeded to go on a rampage, taking out all of Megatron's drone forces and slicing Terrorsaur in half with his mace. Terrorsaur showed woeful disappointment in this turn of events as he died. {{storylink|Raise the Curtain for Beast Wars Metals!!}}

===IDW Beast Wars continuity===
Terrorsaur survived the quantum surge, along with [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] and eventually became a Transmetal, though it was after a period of stasis lock. {{storylink|Beast Wars Sourcebook}}
{{-}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game===
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the first season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}
{{Note|Terrorsaur is a playable character in the Predacon mode of this game for rescue missions only.}}
Terrorsaur was absent from the main conflict with both Maximals and the Skriix, instead flying rescue missions, using his flight capabilities to rescue captured Predacons from the Maximals' prison ships. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals'' video game===
{{note|This game takes place in an alternate version of the second season of the [[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]] cartoon.}}[[Image:N64_Terrorsaur.jpg|frame|right|[[JaAm|And I'll transform into some weird deformed THING! HA!]]]]
{{note|Terrorsaur is only accessible for game play in the Nintendo 64 version of this game.}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[Doug Parker]] (English), ??? (Japanese)

At the end of a decisive battle, Terrorsaur stood the victor, having defeated all of the other beast warriors. As a result, Terrorsaur took command of the Predacon forces, dethroning Megatron. Under his leadership, the Maximals were beaten into submission, and the Predacons took control over them. Unfortunately, Terrorsaur loved being in command too much... so much so that he forgot to devise a plan to escape prehistoric Earth. Then the ice age came around, and froze the entirety of the Predacon forces. Terrorsaur thus has the next hundred thousand years to contemplate his fate, as he remains encased in an icy prison. {{storylink|Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals}}
{{note|Each character possessed an alternate ending, displayed if the N64 version of the game was beaten with said character. Each character has only their own ending listed on their pages, see the other characters' pages for Terrosaur's fate in those outcomes.}}
{{-}}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle'' video game===
Megatron was capable to summon Terrorsaur forth to the battlefield in his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[energon crystal]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
===Beast Wars===
[[Image:BWtoy-Terrorsaurbasic.jpg|right|300px|thumb|You ignore my god-damn throat-legs.]]
*'''Terrorsaur''' (Basic, 1996)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''D-5'''
**''Accessories'': Pistol

: Part of the first wave of ''Beast Wars'' toys, Terrorsaur transforms from an organic ''Pteranodon'' to robot mode with a spring-loaded one-step transformation. A small gun stores in his robot mode back which can be removed, unfolded, and pegged into his robot mode fist. In Japan, there are two different versions of this toy: one nearly identical to the [[Hasbro]] version, another with a more show-like coloration, lacking the green spots and purple paint, adding yellow to its beak, lightening the black plastic to gray, and changing the light red to a darker red.

: This mold was later used for [[Fractyl]], [[Hydra (BWN)|Hydra]], [[Lazorbeak]] and [[Dinobots (toyline)|Dinobots]] [[Terranotron (Dinobots)|Terranotron]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1996/Predacon/Terrorsaur/terrorsaur.htm More information on Terrorsaur at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[Image:BW-toy_TerrorsaurTM.jpg|right|thumb|300px|]]
*'''Terrorsaur''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''D-43'''
**''Accessories'': Left & right wing-blades

: Transmetal Terrorsaur transforms into a robotic ''Pteranodon''. It has a third "vehicle" mode; reconfiguring its wings and revealing VTOL fans, plus its tail section splits open to reveal twin thruster engines. In robot mode, its wing-tips detach to form blade weapons. In Japan, this mold featured green vacuum-metalized paint rather than yellow, added silver detail added to his face, and had the words Destron replace his tampo-graphed name.

: This mold was later [[redeco]]ed and slightly [[retool]]ed to make ''[[Beast Machines (toyline)|Beast Machines]]'' [[Terranotron (BM)|Terranotron]], and then redecoed and retooled ''differently'' to make ''[[Armada (toyline)|Armada]]'' [[Terrorsaur (Armada)|Terrorsaur]]. The mold was also the base model for the non-toy characters of ''Wreckers'' [[Fractyl]] and ''Armada'' [[Ravenus]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Predacon/Terrorsaur/terrorsaur.htm More information on Transmetal Terrorsaur at TFU.info]''

==Merchandise==
* '''Terrorsaurer''' (candy toy kit, 1997)
:A [[Kabaya]] "[[candy toy]]" version of Terrorsaur was made available in Japan. Since he was [[Gang-molding|gang molded]] with the other three toys in the assortment, this unpainted plastic kit was mainly peach and yellow.

* '''Beast Wars magnet set''' (1997)
:An adorable "super-deformed" magnet of Terrorsaur was made as part of a set of show-cast Beast Wars magnets in Japan.

* '''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Terrorsaur was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}

==Notes==
* Similarly to [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], his fellow Predacon flyer, the toyline profile for Terrorsaur made him out to be a formidable and vicious fighter- almost animalistic in his savagery. His [[transmetal]] profile adds pyromania to the list.

* Terrorsaur apparently knows how to disarm a bomb (if he has enough time), since in "[[Equal Measures]]" Megatron orders him to disarm the Maximal bomb that was sent into the Predacon base.

* As Terrorsaur was dying in lava, his hand was briefly seen glowing, indicating that Terrorsaur was going through [[Transmetal|transmetalization]]. This was probably included as a "Trap Door" so the writers could resurrect Terrorsaur or Scorponok if they needed them later.

*Terrorsaur's hand sinking into the lava is similar to the scene at the end of [[wikipedia:Terminator 2|Terminator 2: Judgment Day]], when the Terminator sank into the molten steel.

* Terrorsaur's CGI model in "Theft of the Golden Disk" is based on [[Skyblast (Energon)|''Energon'' Skyblast]] with a new head design. However, his CGI model is slightly different from his appearance in "Dawn of Future's Past".

*Terrorsaur is the first known contributor to the plight of the Bald Eagle, by eating one.

*[http://www18.tok2.com/home/jackhama/transformers/bwtcard_1/img/017.jpg A Japanese trading card] renders this character's Japanese name as "Terrorsaur". This, of course, skips over the fact that the Katakana indicates the last vowel sound to be an extended "a" sound.

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]

Brawl (WFC)

2010-12-19T21:00:38Z

187.158.178.109:

{{faction|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Brawl}}
:''Brawl is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Transformers: War for Cybertron|War for Cybertron]] portion of the [[Transformers: Prime]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:WFC Brawl.jpg|thumb|300px|I carry around these twin cannons on my back ... and my default weapon is an assault rifle. Sigh.]]

'''Brawl''' ''loves'' explosions. He ''loves'' to kill them [[Autobot|Auto-brats]], too. Really, if it involves massive amounts of violence, chances are he'll ''love'' it.

{{bigquote|Real Decepticons roll on treads.|Brawl, not realizing he has no treads.|[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)|Transformers: War for Cybertron]] }}

==Games==

===''Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)''===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Nolan North]]

During the final days of the war, Brawl served aboard a Decepticon starship under [[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]], who was seeking the [[Dark Energon]] guarded by the neutral Sky Commander [[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]]. He was part of the bridge crew, along with [[Barricade (Prime)|Barricade]] as Megatron laid siege to the orbiting station where Starscream hid the supply of Dark Energon. After Megatron gained entry to the station (by ramming his starship into it, no less), Brawl and Barricade then helped Megatron fight his way into the station, past Starscream's soldiers. Starscream's constant taunting irritated Brawl, to the point he requested permission to rip off Starscream's head. He even said please. The Decepticons eventually reached the supply of Dark Energon and prevented Starscream from destroying it, and as his reward, Brawl was infused with the corrupted Energon's power by Megatron.

Later, during the Decepticon assault on the Autobot capital of Iacon, Brawl had the honour of commanding and spearheading the ground attack while Starscream (his head sadly still attached) commanded the aerial forces and Megatron personally led a small strikeforce into the heart of the city. Megatron's team eventually reunited with Brawl and his forces outside the Iacon Vaults, where Autobot leader [[Sentinel Zeta Prime]] had taken refuge. Despite being heavily out-numbered (and being dogpiled by numerous Autobots), Brawl held out until Megatron, [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] and [[Soundwave (Prime)|Soundwave]] arrived to assist. Brawl complained about Starscream's refusal to give his ground troops air support, but Megatron wasn't interested in excuses.

When even Megatron's Dark Energon powers failed to open the massive doors to the Vaults, the enraged Decepticon ordered a bombing run. Brawl attempted to protest, since the Autobots' anti-aircraft defenses were still active, but Megatron would not be convinced. After the bombing attempt failed miserably, Brawl tactfully suggested they first take the anti-aircraft guns in order to guarantee success. Megatron noted this was 'an excellent suggestion' and commanded him to see to it.

The Decepticons successfully disabled the anti-aircraft guns and Brawl once again called down a bombing run, only to be bluntly refused by Starscream. Taking issue with Starscream referring to the bombers as 'his ships', Megatron cut in and ensured the bombing run would take place. However, Brawl and his comrades now had to hold off a massive Autobot counterattack until the bombers arrived. Despite fighting and killing numerous Autobots (including several Heavy Soldiers and Aerialbots), it seemed as though the Decepticons would be overwhelmed by nothing less than the entire Autobot army. Brawl, keeping track of the bombers' progress, started counting down the last few seconds verbally, and the Decepticons watched as the Autobots realized their doom, too late to retreat to safety. Megatron ordered Brawl to hold his position while he led his team to 'discuss' matters with Zeta Prime.

Brawl followed his orders to hold his ground to the letter. In fact, while Megatron, Breakdown and Soundwave were being attacked by [[Destroyer (WFC)|a huge Autobot]], Brawl watched, no doubt confident that his master would be victorious.

He probably wasn't too happy when Starscream claimed leadership when Megatron was apparently killed by a [[Omega Supreme (Prime)|huge heavily-armed ship]]. That was fixed soon enough, though.

Brawl then journeyed with Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons to Cybertron's core, watching as Megatron corrupted the core and cowered from falling debris.{{storylink|Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)}}

===''Transformers: War for Cybertron - Decepticon (DS)''===
Brawl, Megatron, and Dirge captured an Autobot training facility during the waning days of the Great War. He later accompanied Megatron during the capture of Trypticon Space Station - a station which could manufacture Dark Energon. After a field test, the Dark Energon enhanced the Decepticons' stamina and strength. However, the Decepticons had to journey to Cybertron's core to get the fuel to make more Dark Energon. Brawl helped in an all-out assault on Iacon City to find the Omega Key, the key to Cybertron's core - but upon taking it from Zeta Prime, it activated the titanic Autobot Omega Supreme, who quickly decimated the Decepticons. Brawl followed his leader, and defeated Omega Supreme, gaining total supremacy over Cybertron.

Later, the Autobots, with their new leader Optimus Prime, came to the Core to flush out the Dark Energon. Brawl had been lying in wait for such an attack, and unleashed his full power upon them. But the Autobots defeated Brawl, and the Decepticon retreated.

==Notes==
*Despite his [[Brawl (G1)|Generation 1 counterpart]] being nothing more than a battle-hungry bundle of rage and his [[Brawl (Movie)|live-action movie counterpart]] being a heavily-armed, battle-hungry bundle of rage (both being shock-troops to be unleashed on the enemy), this Brawl is intelligent enough to act as overall ground commander. He even makes a calm, well-thought out suggestion during the Iacon battle, advising Megatron to disable the anti-aircraft guns.

*While his tank mode, colouring and lust for battle are Brawl, his intelligence, strategic outlook and command ability are more in line with the Combaticon commander [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]]. The twin barrels on his back also harken back to his old boss, as the original Brawl only had one barrel.

*As he is not mentioned in ''[[Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron|Exodus]]'' it is unknown if he combines with [[Onslaught (Prime)|Onslaught]] to form [[Bruticus Maximus (Prime)|Bruticus Maximus]].

[[Category:Prime Decepticons]]
[[Category:Video game-only characters]]