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Thrust (BW)

2022-01-24T08:36:49Z

McQTom: /* Beast Wars */

{{faction|predacon|maximal}}
{{disambig3|Thrust}}
:''Thrust is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Combatron (BW)|Combatron]] from the [[Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers#Beast Wars II|Beast Wars II]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[File:BWIIThrustGuidebook.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|Thrust poses dramatically in a rare moment of not being comedically shot down by his own side or caught in giant mosquito netting.]]
'''Thrust''' (スラスト ''Surasuto'') is the comedian of the [[Combatron (BW)|Combatron]]s; he and his best pal [[Dirge (BW)|Dirge]] form a {{w|Manzai}} comedy duo, with Thrust serving as the "funny man" to Dirge's straight man, who never acts seriously if he can help it. Underneath the goofery, he's actually quite a shrewd 'bot, but unfortunately, he and Dirge don't have a great success rate, often bungling their missions. Thrust hates sea breezes since they tend to cause him to [[rust]] and for that reason alone he has a great hatred of the [[Maximal]] [[Scuba]].

Later, after pledging unconditional loyalty to [[Megastorm|Gigastorm]], Thrust was reborn as the [[Combatron (BW)|Cyborg Beast]] '''Thrustor''' (スラストール ''Surasutōru''). While he retains the same character faults as his previous incarnation, Thrustor is an all-around superior warrior who can no longer be easily laughed off the battlefield by the Maximals.

{{TOCclear}}

==Fiction==
===Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====''Beast Wars II'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Junji Sanechika]] (Japanese)}}
Thrust was under the command of [[Galvatron (BW)|Galvatron]] when he landed on [[Gaia]], planning to drain the planet of its mysterious but powerful [[Angolmois Energy]]. They initially trapped their Maximal opposition in a paralyzing field, but Lio Convoy intervened and destroyed the field's antenna, allowing his troopers to escape. {{storylink|The New Forces Arrive!}} Eventually, the Predacon force discovered [[Mother Computer|an abandoned Gaian computer]], containing data on weapons from the planet's past. The Predacons scanned this data for new [[alternate mode]]s, and Thrust adopted the form of an F-22 Raptor. He and Dirge were subsequently sent out to capture a [[Lio Convoy|white lion]] that had interferred with Galvatron's plans, but stopped to make fun of [[Starscream (BW)|Starscream]] and [[BB (BW)|BB]] on the way. They had a good laugh about it until BB fired smokescreen missiles at them, causing them to crash into a cliffside. {{storylink|White Lion, Run!}}

[[File:BighornsRage Combatrons.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
After Lio Convoy humiliated him, Megastorm ordered Dirge and Thrust to hunt down the Maximal commander and report his location so Megastorm could get his revenge. The pair didn't take kindly to Megastorm's commanding attitude, and stopped to have a grumble about it, whereupon the rage-aholic Maximal [[Bighorn]] showed up, desperately looking for a fight, and charged the duo. He misjudged the angle, though, and crashed into the wall next to the Predacons instead. As the bemused Dirge and Thrust tried to figure out what this guy's problem was, they were buried in a rockslide started by the ambitious Starscream's missile barrage, since he wanted the accolades of finding Lio Convoy first. {{storylink|Bighorn's Rage}}

Dirge and Thrust hated the idea of reporting to Starscream, and only begrudgingly went along with his latest scheme to set up an underwater lake trap for the Maximals. Basically Starscream's stooges until his plan played out, Dirge and Thrust were quietly thrilled when the Maximals escaped their death-traps and foiled Starscream and BB's plot. {{storylink|The Lake Trap}}

Dirge and Thrust congratulated Megastorm on his latest plot to flood Gaia with automated fortress drones, far too many for the mere six Maximals to destroy. When they told him how grateful Galvatron would be for his work after the emperor awoke, however, Megastorm grew angry and stomped off. It was left to Starscream to explain to the duo how Megastorm had ambitions of his own beyond serving Galvatron dutifully. {{storylink|Galvatron Revived}}

Dirge and Thrust were overseeing the Autorollers in the construction of another energy fortress in the Southern Continent when they were attacked by the [[Insectron]]s, [[Bigmos]] and [[Tonbot]]. The duo were ridiculously outmatched, and fled back to Megastorm with their tails between their legs. Starscream laughed at their ineptitude, and promised Megastorm to work smarter and not harder by turning the Insectrons against the Maximals, letting their enemies eliminate each other. Miffed by Starscream's attitude, Dirge and Thrust followed him and BB, only to get caught in one of the bug-zapper nets Starscream set up for the Insectrons. Unable to even fathom how stupid these two were, Starscream just left them hanging in the net.

[[File:Bw2 ep7 dirge and thrust.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
The comedy duo eventually extracted themselves, and spotted Starscream and BB conversing with the Insectrons, whom they had trapped in a net and then freed in order to trick the Insectrons into believing the Maximals were responsible. When Dirge and Thrust were spotted zeroing in, Starscream and BB took the opportunity to ingratiate themselves with the Insectrons even further. Poor, poor Dirge and Thrust were shot down by BB, suffering further humiliations to help Starscream's scheme. {{storylink|The Insect Corps Arrive}} Still, Starscream successfully managed to turn several Insectrons against the Maximals. When he reported his success, Megastorm sent Dirge and Thrust to back him up. Once the Predacons arrived, the Maximals were nearly depleted of energy after their battle, and offered little resistance. Only when Lio Convoy and the other Maximals arrived, fresh and fully-energized, were the Predacons driven off. {{storylink|Friend or Foe? The Insect Robos}}

Dirge and Thrust were on the bridge of the ''Galvaburg II'', watching Starscream's plan to get the Insectrons wasted on super-strong oil unfold. No one noticed Galvatron awaken from his coma and dig into the spiked oil, until all the Combatrons had to flee from their drunken emperor. {{storylink|The Strongest Tag Team?}} After the Combatrons' several failures to eliminate the Insectrons, the Autorollers stepped forward to take the assignment. Starscream was worried the Autorollers would succeed and outshine his accomplishments. Dirge and Thrust, who had no accomplishments to speak of, said to let the Autorollers have their shot. {{storylink|Autorollers Roll Out!}}

Dirge and Thrust were out on patrol when the Autorollers brought their captives [[Tasmania Kid]] and [[Scissor Boy]] back to the ''Galvaburg II''. Megastorm tried to call the Combatrons back to help him when the Maximals and Insectrons arrived to protect their friends, but they arrived too late and Megastorm had to move the ship to escape their enemies' onslaught. {{storylink|Danger! Scissor Boy}} When Galvatron returned, gorging himself on Angolmois Energy and running amok in dragon mode, Dirge and Thrust needed Megastorm to very slowly explain to them why this was a bad thing. {{storylink|Galvatron Rampages}} As Megastorm ordered a massive attack on the [[South America|South Continent]], Dirge, Thrust and the Combatrons fought against the Maximals and Insectrons once more. {{storylink|Predacon General Offensive!}}

Dirge and Thrust were ordered to find and defeat the new giant warrior, [[Tripledacus]]. Unfortunately for their search, they had no idea the warrior was a combiner, and passed over confronting his component parts, the [[Jointron]] brothers, because they weren't the mission. {{storylink|The Combined Giant, Tripledacus}}

[[File:BWII e15 Thrust and Dirge Enter.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb]]
While supervising one of the Autorollers' construction projects, Dirge and Thrust spotted a beam of energy that revealed the location of the Maximal base. Seeing an opportunity to one-up Starscream, they conscripted Autostinger and Autocrasher to track the source of the signal. Finding a Maximal recon ship, Dirge and Thrust boarded it and found the Jointrons squabbling with the Maximals. Taking them hostage at gunpoint, the comedy duo warned their foes the Autorollers were outside pointing missiles at the fuel tanks in case they acted up. Unfortunately for Dirge and Thrust, once they had their captives, they didn't know what to do with them, especially after [[Gimlet]] smashed the radio so they couldn't call in to the ''Galvaburg II''. They ordered [[Diver (BW)|Diver]] to fix the radio, but then were swept up in salsa fever as the cheerful Jointrons threw an oil party while being held captive. By the time Lio Convoy and the other Maximals arrived and disabled the Autorollers outside, Dirge and Thrust were too wasted to fight back. They were now the Jointrons' prisoners. Luckily, the bizarre trio were soon distracted by their own antics, letting Dirge and Thrust inch out of the ship and fly away home. {{storylink|The Festive Jointrons}}

Starscream soon had another brilliant plan, so naturally Dirge and Thrust ended up doing grunt work. The comedy duo worked a smoke machine to trick the Maximals into thinking another Angolmois Energy-powered fortress was in production on the [[Eurasia|East Continent]]. The bait allowed Starscream and BB to test out a new bacteria bomb that sapped its victims' energy and rendered them unable to transform. It seemed remarkably effective against the Jointrons until Lio Convoy taught them the secret of friendship and sharing their energies to counter the bacteria. Tripledacus was then formed to demonstrate the Jointrons' displeasure towards Starscream. Dirge and Thrust somewhat sensibly chose not to get involved by that point. {{storylink|A Fearsome Combination Plan?}}

The Predacons' next plan involved capturing the Jointrons alive to study their combination abilities. Dirge and Thrust managed to net up DJ and Gimlet during the fray, and flew off to deliver them to the ''Galvaburg II''. Bighorn and Diver followed behind them, though, and Bighorn's Buffalo Missile blasted them out of the air, freeing the captives and leaving Dirge and Thrust out of luck. {{storylink|Who Is the Leader!?}}

When the Autorollers discovered a [[Copy Machine]] in the ruins of Gaia, the Predacons learned it could create exact clones of anyone, except mono-chromatic in color. And ''super''-evil. After observing a battle between BB and his clone, whom Thrust dubbed "[[Copy BB]]", Galvatron ordered the clone destroyed. Dirge and Thrust needed two guesses, but eventually pointed their guns at the correct BB and destroyed the clone. {{storylink|The Black Lio Convoy}}

[[File:BW II ep20 Thrust Dirge Cliff Face Off.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
[[Artemis]] and [[Moon (BW)|Moon]] once had a debate over who was the strongest of the Transformers, and convinced Lio Convoy and Galvatron to compare their troops. Dirge and Thrust were considered among the weakest, but Galvatron still though them superior to Lio Convoy's weakest troops, Tasmania Kid and Diver. {{storylink|Who Is the Strongest Warrior!?}}

As Megastorm became more distrusting of the ambitious Starscream, he attempted to raise the standing of Dirge and Thrust in their stead. Despite Starscream's complaints, the comedy duo were given a surveillance assignment by Megastorm to evaluate the [[Seacon (BW)|Space Pirate Seacons]] when they arrived on Gaia. {{storylink|The Tentacular Scuba}}

Megastorm hired the Seacons to take out the Maximals for them, but did a poor job of negotiating and accidentally gave away ALL the Predacons' Angolmois Energy if the Seacons were successful. Dirge and Thrust helped Megastorm construct a series of transmitters to lure the Maximals into separate battles with the Seacons, while secretly making the transmitters into bombs as well, hoping to steal the victories from the pirates. The comedy duo panicked when Lio Convoy snuck up on them at the last transmitter site, however, and dropped the trigger mechanism. This caused the bombs to go off in a premature and karmic fashion, somehow blowing up just in time to damage Megastorm at each site before blasting him to the next one. {{storylink|Megastorm's Reckoning}}

Thrust was seen on board the bridge of the ''Galvaburg II'' when Galvatron manipulated [[Halfshell]] and the Seacons into attacking the Maximals without payment by wounding his ego. {{storylink|Showdown in the Sea}} He was also present when Galvatron sent Starscream to conduct further negotiations with the Seacons. {{storylink|Face the Setting Sun}} When Lio Convoy and God Neptune were in a fight to the death, Dirge and Thrust intervened to prevent the other Maximals from racing to Convoy's side. {{storylink|The Final Battle (BWII)|The Final Battle}}

Dirge and Thrust watched on as Starscream conducted an operation to save Galvatron from the injuries he suffered fighting against [[Magnaboss (BWII)|Magnaboss]]. {{storylink|Megastorm Reborn}} As Megastorm evolved into [[Megastorm|Gigastorm]], Dirge and Thrust quickly declared their loyalty to him when Galvatron was once again bedridden with injuries. They arrived long before Starscream and BB to help Gigastorm escape a Maximal trap. {{storylink|The New Weapon, Tako Tank}}

In a discussion on the nature of light versus darkness, Galvatron and the Maximals recalled Dirge and Thrust's involvement in the Seacons' escapades. {{storylink|The Artificial Planet Nemesis}}

Dirge and Thrust battled the [[Tako Tank]] at an Angolmois Energy trap Galvatron set for the Maximals. {{storylink|Gigastorm's Treachery}} They finally outdid Starscream by capturing him and BB on film talking about how they tried to kill Megastorm when he was transformed into Gigastorm. They showed this footage to Gigastorm, who devised a plan to rid himself of Starscream. {{storylink|The End of Starscream}}

Unfortunately, Gigastorm's plan only ended up making Starscream and BB more powerful than ever as Cyborg Beasts. Dirge and Thrust started feeling inadequate, and needed to redeem their image and standing in the Predacons. They settled on the idea of eliminating Lio Convoy to show their prowess, but proved woefully incapable. Their plan to kidnap Lio Junior as a hostage to draw out Lio Convoy led to a painful encounter with Magnaboss, and attacking Lio Convoy directly went just as well.

[[File:BW II ep32 Angolmois Infusion.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
Gigastorm finally took pity on his loyal minions, and brought them into his alternate mode where he fed his own Angolmois Energy through tubes into Dirge and Thrust, triggering their reformatting. They emerged as Dirgegun and Thrustor full of confidence and new power. Thrustor demonstrated the power of his Trasher Horn by surprising the Maximal Scuba and instantly freezing him in a block of ice. They made several more successful attacks on the Maximals before fighting Lio Convoy to a stand still. Lio Convoy survived only thanks to the intervention of Lio Junior. {{storylink|The Lio Convoy Assassination Plot}}

[[File:ThrustorMovie1.jpg|left|upright=1.4|thumb|But it's the pelvic Thrustor that really drives you insaaaaane.]]
When a mysterious teleport gate crashed on Gaia, Galvatron sent the Cyborg Beasts out to secure the site. Thrustor and his comrades attacked Tasmania Kid and the Magnaboss team to gain control of the gate and its command key. Although they secured the gate itself and seriously injured Kid, Lio Junior escaped with the key. Galvatron later tricked Lio Junior into turning over the key to him, taking the cub prisoner as well. When he escaped, Dirgegun and Thrustor chased their prisoner down before he reunited with Santon and Skywarp to form Magnaboss. They managed to injured Magnaboss, but were ultimately driven off. {{storylink|Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!}}

As the artificial planet Nemesis zeroed in on Gaia, the Maximals stepped up their counter-attacks, and the Predacon response increased as well. Dirgegun and Thrustor were sent out to stop the Maximals from freezing the volatile corrupted Angolmois Energy drawn out by Nemesis's presence. When the Maximals turned their freeze cannons on Gigastorm, Thrustor hilariously tried to help by breaking the ice with his Trasher Horn, forgetting that his horn ALSO caused ice spread and ended up freezing Gigastorm even further. {{storylink|The Great Angolmois Freezing Tactic}} Later, they targeted a giant artillery cannon the Maximals intended to use to obliterate Nemesis before it reached Gaia (although the Cyborg Beasts' cannon turned out to be a decoy). {{storylink|Knock Out Nemesis}}

Whatever additional power and ego the Cyborg Beasts got from their exposure to the Angolmois Energy seemed to fade, for Dirgegun and Thrustor were soon being overwhelmed defending Autoroller fortresses from raids by Lio Junior. {{storylink|Lio Junior's Revolt!?}} When the Maximals fought to stop an ancient Gaian defense mechanism from destroying the planet, Gigastorm was heedless of the danger and ordered the Cyborg Beasts to attack the Maximals anyway. Galvatron arrived and called his little brother a fool, pulling back their troops so the Maximals could save them all. {{storylink|The Crisis of Planet Gaia}}

When the Maximals prepared to depart Gaia on a spaceship, they leaked the location of their base to Dirgegun and Thrustor to divert Predacon attention away from their true launch site. Dirgegun and Thrustor were thrilled with their awesome detective skills, and thought Hellscream's suspicion over their sudden competence was just sour grapes. {{storylink|Fly Out! Planet Gaia}}

On Nemesis, the Predacons shot down the Maximal ship and boarded the wreckage, only to find the Maximals weren't present. They barely escaped the pre-rigged self-destruct mechanism. Thrustor and the Cyborg Beasts confronted the Maximals as Lio Convoy tried to shut down Nemesis at its Angolmois Energy core. {{storylink|Breaking into Nemesis}} When Galvatron emerged from the core, he told the assembled Maximals and Predacons that Lio Convoy and Lio Junior had been consumed by the Angolmois Energy he unleashed. Thrustor and the Predacons cheered the death of Lio Convoy, but Galvatron bid them to be silent, mourning the loss of a valiant foe. {{storylink|Legend! The Green Warrior}} To everyone's surprise, Lio Convoy and Lio Junior emerged as the legendary Green Lion, powerful enough to drain all of Gigastorm's Angolmois Energy from him. When Galvatron left to reignite the sabotaged core, Thrustor and the Beasts continued the fight against the remaining Maximals, despite the threat of Nemesis exploding at any moment. They eventually wised up, and the Cyborg Beasts got together and lugged the lumbering Gigastorm off of Nemesis before it exploded. {{storylink|Farewell! Lio Convoy}}

====The Maximal Brainwashing Operation====
While out on patrol, Thrust and Dirge wandered near the Maximals' base and were shot down by a barrage of missiles. When Lio Convoy approached the two downed Predacons, Thrust and Dirge expressed confusion as to why the Maximals were attacking them... The shock to their systems had somehow turned the pair into Maximals!

Later, Thrust and Dirge helped the Maximals fight back against their former teammates when the Predacons launched an assault on the ''[[Yukikaze (BW)|Yukikaze]]''. Among the enemy ranks were Diver and Tasmania Kid, brainwashed into joining the Predacons by Starscream. When Starscream saw Thrust and Dirge fighting against alongside the Maximals, he became infuriated that Lio Convoy had "stolen his idea," and had BB shoot the pair out of the sky. The battlefield was then rocked by a powerful blast courtesy of Megastorm, badly injuring the Predacon forces. The Predacons retreated, with BB hauling the unconscious Thrust and Dirge along. {{storylink|The Maximal Brainwashing Operation}}

====''Cloud''====
{{charstubfiction|{{storylink|Concealment}} {{storylink|Struggle}}}}

====''Beast Wars Neo'' cartoon====
After the defeat of [[Unicron]], Thrustor returned to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. There, he watched a tussle between [[Big Convoy]] and [[Magmatron]]. {{storylink|Graduation Ceremony!!}}

===''Beast Wars II'' manga===
Thrust was part of [[Galvatron (BW)|Galvatron]]'s forces that searched [[Gaia]] for [[Angolmois Energy]]. When Galvatron fell into a deep sleep, Thrust joined [[Megastorm]] in operating [[Galvatron Dekazura Tank|a massive tank]] that drew power from Galvatron. While attacking the [[Maximal]]s, Thrust attempted to warn the driver, [[Dirge (BW)|Dirge]] that Maximal reinforcements were coming, only for his partner to pay attention too late. The tank was eventually destroyed with the Predacons inside. {{Storylink|Demolish the Superdreadnought Tank!}}

When [[Scylla]] got chummy enough with the Maximals to put on a play, Thrust and Dirge reported the unfolding events to the other Predacons. Thrust joined the subsequent Predacon attack, but the villains were forced to retreat after [[Bighorn]] showed off his mighty firepower. {{storylink|Realize the Forbidden Love!}} Thrust later joined the other Predacons in manning a base—actually [[Megastorm|Gigastorm]] in alternate mode. When the Maximals attacked, they were cornered in a trap by the Predacons, but the might of [[Star Upper (BW)|Star Upper]] and the arrival of [[Lio Convoy]] sent the Predacons panicking. {{storylink|Make a Surprise Attack on the Super Weapon Base!}} Thrust, Dirge, [[Starscream (BW)|Starscream]], and [[BB (BW)|BB]] were later pressed into serving Gigastorm. Gigastorm showed displeasure at their efforts and knocked the four into what was seemingly a hot spring. The Predacons found this relaxing, seeing too late the sign that warned of Angolmois Energy. The four found themselves transformed into [[Combatron (BW)|Cyborg Beast]]s, with Thrust becoming Thrustor. They soon noticed the nearby [[Tasmania Kid]] and took him hostage. [[Apache]] arrived to save him, beating back the Cyborg Beasts in a fierce battle. {{storylink|Recover the Bonds Lost!}}

When the [[Nemesis (BW)|Nemesis]] arrived into Gaian orbit, Thrustor joined the others in manning Nemesis and observing the artificial planet suck up the Angolmois Energy of Gaia. When the Maximals began an all-out assault on Nemesis, Thrustor was part of the counterattack. {{storylink|All Hands, Make a Special Attack on the Evil Planet!}} Due to the personal battle between Lio Convoy and Galvatron, Nemesis blew up with the Maximals and Predacons on it. {{Storylink|Win the Battle of Light and Darkness!}}

===2006 IDW ''Beast Wars'' continuity===
[[File:BWAscending4 heralds.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|''But now I'm not aloooone... AVENGERS! ASSEMBLE!'']]
To improve his troops' abilities, [[Megastorm|Gigastorm]] exposed them to [[Angolmois Energy]]. Its effect on Thrust was to mutate him into Thrustor. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}}

At some point, Thrustor became a [[Herald of Unicron|herald for Unicron]]. He too became a [[Herald of Shokaract|Herald]] to safeguard [[Shokaract]], the vessel for [[Unicron]]'s return. When Shokaract engaged the Maximal commander [[Big Convoy]] in battle, Thrustor and the other Heralds returned to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] with Angolmois from the furthest reaches of the galaxy. {{storylink|The Ascending issue 3|The Ascending #3}}

Thrustor and the rest of the Heralds proceeded to distribute the Angolmois Capsules throughout Cybertron's populace spreading chaos and dissent, perfect conditions for Unicron's return. When Shokaract seemed to be overwhelmed by a concentrated Maximal/Predacon attack, the Heralds rushed to his aid. They were distracted when [[Magmatron]] pulled Shokaract into limbo, giving [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] an opening to throw a grenade into Thrustor's face. The Heralds seemingly fled with the disappearance of Shokaract and the failure of Unicron's plan. {{storylink|The Ascending issue 4|The Ascending #4}}

===''TransTech''===
In an interview with [[Rook (TransTech)|Rook]], [[Stungun (TransTech)|Stungun]] noted that he had been in rooms full of [[Megatron (disambiguation)|Megatron]] lookalikes, including Thrusts. {{storylink|Rook - Axiom Nexus News: Investigative Journalist|Rook - Axiom Nexus News, 2015/07/29}}
{{--}}

==Toys==
===''Beast Wars''===
[[File:BWII-toy Thrust.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb]]
*'''Thrust''' (March [[1998]])
**''ID number:'' '''D-15'''
**''Accessories:'' "Thrust Barrel Gun" body and barrel

:Part of the first wave of ''Beast Wars II'' products in the [[Japan]]ese ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)#BWII|Beast Wars]]'' toyline, Thrust is a [[redeco]] of the ''[[Machine Wars: Transformers|Machine Wars]]'' Basic Class [[Megaplex#Toys|Megaplex]]/[[Megatron (G1)/toys#Machine Wars|Megatron]] mold, transforming from a [[Popular Earth vehicle alternate modes#F-22 Raptor|Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor fighter jet]] to [[robot mode]] with a spring-loaded one-step transformation.

:The two halves of his "Thrust Barrel Gun" store in the back of his robot mode legs. Thrust also has a Predacon [[rubsign]] underneath his port wing.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Destron/Thrust/thrust.htm More information on Thrust at TFU.info]''
{{MWMegaplexMold}}

{{-}}{{anchor|VS15}}{{anchor|VsScuba}}
[[File:BWII-toy VS15-ScubaThrust.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|Fighter jets and squids - nature's greatest enemies.]]
*'''Sea Horizon Showdown: Scuba VS Thrust''' (VS pack, March 1998)
**''ID number:'' '''VS-15'''
**''Accessories:'' "Thrust Barrel Gun" body and barrel
:Thrust was also available in the "Sea Horizon Showdown" (水平線の対決, suihei-sen no taiketsu) two-pack with [[Scuba#VS15|Scuba]].

:Both toys are identical to their individual releases.

{{-}}{{anchor|Thrustor}}
[[File:BWII-toy Thrustor.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|More like veloci-''scrap''-tor.]]
*'''Thrustor''' (November 1998)
**''ID number:'' '''D-26'''
**''Accessories:'' "[[Cyber-slash tail weapon|Raptor Shield]]", missile launcher, "Dino Missile", "Gash Sword"
:Sold in the tenth wave of ''Beast Wars II'' products, Thrustor is an extensively-[[retool]]ed version of the first ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|Beast Wars]]'' Deluxe Class [[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Toys|Dinobot]] toy, with roughly half its parts turned into disorganized machinery. In [[beast mode]], his chest houses his "Gash Sword" blade which can be flipped out as a weapon. His dinosaur head also has his "Trash Horn" weapon molded on top.

:In [[robot mode]], his tail can be removed and split open to form his spinning "Raptor Shield", which is activated by pushing a larger protruding peg at the base. In the center of his tail/Raptor Shield, a spring-loaded missile launcher can be removed and also held in his hand. Pushing the trigger fires his claw-tipped "Dino Missile".

:Thrustor's Gash Sword (now stored on his left robot leg) can also be used as a hand-held weapon. Instead of holding the sword, he can also have it rotated forward as a leg-mounted weapon, much like he does in the cartoon.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1998/Destron/Thrustor/thrustor.htm More information on Thrustor at TFU.info]''
{{BWDinobotMold}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
*Thrustor's name does not have a discernible etymology, as the katakana used for his name does not correspond to the typical examples of transliterating the -or/-er/-ar suffixes. Various alternate Romanizations have popped up, such as "Thrustall", "Thrustol", and "Thrusthor", but "Thrustor" is the still best-known Romanization, making the most semblance of sense on English, and is the one used in the ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook]]''.

[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars II Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars Neo Predacons]]
[[Category:Cloud Predacons]]
[[Category:Destrons]]
[[Category:Japanese-original Transformers]]
[[Category:TransTech Predacons]]

Female Transformer

2022-01-22T22:00:20Z

McQTom: /* Beast Wars cartoon */

{{disambig2|female Transformers in general|the Autobot resistance group led by Elita One|Female Autobots}}
{{suite}}
[[File:Synergy-FemaleTFs.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

Despite being robotic lifeforms with generally non-sexual methods of [[reproduction]], the [[Transformer]] species has almost always been shown to include both male and female gender analogues, at least mentally if not physically.

'''Female Transformers''' were originally depicted as an anomaly, specifically called out as either a thought-to-be-extinct subgroup or simply never existing in the first place. ''Thanks, 1980s! Always so sensitive!'' Well into the third decade of the franchise, the number of female characters to have received either mass retail toy releases or recurring cartoon appearances was still in the single digits... and some of those had been originally designed as toys for male characters or were portrayed as male in some cartoon markets. While they are still comparatively rare, as the years went on they have increased greatly in numbers, prominence and overall fairness of representation, and are considered an official part of the [[Transformers brand|''Transformers'' brand]] in pretty much every continuity. Nowadays, female Transformers are basically considered a normal part of the Cybertronian population.

There's still a long way to go, since they ARE still uncommon compared to the "guys" and as [[Mairghread Scott]] pointed out, this can inadvertently make any given female Transformer and their stories seem like a comment on real women.<ref>[http://mscottwrites.tumblr.com/post/71325530812/what-are-your-thoughts-on-the-idw-arcee-origin-that Shotgun Mermaid (Mairghread Scott's tumblr), December 27 2013]: specifically, arguing that IDW Arcee being driven insane by her gender change can imply the women-are-hysterical stereotype "because she is the ONLY women [sic]" in the story, being one of the few female Autobots in G1 at all.</ref> That's part of a ''way'' bigger argument for gender equality in entertainment and society at large that's a bit beyond this wiki's scope to fully explore.

A '''[[list of female Transformers]]''' from all continuities is available.

{{quote|Well, I remember bringing up that question early on with Hasbro, "are any of these female?" And then I think Hasbro's attitude was, "this is a boy toy. We don't wanna have, you know, girl robots." So, I said, "OK, just want to clarify that."|[[Bob Budiansky]]|[http://rustingcarcass.yuku.com/topic/954 Rusting Carcass interview]}}

==Fandom and Terminology==
Almost assuredly as a consequence of their rarity in official fiction and toylines, female Transformers are popular in [[fan fiction]], where the term "'''femme'''" is often used to describe them, with "'''mech'''"<ref>While "femme" obviously is related to the French word for "woman", it's occasionally claimed that the use of "mech" as a name for male Transformers is derived from "mec", the French word for "guy" or "dude". This is probably more coincidence than anything, though.</ref> likewise being applied to "male" Transformers. Both terms have recently appeared in a piece of official fiction: [[Venus (magazine)|Venus]] magazine. This is the first instance "mech" has been used to specifically refer to a male Transformer, whereas the term has been used as a gender-neutral common noun for Transformers in various stories.

Alternative words to denote a female Transformer, all used about twice in canon, include: '''femme-bot''',<ref>"Just imagine all the colony worlds: naive small planetoid femme-bots, unsuspecting targets, Unguarded Energon Reserves..." -[[Buzzsaw (Cybertron)|Buzzsaw]], "[[Force of Habit]]" p4 ([[2008]])</ref> '''fembot''',<ref>[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] refers to [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] as "Ya emasculatin' fembot!" after she cuts the tip from his tail/sword in "[[Nemesis Part 2]]", while ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Animated]]'' [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] wonders in "[[Endgame, Part II]]" what chance he has in flying combat against the [[Lugnut Supreme|Lugnuts Supreme]] if he "couldn't handle [[Slipstream (Animated)|Starscream's fembot clone]]" on [[Endgame, Part I|his test run]].</ref> '''girl-bot'''<ref>"When we take over Cybertron, I'm gonna have a whole harem of girl-bots! Blue ones, red ones..." - [[Overkill (G1)|Overkill]], "The Art of War issue 5"</ref> '''robot dame''',<ref>In [[This Is Why I Hate Machines]] Captain Fanzone refers to Arcee as a "robot dame in a room"</ref> and ''perhaps'' '''robotessa'''.<ref>In "[[Enter the Nightbird]]", "Robotessa" is the word missing from the line "Say good night to your [Robotessa], Megatron!"</ref>

==Appearance==
[[File:LegendsBusinessTrip11-heroladies.jpg|right|thumb|Elita didn't expect the Orthia auditions to have this big a turnout.]]
[[File:BMStrika.jpg|left|upright=0.95|thumb|The jury is still out whether Lugnut loves her more than Megatron.]]
The appearance of female Transformers in most continuities would seem to suggest a level of "sexual" dimorphism is present in at least the more humanoid members of the Transformers species (the term sexual is used in a gender-based, rather than physical sense, see the reproduction link above for that whole kettle of robo-fish). In almost all cases female Transformers are portrayed as comparatively more graceful of form, and more rounded and curved in general, than their male counterparts. Often they have a more than passing resemblance to a slender human female made of metal and wearing armor and [[kibble]].

There are exceptions to this rule. Characters with toys could have been bulky and less overtly human-female-like, which was seen in the [[Unicron Trilogy]] series and some latter expansions of the [[The Transformers (franchise)|Generation 1]] series out of Japan, when the characters are often assigned to pre-existing "masculine" toys. Perhaps the best counter-example of this type is [[Strika (BM)|Strika]], who is female yet neither looks nor acts stereotypically feminine at all. This, however, has dropped away in more recent years as toy technology changes. Numerous female characters from the [[Aligned continuity family|Aligned]] and [[Movie (franchise)|Movie]] lines would turn into motorbikes, giving them thinner, daintier dimensions in robot mode. There are some exceptions, most notably the recently introduced [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] and her distinctly boxy shape.

The main real-world reason for all this can be seen from [[IDW Publishing]]'s plans to introduce more women in 2014. Plans were afoot to make two look less visually 'female' and more like "the default Cybertronian design" so readers wouldn't know they were female until their dialogue. That was dropped to make it more visually clear that ''these'' were the female characters.<ref>[http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2015/02/26/james-roberts-on-idws-transformers-more-that-meets-the-eye/ Women Write About Comics: "James Roberts on IDW’s Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye" 10:00 - 11:21]</ref> Humans are just conditioned to associate certain looks like certain genders. When the ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]'' dubbers wanted to make a male character into a female one, it's probably not a surprise that they went with [[Override (Cybertron)|the (relatively) sleek racing car]].<ref>[http://www.camphortree.net/tf/tidbits/botcon2005.txt Steve-o Stonebraker's BotCon 2005 Notes, Version 2 at his Transformers site]</ref>

{{--}}

==Fiction==
===Generation 1===
====''The Transformers'' cartoon====
[[File:G1femmes.jpg|upright=2.5|thumb|"Good morning, Angels".]]
Within this continuity, female Transformers are a rarity, but established to have been around from the species' start. A female named [[Beta (G1)|Beta]] existed back in the slave days under [[Quintesson]] rule, and thus it seems clear females were produced alongside the males as part of the Quintessons' product lines.

No female individuals were explicitly shown to exist among the Decepticon ranks, although the introduction of [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]] and implications of an eventual upgrade didn't raise any questions or remarks, suggesting that female Decepticons exist (or that the Decepticons royally don't care about a soldier's gender).

[[The Search for Alpha Trion|27 episodes after Nightbird's appearance]], female Transformers were introduced formally through the [[Female Autobots]]. [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] at various points expresses surprise they aren't extinct, which would seem to imply females were thought to be no longer part of the Cybertronian race. While at the time a decent (though certainly not perfect) explanation for the scarce appearances of female Transformers, it didn't stop more from showing up in the movie and season 3. Possibly Shockwave's "statement" could be considered as [[retcon]]ned and overwritten, or one of the following explanations applies:
# They were all built/"discovered" after the events of "The Search for Alpha Trion".
# Shockwave constantly calls them Autobots, never Transformers or Cybertronians. It is possible female [[Neutral]]s' (and the aforementioned female [[Decepticon]]s') existence was never thought over... and that none of them changed allegiance any time recently.
# "Female Autobot" is not used as a description, but as the team's name.
# This is the Generation 1 cartoon. You're not watching it for the flawless storytelling.

Females can be seen here and there among the [[Junkion (species)|Junkion tribe]], mostly sharing [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]]'s model. [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] has a "[[Nancy|Junkion lady]]" companion according to "[[The Big Broadcast of 2006 (episode)|The Big Broadcast of 2006]]". Just how relationships function in this isolated, media-based Transformers society is unclear, although it's notable that Wreck-Gar and his lady friend "slept" sitting up next to each other on giant thrones between television broadcast cycles. The lady's character model is actually that of a female [[Lithone (species)|Lithone]], another mechanical race, but whether this is meaningful in any way or simple model recycling is uncertain.

In [[Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers#European Generation 1 fiction|the French dub]] of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' (but not in the TV series), both [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] and [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] were referred to as female, with [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] calling Starscream "une imbecile" at one point (French articles are gendered), and Shrapnel referred to as "Mademoiselle". The reason for this gender-switch was never fully explained, though it is possible that Starscream's and Shrapnel's rather high-pitched voices were mistaken for women's voices.
{{-}}

====''Super-God Masterforce''====
[[File:Esmeral-manga.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|Even murderous space chickens have a special one.]]
A female Transformer was created through the introduction of [[Minerva (human)|Minerva]] to the ranks of the [[Headmaster Junior]]s. The [[transtector]] she was bonded to [[A Battle... and Then...|eventually]] evolved into a being of ''her'' own.

Meanwhile, the [[Godmaster (lifeform)|Godmaster]] [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]] existed out of two humans before becoming sapient: husband [[Giga]] and wife [[Mega]]. Despite the double gender, Overlord is regarded a "he".

====''Victory''====
In the manga, [[Decepticon]] females make their first (yet still to this day rare) appearance in official fiction as [[Esmeral (G1)|Esmeral]] ([[Deathsaurus (G1)|Deszaras]]'s wife) and [[Lyzack (G1)|Lyzack]] ([[Leozack]]'s [[Relatives|sister]]). Both show up to show the Autobots just what it is Deszaras and his crew have been fighting for all this time: their poor families back home. This spares the Decepticons' lives in the final battle between the two forces. This certainly casts an odd light on the matter of Transformer [[reproduction]] (and on [[Masumi Kaneda|the manga author]]).

Meanwhile, in the animated series, the [[Micromaster]] [[Holi]] is shown to have a girlfriend on the planet [[Micro]], [[Clipper (G1)|Clipper]].

====''Operation Combination''====
''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Operation Combination (franchise)|Operation Combination]]'' introduced a total of 24 Micromasters, none of which got a [[bio]]. Ten years later, ''[[The Transformers: Micromaster|Micromaster]]'' did provide them, and the Micromasters [[Windy (G1)|Windy]] and [[Discharge (G1)|Discharge]] were established as female.

====Marvel Comics continuity====
[[File:Nomates.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|And what will happen is like this.]]
No female ''Transformers'' are ever seen or referred to in the US stories. In "[[Recipe for Disaster!]]", [[Cloudburst]] is pressured into a relationship with the beautiful [[First One]] of [[Femax]], but he explains that Transformers, as a species, have "no gender". Despite this, male robots are clearly demonstrated as the de-facto norm. They are coded as male, using pronouns and designs depicting what is typically considered "masculine".

The letters page for #53, where "Recipe" ran, further stated that Transformers have no gender and that they use gendered terms because they picked it up from us, and "most have characteristics that are commonly associated with males" while a rare number like [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] have traits we'd associate with women.<ref>"Transformers have no gender! Since the Transformers do not reproduce sexually, they have no need to be male or female. Most have characteristics that are commonly associated with males, so they are referred to as “he’s”. On a rare occasion, one might come across as female and is referred to as a “she”. Arcee fits into this latter category, but referring to themselves as “he’s” and “she’s” is a convention the Transformers probably picked up from hanging around Earthlings too long."</ref>

[[File:Arceeprimesrib.jpg|right|upright=1.3|thumb|You can't shoot Squeezeplay just because he's a bloke.]]

Furman didn't have that letters page and came up with an alternative explanation for Arcee, who'd appeared in UK's post-[[The Transformers: The Movie|film]] future stories. As detailed in "[[Prime's Rib!]]", she was intentionally created by the Autobots in 1995 to be the sole female Transformer in an attempt to placate [[human]] [[feminist mob|feminists]]. (See her picture above for a hint of how well that went over.)

In "[[Ladies' Night (issue)|Ladies' Night]]" and "Prime's Rib", the Autobots don't 'get' gender or humanity's gender relations and sterotypes. This lasted two minutes once Arcee was created: Optimus asked Arcee to hang back, she grumped about men, and Hot Rod went "phwoar!". In "Prime's Rib" this is played for laughs but in "[[Space Pirates!]]", Rodimus Prime can be ambushed by wanting to help Arcee first.

Despite the Transformers having 'no gender', the Marvel continuity was actually the first in introducing a female ''Cybertronian'': [[Aunty]], the onboard computer of the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'', who was introduced in [[The Transformers (issue)|the very first issue]]. "[[Raiders of the Last Ark]]" gave her a feminine holographic 'face'.

The [[Letters page (Marvel UK)|UK letter pages]] mentioned another two female Transformers: Decepticon Powermaster [[Clio]] and presumed Autobot [[Karmen]], who is Blaster's sister. Provided they are real and [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] didn't just make them up, they're unlikely to have been built à la Arcee (unless the 'Cons ''really'' care about gender representation) and could be taken as falling under that 'characteristics' approach. Or the 'Blaster' staffer didn't care.

Two continuations of Marvel would introduce female Transformers. [[BotCon]]'s ''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'' fiction, while not including the UK material, introduced [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]] in "[[Games of Deception]]", in a manner similar to UK Arcee; and in Furman's ''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One|Regeneration One]]'', [[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] is the first of the second generation of Transformers.

{{-}}

====Dreamwave ''Generation One'' continuity====
According to DK's ''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]'' (written by Simon Furman), "Transformers are inherently non-gender specific, and only some quirk of their timelost origins can account for [female Transformers'] difference in appearance and attitude." [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]] was [[Unreleased Dreamwave issues|in the process]] of introducing more female Transformers and explicating their links to the Quintessons in this continuity when it went out of business.

====2005 IDW continuity====
[[File:Spotlight Arcee cvrB.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Information: you are ALL going to DIE.]]

{{quote|what do 'he' and 'she' pronouns connote in a TF context? Do they connote *exactly* the same things as they do in a human context? I don't know. It hasn't been properly explored yet. All that said, let's assume that a Transformer who adopts a particular personal pronoun is doing so for the same reasons that a human would.|James Roberts [http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sj9u8i on TwitLonger]}}

IDW comics are aimed at older readers, so this is where it gets complicated.

Originally [[Simon Furman]] stated that he would not use female Transformers in the IDW continuity until he came up with a reason for them to exist that made logical sense to him. He did not rule out doing so, as he said he had found a similar justification for the [[Pretender]]s, which led to the ''[[The Transformers: Stormbringer|Stormbringer]]'' miniseries. Certainly, however, Transformers do not necessarily identify with the genders of other species while selecting a suitable [[holomatter|holomatter avatar]], under Furman's pen or otherwise; [[Bumblebee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Bumblebee]], for instance, adopted the countenance of a {{w|Lindsay Lohan}} lookalike, while [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ultra Magnus]] once replicated his one-time [[human]] traveling partner [[Verity Carlo]]. (The only time anyone treated this as unusual is when Magnus's companions wondered why the legendarily-uptight cop specifically chose the freewheeling ''Verity'' as a template.)

The subject of Cybertronian gender first came to the fore for the first time in in "[[Spotlight: Arcee]]", which presented the [[Arcee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|eponymous character]] as a product of the mad science of [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]]; as presented in the issue itself, he had forcibly experimented on Arcee in a Frankensteinian attempt to introduce gender to the species, a process that involved directly tampering with the [[CNA]] of his subject. The experiment did not leave Arcee with the warmest of feelings towards Jhiaxus, and when the scientist abandoned his creation, she began a vengeful rampage that cut a swathe across the galaxy. This... did not sit well with quite a few people, wondering just what all this was saying about women, transgender or otherwise.

[[File:Windblade2coverplain.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[:File:MarvelUS-19.jpg|You Asked For Her - You GOT Her]]!]]

When [[James Roberts]] and [[John Barber]] took the reins of the universe in early [[2012]], they repeatedly considered adding more female Transformers into the universe as early as "[[Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime]]", which would have seen feminine Transformers among the waves of [[NAIL]] refugees. For one reason or another, these plans fell through and were indefinitely shelved until 2014,<ref>John Barber Q&A at TFCon 2017</ref> when Hasbro introduced a new <s>toy</s> female Transformer called [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]] and a [[The Transformers: Windblade|tie-in IDW comic advertising the character.]] Writer [[Mairghread Scott]] made it clear that Windblade's femininity would not be accidental, nor would it be the product of a sinister experiment.<ref>[http://mscottwrites.tumblr.com/post/71211861958/hey-congrats-on-the-new-comic-i-voted-for-a-lady-robot Scott's tumblr: "That’s not how it works for biological women on Earth and that’s not how it’s gonna work on Cybertron. Anybody has a problem with that, you know where I am."]</ref> (This led to [[Spotlight: Arcee#Trivia|a brief conflict]] as Furman initially read this as a personal attack on his work.) Windblade's arrival was used as leverage to double the number of girls to a shocking ''four'' as her friends Chromia and new Autobot [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]] showed up with her in [[Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8|Chapter 8]] of the ''[[Dark Cybertron (IDW)|Dark Cybertron]]'' crossover.

The IDW comic initially established that Windblade and her female compatriots hailed from the Cybertronian colony of [[Caminus (planet)|Caminus]], long cut off from their ancestral homeworld; originally, as presented in [[A 'Bot and Her City|the first issue]] of ''[[The Transformers: Windblade]]'', the existence of gender on this distant world was treated as a form of {{w|allopatric speciation}} in this isolated culture. Barber and Scott both worked together on developing Caminus' background to avoid falling into the opposite stereotype of a woman-only planet, emphasizing that on Caminus, Transformers of both genders peacefully coexisted.<ref>John Barber Q&A at TFCon 2017</ref> However, it didn't take long before the various IDW series together revealed the truth: Cybertron ''did'' once possess a population of female Transformers, but had somehow changed over the interim, leaving Caminus and other lost colonies, such as [[Prion (planet)|Prion]] and [[Jungle Planet (colony)|Eukaris]], to carry on this ancient aspect of Transformer society. Shortly afterwards, [[Onyx Interface Part Three: ONoffON|issue #37]] of ''Robots in Disguise'' revealed-slash-retconned that Jhiaxus's experiments were meant to ''restore'' this lost element of Cybertronian civilization. The [[All That Remains|finale]] of the ''[[Combiner Wars (comic)|Combiner Wars]]'' comic confirmed that female Transformers were alive and well on the rest of the colonies, and [[An Uneventful Night|the ''Combiner Wars'' coda comic]] introduced an all-female [[combiner]] [[Victorion]] and her six components, bringing the number of female combiners up to a grand total of [[Heavy Metal (Energon)|two]].<ref>Some female characters such as [[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] serve as combiner components, although the resulting personality identifies itself as a male.</ref>

[[File:DanceAmongTheShadows-butyoudontbelieve.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Pyra, meanwhile, is severly disappointed at those who showed up for the Victorion tryouts.<ref>[[Pyra Magna]], [[Skyburst (G1)|Skyburst]], [[Rust Dust]], [[Stormclash]], [[Jumpstream]] and [[Dust Up]] are new members of the all-female [[Torchbearer]] team,. while [[Aileron]] is an entirely new character. Other continuity-jumping new arrivals alongside mainstay Transformer female [[Arcee (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Arcee]] include [[Roulette (Universe)|Roulette]] and [[Slide]]; the latter is an odd case where the character had been previously depicted as male. Even so, that's ten girls to eight boys - a new record!</ref>]]

At this point, post-''Combiner Wars'' and with the colonies giving an easy-out, female Transformers became just 'a thing' and were frequently added as nothing special. Existing G1 characters like [[Moonracer (G1)|Moonracer]] and Elita One (including backgrounders [[Greenlight]] and [[Lancer]]), previously non-G1 characters like [[Override (G1)|Override]] and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]], new ones like [[Nickel]] (the first female Decepticon in IDW) and [[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]], and previously male characters like [[Slide]] have all shown up.

What, if indeed anything, separates female Transformers from their male counterparts in this universe is not clear. ''Spotlight: Arcee'' established that "male" Transformers could instinctually sense a "difference" about Arcee, and unconsciously used feminine pronouns when referring to her, though it's not clear if this is the product of Jhiaxus's experimentation or some kind of natural ability. [[Twenty Plus One|Issue #31]] of ''[[The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|More than Meets the Eye]]'' initially described [[Nautica (G1)|Nautica]] as having an "estriol-positive" [[spark]]-type, (no doubt based off the {{w|Estriol|female hormone of the same name}}) but author [[James Roberts]] opted to change this to "ferrum-positive" in the trade paperback, after deciding it was unnecessary and "potentially offensive" to imply that female and male bots were fundamentally different.<ref>[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/12/18/no-little-bots-james-roberts-retcons-estriol-female-transformers/ Bleeding Cool: "No Little ‘Bots? James Roberts Retcons ‘Estriol’ In Female Transformers"]</ref>

[[File:AfterMegatron-AnodeAndLug.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|DAWW]]

Despite all of these developments, various artists have freely thrown in a variety of female characters in background cameos, even in instances where these female Transformers couldn't have existed on Cybertron. Most notably, ''[[The Transformers: Megatron Origin|Megatron Origin]]'' featured a particularly high number of such cameos, including [[Crasher (G1)|Crasher]], [[Elita One (G1)|Elita One]], [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]], and various [[generic]]s. James Roberts teased the possibility of transgender Transformers for some years,<ref>[http://positronicwoman.tumblr.com/post/87833950888/you-guysssssssss Roberts on the possibility of transgender Transformers on Twitter]</ref> before finally using the concept to explain these cameos in otherwise incompatible situations. Occasionally, Cybertronians, such as those members of the off-world [[Primal Vanguard]], would encounter gendered aliens, with some choosing to adopt female pronouns (and, occasionally, body-types) after feeling that they fit them better. From this revelation, we got [[Anode]] and her partner [[Lug (IDW)|Lug]]: the first two definitively, canonically, transgender Transformer characters. Around this time, ''Robots in Disguise'' author John Barber would delve deeper into Arcee's original backstory, dropping several hints that Arcee had, at least to some extent, consented to Jhiaxus's gender experiments due to identity issues of her own; the [[Post|final issue]] of the original IDW universe would eventually confirm that she, too, had always been transgender, and that she had deliberately sought the services of Jhiaxus, not seeing the mad scientist for what he was, to help her transition.

====Ask Vector Prime====
[[Cy-Kill (GoBots)|Cy-Kill]] considered female Cybertronians to be little more than "window dressing" considering what a big deal [[You|some people]] made of them as opposed to female [[GoBot]]s who were an equal, and essential, part of Cy-Kill's various evil plans. {{storylink|Transformers: Renegade Rhetoric|Renegade Rhetoric (2), 12 January 2016}}

====2019 IDW continuity====
[[File:TF2019 22 cvrA clean.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Flamewar's first imperial decree was to enforce mandatory Floor Time.]]
As a result of changing attitudes in both the ''Transformers'' fandom and the real-world pop culture landscape, the [[Transformers (2019 comic)|2019 comic reboot]] has largely done away with the convoluted [[retcon]]s and leaps of logic necessary to increase inclusion of female Transformers in the later years of its predecessor, choosing to instead depict female Cybertronians of all shapes and sizes as an accepted, normal part of Cybertronian civilization.

Female Cybertronians constitute a large percentage of this continuity's ensemble cast. Both Windblade and Chromia return as major characters; new female characters introduced to the mythos include [[Termagax]], [[Leviathan (G1)|Leviathan]], [[Codexa]], [[Accelerator]], and [[Gauge]]. Meanwhile, [[Slipstream (G1)|Slipstream]], [[Shadow Striker (G1)|Shadow Striker]], and [[Strongarm (G1)|Strongarm]] make the leap from other continuities to recurring roles in G1-based media. The same can be said for previously-obscure G1 characters [[Vibes]] and [[Flamewar (G1)|Flamewar]].

{{-}}

===Beast Era===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
[[File:CrossingtheRubicron-newbody.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|Original spider joke or perish, Silverbolt.]]

Female Transformers seem to be common here, with no one showing any surprise over their presence. [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] and [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] both engage in romances with male [[Maximal]]s, the former blatantly and the latter far more subtly. [[Transmutate (BW)|Transmutate]] is genderless but [[Transmutate (episode)#Notes|deliberately given "a face that vaguely indicates it is female" in script]]. (Airazor was made female by the writer's insistence.) Some male Transformers, such as [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]], possess [[beast mode]]s based off eusocial insects that would be biologically female, though this does not seem to affect their gender identity.

[[File:BA Silverbolt Agenda3.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|left|"I tried to commit genocide four episodes ago."]]

[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]] has an old-school human-style view of women as a fairer and more vulnerable gender, as he refuses to fight Blackarachnia out of <s>lust</s> chivalry. {{storylink|Tangled Web}} {{storylink|Bad Spark}} Most of the other Transformers seem unconcerned about this but [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] sees it as part of his nobility. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} Blackarachnia herself used to find it ''bloody annoying'', beating up Silverbolt to try and get him to fight back already. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} She is eventually won over when he keeps following her and telling her what she's really like when she yells at him to go away. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} {{storylink|The Agenda (Part III)}} Some Transformers have another old-school human view, considered those strange fillies to be quite inscrutable: [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] and [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] being two. {{storylink|Tangled Web}}

For the purposes of humor, over the course of the show characters will make innuendos that suggest that, at least by that era, there may have been something sex-like between Transformers. [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] dismays Blackarachnia with teenage slobbering, {{storylink|Crossing the Rubicon}} she flirts with him regarding his body for info, {{storylink|Feral Scream Part 2}} [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] is blunt that he knows Tarantulas had "ulterior motives" for making her a spider, {{storylink|Double Jeopardy}} Blackarachnia is involved in a castration joke... {{storylink|Nemesis Part 2}}

Boy, they sure like doing this with Blackarachnia. Odd that.

Throughout the show [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] makes ''numerous'' innuendos, especially involving Silverbolt and Blackarachnia's relationship, including the rather seedy "find any new ''positions''?" after Silverbolt's been scouting the enemy (cough). {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} He also makes references to a bar on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] where the wait-staff "are walkin' around minus their torso-plates"... which frankly sounds like it'd be really messy. He didn't want young Cheetor to overhear this. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 1)}}

====''Beast Wars II'' cartoon====
[[Scylla]] is the impetus for a big ridiculous love triangle of hilarity and embarrassment in both the anime and manga continuities. She is in love with the squid-bot [[Scuba]], who wants nothing to do with her. Meanwhile, the Maximal [[Bighorn]] is in love with Scylla, who wants nothing to do with him.

The non-Transformer female robot [[Artemis]] harbors a crush on both Scuba (poor guy) and [[Starscream (BW)|Starscream]].

====''Beast Wars Neo'' comic====
The young Maximal [[Stampy (BW)|Stampy]] has a [[Kitte Shūshū|mother]]. The actual genetics of this was not explained, but we also see a picture of a rabbit with a mustache on the wall behind her, implying a father and sexual reproduction. Just how in the hell an entire planet-wide race of breeding rabbit-robots arose from [[Tasmania Kid]], who was a Tasmanian devil, is ''also'' never explained.

Later, it was explained and it very much was sexual reproduction. {{storylink|Andromeda - Axiom Nexus News Reporter}}

====2006 IDW ''Beast Wars'' continuity====
In the spin-off comics, [[Manta Ray (BW)|Manta Ray]] and [[Sonar (BW)|Sonar]] are female Transformers, though the latter was previously established in the [[3H Productions]] [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''The Wreckers'' comic]]. Neither character was specifically given a gender in their toy bios and this was seized upon as a way to get extra women in.

====''Beast Machines'' cartoon====
[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] and [[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] end up in a romantic relationship towards the end of ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' ("So, I'm a tree-hugger!" Rattrap remarks). What this means for his bar-hopping days is never explored. Innuendo makes a big return when [[Botanica (BM)|Botanica]] and Rattrap argue about whether he'd rather insert his tail into a computer or be "plowing your little field of dreams". {{storylink|Spark of Darkness}} Yeah.

[[File:Sparkofdarkness-strikacloseup.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.4|Of course I haven't seen 'The Dark Knight Rises', why do you ask?]]

The [[Vehicon general]] [[Strika (BM)|Strika]] is referred to as the "consort" of [[Obsidian (BM)|Obsidian]], and has been serving by his side, seemingly as an equal, for centuries. Some have taken this to mean the two have a romantic interest in each other, but the show itself does not offer any hints to this. This is the first time in Transformers fiction where a female robot has a high rank; where Elita One got to run a small rebel group, we're told Strika is a famous officer who has overseen and won numerous wars. {{storylink|Sparkwar Pt. I: The Strike}}

Story editor [[Bob Skir]] also wanted main character [[Nightscream (BM)|Nightscream]] to be a young female Transformer, patterned after the girl "Newt" from the movie ''{{w|Aliens (film)|Aliens}}''. (When the Powers That Be nixed that, Nightscream ended up becoming {{w|John Connor}} in ''{{w|Terminator 2: Judgment Day}}'' instead.)<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20071202095033/http://bigbot.com/beast-machines-transformers-bob-skir/Beast-Machines-FAQ/Fri_03_Dec_1999.html Bob Skir Q&A 3 December 1999] (archive copy)</ref> This would've given us a Transformers cartoon with a shocking ''four'' female main characters out of sixteen speaking bots!

===''Robots in Disguise'' (2001)===
Female Transformers are seemingly rare in the [[Viron]] [[Universal stream|universal cluster]] as none appear on-screen, if one doesn't count the female Cybertronian intelligence computer, [[T-AI]]. We know they have gender and gender relations due to both the aforementioned T-AI and [[Side Burn (RID)|Side Burn's]] obsessive lust for red sports cars. He was even able to plausibly pretend he had old girlfriend cars in "[[Sideburn's Obsession]]", only getting tripped up by lying it was on Earth.

In 2015, [[Ask Vector Prime]] said that the [[Spy Changer]] [[Optimus Prime (RID)#Spy Changer continuity|Optimus Prime]] from [[Viron 1103.12 Gamma]], and thus [[Scourge (RID)#Spy Changer continuity|Scourge]], as well as the [[Nightcruz (RID)|Nightcruz]] from [[Viron 102.0 Beta]], were female.

===Unicron Trilogy===
[[File:Linkage7 Twirl-Baby.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|But she's got your altmode!]]
The existence of female Transformers throughout the [[Unicron Trilogy continuity family|Unicron Trilogy]] is portrayed as slightly uncommon (it is a fiction aimed at young boys, after all), but hardly remarkable. They just exist, as do "males", and no special attention is called to them. Quite a few appear in various places in "[[Joyride (Cybertron)|civilian]]" roles, as [[Autobot nurse|nurses]], and even on [[Velocitron band|colony worlds]].

There are examples and hints of romantic interest between males and females in both ''[[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|Armada]]'' ([[Redline]] and [[Falcia]] in the [[Linkage (comic)|''Linkage'' comics]], plus [[Nightscream (Armada)|Nightscream]]'s eagerness to appease and defend his [[Bulk]] partner [[Airazor (Armada)|Airazor]]), and ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)|Cybertron]]'' stories (most obviously [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]]'s intense infatuation with [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]], [[Ransack (Cybertron)|Ransack's]] secret crush on [[Override (Cybertron)|Override]], plus [[Downshift (Energon)|Downshift]] reportedly has an unnamed "fembot life partner" lost somewhere on [[Earth]]). This too is treated as a fairly common event.

[[File:Cyb ep6 overrides challenge.jpg|left|thumb|225px|''Why do robots have to have gender?'' thought Override. ''Bloody masculinists.'']]

There are female Transformers in positions of very high power as well: in the [[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|''Energon'' cartoon]], [[Arcee (Energon)|Arcee]] is the leader of the entire [[Omnicon]] race, while in ''Cybertron'', Override is the leader of the planet [[Velocitron]]. The Unicron Trilogy is the first ''Transformers'' continuity to explicitly ''give'' female Transformers that level of responsibility... but the only other one (so far) does so via a ''direct'' analogue of ''Cybertron'' (see [[#Aligned|the "Aligned" continuity]] below for more on that).

However, in the original Japanese, Override (called Nitro Convoy) is a male Transformer. [[Cartoon Network]], the channel with the airing rights to the dub, felt it needed more female presence in the main cast and Override was chosen to change genders.<ref>[http://www.camphortree.net/tf/tidbits/botcon2005.txt Steve-o Stonebraker's BotCon 2005 Notes, Version 2 at his Transformers site]</ref>

In the French version of the ''Energon'' cartoon, Arcee is dubbed by a man. ''Why'' she was is currently unknown.
{{-}}

===Live-action film series===
[[File:Arceemovie.jpg|thumb|Comic artists ''cry'' when they see this model sheet.]]

[[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] was originally going to be featured as part of the cast of the [[Transformers (film)|''Transformers'' film]], but was cut early on in the movie's development. The script writers felt they would need to explain the presence of a female in an entirely robotic race, and there was not enough time in the film to do so. Arcee was replaced in the movie by [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]]. Even so, Arcee was featured in IDW's [[Transformers: Movie Prequel|''Movie Prequel'' comics]] and remains in the movie toyline as both Deluxe and Scout-class toys.

One other female Autobot is featured in the movie continuity family, another Scout-class toy, [[Elita-One (Movie)|Elita-One]]. Both Elita and Arcee, however, are featured in [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|Titan Magazine's]] alternate reality stories as regular characters, with Arcee getting more prominence. Both also appear in IDW's Movie Sequel comic series ''[[Transformers: The Reign of Starscream|The Reign of Starscream]]'', with Arcee playing quite a prominent leadership role. Surprisingly, Elita-One does not fare as well as her sister-in-arms, dying at the claws of [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] himself. Although it is unusual for a female Transformer to die in fiction ([[To sell toys|compared to how often Transformer death happens in general]]), it has [[Manta Ray (BW)|happened]] [[Sonar (BW)|before]].

As for Decepticons, [[Fracture (Movie)|Fracture]], based off of the aforementioned Crasher, was added to the end of the movie toyline as a Wal-mart exclusive. She featured in Titan Magazine's comics and in IDW's ''[[Transformers: Alliance|Alliance]]'' series.

After Titan's first volume, the female characters were seen less and less. When a reader asked why in [[Transformers Comic issue 3.4|#4 of the third volume]], editor [[Rona Simpson]] broke character in the letters page and admitted: "This is something we would love to change, but for the moment, the 'mech' figures are more popular and our hands are tied."

In the Tyran cluster romantic relationships between male and female robots seem to be possible; an example are [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] and the aforementioned Elita. [[David Reeve]] (in the [[Transformers: Bumblebee Movie Prequel|IDW's prequel comics]]) refers to [[Diabla (BB)|Diabla]] as [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]]'s girlfriend. Although Bee seems to deny the relationship, their past together on Cybertron and Bumblebee's impetuous rage after realizing Diabla's death allow you to believe the opposite if you want to.

In all the comics where female Transformers do appear in the Movie continuity, their gender is never considered an issue. This raises questions about just how necessary "explaining" them would be in [[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|future]] [[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|movies]].

And apparently, two years later gender was no longer an issue at all, as ''Revenge of the Fallen'' featured [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]], who now inexplicably existed in three separate bodies, as well as [[Alice (ROTF)|Alice]], a Decepticon [[Pretender]]. No comment was given on the subject of the characters' femininity. Frankly, not explaining Pretenders is a bigger oversight than not explaining robot gender.

''[[Transformers: The Last Knight (film)|The Last Knight]]'' introduces [[Quintessa (TLK)|Quintessa]], a female robot (and also the first female main antagonist) but none seem to be surprised. However, this could be explained by the (possibly) not-Cybertronian nature of Quintessa.

The prequel film ''[[Bumblebee (film)|Bumblebee]]'' features a cameo appearance by Arcee in the first scenes of the movie, while main antagonist [[Shatter]] has a bigger role.

{{-}}

===''Animated''===
[[File:Animated females.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Did you ever feel like the only original designs in a sea full of homages?]]
Female Transformers were present in ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]'' from the very beginning of the cartoon, starting with [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]]. What this meant for the state of females in the continuity at large was not immediately apparent; in "[[Along Came a Spider]]", both [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] and [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] expressed confusion as to ''what'' Blackarachnia was. Though they were referring to her [[Technorganic|partially organic]] nature, [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]] jokes "Duh, she's a girl" as a nod to the rarity of female Transformers.

[[Image:Blackarachnia Venus Mag by BillForster.jpg|200px|thumb|right]]
As the series proceeded, multiple lady-bots were progressively introduced, among which were a [[Slipstream (Animated)|female clone]] of [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], the obligatory [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]] and many more. Although they remain distinctly outnumbered by the male Transformers, this makes it clear that while female Transformers may be relatively uncommon, they aren't considered very remarkable or noteworthy—unless you're a young, male Autobot who's spent ''waaaaayy'' too much time fixing space bridges.

Despite Optimus's confusion over where organic babies come from in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", implying that there is no Cybertronian equivalent to [[Reproduction|sexual reproduction]] in ''Animated'', Transformer ''relationships'' are implied to be a possibility, as in "[[Along Came a Spider]]" and "[[Black Friday (episode)|Black Friday]]", respectively, Blackarachnia takes advantage of [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]]'s and the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]]' obvious interest in her, especially [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]]'s. There's also the fact that [[Strika (Animated)|Strika]] is said to be the "consort" of [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]].

[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]'s role as the Autobot medical officer was originally supposed to be assigned to a character named [[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]], who was originally designed as a female, but then turned male. When brought in at the start of Season 3, Red Alert was female once again as an homage to the original design.

Because Sari was originally a Cybertronian protoform, she could be considered a female technorganic Transformer, although her origins were not revealed until Season 3.

{{-}}

===''Shattered Glass''===
While in most universes the number of females on the side of good is significantly larger than the number on the side of evil, this universe has more evil ladies as a result of its status as a mirror universe. The first two introduced were [[Arcee (SG)|Arcee]] and [[Crasher (SG)|Crasher]]—an (evil) Autobot and a (good) Decepticon respectively—but since then the balance has tilted.

It would seem that female Transformers in this universe are as they are in most: few in numbers, but nothing remarkable. Crasher appeared bewildered when [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (who hails from a [[#Generation 1 Marvel Comics continuity|Marvel Comics-derived universe]]) tried to tell her that he thought her feminine shape was unusual, and no one else seems to regard the females as something noteworthy.

===Aligned continuity family===
[[File:Arcee-Prime-stock render-toy packaging.jpg|thumb|right|170px|But ignore all the names we're listing, cos 50% of all female appearances are Arcee.]]

One-thirteenth of Cybertron's population identify as female, and are descended from [[Solus Prime]].<ref>According to [https://twitter.com/DiscFamilyDay/status/87976495074639872 @HubTVNetwork] and comments made at [[BotCon 2011]].</ref>

In ''[[Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|The Covenant of Primus]]'', [[Alpha Trion (WFC)|Alpha Trion]] expounds on the nature of gender among Cybertronians. He mentions that Transformers are technically asexual, but divide themselves into two distinct categories based on how they process information. He speculated that Solus Prime required this unique cognitive structure in order to properly utilize her [[Creation Lathe]]. Before making contact with gendered aliens, Cybertronians used a single pronoun to refer to all individuals. After taking a greater role in the galactic community, they began incorporating gendered pronouns into their culture, to demonstrate that they recognized and celebrated differences among themselves while maintaining their equality (here, Alpha Trion breaks the {{w|fourth wall}} to apologize to any readers who might feel insulted by Cybertron's 1:12 gender ratio).

Before the war, [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] worked with a female [[Arachnicon]] doctor named [[Cogwheel]]. The female Transformers [[Azimuth (COP)|Azimuth]] founded the [[Patterner]] movement. The leader of the [[Mutacon]]s is the female Transformer [[Mercury (COP)|Mercury]]. The ruler of [[Velocitron]], [[Override (Prime)|Override]], and the Decepticon soldier [[Slipstream (WFC)|Slipstream]] are also female. Additionally, [[Chromia (Prime)|Chromia]] and [[Firestar (Prime)|Firestar]] are leaders of underground cities which are destroyed when Cybertron is restored. [[Ser-Ket (Prime)|Ser-Ket]], a female member of the [[Forged]], was one of the main antagonists of the ''[[Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots|Rage of the Dinobots]]'' miniseries. [[Ripclaw]] and [[Flamewar (Prime)|Flamewar]] were both toy-only female characters, their only fiction consisting of character bios or roles in prose stories packaged with toys. [[Elita One (COP)|Elita One]], [[Moonracer (COP)|Moonracer]], and [[Akiba Prime]] also exist in the Aligned continuity family as female Transformers.

====''Prime'' cartoon====
The only female Transformers portrayed as cast members are [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] and [[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]]. Solus Prime is also mentioned whenever her [[Forge of Solus Prime|hammer]] shows up on screen, and was momentarily seen in a flashback. Showing up in [[Arms Micron Theater]] segments are [[Arc]], [[Arcee Blade]], and [[Ida]].

====''Transformers Online''====
''[[Transformers Online (2012 video game)|Transformers Online]]'' introduced numerous female Transformers for both factions. Yes, the Chinese MMO that lasted about a year, in the continuity family where female Transformers are canonically rare, introduced more female characters than any single other source in ''years''. Other than getting some minor details and anglicised names in ''Ask Vector Prime'', they've yet to be used by anyone else.

====''Transformers Universe''====
The Decepticons have the female warriors [[Astraea]], [[Diabla (Prime)|Diabla]], and [[Duststorm (Prime)|Duststorm]] on their side, while the Autobots have [[Cameo]] and [[Catapult]].

====2015 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon====
The Autobot cadet [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] is a member of Bumblebee's team, with [[Windblade (RID)|Windblade]] later assisting the team. Among the many evil Transformers are [[Filch]], [[Zizza]], [[Glowstrike]], [[Scatterspike (RID)|Scatterspike]], [[Nightra]], [[Cyberwarp]], and [[Skyjack (RID)|Skyjack]], with variety in body-types. As such, this series increased the number of female Transformers than any show prior, with tie-in material also introducing [[Slink]], [[Retrofit]], and [[Overhead]].

===''Cyberverse''===
[[File:Slipstream after looking through Windblade's memories.jpg|thumb|200px]]
Much like ''Animated'', female Transformers, namely [[Windblade (Cyberverse)|Windblade]] and [[Slipstream (Cyberverse)|Slipstream]], were present from the start of the continuity and were treated as nothing special by their male counterparts. Introducing many more characters, this series boasts the highest number of female characters in a ''Transformers'' television show.

In a rather unique addition to the franchise, the [[Seeker (Cyberverse)|Seeker]] [[Acid Storm (Cyberverse)|Acid Storm]], traditionally a male character, would be depicted as swapping between a male and female appearance between episodes of the cartoon, with one of the show's writers, [[Mae Catt]], eventually declaring that the character was gender-fluid. Thrust was made female in the Japanese dub of Cyberverse and renamed to [[Red Wing]], inverting the recurring trend of female characters being made male in several Japanese ''Transformers'' dubs.
{{-}}

==Toys==
[[File:Airazorbwtfmtoy1.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Windblade stands on the extremely pointy shoulders of giants.]]

Though many female Transformers were featured in the fiction from the early days of ''Generation 1'', for many years they tended to either: a) not have toys made of them at all, or, b) for those very few that did get a release, end up as repaints of other molds clearly not designed with a female aesthetic in mind. Budiansky told you why that was up at the top there. There were [[Arcee (G1)/toys#Generation 1|three separate plans]] to have toys of Arcee during G1 and all three were scrapped.

''[[Transmetal]]'' [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] is the first Transformer toy designed to intentionally represent a female character that actually came out. Ironically, Airazor was written out of the show in the same year!

The big turning point for female characters came when Hasbro held a "Fan-Built Bot" programme in 2013. Gender was one of the things fans could choose and the fans voted "female", giving us [[Windblade (G1)|Windblade]]. This worked out well enough that Hasbro had another contest for [[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]] in 2015 and fans voted for female Tranformers again: this time ''six'' that made up the gestalt [[Victorion]].

Fans having chats with Hasbro people at conventions have mentioned one bar to more girl toys: they still don't sell as well. Large companies can also be skittish about changing the way they do things unless they're very sure the new way is more lucrative than the old way. Female Transformers selling more toys will beget new toys and, [[to sell toys|of course]], get more major characters in fiction. So go buy [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarms]].

==Notes==
{{quote|Could we/should we have done more, especially in the depiction of female Transformers? Almost certainly, but it was a different age and our audience was ninety-nine percent male.|Simon Furman, talking to Vice in 2016<ref>[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/comic-writer-simon-furman-discusses-three-decades-of-transformers-and-new-game-earth-wars-707 Vice interview on Earth Wars]</ref>}}
[[File:G1RatchetSexchange.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|On the other hand, maybe a medic who enjoyed getting skunked on tainted 40-weight [[oil]] wasn't the best example, either...]]
* We don't know the exact number of girls buying the comics back in the day but it was ''probably'' bigger than one percent.
* It's worth comparing the original G1 to ''[[GoBots]]'', its big competitor. Our very own [[Chromedome (G1)|tumblr]] crunched the numbers and found ''GoBots'' turns out to have more prominent female robots, all with toys, and we had to include [[Nancy]] to have the same ''number'' of talking fembots. That's right: the GoBots were ''better'' than G1 at something.<ref>[http://tfwiki.tumblr.com/post/112170089613/if-someone-asks-why-we-need-more-diverse TF Wiki Tumblr: If Someone Asks Why We Need More Diversity]</ref> More recent franchises lagging behind ''GoBots'' is even more depressing.
* Several modern writers have worked to get more women into the fiction, in particular Scott, Barber, and Roberts at IDW. [[Jim Sorenson]] openly stated he would work to get women into his fiction as often as he possibly could to tip the balance.<ref>[http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/133737-beast-wars-uprising-ama/?p=3360055 Beast Wars Uprising AMA at Allspark]</ref>
* In the [[Shout! Factory]] Matrix of Leadership Special Edition DVD set, an interview with [[Bob Budiansky]] features close-ups of his original handwritten notes for several characters. Intriguingly, these notes refer to [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] as "her" and the Autobots' "go-to gal" for repairs. While this obviously was not the final direction the character took, it does show that female characters were being considered for inclusion in the cast before someone at Hasbro told Budiansky otherwise.
* In 2013, Hasbro ran a "Fan Built Bot" poll as part of the "[[Thrilling 30]]" celebration, in which fans chose between numerous options to "build" a brand new character-toy for the 30th anniversary retail line, and "male / female" was one of the options. "Female" [[Windblade (G1)|won!]]
* In 2015, another "Fan Built Bot" poll was held for the "[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]" toyline. Femmes won again and we got our first ever [[Torchbearer|all female combiner team!]]
* The ''[[Transformers: BotBots|BotBots]]'' toyline has the largest number of female characters by a ''very'' wide margin. As of Series 5, released barely a year and a quarter after the line's debut, 110 out of 332 characters are female, almost exactly one-third of the cast... and there's several characters who don't have published bios yet, or their bios lack gendered pronouns altogether, so who knows? Of course, ''BotBots'' has a few safeguards against the above-mentioned "they don't sell": the Bots mostly have very gender-neutral designs, and the bios are (mostly) published online rather than on the packaging.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Female Transformers| *]]
[[Category:Generation 1]]
[[Category:Transformer culture]]

Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)

2022-01-22T13:34:27Z

McQTom: /* Beast Wars toys/characters in "ensemble" lines */

{{nav-bw}}

Easily ''the'' most radical move ever made by [[Hasbro]] in ''Transformers'' history, '''''Beast Wars: Transformers''''' (later '''''Transformers: Beast Wars''''') abandoned over a decade's worth of familiar trappings, to drastically re-work the franchise in order to save it from a second (and likely final) cancellation. Now the robots in disguise turned into organic animals. The classic factions were even replaced with the new [[Maximal]]s and [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s.

The initial reaction from the early online [[fandom]] was [[Trukk not munky|less than]] [[Ruined FOREVER|welcoming]]. The reaction from the far larger kid market, however, was strong sales the likes ''Transformers'' hadn't seen in a long time. Backed by a [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|CGI-animated cartoon]], ''Beast Wars'' basically saved ''Transformers'', and has become a beloved piece of the line's history.

[[File:Crosssell-beastwars.jpg|upright=2.2|thumb|In the beginning, came the beasts, and all that creeps, crawls and flies. But nature lies, they're robots in disguise!]]
{{TOC|limit=3}}

==Overview==
[[File:Optimusprimaltoyultraape.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Ultra Maximal Optimus Primal, loaded up with gimmicks.]]
With sales of the [[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|''Generation 2'' toyline]] proving unremarkable, [[Hasbro]] faced a choice: end the ''Transformers'' brand for a second time, or ''drastically'' revamp the concept. They chose the second option, handing the reigns over to their newly acquired [[Kenner]] division. The "Kenner" branding eventually disappeared from the packaging again in favor of "Hasbro" in Europe in 1998, and then in the US and Canada the following year.

While beast-mode Transformers had been around [[Ravage (G1)/toys#Generation 1|since]] [[Laserbeak (G1)/toys#Generation 1|day]] [[Buzzsaw (G1)#Toys|one]], those were robotic beasts. ''Beast Wars'' characters took on the appearance of fully-organic creatures, which also affected their robot-mode looks: while there were "metal" parts, the designs were much more rounded and organic in shape if not texture, the aesthetic inspired by Japanese series ''{{w|Bio Booster Armor Guyver|Guyver}}''.<ref name="vinnie">[http://obscuretf.com/hhk/BC04interviews.html Botcon 2004 Interview with Vinnie D'Alleva], p1</ref> Faces tended towards the bestial or just straight-up inhuman, even moreso with the first year toys's secondary "[[mutant head|Mutant Heads]]".

The old factions were replaced with Maximals and Predacons, with new [[insignia|faction symbols]], though Hasbro/Kenner weren't prepared to ''completely'' abandon ''everything'' classic: the new factions were led by new iterations of [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus]] and [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]], though their appearances were heavily altered. "Transformers" was still part of the toyline's title, but it was shrunk down and placed below the huge, jagged "Beast Wars" logo. The packaging too was distinctly organic, with red scaly skin as the backdrop, and a massive reptilian eye under the bubble for carded figures. The initial waves even used a craggy, rock-like plastic bubble, though that was quickly replaced by a more normal rounded bubble.

While these aesthetic changes were initially shocking to fans used to the classic series, the line had many features that got fans to warm up to it in short order.

[[File:BW-toy WolfangMaximal.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Deluxe Maximal Wolfang, with his extra joints and beast-mode-bits weapons]]

''Beast Wars'' took the popular features of a handful of ''Generation 2'' toys and made them standards across the entire line. Heavy use of [[ball joint]]s gave the figures unprecedented degrees of [[articulation]], often greater than that of the "normal" non-transforming action figures of the time. Robot-mode weapons were either part of the toy's alternate mode, or at least stored inside them rather than needing to be set aside (and more easily lost). Both of these features would become standards for basically every ''Transformers'' line to follow.

Another now-ubiquitous line-wide move was the introduction of a standard [[Size class|system of price points]], dictated by a toy's size, not its [[gimmick]]s. ''Beast Wars'' began with $5 "Basics", $10 "Deluxes", $15 "Megas", and $20 "Ultras", each size class getting physically larger, and packing more and more play features into the toy. (Ultra-class [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Optimus Primal]] is friggin' ''loaded'' with stuff.) Though prices would fluctuate over the years due to inflation or rising production costs, the basic outline of the system continues to be used today.

''Beast Wars'' was an undeniable success, routinely making high sales marks through most of its life, according to toy magazines like ''Tomart's'' (remember when print magazines existed about this hobby?). It typically hovered in the top five best-selling toy lines each month, mostly bested by the newly revived ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' line, the still-strong ''Power Rangers'' and the ''massive'' rise of toys based on [[Dwayne Johnson|professional wrestling]], occasionally popping into the top three places. In fact, when Hasbro elected to revamp the franchise before it could go stale, leading to the direct-sequel, same-main-cast-having [[Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Machines'' toyline]], they also kept ''Beast Wars'' around in a smaller capacity, with a handful of new products and some recolors of classic characters.

{{-}}

==Hasbro ''Beast Wars'' toyline==
===1996===
The first year of the line was a shocker to fans, both for its drastic aesthetic change from what came before, and its technical/design changes that gave the toys far more play value. Basic-class toys all have a spring-loaded one-step [[autotransformation]]. Deluxe and larger toys all have a secondary "[[Mutant head]]" to change their robot-mode appearance.

====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Iguanus (BW)#Toys|Iguanus]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Razorbeast#Toys|Razorbeast]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Terrorsaur (BW)#Toys|Terrorsaur]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 2'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Armordillo#Toys|Armordillo]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Insecticon (BW)#Toys|Insecticon]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Snapper#Toys|Snapper]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Comic 2-pack'''
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Optimus Primal]] vs [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Megatron]]!}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"| 
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=10|[[File:BW-toy Rattrap.jpg|250px|thumb|Basic Rattrap]][[File:Bwmegatron toy.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Ultra-class Megatron. In 1996, this was seriously the most complex Transformer ever.]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Tarantulas]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 1.5'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Cheetor]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 2'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Wolfang (Maximal)#Toys|Wolfang]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 3'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Buzz Saw (BW)#Toys|Buzz Saw]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigatron#Toys|Tigatron]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Megas Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Polar Claw#Toys|Polar Claw]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Scorponok (BW)#Toys|Scorponok]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultras Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#BWultra|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#FirstUltra|Optimus Primal]]}}
|}

====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''BJ's Wholesale Club'''
{{Bp-m1p1|Deluxe Beast Assortment ([[Dinobot (BW)/toys#BJs2pack|Dinobot]] and [[Tigatron#BJs2pack|Tigatron]])}}
{{Bp-m1p1|Deluxe Beast Assortment ([[Rhinox (BW)/toys#BJs2pack|Rhinox]] and [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#BJs2pack|Blackarachnia]])}}
{{Bp-m1p1|Deluxe Beast Assortment ([[Wolfang (Maximal)#BJs2pack|Wolfang]] and [[Buzz Saw (BW)#BJs2pack|Buzz Saw]])}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[McDonald's]]'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Beetle#Toys|Beetle]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Manta Ray (BW)#Toys|Manta Ray]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Panther#Toys|Panther]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhino (BW)#Toys|Rhino]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Under-3#Toys|Under-3]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 1996]]'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Onyx Primal#Toys|Onyx Primal]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Onyx Primal#DealerExclusive|Onyx Primal]] (Dealer exclusive)}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:Manta ray bw toy.jpg|250px|thumb|McDonald's Manta Ray]]
|}</ul>

===1997===
[[File:BW Razorclaw toy.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Basic Razorclaw]]
The second year of the line was primarily a refinement of the first, though every class got changed in some broad-strokes way.

The Basic toys dropped the spring-loaded autotransformation in favor of more complex manual conversions. The "Mutant Heads" feature was dropped from the larger size classes (save for the old-mold redecos/[[retool]]s, of course). Instead of hidden mini-animal partners, this year the Mega class toys had extra "attack modes" that revealed new play gimmicks. The Ultra class toys are not super-huge robots, but teams of three smaller robots who combine into a super-huge robot. (These were also the first new-mold combiner toys (in the US at least) since [[1989]].)

A new line-wide minor [[gimmick]] was added, the "energon chips" which were basically just the old [[insignia|faction symbol]] [[rubsign]]s.
{{-}}
====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
<ul class="iconlist">
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#Toys|Airazor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Razorclaw (BW)#Toys|Razorclaw]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Claw Jaw#Toys|Claw Jaw]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Drill Bit (BW)#Toys|Drill Bit]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 3'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Lazorbeak#Toys|Lazorbeak]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 4'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Powerpinch#Toys|Powerpinch]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Snarl (BW)#Toys|Snarl]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Spittor (BW)#Toys|Spittor]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=3|[[File:BWManterrortoy.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Deluxe Manterror]][[File:BWtoy-Inferno.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Mega Inferno]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cybershark#Toys|Cybershark]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Jetstorm (BW)#Toys|Jetstorm]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Bonecrusher (BW)#Toys|Bonecrusher]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Manterror#Toys|Manterror]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Grimlock (G1)/toys#Beast Wars|Grimlock]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 4'''
{{Bp-m1|[[K-9#Toys|K-9]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Retrax#Toys|Retrax]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Megas Wave 1'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Inferno (BW)#Toys|Inferno]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Megas Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[B'Boom#Toys|B'Boom]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Megas Wave 3'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Transquito#Toys|Transquito]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultra Teams Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Magnaboss (BW)|Magnaboss]] ([[Ironhide (BW)#Toys|Ironhide]], [[Prowl (Magnaboss)#Toys|Prowl]], [[Silverbolt (Magnaboss)#Toys|Silverbolt]])}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Tripredacus#Toys|Tripredacus]] ([[Cicadacon#Toys|Cicadacon]], [[Ram Horn#Toys|Ram Horn]], [[Sea Clamp#Toys|Sea Clamp]])}}
|}
'''Micro Playsets (Europe)'''<ref group="A">In the US, the Arachnid and Orcanoch micro playsets were sold as ''MicroVerse'' products and featured co-branding with the ''Beast Wars'' toyline ([[#MicroVerse toyline|see below]] for more). The [[Europe]]an release of the toys on the other hand, were sold directly as ''Beast Wars'' / ''Biocombat'' products, completely removing the ''MicroVerse''-branding all together.</ref>
{{Bp-m1|[[Orcanoch#Beast Wars|Maximal Orcanoch Micro Playset]] (w/ [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#MicroVerse2|Optimus Primal]] & [[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#MicroVerse2|Tarantulas]])}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Arachnid#Beast Wars|Predacon Arachnid Micro Playset]] (w/ [[Megatron (BW)/toys#MicroVerse2|Megatron]] & [[Razorbeast#MicroVerse2|Razorbeast]])}}

====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 1997]]'''
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Fractyl#Toys|Fractyl]] & [[Packrat#Toys|Packrat]]}}
|}

====Notes====
<references group="A" />
{{-}}

===1998: Fuzors & Transmetals===
This year, the line basically split into two sub-groups. The "normal" beasts became [[Fuzor]]s, robots whose beast modes were mashups of two different animals, leading to some freakishly fanciful creatures. Fuzors were limited to the Basic and Deluxe price-points.

The rest of the line was made up of the [[Transmetal]]s, "Beast Wars turned inside-out": robotic animals with fleshy inner robot parts. Further, the animal modes also had a third pseudo-vehicle form, revealing thrusters or wheels or the like. These modes ended up largely replacing any other [[gimmick]]s in the Deluxe-class Transmetals, leaving things like spring-loaded missiles to the larger size classes. The Transmetals are also overwhelmingly made up of returning show-cast characters, though many of said characters never went Transmetal in the show.

====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Fuzors Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Air Hammer (BW)#Toys|Air Hammer]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Quickstrike (BW)#Toys|Quickstrike]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Fuzors Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Noctorro#Toys|Noctorro]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Terragator#Toys|Terragator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Fuzors Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Bantor (BW)#Toys|Bantor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Buzzclaw (BW)#Toys|Buzzclaw]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=6|[[File:Beast Wars-Air Hammer-toy.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Basic Fuzor Air Hammer]][[File:BW Rampage toy.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Ultra Transmetal Rampage]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic VHS packs (US assortment)'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#VHS|Airazor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Razorclaw (BW)#VHS|Razorclaw]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic VHS packs (European assortment)'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Claw Jaw#VHS|Claw Jaw]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Spittor (BW)#VHS|Spittor]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Fuzors Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)#Toys|Silverbolt]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Sky Shadow (BW)#Toys|Sky Shadow]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Fuzors Wave 2'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Injector (BW)#Toys|Injector]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Fuzors Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Torca (BW)#Toys|Torca]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TM1|Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#TM1|Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#TM1|Tarantulas]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#TM1|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#TM1|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#TM1|Airazor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Terrorsaur (BW)#TM1|Terrorsaur]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Mega Transmetals Wave 1'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#TM1|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#TM1|Optimus Primal]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Mega Transmetals Wave 2'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Scavenger (BW)#Toys|Scavenger]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultra Transmetals Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Depth Charge (BW)#Toys|Depth Charge]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Rampage (BW)#Toys|Rampage]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Super Transmetals Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#OptimalOptimus|Optimal Optimus]]}}
|}
{{-}}
====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[McDonald's]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#MCDTM|Blackarachnia]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Dinobot (BW)/toys#MCDTM|Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Scorponok (BW)#MCDTM|Scorponok]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 1998]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Antagony (BW)#Toys|Antagony]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Vice Grip#Toys|Vice Grip]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:Mcdinobot.jpg|250px|thumb|McDinobot. Not to be confused with MG-Dinobot.]]
|}</ul>

{{-}}

===1999: Transmetals 2===
[[File:BWtoy-SpittorTransmetals2.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Basic Transmetal 2 Spittor]]
The final year of "normal" ''Beast Wars'' (for a given value of "normal"), 1999 was dominated by the [[Transmetal 2|Transmetals 2]], where the "beast bits" and "bot bits" ended up in a mangled, monstrous, asymmetrical amalgamation of torn skin and jutting metal blades in both modes. Lacking the third "vehicle" modes of their predecessors, they went back to having individualized gimmicks, with spring-loaded missile launchers and other "attack" actions making a big return. The "energon chips" were replaced by [[spark crystal]]s, colored glass domes with foil-embossed faction symbols inside.

In addition, a series of special [[redeco]]ed Deluxes was released to "celebrate" the cartoon's move from syndication to the popular [[Fox Kids]] programming block, and thusly get classic show characters back on shelves, as the Transmetals 2 were a bit lacking in that area... albeit these toys came in some pretty un-show-like coloration. Initial Hasbro solicitations gave the toys "power up"-style descriptors, but these did not make it to their final packaging.

This year also saw Hasbro briefly flirt with "[[variant|running change]]" variant decoes on some toys, where the ''entire'' deco changes dramatically while the toy's packaging doesn't change at all. This generally hasn't happened anymore since, with massive deco changes of this sort usually being sold as "new" toys with new SKUs and packaging and etc.
{{-}}
====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Transmetals 2 Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Minor#Toys|Optimus Minor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Scarem#Toys|Scarem]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Sonar (BW)#Toys|Sonar]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Transmetals 2 Wave 2'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Spittor (BW)#TM2|Spittor]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Stinkbomb#Toys|Stinkbomb]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Transmetals 2 Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Nightglider#Toys|Nightglider]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=4|[[File:Ramulustoy.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Deluxe Transmetal 2 Ramulus]][[File:Waspinator-FKtoy.jpg|250px|thumb|"Fox Kids" Waspinator]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals 2 Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TM2|Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Dinobot II#Toys|Dinobot]]<ref group="B" name="dinoprowl">Transmetal 2 Dinobot and Prowl were both released in two different color schemes. The first ones, available in the first few [[wave]]s featuring those figures, feature a white, turquoise, and red coloration for Prowl, and a bone-tan and purple coloration for Dinobot. Several waves in, however, they were both re-shipped as part of Hasbro's early experiments in refreshing a line with same-character [[redeco]] [[variant]]s, with Prowl now colored black, blue, and red, and Dinobot colored bright white with blue. As running change variations, they were sold under the same individual SKUs as the original versions rather than as completely new releases, and their packaging makes no mention of these new color schemes.</ref>}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Ramulus#Toys|Ramulus]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals 2 Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Prowl (TM2)#Toys|Prowl]]<ref group="B" name="dinoprowl"/>}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Scourge (BW)#Toys|Scourge]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals 2 Wave 3'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Iguanus (BW)#TM2|Iguanus]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Jawbreaker#Toys|Jawbreaker]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''"Fox Kids" Deluxes Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#FK|<s>Jungle Roar</s> Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Dinobot (BW)/toys#FK|<s>Live Wire</s> Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#FK|<s>Energon Surge</s> Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#FK|<s>Power Flight</s> Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''"Fox Kids" Deluxes Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#FKTM|<s>Mech-Tech</s> Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#FKTM|<s>Steel Force</s> Tarantulas]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Mega Transmetals 2 Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cybershark#TM2|Cybershark]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Mega Transmetals 2 Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#TM2|Blackarachnia]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultra Transmetals 2 Wave 1'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#TM2|Megatron]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultra Transmetals 2 Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigerhawk#Toys|Tigerhawk]]}}
|}

====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 1999]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Sandstorm (BW)#Toys|Sandstorm]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Windrazor (BW)#Toys|Windrazor]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Walmart'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#WalMart|Rattrap]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:Walmartrattrappackrat.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Walmart Rattrap]]
|}</ul>

====Notes====
<references group="B" />

===2000-2001===
A bit of a last hurrah, ''Beast Wars'' was extended into 2000 at retail, with releases running alongside the new ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline)|Beast Machines]]'' sequel line. This extension was a Deluxe assortment featuring a mixture of [[Fox Kids]]-branded Transmetal redecoes (with large "NEW!" call-outs) and beast-to-beast [[Mutant (BW)|Mutants]], sporting a unique ''Mutant Beast Wars'' logo and numerous cardback-fiction references/similarities to ''Beast Machines''.

====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#FK|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#fktm|Rhinox]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 2'''
{{Bp-mt|[[Poison Bite#Toys|Poison Bite]]}}
{{Bp-mt|[[Razor Claw#Toys|Razor Claw]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#fktm|Airazor]]}}
{{Bp-mt|[[Icebird#Toys|Icebird]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 4'''
{{Bp-mt|[[Soundwave (BW)#Toys|Soundwave]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#FKTM|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:BWtoy-Razor ClawMutant.jpg|250px|thumb|Mutant Razor Claw]]
|}
====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[Walmart]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Ravage (G1)/toys#TM2|Tripredacus Agent]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 2000]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Shokaract#Toys|Shokaract]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 2001]]'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigatron#BotCon2001|Tigatron]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:BWtoy-TigatronTransmetal.jpg|right|thumb|250px|BotCon Tigatron]]
|}
{{-}}

==''MicroVerse'' toyline==
[[File:MicroVerse-logo.png|center|300px]]

[[File:BW orchanoch playset.jpg|thumb|250px|''MicroVerse'' "Maximal Orcanoch Micro Playset"]]
'''''[[MicroVerse]]''''' was a multi-property micro-play toyline produced by Hasbro as a rival to [[Galoob]]'s ''Micro Machines'' toyline, before Hasbro's eventual purchase of Galoob. The line featured co-branded toys from popular mid-90s franchises such as ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', ''{{w|Goosebumps}}'', ''[[Superman]]'' and ''[[Batman]]''. During the [[1997]] run of the ''Beast Wars'' toyline, two ''Beast Wars''-branded micro playsets were released. These slightly-above-Deluxe-size beasts open up into playsets for the included micro-figures of first-year ''Beast Wars'' characters. As mentioned further up in this article, the European releases of these two playsets were released solely as ''Beast Wars'' products and completely ignored the ''MicroVerse''-branding altogether.

:{{Bp-m1|[[Orcanoch#Toys|Maximal Orcanoch Micro Playset]] (w/ [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#MicroVerse|Optimus Primal]] & [[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#MicroVerse|Tarantulas]])}}
:{{Bp-p1|[[Arachnid#Toys|Predacon Arachnid Micro Playset]] (w/ [[Megatron (BW)/toys#MicroVerse|Megatron]] & [[Razorbeast#MicroVerse|Razorbeast]])}}
{{--}}

==Takara ''Transformers: Beast Wars'' toyline==
[[File:Transformers-Beast-Wars-Jpn-Logo.png|center|300px]]
{{main|Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)}}

''Beast Wars'' would not hit Japan until over a year after its Hasbro-market debut, most likely due to waiting for the full first season of the show to finish production so it could be run in its totality in a single stretch, as is the norm for Japanese kids media with toy tie-ins. The show's long production time also resulted in the need for "filler" after that first year, resulting in two Japan-original cartoons and associated toylines before the line returned to the Mainframe show setting for ''Metals''.
{{--}}

==Post-''Beast Wars'' releases==
While "[[The Transformers (toyline)|Generation 1]]" is the undisputed king of the post-series remake, ''Beast Wars'' clocks in at a pretty respectable second place, even having a few mini-lines dedicated to it (even when you discount its [[Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline)|direct sequel]]). For releases on the Takara(Tomy) side of things prior to the brand unification (and ''Masterpiece''), see [[Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)#Post-Beast Wars releases|that toyline's corresponding article]].

===''Beast Wars 10th Anniversary'' (2006)===
{{main|Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary}}
{{toystub}}

===''War for Cybertron: Kingdom'' (2021)===
[[File:WFC-Kingdom Voyager Dinobot.jpg|thumb|250px|''Kingdom'' Dinobot]]
{{main|War for Cybertron: Kingdom}}

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of ''Beast Wars'', ''[[War for Cybertron: Kingdom]]'' introduces modernized, fully articulated figures based on the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon. The line features toys with scrupulously cartoon-accurate robot modes alongside anatomically accurate beast modes. ''Kingdom'' is also the first toyline to prominently feature ''Beast Wars'' and "Generation 1" characters advertised and sold concurrently. The [[C.O.M.B.A.T. System]] introduced in ''[[War for Cybertron: Siege|Siege]]'' and ''[[War for Cybertron: Earthrise|Earthrise]]'' is only compatible with "Beast Era" figures in their robot modes. Additionally, the [[F.O.S.S.I.L. Technology|Fossilizer]] subgroup—consisting of skeletal beasts capable of splitting into weaponry—is introduced to ''Kingdom''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s lineup of ''Beast Wars'' figures.
{{--}}

===''Vintage Beast Wars'' (2021)===
{{main|Vintage (Walmart toyline)#Vintage Beast Wars}}
In 2021, coinciding with the release of ''Kingdom'', Hasbro followed up on the [[Walmart]] exclusive ''Vintage G1'' line of reissues that ran from 2018 to 2020 with another reissue line following the same spirit. ''Vintage Beast Wars'' featured reissues of original 1996 ''Beast Wars'' figures in recreations of the original packaging, though now featuring five languages (English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese) despite the packaging design being based on the original English-only 1996 United States packaging rather than any of the contemporary [[multilingual packaging]] versions.

===''Beast Wars'' toys/characters in "ensemble" lines===
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe'' (2003)]]'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-a1|[[Depth Charge (BW)#Universe (2003)|Depthcharge]]}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Universe (2003)|Optimus Primal]]}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)#Universe (2003)|Silverbolt]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Titanium Series]]'''''
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#Titanium Series|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Titanium Series 2|Optimus Primal]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Titanium Series|Optimal Optimus]]}}
'''''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'''''
{{Bp-a1|[[Lio Convoy#Classics|Leo Prime]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe'' (2008)]]'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Universe (2008)|Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Universe (2008)|Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Lio Convoy#Universe (2008)|Leo Prime]]}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Lio Convoy#Target|Leo Prime]] ([[Target]] exclusive)}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'''''
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Cheetor]] & [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Blackarachnia]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Robot_Heroes|Optimus Primal]] & [[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Tarantulas]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Rattrap]] & [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Rhinox]] & [[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Waspinator]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)#Robot Heroes|Silverbolt]] & [[Megatron (BW)/toys#RHTransmetal|Megatron (Transmetal)]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Tigatron#Robot Heroes|Tigatron]] & [[Inferno (BW)#Robot Heroes|Inferno]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=3|[[File:TFU08-toy Cheetor.jpg|thumb|200px|''Universe'' Cheetor]][[File:Generationstoy-WaspinatorDeluxe.jpg|thumb|200px|''Thrlling 30'' Waspinator]][[File:BotCon2016toy-Airazor.jpg|thumb|200px|BotCon 2016 Airazor]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Transformers: Generations (toyline)#Thrilling 30|Thrilling 30]]'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Generations|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#Generations|Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-d1p1|[[Starscream (G1)/toys#GenLegends|Starscream]] & [[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Generations|Waspinator]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Deluxe|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Kre-O]]'''''
{{Bp-a1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Kre-O|Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-d1|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Kre-O|Decepticon Blackarachnia]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|Kreon Souvenir Figure Set ([[Fractyl#Kre-O|Fractyl]] & [[Rattrap (BW)#Kre-O|Rattrap]])}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Rhinox (BW)#Kre-O|Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-d1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Kre-O|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Tiny Titans]]'''''
{{Bp-d1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#Tiny Titans|Beast Wars Megatron]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Power of the Primes (toyline)|Power of the Primes]]'''''
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Power of the Primes|Evolution Optimal Optimus]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Throne of the Primes#Generations|Throne of the Primes]] ([[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#SDCC2018|Optimal Optimus/Optimus Primal]])}}
'''''[[Transformers R.E.D.|R.E.D. [Robot Enhanced Design]]]'''''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#R.E.D. .5BRobot Enhanced Design.5D|Cheetor]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'''''
{{Bp-m1p1|"Dawn of Future's Past" box set ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Timelines|Axalon Cheetor]], [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Timelines|Axalon Optimus Primal]], [[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Timelines|Axalon Rattrap]], [[Rhinox (BW)#Timelines|Axalon Rhinox]], [[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Timelines|Darksyde Dinobot]])}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#Timelines 2|Airazor]] ([[Transformers Collectors' Club|TFCC]])}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Apelinq (BM)#Timelines|Apelinq]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#Timelines|Darksyde Megatron]] & [[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Timelines|Darksyde Waspinator]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Depth Charge (BW)#Timelines|Depth Charge]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/toys#Timelines|Ultra Mammoth]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"| 
{{Bp-p1|[[Shokaract#Timelines|Hunter]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Lio Convoy#Timelines 2|Lio Convoy]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Packrat#Timelines|Maximal Packrat]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Rampage (BW)#Timelines|Rampage]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Transmutate (BW)#Timelines|Trans-Mutate]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigatron#Timelines 2|Unit 2 (Tigatron)]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Thrustinator|Thrustinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'''''
{{Bp-p1|"Dawn of the [[Predacus#Toys|Predacus]]" box set ([[Cicadacon#Combiner Wars|General Cicadacon]], [[Ram Horn#Combiner Wars|General Ramhorn]], [[Sea Clamp#Combiner Wars|General Sea Clamp]], [[Tarantulas (BW)#Combiner Wars|Predacon Tarantulas]])}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#Combiner Wars|Airazor]] ([[BotCon 2016]])}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Fractyl#Combiner Wars|Fractyl]] with [[Scorponok (BW)#Combiner Wars|Scorponok]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"| 
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#Combiner Wars|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Terrorsaur (BW)#Combiner Wars|Terrorsaur]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigatron#Combiner Wars|Tigatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Under-3#Combiner Wars|Unit-3]]}}
|-
|}
{{note|While the [[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|2003 ''Universe'' toyline]] used several ''Beast Wars'' molds to create new characters, most/all of these new bots lacked bio information (or concurrent fiction) to establish their origins. So they're... sort of ''Beast Wars'' in spirit, but not... really...? Things were getting vague and complex by that point.}}

==Notes==
* The toyline had three different titles over the course of its original run, two of them used concurrently: The front of the packaging was initially branded "Beast Wars: Transformers", whereas on the back of the packaging, the logo had a definite article added, making the title there "Beast Wars: ''The'' Transformers". Presumably, the reason for this was that Hasbro wanted to maintain the [[The Transformers (toyline)|original toyline]]'s name as a [[trademark]]. Beginning with the Fuzors and Transmetals, the front of the packaging had "Transformers" moved to the top position, making the title "Transformers: Beast Wars", whereas the definite article on the back was dropped for good. In international markets, [[multilingual packaging]] got even more complicated:
**The trilingual English/French/Spanish packaging available in Canada and Latin America featured the clunky triple title "Beast Wars·Guerre des Bêtes·Guerra de Bestias", with the location of the "Transformers" title being analogous to the corresponding US packaging. The back of the packaging initially featured a standalone "The·Les·Los Transformers" logo with a trilingual definite article, dropped the definite article with the second waves of the 1996 assortments, but brought the trilingual definite article back with the 1997 assortments and finally dropped the standalone "Transformers" logo on the back for good with the 1998 Fuzor and Transmetal line-ups. Adding to the confusion, the ''cartoon'' was called "Beasties" in English Canada (albeit only on [[YTV]]) and "Robots-Bêtes" in French Canada, thus causing the toyline and cartoon to have two different names (and in English Canada, when viewed on American broadcast channels or on home video).
**European packaging was even more complicated, featuring two different types of trilingual packaging, each with its own sub-variations as time went on: French/Dutch/German featured the double title "Beast Wars/Ani Mutants" (and had the faction name "Predacon" changed to "Predator"). "Transformers" initially wasn't part of the main title at all; instead, only a small ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]''-style (!) "Transformers" logo (without the actual "Generation 2" title, but with a G2-style Autobot insignia) could be found in the lower right corner of the front of the packaging throughout the 1996 and 1997 assortments. Like the corresponding US and Canadian/Latin American packaging, the "Transformers" title was finally moved above the series' main title beginning with the 1998 Fuzor and Transmetal line-ups, including a change to the same font used on US and Canadian/Latin American packaging.
**The other trilingual European packaging variant was English/Spanish/Italian (initially [[co-branding|co-branded]] by Kenner and [[GiG]], with most figures being given an additional name for the Italian market. The Optimus Primal/Megatron (bat/alligator) two-pack and early releases of Mega Polar Claw and Scorponok were simply titled "Beast Wars", with a ''Generation 2''-style "Transformers" logo in the lower right corner of the packaging, like on French/Dutch/German packaging. All subsequent releases in English/Spanish/Italian packaging (including later packaging [[variant]]s of Polar Claw and Scorponok) featured the double title "Beast Wars/Biocombat", with "Transformers" (now in the same font as on US and Canadian/Latin American packaging) placed below "Biocombat". Unlike all other packaging variants, the "Transformers" title remained in that position for the remainder of the line and was never moved above the main title. By the time the Transmetals and Fuzors were introduced, the additional GiG branding was dropped from the packaging entirely, since around this time, a newly-formed Italian Hasbro subsidiary took over distribution of the toys in Italy.
* The early toy-based fictions —the [[Optimus Primal vs Megatron!|mini-comic from the Optimus/Megatron 2-pack]] and the early cardback [[bio]]s— placed the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] on modern-day [[Earth]], and were a bit cagey as to whether the faction leaders were the old bots rebuilt. This was quickly dropped as the [[Mainframe Entertainment|Mainframe]] [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|cartoon]] got underway, definitively making this Optimus and Megatron their own bots on a "new" world.
* ''Beast Wars'' is the first [[Hasbro]] ''Transformers'' line to release a female character at standard retail. ([[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] was beaten to overall Western release by [[Nightracer (G2)|Nightracer]], a [[BotCon 1995]] [[exclusive]] whose characterization was created by the [[Raksha|fan-organizer of the event]].)
* Among some of the [[Transmetal]]s, there can be found several "unofficially" documented variants that revolve around extremely off-colored hues in the vacuum-metalized paint. While the reasoning as to why these variants exist is not actually known, some have speculated that—in the case of [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#TM1|Transmetal Optimus Primal]] and [[Megatron (BW)/toys#TM1|Transmetal Megatron]]—it was either down to a miscommunication at Hasbro/Kenner<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNh4mZvjDYg&ab_channel=Ome9asupreme Ome9asupreme's pink/purple Transmetal Optimus Primal review on YouTube]</ref> or just a very early production variant.<ref name=Dave>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaGouAtS_ys&ab_channel=DavetheUsher DavetheUsher's unboxing of a pink/purple Transmetal Optimus Primal on YouTube]</ref> Whatever the case may be, other Transmetal toys have been known to have color variants. While it is no surprise that the chrome shades can vary between figures (e.g. a yellowish-orange [[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#TM1|Transmetal Tarantulas]] versus a reddish-orange one), most of the known cases that exist are beyond a simple difference in color tone; featuring entirely different chrome colors all together! Due to their obscurity, these variants have become sought after by a lot of ''Beast Wars'' [[completist]]s and can rack up some pretty high prices on the aftermarket. Known variants include: Blue and pink variants of Transmetal Megatron,<ref name=Dave/><ref>[https://tformers.com/three-colors-of-beast-wars-transmetal-megatron-wild-wednesday/37180/news.html Transmetal Megatron color variants on TFormers]</ref> light blue and pink variants of Transmetal Optimus Primal,<ref name=Dave/> and pink variants of [[Airazor (BW)#TM1|Transmetal Airazor]].
**It should also be noted that some online sellers like to claim that they are selling a "variant" of a figure but in reality, it's just sun-faded, leaving the colors in a much lighter shade than what it once was.

===Foreign names===
*''French:'' '''''Ani Mutants''''' (France), '''''Guerre des Bêtes''''' (Canada)
*''Italian:'' '''''Biocombat'''''
*''Spanish:'' '''''Guerra de Bestias''''' (America)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars toylines]]

Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)

2022-01-22T13:30:01Z

McQTom: /* Beast Wars toys/characters in "ensemble" lines */

{{nav-bw}}

Easily ''the'' most radical move ever made by [[Hasbro]] in ''Transformers'' history, '''''Beast Wars: Transformers''''' (later '''''Transformers: Beast Wars''''') abandoned over a decade's worth of familiar trappings, to drastically re-work the franchise in order to save it from a second (and likely final) cancellation. Now the robots in disguise turned into organic animals. The classic factions were even replaced with the new [[Maximal]]s and [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s.

The initial reaction from the early online [[fandom]] was [[Trukk not munky|less than]] [[Ruined FOREVER|welcoming]]. The reaction from the far larger kid market, however, was strong sales the likes ''Transformers'' hadn't seen in a long time. Backed by a [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|CGI-animated cartoon]], ''Beast Wars'' basically saved ''Transformers'', and has become a beloved piece of the line's history.

[[File:Crosssell-beastwars.jpg|upright=2.2|thumb|In the beginning, came the beasts, and all that creeps, crawls and flies. But nature lies, they're robots in disguise!]]
{{TOC|limit=3}}

==Overview==
[[File:Optimusprimaltoyultraape.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Ultra Maximal Optimus Primal, loaded up with gimmicks.]]
With sales of the [[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|''Generation 2'' toyline]] proving unremarkable, [[Hasbro]] faced a choice: end the ''Transformers'' brand for a second time, or ''drastically'' revamp the concept. They chose the second option, handing the reigns over to their newly acquired [[Kenner]] division. The "Kenner" branding eventually disappeared from the packaging again in favor of "Hasbro" in Europe in 1998, and then in the US and Canada the following year.

While beast-mode Transformers had been around [[Ravage (G1)/toys#Generation 1|since]] [[Laserbeak (G1)/toys#Generation 1|day]] [[Buzzsaw (G1)#Toys|one]], those were robotic beasts. ''Beast Wars'' characters took on the appearance of fully-organic creatures, which also affected their robot-mode looks: while there were "metal" parts, the designs were much more rounded and organic in shape if not texture, the aesthetic inspired by Japanese series ''{{w|Bio Booster Armor Guyver|Guyver}}''.<ref name="vinnie">[http://obscuretf.com/hhk/BC04interviews.html Botcon 2004 Interview with Vinnie D'Alleva], p1</ref> Faces tended towards the bestial or just straight-up inhuman, even moreso with the first year toys's secondary "[[mutant head|Mutant Heads]]".

The old factions were replaced with Maximals and Predacons, with new [[insignia|faction symbols]], though Hasbro/Kenner weren't prepared to ''completely'' abandon ''everything'' classic: the new factions were led by new iterations of [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus]] and [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]], though their appearances were heavily altered. "Transformers" was still part of the toyline's title, but it was shrunk down and placed below the huge, jagged "Beast Wars" logo. The packaging too was distinctly organic, with red scaly skin as the backdrop, and a massive reptilian eye under the bubble for carded figures. The initial waves even used a craggy, rock-like plastic bubble, though that was quickly replaced by a more normal rounded bubble.

While these aesthetic changes were initially shocking to fans used to the classic series, the line had many features that got fans to warm up to it in short order.

[[File:BW-toy WolfangMaximal.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Deluxe Maximal Wolfang, with his extra joints and beast-mode-bits weapons]]

''Beast Wars'' took the popular features of a handful of ''Generation 2'' toys and made them standards across the entire line. Heavy use of [[ball joint]]s gave the figures unprecedented degrees of [[articulation]], often greater than that of the "normal" non-transforming action figures of the time. Robot-mode weapons were either part of the toy's alternate mode, or at least stored inside them rather than needing to be set aside (and more easily lost). Both of these features would become standards for basically every ''Transformers'' line to follow.

Another now-ubiquitous line-wide move was the introduction of a standard [[Size class|system of price points]], dictated by a toy's size, not its [[gimmick]]s. ''Beast Wars'' began with $5 "Basics", $10 "Deluxes", $15 "Megas", and $20 "Ultras", each size class getting physically larger, and packing more and more play features into the toy. (Ultra-class [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Optimus Primal]] is friggin' ''loaded'' with stuff.) Though prices would fluctuate over the years due to inflation or rising production costs, the basic outline of the system continues to be used today.

''Beast Wars'' was an undeniable success, routinely making high sales marks through most of its life, according to toy magazines like ''Tomart's'' (remember when print magazines existed about this hobby?). It typically hovered in the top five best-selling toy lines each month, mostly bested by the newly revived ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' line, the still-strong ''Power Rangers'' and the ''massive'' rise of toys based on [[Dwayne Johnson|professional wrestling]], occasionally popping into the top three places. In fact, when Hasbro elected to revamp the franchise before it could go stale, leading to the direct-sequel, same-main-cast-having [[Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Machines'' toyline]], they also kept ''Beast Wars'' around in a smaller capacity, with a handful of new products and some recolors of classic characters.

{{-}}

==Hasbro ''Beast Wars'' toyline==
===1996===
The first year of the line was a shocker to fans, both for its drastic aesthetic change from what came before, and its technical/design changes that gave the toys far more play value. Basic-class toys all have a spring-loaded one-step [[autotransformation]]. Deluxe and larger toys all have a secondary "[[Mutant head]]" to change their robot-mode appearance.

====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Iguanus (BW)#Toys|Iguanus]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Razorbeast#Toys|Razorbeast]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Terrorsaur (BW)#Toys|Terrorsaur]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 2'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Armordillo#Toys|Armordillo]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Insecticon (BW)#Toys|Insecticon]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Snapper#Toys|Snapper]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Comic 2-pack'''
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Optimus Primal]] vs [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Megatron]]!}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"| 
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=10|[[File:BW-toy Rattrap.jpg|250px|thumb|Basic Rattrap]][[File:Bwmegatron toy.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Ultra-class Megatron. In 1996, this was seriously the most complex Transformer ever.]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Tarantulas]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 1.5'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Cheetor]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 2'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Wolfang (Maximal)#Toys|Wolfang]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 3'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Buzz Saw (BW)#Toys|Buzz Saw]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigatron#Toys|Tigatron]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Megas Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Polar Claw#Toys|Polar Claw]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Scorponok (BW)#Toys|Scorponok]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultras Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#BWultra|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#FirstUltra|Optimus Primal]]}}
|}

====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''BJ's Wholesale Club'''
{{Bp-m1p1|Deluxe Beast Assortment ([[Dinobot (BW)/toys#BJs2pack|Dinobot]] and [[Tigatron#BJs2pack|Tigatron]])}}
{{Bp-m1p1|Deluxe Beast Assortment ([[Rhinox (BW)/toys#BJs2pack|Rhinox]] and [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#BJs2pack|Blackarachnia]])}}
{{Bp-m1p1|Deluxe Beast Assortment ([[Wolfang (Maximal)#BJs2pack|Wolfang]] and [[Buzz Saw (BW)#BJs2pack|Buzz Saw]])}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[McDonald's]]'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Beetle#Toys|Beetle]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Manta Ray (BW)#Toys|Manta Ray]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Panther#Toys|Panther]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhino (BW)#Toys|Rhino]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Under-3#Toys|Under-3]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 1996]]'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-p1|[[Onyx Primal#Toys|Onyx Primal]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Onyx Primal#DealerExclusive|Onyx Primal]] (Dealer exclusive)}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:Manta ray bw toy.jpg|250px|thumb|McDonald's Manta Ray]]
|}</ul>

===1997===
[[File:BW Razorclaw toy.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Basic Razorclaw]]
The second year of the line was primarily a refinement of the first, though every class got changed in some broad-strokes way.

The Basic toys dropped the spring-loaded autotransformation in favor of more complex manual conversions. The "Mutant Heads" feature was dropped from the larger size classes (save for the old-mold redecos/[[retool]]s, of course). Instead of hidden mini-animal partners, this year the Mega class toys had extra "attack modes" that revealed new play gimmicks. The Ultra class toys are not super-huge robots, but teams of three smaller robots who combine into a super-huge robot. (These were also the first new-mold combiner toys (in the US at least) since [[1989]].)

A new line-wide minor [[gimmick]] was added, the "energon chips" which were basically just the old [[insignia|faction symbol]] [[rubsign]]s.
{{-}}
====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
<ul class="iconlist">
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#Toys|Airazor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Razorclaw (BW)#Toys|Razorclaw]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Claw Jaw#Toys|Claw Jaw]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Drill Bit (BW)#Toys|Drill Bit]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 3'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Lazorbeak#Toys|Lazorbeak]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basics Wave 4'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Powerpinch#Toys|Powerpinch]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Snarl (BW)#Toys|Snarl]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Spittor (BW)#Toys|Spittor]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=3|[[File:BWManterrortoy.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Deluxe Manterror]][[File:BWtoy-Inferno.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Mega Inferno]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cybershark#Toys|Cybershark]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Jetstorm (BW)#Toys|Jetstorm]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Bonecrusher (BW)#Toys|Bonecrusher]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Manterror#Toys|Manterror]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Grimlock (G1)/toys#Beast Wars|Grimlock]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxes Wave 4'''
{{Bp-m1|[[K-9#Toys|K-9]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Retrax#Toys|Retrax]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Megas Wave 1'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Inferno (BW)#Toys|Inferno]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Megas Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[B'Boom#Toys|B'Boom]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Megas Wave 3'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Transquito#Toys|Transquito]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultra Teams Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Magnaboss (BW)|Magnaboss]] ([[Ironhide (BW)#Toys|Ironhide]], [[Prowl (Magnaboss)#Toys|Prowl]], [[Silverbolt (Magnaboss)#Toys|Silverbolt]])}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Tripredacus#Toys|Tripredacus]] ([[Cicadacon#Toys|Cicadacon]], [[Ram Horn#Toys|Ram Horn]], [[Sea Clamp#Toys|Sea Clamp]])}}
|}
'''Micro Playsets (Europe)'''<ref group="A">In the US, the Arachnid and Orcanoch micro playsets were sold as ''MicroVerse'' products and featured co-branding with the ''Beast Wars'' toyline ([[#MicroVerse toyline|see below]] for more). The [[Europe]]an release of the toys on the other hand, were sold directly as ''Beast Wars'' / ''Biocombat'' products, completely removing the ''MicroVerse''-branding all together.</ref>
{{Bp-m1|[[Orcanoch#Beast Wars|Maximal Orcanoch Micro Playset]] (w/ [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#MicroVerse2|Optimus Primal]] & [[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#MicroVerse2|Tarantulas]])}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Arachnid#Beast Wars|Predacon Arachnid Micro Playset]] (w/ [[Megatron (BW)/toys#MicroVerse2|Megatron]] & [[Razorbeast#MicroVerse2|Razorbeast]])}}

====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 1997]]'''
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Fractyl#Toys|Fractyl]] & [[Packrat#Toys|Packrat]]}}
|}

====Notes====
<references group="A" />
{{-}}

===1998: Fuzors & Transmetals===
This year, the line basically split into two sub-groups. The "normal" beasts became [[Fuzor]]s, robots whose beast modes were mashups of two different animals, leading to some freakishly fanciful creatures. Fuzors were limited to the Basic and Deluxe price-points.

The rest of the line was made up of the [[Transmetal]]s, "Beast Wars turned inside-out": robotic animals with fleshy inner robot parts. Further, the animal modes also had a third pseudo-vehicle form, revealing thrusters or wheels or the like. These modes ended up largely replacing any other [[gimmick]]s in the Deluxe-class Transmetals, leaving things like spring-loaded missiles to the larger size classes. The Transmetals are also overwhelmingly made up of returning show-cast characters, though many of said characters never went Transmetal in the show.

====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Fuzors Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Air Hammer (BW)#Toys|Air Hammer]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Quickstrike (BW)#Toys|Quickstrike]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Fuzors Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Noctorro#Toys|Noctorro]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Terragator#Toys|Terragator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Fuzors Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Bantor (BW)#Toys|Bantor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Buzzclaw (BW)#Toys|Buzzclaw]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=6|[[File:Beast Wars-Air Hammer-toy.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Basic Fuzor Air Hammer]][[File:BW Rampage toy.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Ultra Transmetal Rampage]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic VHS packs (US assortment)'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#VHS|Airazor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Razorclaw (BW)#VHS|Razorclaw]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic VHS packs (European assortment)'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Claw Jaw#VHS|Claw Jaw]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Spittor (BW)#VHS|Spittor]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Fuzors Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)#Toys|Silverbolt]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Sky Shadow (BW)#Toys|Sky Shadow]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Fuzors Wave 2'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Injector (BW)#Toys|Injector]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Fuzors Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Torca (BW)#Toys|Torca]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TM1|Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#TM1|Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#TM1|Tarantulas]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#TM1|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#TM1|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#TM1|Airazor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Terrorsaur (BW)#TM1|Terrorsaur]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Mega Transmetals Wave 1'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#TM1|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#TM1|Optimus Primal]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Mega Transmetals Wave 2'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Scavenger (BW)#Toys|Scavenger]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultra Transmetals Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Depth Charge (BW)#Toys|Depth Charge]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Rampage (BW)#Toys|Rampage]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Super Transmetals Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#OptimalOptimus|Optimal Optimus]]}}
|}
{{-}}
====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[McDonald's]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#MCDTM|Blackarachnia]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Dinobot (BW)/toys#MCDTM|Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Scorponok (BW)#MCDTM|Scorponok]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 1998]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Antagony (BW)#Toys|Antagony]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Vice Grip#Toys|Vice Grip]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:Mcdinobot.jpg|250px|thumb|McDinobot. Not to be confused with MG-Dinobot.]]
|}</ul>

{{-}}

===1999: Transmetals 2===
[[File:BWtoy-SpittorTransmetals2.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Basic Transmetal 2 Spittor]]
The final year of "normal" ''Beast Wars'' (for a given value of "normal"), 1999 was dominated by the [[Transmetal 2|Transmetals 2]], where the "beast bits" and "bot bits" ended up in a mangled, monstrous, asymmetrical amalgamation of torn skin and jutting metal blades in both modes. Lacking the third "vehicle" modes of their predecessors, they went back to having individualized gimmicks, with spring-loaded missile launchers and other "attack" actions making a big return. The "energon chips" were replaced by [[spark crystal]]s, colored glass domes with foil-embossed faction symbols inside.

In addition, a series of special [[redeco]]ed Deluxes was released to "celebrate" the cartoon's move from syndication to the popular [[Fox Kids]] programming block, and thusly get classic show characters back on shelves, as the Transmetals 2 were a bit lacking in that area... albeit these toys came in some pretty un-show-like coloration. Initial Hasbro solicitations gave the toys "power up"-style descriptors, but these did not make it to their final packaging.

This year also saw Hasbro briefly flirt with "[[variant|running change]]" variant decoes on some toys, where the ''entire'' deco changes dramatically while the toy's packaging doesn't change at all. This generally hasn't happened anymore since, with massive deco changes of this sort usually being sold as "new" toys with new SKUs and packaging and etc.
{{-}}
====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Transmetals 2 Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Minor#Toys|Optimus Minor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Scarem#Toys|Scarem]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Sonar (BW)#Toys|Sonar]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Transmetals 2 Wave 2'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Spittor (BW)#TM2|Spittor]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Stinkbomb#Toys|Stinkbomb]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Basic Transmetals 2 Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Nightglider#Toys|Nightglider]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=4|[[File:Ramulustoy.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Deluxe Transmetal 2 Ramulus]][[File:Waspinator-FKtoy.jpg|250px|thumb|"Fox Kids" Waspinator]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals 2 Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TM2|Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Dinobot II#Toys|Dinobot]]<ref group="B" name="dinoprowl">Transmetal 2 Dinobot and Prowl were both released in two different color schemes. The first ones, available in the first few [[wave]]s featuring those figures, feature a white, turquoise, and red coloration for Prowl, and a bone-tan and purple coloration for Dinobot. Several waves in, however, they were both re-shipped as part of Hasbro's early experiments in refreshing a line with same-character [[redeco]] [[variant]]s, with Prowl now colored black, blue, and red, and Dinobot colored bright white with blue. As running change variations, they were sold under the same individual SKUs as the original versions rather than as completely new releases, and their packaging makes no mention of these new color schemes.</ref>}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Ramulus#Toys|Ramulus]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals 2 Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Prowl (TM2)#Toys|Prowl]]<ref group="B" name="dinoprowl"/>}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Scourge (BW)#Toys|Scourge]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Deluxe Transmetals 2 Wave 3'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Iguanus (BW)#TM2|Iguanus]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Jawbreaker#Toys|Jawbreaker]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''"Fox Kids" Deluxes Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#FK|<s>Jungle Roar</s> Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Dinobot (BW)/toys#FK|<s>Live Wire</s> Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#FK|<s>Energon Surge</s> Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#FK|<s>Power Flight</s> Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''"Fox Kids" Deluxes Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#FKTM|<s>Mech-Tech</s> Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#FKTM|<s>Steel Force</s> Tarantulas]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Mega Transmetals 2 Wave 1'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cybershark#TM2|Cybershark]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Mega Transmetals 2 Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#TM2|Blackarachnia]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultra Transmetals 2 Wave 1'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#TM2|Megatron]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Ultra Transmetals 2 Wave 2'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigerhawk#Toys|Tigerhawk]]}}
|}

====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 1999]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Sandstorm (BW)#Toys|Sandstorm]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Windrazor (BW)#Toys|Windrazor]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Walmart'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#WalMart|Rattrap]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:Walmartrattrappackrat.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Walmart Rattrap]]
|}</ul>

====Notes====
<references group="B" />

===2000-2001===
A bit of a last hurrah, ''Beast Wars'' was extended into 2000 at retail, with releases running alongside the new ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline)|Beast Machines]]'' sequel line. This extension was a Deluxe assortment featuring a mixture of [[Fox Kids]]-branded Transmetal redecoes (with large "NEW!" call-outs) and beast-to-beast [[Mutant (BW)|Mutants]], sporting a unique ''Mutant Beast Wars'' logo and numerous cardback-fiction references/similarities to ''Beast Machines''.

====Retail releases====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 1'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#FK|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#fktm|Rhinox]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 2'''
{{Bp-mt|[[Poison Bite#Toys|Poison Bite]]}}
{{Bp-mt|[[Razor Claw#Toys|Razor Claw]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 3'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#fktm|Airazor]]}}
{{Bp-mt|[[Icebird#Toys|Icebird]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''Wave 4'''
{{Bp-mt|[[Soundwave (BW)#Toys|Soundwave]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#FKTM|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:BWtoy-Razor ClawMutant.jpg|250px|thumb|Mutant Razor Claw]]
|}
====Exclusives====
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[Walmart]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Ravage (G1)/toys#TM2|Tripredacus Agent]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 2000]]'''
{{Bp-p1|[[Shokaract#Toys|Shokaract]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''[[BotCon 2001]]'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigatron#BotCon2001|Tigatron]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:BWtoy-TigatronTransmetal.jpg|right|thumb|250px|BotCon Tigatron]]
|}
{{-}}

==''MicroVerse'' toyline==
[[File:MicroVerse-logo.png|center|300px]]

[[File:BW orchanoch playset.jpg|thumb|250px|''MicroVerse'' "Maximal Orcanoch Micro Playset"]]
'''''[[MicroVerse]]''''' was a multi-property micro-play toyline produced by Hasbro as a rival to [[Galoob]]'s ''Micro Machines'' toyline, before Hasbro's eventual purchase of Galoob. The line featured co-branded toys from popular mid-90s franchises such as ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', ''{{w|Goosebumps}}'', ''[[Superman]]'' and ''[[Batman]]''. During the [[1997]] run of the ''Beast Wars'' toyline, two ''Beast Wars''-branded micro playsets were released. These slightly-above-Deluxe-size beasts open up into playsets for the included micro-figures of first-year ''Beast Wars'' characters. As mentioned further up in this article, the European releases of these two playsets were released solely as ''Beast Wars'' products and completely ignored the ''MicroVerse''-branding altogether.

:{{Bp-m1|[[Orcanoch#Toys|Maximal Orcanoch Micro Playset]] (w/ [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#MicroVerse|Optimus Primal]] & [[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#MicroVerse|Tarantulas]])}}
:{{Bp-p1|[[Arachnid#Toys|Predacon Arachnid Micro Playset]] (w/ [[Megatron (BW)/toys#MicroVerse|Megatron]] & [[Razorbeast#MicroVerse|Razorbeast]])}}
{{--}}

==Takara ''Transformers: Beast Wars'' toyline==
[[File:Transformers-Beast-Wars-Jpn-Logo.png|center|300px]]
{{main|Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)}}

''Beast Wars'' would not hit Japan until over a year after its Hasbro-market debut, most likely due to waiting for the full first season of the show to finish production so it could be run in its totality in a single stretch, as is the norm for Japanese kids media with toy tie-ins. The show's long production time also resulted in the need for "filler" after that first year, resulting in two Japan-original cartoons and associated toylines before the line returned to the Mainframe show setting for ''Metals''.
{{--}}

==Post-''Beast Wars'' releases==
While "[[The Transformers (toyline)|Generation 1]]" is the undisputed king of the post-series remake, ''Beast Wars'' clocks in at a pretty respectable second place, even having a few mini-lines dedicated to it (even when you discount its [[Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline)|direct sequel]]). For releases on the Takara(Tomy) side of things prior to the brand unification (and ''Masterpiece''), see [[Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)#Post-Beast Wars releases|that toyline's corresponding article]].

===''Beast Wars 10th Anniversary'' (2006)===
{{main|Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary}}
{{toystub}}

===''War for Cybertron: Kingdom'' (2021)===
[[File:WFC-Kingdom Voyager Dinobot.jpg|thumb|250px|''Kingdom'' Dinobot]]
{{main|War for Cybertron: Kingdom}}

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of ''Beast Wars'', ''[[War for Cybertron: Kingdom]]'' introduces modernized, fully articulated figures based on the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon. The line features toys with scrupulously cartoon-accurate robot modes alongside anatomically accurate beast modes. ''Kingdom'' is also the first toyline to prominently feature ''Beast Wars'' and "Generation 1" characters advertised and sold concurrently. The [[C.O.M.B.A.T. System]] introduced in ''[[War for Cybertron: Siege|Siege]]'' and ''[[War for Cybertron: Earthrise|Earthrise]]'' is only compatible with "Beast Era" figures in their robot modes. Additionally, the [[F.O.S.S.I.L. Technology|Fossilizer]] subgroup—consisting of skeletal beasts capable of splitting into weaponry—is introduced to ''Kingdom''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s lineup of ''Beast Wars'' figures.
{{--}}

===''Vintage Beast Wars'' (2021)===
{{main|Vintage (Walmart toyline)#Vintage Beast Wars}}
In 2021, coinciding with the release of ''Kingdom'', Hasbro followed up on the [[Walmart]] exclusive ''Vintage G1'' line of reissues that ran from 2018 to 2020 with another reissue line following the same spirit. ''Vintage Beast Wars'' featured reissues of original 1996 ''Beast Wars'' figures in recreations of the original packaging, though now featuring five languages (English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese) despite the packaging design being based on the original English-only 1996 United States packaging rather than any of the contemporary [[multilingual packaging]] versions.

===''Beast Wars'' toys/characters in "ensemble" lines===
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|Universe'' (2003)]]'''
<ul class="iconlist">
{{Bp-a1|[[Depth Charge (BW)#Universe (2003)|Depthcharge]]}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Universe (2003)|Optimus Primal]]}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)#Universe (2003)|Silverbolt]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Titanium Series]]'''''
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#Titanium Series|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Titanium Series 2|Optimus Primal]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Titanium Series|Optimal Optimus]]}}
'''''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'''''
{{Bp-a1|[[Lio Convoy#Classics|Leo Prime]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe'' (2008)]]'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Universe (2008)|Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Universe (2008)|Dinobot]]}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Lio Convoy#Universe (2008)|Leo Prime]]}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Lio Convoy#Target|Leo Prime]] ([[Target]] exclusive)}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Robot Heroes (toyline)|Robot Heroes]]'''''
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Cheetor]] & [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Blackarachnia]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Beast Wars series|Optimus Primal]] & [[Tarantulas (BW)#Robot Heroes|Predacon Tarantulas]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Rattrap (BW)#Robot Heroes|Rattrap]] & [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Robot Heroes|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Rhinox (BW)#Robot Heroes|Rhinox]] & [[Waspinator (BW)#Robot Heroes|Waspinator]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)#Robot Heroes|Silverbolt]] & [[Megatron (BW)/toys#RHTransmetal|Megatron (Transmetal)]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|[[Tigatron#Robot Heroes|Tigatron]] & [[Inferno (BW)#Robot Heroes|Inferno]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=3|[[File:TFU08-toy Cheetor.jpg|thumb|200px|''Universe'' Cheetor]][[File:Generationstoy-WaspinatorDeluxe.jpg|thumb|200px|''Thrlling 30'' Waspinator]][[File:BotCon2016toy-Airazor.jpg|thumb|200px|BotCon 2016 Airazor]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Transformers: Generations (toyline)#Thrilling 30|Thrilling 30]]'''
{{Bp-m1|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Generations|Rattrap]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Rhinox (BW)/toys#Generations|Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-d1p1|[[Starscream (G1)/toys#GenLegends|Starscream]] & [[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Generations|Waspinator]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Deluxe|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Kre-O]]'''''
{{Bp-a1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Kre-O|Cheetor]]}}
{{Bp-d1|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Kre-O|Decepticon Blackarachnia]]}}
{{Bp-m1p1|Kreon Souvenir Figure Set ([[Fractyl#Kre-O|Fractyl]] & [[Rattrap (BW)#Kre-O|Rattrap]])}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Rhinox (BW)#Kre-O|Rhinox]]}}
{{Bp-d1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Kre-O|Waspinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Tiny Titans]]'''''
{{Bp-d1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#Tiny Titans|Beast Wars Megatron]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Power of the Primes (toyline)|Power of the Primes]]'''''
{{Bp-m1|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Power of the Primes|Evolution Optimal Optimus]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Throne of the Primes#Generations|Throne of the Primes]] ([[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#SDCC2018|Optimal Optimus/Optimus Primal]])}}
'''''[[Transformers R.E.D.|R.E.D. [Robot Enhanced Design]]]'''''
{{Bp-m1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#R.E.D. .5BRobot Enhanced Design.5D|Cheetor]]}}
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'''''
{{Bp-m1p1|"Dawn of Future's Past" box set ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Timelines|Axalon Cheetor]], [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Timelines|Axalon Optimus Primal]], [[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Timelines|Axalon Rattrap]], [[Rhinox (BW)#Timelines|Axalon Rhinox]], [[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Timelines|Darksyde Dinobot]])}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#Timelines 2|Airazor]] ([[Transformers Collectors' Club|TFCC]])}}
{{Bp-a1|[[Apelinq (BM)#Timelines|Apelinq]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#Timelines|Darksyde Megatron]] & [[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Timelines|Darksyde Waspinator]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Depth Charge (BW)#Timelines|Depth Charge]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/toys#Timelines|Ultra Mammoth]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"| 
{{Bp-p1|[[Shokaract#Timelines|Hunter]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Lio Convoy#Timelines 2|Lio Convoy]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Packrat#Timelines|Maximal Packrat]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Rampage (BW)#Timelines|Rampage]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Transmutate (BW)#Timelines|Trans-Mutate]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigatron#Timelines 2|Unit 2 (Tigatron)]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Thrustinator|Thrustinator]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|'''''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'''''
{{Bp-p1|"Dawn of the [[Predacus#Toys|Predacus]]" box set ([[Cicadacon#Combiner Wars|General Cicadacon]], [[Ram Horn#Combiner Wars|General Ramhorn]], [[Sea Clamp#Combiner Wars|General Sea Clamp]], [[Tarantulas (BW)#Combiner Wars|Predacon Tarantulas]])}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Airazor (BW)#Combiner Wars|Airazor]] ([[BotCon 2016]])}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Fractyl#Combiner Wars|Fractyl]] with [[Scorponok (BW)#Combiner Wars|Scorponok]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"| 
{{Bp-p1|[[Megatron (BW)/toys#Combiner Wars|Megatron]]}}
{{Bp-p1|[[Terrorsaur (BW)#Combiner Wars|Terrorsaur]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Tigatron#Combiner Wars|Tigatron]]}}
{{Bp-m1|[[Under-3#Combiner Wars|Unit-3]]}}
|-
|}
{{note|While the [[Transformers: Universe (2003 toyline)|2003 ''Universe'' toyline]] used several ''Beast Wars'' molds to create new characters, most/all of these new bots lacked bio information (or concurrent fiction) to establish their origins. So they're... sort of ''Beast Wars'' in spirit, but not... really...? Things were getting vague and complex by that point.}}

==Notes==
* The toyline had three different titles over the course of its original run, two of them used concurrently: The front of the packaging was initially branded "Beast Wars: Transformers", whereas on the back of the packaging, the logo had a definite article added, making the title there "Beast Wars: ''The'' Transformers". Presumably, the reason for this was that Hasbro wanted to maintain the [[The Transformers (toyline)|original toyline]]'s name as a [[trademark]]. Beginning with the Fuzors and Transmetals, the front of the packaging had "Transformers" moved to the top position, making the title "Transformers: Beast Wars", whereas the definite article on the back was dropped for good. In international markets, [[multilingual packaging]] got even more complicated:
**The trilingual English/French/Spanish packaging available in Canada and Latin America featured the clunky triple title "Beast Wars·Guerre des Bêtes·Guerra de Bestias", with the location of the "Transformers" title being analogous to the corresponding US packaging. The back of the packaging initially featured a standalone "The·Les·Los Transformers" logo with a trilingual definite article, dropped the definite article with the second waves of the 1996 assortments, but brought the trilingual definite article back with the 1997 assortments and finally dropped the standalone "Transformers" logo on the back for good with the 1998 Fuzor and Transmetal line-ups. Adding to the confusion, the ''cartoon'' was called "Beasties" in English Canada (albeit only on [[YTV]]) and "Robots-Bêtes" in French Canada, thus causing the toyline and cartoon to have two different names (and in English Canada, when viewed on American broadcast channels or on home video).
**European packaging was even more complicated, featuring two different types of trilingual packaging, each with its own sub-variations as time went on: French/Dutch/German featured the double title "Beast Wars/Ani Mutants" (and had the faction name "Predacon" changed to "Predator"). "Transformers" initially wasn't part of the main title at all; instead, only a small ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]''-style (!) "Transformers" logo (without the actual "Generation 2" title, but with a G2-style Autobot insignia) could be found in the lower right corner of the front of the packaging throughout the 1996 and 1997 assortments. Like the corresponding US and Canadian/Latin American packaging, the "Transformers" title was finally moved above the series' main title beginning with the 1998 Fuzor and Transmetal line-ups, including a change to the same font used on US and Canadian/Latin American packaging.
**The other trilingual European packaging variant was English/Spanish/Italian (initially [[co-branding|co-branded]] by Kenner and [[GiG]], with most figures being given an additional name for the Italian market. The Optimus Primal/Megatron (bat/alligator) two-pack and early releases of Mega Polar Claw and Scorponok were simply titled "Beast Wars", with a ''Generation 2''-style "Transformers" logo in the lower right corner of the packaging, like on French/Dutch/German packaging. All subsequent releases in English/Spanish/Italian packaging (including later packaging [[variant]]s of Polar Claw and Scorponok) featured the double title "Beast Wars/Biocombat", with "Transformers" (now in the same font as on US and Canadian/Latin American packaging) placed below "Biocombat". Unlike all other packaging variants, the "Transformers" title remained in that position for the remainder of the line and was never moved above the main title. By the time the Transmetals and Fuzors were introduced, the additional GiG branding was dropped from the packaging entirely, since around this time, a newly-formed Italian Hasbro subsidiary took over distribution of the toys in Italy.
* The early toy-based fictions —the [[Optimus Primal vs Megatron!|mini-comic from the Optimus/Megatron 2-pack]] and the early cardback [[bio]]s— placed the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] on modern-day [[Earth]], and were a bit cagey as to whether the faction leaders were the old bots rebuilt. This was quickly dropped as the [[Mainframe Entertainment|Mainframe]] [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|cartoon]] got underway, definitively making this Optimus and Megatron their own bots on a "new" world.
* ''Beast Wars'' is the first [[Hasbro]] ''Transformers'' line to release a female character at standard retail. ([[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] was beaten to overall Western release by [[Nightracer (G2)|Nightracer]], a [[BotCon 1995]] [[exclusive]] whose characterization was created by the [[Raksha|fan-organizer of the event]].)
* Among some of the [[Transmetal]]s, there can be found several "unofficially" documented variants that revolve around extremely off-colored hues in the vacuum-metalized paint. While the reasoning as to why these variants exist is not actually known, some have speculated that—in the case of [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#TM1|Transmetal Optimus Primal]] and [[Megatron (BW)/toys#TM1|Transmetal Megatron]]—it was either down to a miscommunication at Hasbro/Kenner<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNh4mZvjDYg&ab_channel=Ome9asupreme Ome9asupreme's pink/purple Transmetal Optimus Primal review on YouTube]</ref> or just a very early production variant.<ref name=Dave>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaGouAtS_ys&ab_channel=DavetheUsher DavetheUsher's unboxing of a pink/purple Transmetal Optimus Primal on YouTube]</ref> Whatever the case may be, other Transmetal toys have been known to have color variants. While it is no surprise that the chrome shades can vary between figures (e.g. a yellowish-orange [[Tarantulas (BW)/toys#TM1|Transmetal Tarantulas]] versus a reddish-orange one), most of the known cases that exist are beyond a simple difference in color tone; featuring entirely different chrome colors all together! Due to their obscurity, these variants have become sought after by a lot of ''Beast Wars'' [[completist]]s and can rack up some pretty high prices on the aftermarket. Known variants include: Blue and pink variants of Transmetal Megatron,<ref name=Dave/><ref>[https://tformers.com/three-colors-of-beast-wars-transmetal-megatron-wild-wednesday/37180/news.html Transmetal Megatron color variants on TFormers]</ref> light blue and pink variants of Transmetal Optimus Primal,<ref name=Dave/> and pink variants of [[Airazor (BW)#TM1|Transmetal Airazor]].
**It should also be noted that some online sellers like to claim that they are selling a "variant" of a figure but in reality, it's just sun-faded, leaving the colors in a much lighter shade than what it once was.

===Foreign names===
*''French:'' '''''Ani Mutants''''' (France), '''''Guerre des Bêtes''''' (Canada)
*''Italian:'' '''''Biocombat'''''
*''Spanish:'' '''''Guerra de Bestias''''' (America)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars toylines]]

Double Dinobot

2020-04-16T12:39:07Z

McQTom: /* Continuity errors */

{{episode
|series=BWtoon
|ep=14
|series2=BWJtoon
|ep2=17
|prev2=Dark Designs
|next2=Spider's Game
|image=Dinobot mirror.jpg
|caption="Hmm. He looks good, but is he tasty...?"
|title="Double Dinobot"
|production company=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|airdate= [[November 5]], [[1996]]
|written by=[[Rowby Goren]]
|directed by=[[John Pozer]]
|animation studio=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|continuity= [[Beast Wars continuity]]
}}

'''Megatron creates a non-transforming clone of Dinobot in an effort to disable Sentinel'''.

==Synopsis==
[[File:Double Dinobot Megatron clone.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Isn't he cute?]]
[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] creates a ''Velociraptor'' clone based on the [[DNA]] of the [[Maximal]] [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]], [[Clone One]], which also possesses a copy of Dinobot's mind.

[[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] attacks the real Dinobot while on patrol, leading the Maximal into a cave where a swift move allows Terrorsaur to escape and bury Dinobot in a cave-in. Meanwhile, Clone One is sent to infiltrate the [[Axalon (BW)|Maximal base]] in his place. Clone One tells [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] that there's a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] camp in [[Grid Omega]] and insists Primal himself should go. Primal instead sends the Clone and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] to fix the camp's exact location.

[[File:Double Dinobot Rattrap clone.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|What's funnier? Seeing someone falling off a log, or causing someone to fall off a log and then laughing at them for falling off.]]
Rattrap transforms to attack the alleged base and ''almost'' discovers the Clone's inability to transform, but stands down when the Clone reminds him this is a ''recon'' mission. Rattrap is puzzled by this uncharacteristic show of restraint, but stands down. While crossing an open lava flow, Clone One kicks the bridge out from under Rattrap, apparently sending him to his death.

In the meantime, the real Dinobot digs himself out of the rubble in the cave.

[[File:Double Dinobot Clone shock.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|This is what really wiped out the dinosaurs.]]
Clone One returns to the ''Axalon'' (now crewed only by Optimus Primal) and fakes an injury, telling Primal that they discovered the Predacon camp under cover of a "stealth device" and Rattrap is trapped. Despite having just received a report from Rhinox that Grid Omega shows no signs of Predacon activity, Optimus Primal activates [[Sentinel (BW)|Sentinel]] and leaves to rescue Rattrap. Clone One struggles to deactivate the shield without Dinobot's authorization codes and is repeatedly shocked by Sentinel, who recognises him as Dinobot, but doesn't detect a Maximal [[spark]].

Optimus Primal and [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] rendezvous in Grid Omega, where they pick up Rattrap's trail. Rattrap, who landed on a chunk of rock, rides it along the lava flow, but is forced to leap for his life when the flow becomes a lava waterfall. He lands up on a ledge and then {{w|Rocket jumping|grenade jumps}} back to stable ground, where he encounters Cheetor and Primal and informs them of "Dinobot"'s treachery.

Meanwhile, the real Dinobot returns to the ''Axalon'' and deactivates the perimeter shield. Clone One believes he has finally succeeded and summons Megatron. The two Dinobots come face to face and are momentarily baffled as their identical reflexes cause them to mirror one another's reactions. Clone One realizes the situation first and attacks, but Dinobot transforms and challenges his clone to a fight. Discovering that his double cannot transform, Dinobot returns to [[beast mode]] and the two fight on equal terms. The Clone is losing ground, but a lucky blow appears to knock Dinobot unconscious. Clone One eagerly goes to meet Megatron, not realizing that Dinobot was playing [[robotopossum]].

[[File:Double Dinobot Dinobot teeth.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|"...Mmmm, he was quite tasty."]]
Dinobot poses as his clone and greets Megatron outside the base and flatters his ego while discovering his plan to ambush the Maximals as they return from Grid Omega then use their own defense grid to finish them off. Dinobot activates the perimeter shield just as Megatron is walking through it, shocking him badly. Megatron initially believes the clone has betrayed him just as Dinobot did, but is cheered to learn that's not the case. With the arrival of the other Maximals, Megatron retreats.

The Maximals survey the damaged command center in dismay and inquire what happened to the clone. Dinobot informs them that it is gone for good…and was 'quite tasty'.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=
*[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] (6)
*[[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] (7)
*[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] (8)
*[[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] (9)
*[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] (10)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=
*[[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] (1)
*[[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] (2)
*[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (3)
*[[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] (4)
*[[Clone One]] (5)
}}

==Quotes==
"At last, an ''end'' to the boredom!"
:—'''Dinobot''', delighted to be attacked

"Peaceful as an R-chamber. Looks like old chopper face is seein' things."
:—'''Rattrap'''

"I just knew I smelled a rat... and it wasn't even ''me!''"
:—'''Rattrap''' jumps to the wrong conclusion.

"What in the Inferno are you?" 
"What you might have been, had you not betrayed Megatron."
:—'''Dinobot''' meets '''Clone One'''

"Ooh, your brilliance is an inspiration to me!" 
"Oh, you are an enchanting creature! I may just clone the rest of my troops."
:—'''Dinobot''' posing as his clone, to '''Megatron'''

"You're ''disgusting.''" 
:—'''Optimus''' expresses his thoughts of '''Dinobot's''' actions

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
*With all the focus on Dinobot's beast mode, not to mention Clone One's rather theatrical body language, this episode really demonstrates the limitations of their CG model. It contorts in strange ways and continuously clips through itself in various places.
*When the bolts and rivets fly off the cloning chamber, there's no screw-holes remaining in their place, the metal remains intact.
*When Clone One is called a "ZombieBot" by Scorponok, and when he growls and bites at him, Tigatron's scream is heard instead.
*As Dinobot approaches the cave Terrorsaur flew into, for a moment the "camera" clips into some rocks on the right side of the screen.
*More of an oddity than an error, but due to the angle the shot was rendered in, as Dinobot transforms into [[robot mode]] to enter the cave, you may notice how his robot torso and sword miraculously appear in shrunken form behind or above (but clearly separate from) his dinosaur mode, before merging with the rest of his body to complete transformation. Later, as he tries to fight his clone, the robot torso correctly appears from within the beast's body.
*When Terrorsaur creates a cave-in to trap Dinobot, the latter briefly clips through the screen as the "camera" pulls out. His left hand then passes through his sword, and as he hurries into the cave, he clips into the screen again, very briefly giving us a view of the insides of his animation model's head.
*When Megatron orders the clone to go, his left hand clips completely through the console on his seat.
*The circular compartment in the middle of the table that Rattrap emerges out of has a ''very'' pixelated rim around it.
*After Clone One has kicked Rattrap's log off the ledge, he begins to leave, but instead of turning and beginning to walk convincingly, his body just awkwardly kinda contorts itself before the shot cuts.
*When Rattrap grabs a hold of the ledge after escaping the lava fall, he seems to have a double-hand: one which holds onto the rock and one that's actually attached to him. You can see the two hands' joints merging in and out of each other as he hangs there, and the stationary hand's joint even stays there as he pulls himself up.
*When Rattrap blows his way out of his predicament, the smoke of the explosion is very blocky and low-res.
*When the clone opens wide to snap at the real Dinobot, the inside of his maw is really messed up, and the lower part of his jaw folds over itself.
*During the clash between the Dinobots, the one who gets launched forward by the chair has some very weird things going on with his body. Namely, it gets so distorted, that the point where the legs meet the torso seemingly turn inside out, and flesh that wasn't there before (or afterwards) juts out of his sides. Also, while barely noticeable, his left arm jumps out of position for just a frame a few seconds before the chair hits him.

===Continuity errors===
* Phase One of Megatron's plan is basically "kill Dinobot", a job he dispatches Terrorsaur to take care of with seemingly no worry that he will fail. He doesn't normally display this level of faith in Terrorsaur's abilities. (Also, if "Kill Dinobot" is that easy, then the next phases should probably be "kill Rattrap", "kill Cheetor", etc.)
* Although Clone One failed in this particular situation, the overall experiment was a success. One wonders why Megatron didn't just create a whole herd of Dinobot clones. Even in Beast Mode, they'd be useful for boosting his numbers. (For that matter, if all it takes is a small, easily obtainable piece of DNA, we run into the same problem that we had back in "[[A Prime Problem]]"... why not clone Primal, or himself?)
*Although this episode necessarily takes place after the introduction of Sentinel in "[[A Better Mousetrap]]", when Dinobot activates the perimeter shield to betray Megatron, the appearance of the shield is that of the old green one, rather than the new silver one.

===Continuity notes===
* The Beast Warriors possess DNA, either instead of or in addition to the [[CNA]] that other versions of Cybertronians have. Presumably this stems from their organic beast modes; ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' would confirm that their beast modes incorporated organic material.
* The chamber Dinobot's clone was created in appears to be an extensively refitted Predacon [[CR chamber|R-Chamber]].
* Dinobot makes a couple of references to the still-to-be-renamed [[Pit|Inferno]].
* Rattrap gets to co-op Primal's catchphrase when he lets out a sarcastic "that's just prime" after finding out that the clone has been left in the base alone.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Rattrap once again makes use of the grenades stored in his forarms when he does his rocket-jump trick with the boulder.
** More of a skill than a power, but this episode establishes than Megatron is really quite good at this whole cloning business. He will do it at least [[Cutting Edge|twice]] [[Feral Scream Part 1|more]].

===Transformers references===
* Clone One addresses the Predacon leader as "Mighty Megatron", a phrase often in the original cartoon to describe the [[Megatron (G1) | Decepticon Leader]].

===Real-world references===
* Megatron creates the Dinobot clone in the middle of a dramatic lightning storm, as is {{w|Frankenstein|tradition}} when cartoon super-villains use mad science to create life. The references are less subtle [[Feral Scream Part 1|next time]].

===Trivia===
* Clone One's skin will later be seen on the wall of Dinobot's room.
* Megatron was extremely pleased to learn the clone had not betrayed him. Had Dinobot led him to think his clones were unreliable, it probably would have saved the Maximals a lot of trouble…. ''Ah, hindsight.''
* When Dinobot first encounters his clone, and the two mimic each other's movements, it is perhaps a reference to the famous mirror scene from the Marx Brothers movie {{w|Duck Soup (1933 film)|Duck Soup}}.
*While the Dinobot clone is trying to deactivate Sentinel, a holographic Maximal logo appears with [[Cybertronix]] writing under it saying "who is this putz scally user". Then the shot changes to behind the projection as some more text appears next to a diagram that says "hey ian go f**k yourself", making one wonder what either [[Ian James Corlett]] or [[Ian Pearson]] did to piss off an animator. Then the words 'Merv Griffin' display.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Le Clone'''" ("The Clone")

:*''Title:'' "'''Double DinoBot'''" (Canada)

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Il vero e il falso'''" ("The Real and the Fake")

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Dinobot ga Futari ni?'''" (ダイノボットが二人に?, "Two Dinobots?")
::*''Original airdate:'' [[January 21|21 January]] [[1997]]
::* For comedic effect, the [[Clone One|Clone Dinobot]] speaks with a whiney, high-pitched voice rather than an identical copy of Dinobot's tone (which seems like it would be a dead giveaway that he's a fake, but hey). In fact, he also gets Dinobot's verbal tic wrong. Rather than hiss and repeat the noise ''-da'', the Clone Dinobot instead wheezes ''-de''. One other unique aspect of the Clone Dinobot's voice is his distinctive, ''incredibly goofy'' laugh. Something along the lines of, ''Goooo hoo hoo hoo hooooo''.
::* When the real Dinobot reveals his ruse to Megatron near the end of the episode by transforming, Megatron laments, "So, you have killed my ''adorable'' clone. ''And he was so cute...''"
::*In this version, Dinobot ate his clone with julienned cabbages and bell peppers with some {{w|mirin}}, salt and pepper

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Dinobot Duplo'''" ("Double Dinobot")

'''Spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''El Doble de Dinobot'''" (America, "The Double Dinobot")

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Zhēn Jiǎ Kǒnglóng'''" (真假恐龙, "The true or false Dinobot")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — There are 2 Dinobots? ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2001 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 3 ([[Universal]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Predacon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — English and Japanese audio.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete First Season ([[Rhino Entertainment|Rhinomation]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 2005 — ''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes: Volume 2 — The Saga Continues! ([[Alliance Atlantis]]) — English and French audio. 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 2005 — ''Beast Wars'' — The Complete First Season (Alliance Atlantis) — English and French audio. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers: Beast Wars'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)

[[Category:Beast Wars episodes]]

Equal Measures

2020-04-03T07:39:49Z

McQTom: /* Synopsis */

{{episode
|series=BWtoon
|ep=4
|image=Equal Measures Cheetor darksyde.jpg
|caption=Later they discovered Cheetor was sitting on the self-destruct button.
|title="Equal Measures"
|production company=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|airdate=[[September 23]], 1996
|written by=[[Greg Johnson]]
|directed by=[[T.W. Peacocke]]
|animation studio=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|continuity=[[Beast Wars continuity]]
|packaged with=[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|Cheetor]], [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Beast Wars Telemocha Series|Megatron]]
}}

'''Dinobot manipulates both Maximals and Predacons around a teleporter that Cheetor has unintentionally developed between both bases.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] watches a bolt of lightning shatter a mountain, revealing a cache of [[energon]]. Because of the hazardous conditions, he radios to his team to abort their current operation. The storm garbles the transmission, though, preventing the other [[Maximal]]s from receiving it.

[[File:Dinobotbulliescheetor.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Something we've seen all too often.]]
The mission involves [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] monitoring devices designed by [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]], who has just gotten done building the last of them. Impatient to get going, [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] carelessly plays with one of [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]'s projects, a ''time bomb'', and accidentally drops it out the floor hatch... where it's caught by a returning Optimus, who reiterates his order for the mission to be scrubbed. Everyone's clearly upset over the development, not believing the storm to be that severe yet, but Primal is adamant; it'll have to wait until later. Dejected, everyone returns to quarters to wait out the storm.

In Cheetor's quarters, Dinobot meets with the cat-bot and endorses the mission being continued regardless of the danger from the weather and the energon. He points out that Primal clearly treats Cheetor like a child, even though with his speed, the cat-bot could easily outrun the storm and plant the devices before it hits. This appeal to vanity works, and Cheetor sneaks out to complete the mission.

[[File:Equal Measures Cheetor monitoring device.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|This wireless Broadband box is rubbish!]]
In the field, Cheetor plants survey apparatuses in quick succession, but a bolt of lightning causes the cat accidentally to plant one of the posts dangerously close to an energon vein. He tries to remove the device and correct his mistake, but in the middle of his struggle, a second lightning bolt hits, and he finds himself suddenly teleported — onto a control panel in the [[Darksyde (BW)|Predacon base]]!

[[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] "welcomes" Cheetor and attacks the Maximal, but Cheetor grabs a hover-platform and tries to escape. After being knocked off the platform, Cheetor lunges at Terrorsaur and pushes the Predacon onto the control panel he'd just arrived on, causing Terrorsaur to vanish. [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] arrive and chase Cheetor around the Predacon base, but lose him in the ventilation shafts.

[[File:Cheetorsurprised.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Shouldn't have had the vindaloo last night.]]
Meanwhile, Terrorsaur finds himself in the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'' command center, where he's given a warm reception by Dinobot. However, the former Predacon is more concerned over how Terrorsaur arrived at the Maximal base, eventually working out that a freak combination of the survey devices, the storm, and the energon created a transporter link between the two bases. Using this to his advantage, Terrorsaur seems to convince Dinobot into forming an alliance, suggesting they scrap the Maximals, then take over the Predacons and rule together... until Dinobot drops the charade and unceremoniously flushes the Pred out of the ''Axalon'' through a waste disposal unit.

Back at the Predacon base, Cheetor continues to flee while avoiding fire from Waspinator. He sneaks away from the two long enough to hack the Predacons' data files, and determines that both bases sit on a common underground Energon vein, so an explosion at one base would cause a chain reaction that would obliterate both ships. Cheetor is discovered as soon as he downloads this data to a disk.

At the Maximal base, Optimus confronts Dinobot on Cheetor's whereabouts. Dinobot tells him about the link and how the cat-bot has "surely" been destroyed by now, but convinces him that they could use the link to annihilate the Predacon base with the bomb, a plan Primal only agrees to as long as the bomb's timer is set with enough time to allow the Preds to evacuate. Just as the bomb is sent, though, Cheetor tosses the disk with the energon vein data onto the console, transporting both items simultaneously.

[[File:Crispyterrorsaur.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Would you like me original, or extra crispy?]]
The Predacons finally corner Cheetor, but the bomb has magnetically locked itself onto the Pred console, forcing Megatron to let him go so he can release it. With a few seconds left, Cheetor throws it up to Terrorsaur, who flies it out of the base (and is blown up with it), while Cheetor escapes through the link. The Predacons' errant shots destroy the console instead. Furthermore, his return trip to the ''Axalon'' shatters all of the survey posts he's planted, ensuring the link is severed for good.

Afterwards, Rhinox and [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] congratulate Cheetor's prevention of the Maximal base from being destroyed by their own explosive, while Dinobot is in a bad mood as usual and leaves—though Cheetor apparently didn't tell anyone that Dinobot talked him into the whole thing. Primal still commands Cheetor to take more care to obey direct orders. Cheetor says he will—except when he doesn't—and scampers off, leaving Optimus steamed up with Rhinox and Rattrap to have a jolly laugh. But Optimus figures out Cheetor was funny, and gets in the jolly laugh with Rhinox and Rattrap.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s
|c1=
*[[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] (1)
*[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] (2)
*[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] (3)
*[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] (4)
*[[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] (5)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s
|c2=
*[[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] (6)
*[[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] (7)
*[[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] (8)
*[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (9)
}}

==Quotes==
"Defeating them does not mean we have to ''annihilate'' them. You seem to have trouble understanding that."
:—'''Optimus''' gently chides Dinobot for thinking like a Predacon.

"Shoulda known no Maximal'd be stupid enough to try anything on a day like this."
:—'''Terrorsaur''' underestimates the enemy again.

"YOOOOOW, BULLET TRAAAAAAAIN..." 
''[An explosion sends Cheetor crashing into the wall!]'' 
"Comin' through." 
:—'''Cheetor''' narrowly escapes being turned into a charbroiled cheetah!

"Cheetor! Maximi— did that already."
:—'''Cheetor''' forgets that he already transformed.

"He's gone into the vents! You better report this to Megatron." 
"Me?! ''You're'' second-in-command!" 
"So make it an order!"
:—'''Scorponok''' and '''Waspinator''' establish the chain of command.

"Where'd he go?! Where'd ''I'' go?"
:—'''Terrorsaur''' realises he isn't in [[Kansas]] any more.

"Think of the cosmic magnificence. Together we'll overthrow these low-grade metal knock-offs you've joined, and then rule the Predacons with two iron fists! NOTHING CAN STOP US!"
:—'''Terrorsaur''' has such naive optimism.

"Hey! What are you doing? We're partners!" 
"In case you had not realized, Needlenose... I am ''not'' a team player."
:—'''Terrorsaur''', about to get launched over the horizon by '''Dinobot'''

"OK, OK, I'll never do that again! Until the next time."
:—'''Cheetor''' has learned nothing from this adventure.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* In the opening shot, a segment of the mountains on the screen's left side reveals a gap in the mountain's computer model just a few frames before the shot cuts.
* The collapsing mountain seems to be sucked into the Energon cache after being hit with lightning, and before the lightning strikes, there's a bizarre flickering texture on the mountain's right side.
* Following the collapse, some energon crystals within the mountain keep flickering in and out of existence.
* When Cheetor walks over to the bomb, the two [[kibble]] panels on his back keep clipping through his cheetah leg kibble, and they don't seem to move together with the rest of his torso. When the bomb drops and he moves about, the panels remain stationary.
* When Optimus is tossing the time bomb in one hand, it really doesn't move convincingly.
* When Rhinox reacts to Optimus' announcement about being stalled, his rhinoceros skin "skirt" is clipping into his thighs.
* Shadows are inconsistently rendered in the beginning scene in the Maximal base. Rhinox, standing behind Rattrap, is fully lit at first, but at the end of the scene, there's a shadow cast over him.
* The shot of Cheetor descending out of the base, as the "camera" spins around him, is rendered very oddly. Parts of the ''Axalon'' that look like they should be behind the cliff face appear in front of it, and as Cheetor dashes away, he overlaps a metal bar that's much closer to view.
* As Cheetor jumps across the rocks, his feet don't always touch the terrain.
* Cheetor's mouth doesn't move as he shouts "Maximize!" while out in the field.
* Before Cheetor turns into [[robot mode]], he has red eyes as a cheetah. When his beast model is replaced with his mid-transformation model mid-movement, his eyes turn green and his spots rearrange themselves between frames. After he goes back into cheetah mode a few seconds later, the cheetah model again has red eyes and a different spot-arrangement, both of which change yet again as the lightning strikes near him.
* When Cheetor activates the first survey post, his left thumb clips into his chest.
* The little red bit on the top of the first survey post that Cheetor plants keeps blinking in and out of existence. While this might have been on purpose, to simulate a blinking light, none of the other posts do this.
* Cheetor doesn't really grab the Energon post's handle, his fist simply clips through it.
* When the lightning-bolt strikes him, you can tell by his shadow that Cheetor is actually floating a few inches above the ground.
* When Terrorsaur floats closer to the monitor screen on his platform, the tip of his right wing passes between the platform and his foot.
* As he reaches for his gun while dangling from the Predacons' flying platform, Cheetor's left elbow briefly turns inside-out.
* In one shot, when Terrorsaur is shooting at Cheetor's platform, the reflection textures on his grey elements near his gun disappear in sync with his blasts, due to the blast effects somehow "blotting them out". Strangely, this error doesn't occur in his closeup shortly thereafter.
* When Scorponok and Waspinator transform into robot mode, the latter already has various robot parts sticking out of him in his wasp form. Both his beast and robot mode abdomens exist at the same time, his robot crotch is poking through his underside and one of his robot legs is sticking out of his behind. Also, the stripes on his thighs are aligned the wrong way, a common error in early episodes.
* When Cheetor transforms to [[beast mode]] to jump into the vent, his various robot and beast parts all seem to appear and disappear randomly, out of sync with his usual transformation.
* Scorponok's eyes are weirdly distorted as he arrives to the vent. Also in this shot, Waspinator's left wings don't seem to "flap up", only down.
** In addition, Scorponok's visor shifts between yellow and red quite randomly, as it often happens in most episodes.
* Though a common cartoon convenience, both Waspinator's repeated shots and Scorponok's missile take an inordinately long time to each Cheetor, and the distances between them jump back and forth between shots.
* As Cheetor hurries through the vent, none of the holes Waspinator has blasted into it are visible.
* After Cheetor escapes from the vents, he falls to the ground and his right forehead chevron kind of "twangs" forward. In the next scene he's in, it's back to normal against his head.
* Before Terrorsaur begins pruning his wing, the right side of his pterosaur chest appears to be sunken into his body.
* Scorponok's right claw is clipping though his thigh as he and Waspinator watch the missile chase Cheetor.
* When Optimus asks Dinobot if he's sure about the bomb's timer, his right arm seems to jump position between frames.
* Two green bits are clipping through the opening hatch on the Predacon ship on either side.
* As the roasted Terrorsaur lands, his leg briefly clips through his wing.
* When Cheetor is zapped back home, blowing up all survey posts along the way, the posts are replaced by noticeably thicker, different-shaped exploding objects a few frames before they're supposed to blow.

===Continuity errors===
* A major plot point is that due to an energon vein running beneath both ships, the destruction of either Predacon or Maximal bases would destroy the other. This is never mentioned again and frequently contradicted due to the repeated explosions at both. While most of the planet's energon was stabilized by the start of Season 2 (and thus wouldn't be an issue), the plot of Season 1 episode "[[Victory (episode)|Victory]]" revolves around... a massive explosion at the Predacon base. Arguably, either side could have harvested some of the energon by then to sever the connection between the bases, but this is never established!
* Despite making a big deal about how they should be killing Predacons when they get the chance, Dinobot doesn't avail himself of the opportunity when he's alone with Terrorsaur, instead harmlessly firing him out of the ship.
* When trying to outrun the explosion chasing him down the vents, for some reason Cheetor decides to transform to his [[robot mode]], even though it's been strongly implied that he's faster in beast mode.

===Continuity notes===
* The weather on prehistoric Earth appears to be ''extremely'' destructive. Two bolts of lightning cause a mountain to implode. This might have something to do with the abundant energon, although there's nothing in the show to back this up.
* This is the first episode where we get to hear Terrorsaur speak (Besides "Terrorsaur, terrorize!" that is).

===Transformers references===
* When Cheetor appears before him, Terrorsaur greets him thus: "Welcome to the dark side!" The episode script reveals that this was simply Terrorsaur being dramatic. However, because [[fandom|Transformers fans]] can be ''incredibly'' literal, some fans speculatively latched on to the idea that Terrorsaur was welcoming Cheetor to the "''Dark Side''", supposedly giving the Predacon ship/base a proper name.
*This bit of [[fanon]] was made official by the video game ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)|Beast Wars Transmetals]]''. Years later, the ship's name was further codified by the [[BotCon 2006]] story "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", which dodged [[trademark]] issues by giving it the intentional misspelling "[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]".
* This is what happens when fans are allowed to run things. Seriously.
* Curiously, at no point has anybody interpreted Dinobot's line as suggesting the Maximal ship is meant to be called "Enemy Arms".

===Trivia===
* This episode marks the finalization of most of the Maximals' voices; Cheetor loses most of his whine, Rhinox gains a more expressive range, and Dinobot sounds a fair bit deeper.
* Plenty of alternate transformation schemes in this episode. Most of Cheetor's transformations involve his cheetah mode splitting in two through the middle (even the tail), and his cheetah head flipping down to be the chest of a fully-formed robot that's curled up within this beast "shell", already wearing most of his beast kibble. Dinobot also shows off a pair of transformations radically different from – and even more cheaty than – his normal one.
* Waspinator speaks in first-person in this episode.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Dos à Dos'''" ("Back to Back")

:*''Title:'' "'''Dos à Dos'''" (Canada, "Back to Back")

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Pari opportunità per i Biocombat'''" ("Equal Opportunities for the Biocombats")

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Jigen Bakudan Tensō Sakusen!'''" (時限爆弾転送作戦!, "Operation: Time Bomb Transfer!")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 22|22 October]] [[1997]]
::*Terrorsaur's line, "Welcome to the dark side!" was rendered, "Yōkoso, kaku!" or "Welcome, stranger!" (with plenty of ''caw caw caw'' noises added to the end, as is Terrorsaur's vocal tic in Japan). Thus, any silly ambiguity as to the proper noun status of his line is eliminated (not that it would matter, as the Predacon's ship received an official name in Japan long before it got one in the West: "Terror Crasher").

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Równe szanse'''" ("Equal Chances")

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Medidas Iguais'''" ("Equal Measures")

'''Spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Medidas Equitativas'''" (America, "Equal Measures")

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Yī Mài Xiàng Lián '''" (一脉相连, "In One Vein")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1997 — ''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Cheetus' Crisis ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2001 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 1 ([[Universal]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 2 ([[Rhino Entertainment|Rhinomation]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Maximal Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — English and Japanese audio.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 1 ([[Rhino Entertainment|Rhinomation]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete First Season (Rhinomation) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Chain of Command (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 2005 — ''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes — Where the Beasties Began! ([[Alliance Atlantis]]) — English and French audio. 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 2005 — ''Beast Wars'' — The Complete First Season (Alliance Atlantis) — English and French audio. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers: Beast Wars'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)

[[Category:Beast Wars episodes]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Beast Wars Telemocha Series]]
[[Category:Pack-in material]]