Great War (BW)
| This article is about . For other uses of "Great War", see Great War (disambiguation)|The name or term "Great War" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Great War (disambiguation).}} |
- The Great War is an historical event from the Beast Era of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Sharing the same name as the legendary civil war fought between the Autobots and Decepticons, the Great War was a brief conflict fought between the Maximals and Predacons prior to the ratification of the Pax Cybertronia.
Yes, really.
Fiction
[edit]Fun Publications comics
[edit]The Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons finally came to an end with former defeating the latter. Many Decepticons were either destroyed or in hiding, BotCon 2009 Razorclaw toy bio while those who were granted amnesty simply retired. BotCon 2006 Laserbeak toy bio In this new era of peace, the Autobots' next-generation successors, the Maximals, rose to power TCC website Max Cops Cryotek profile and formed the Maximal Imperium. BotCon 2005 Darksyde Dinobot toy bio BotCon 2006 Unit 2 (Tigatron) toy bio Timelines #1 Megatron profile TCC Chromia 10 Pilot (Airazor) toy bio The Razor's Edge However, some Decepticons were not content to simply live under the new rule of the Autobots and Maximals. BotCon 2006 Laserbeak toy bio Namely, the leader of the original Predacons, Razorclaw, rallied the next generation of the Decepticons—who were also named the Predacons—under a new calling. BotCon 2009 Razorclaw toy bio His immediate subordinate, Divebomb, reached out to other disgruntled Decepticons—like Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ravage—to join their cause, with the promise of new Predacon bodies and a new purpose. BotCon 2006 Laserbeak toy bio
Under Razorclaw's leadership, the Predacons raised an army and declared themselves the Predacon Empire. BotCon 2009 Razorclaw toy bio They instigated several wars against the Autobots and Maximals, which climaxed in what became known as the last "Great War". The Razor's Edge During this war, a young Maximal named Optimus Primal proved himself on the battlefield multiple times, Timelines #1 Optimus Primal profile while on the opposite side, one of the Predacon army's field commanders was a 'bot named Megatron. Timelines #1 Megatron profile The Predacons were also supported by a Decepticon army The Razor's Edge in a coalition known as the Decepticon/Predacon Alliance. One of the Decepticon generals in this army was Deathsaurus, the former Emperor of Destruction BotCon 2005 Deathsaurus toy bio who had previously led the Decepticons during the waning years of the Autobot/Decepticon Great War. TCC website Max Cops Cryotek profile Having been recreated to fight in this war, Deathsaurus led several successful campaigns against the Maximals and Autobots. BotCon 2005 Deathsaurus toy bio
Right when it seemed like the Predacon Empire might actually win the war, a massive blow came when, suddenly, Razorclaw was assassinated by his own kind: Three treacherous generals had eliminated Razorclaw to assume control of the Predacons for themselves. Together, they formed the Tripredacus Council. BotCon 2009 Razorclaw toy bio Seeing a better opportunity for himself, the Decepticon Ravage quit his position of serving under Divebomb and joined up with the Council to become one of their agents. BotCon 2006 Laserbeak toy bio Over time, however, the Maximals and Autobots began to overwhelm the Decepticon/Predacon Alliance. BotCon 2005 Deathsaurus toy bio In the final few years of the war, the Decepticons pretty much bowed out of the conflict and abandoned the Predacons, who were left to continue the fight on their own. Without the Decepticons' support, the Tripredacus Council launched one last campaign in the J'kozian sector of space, raiding several planets one by one—Chakar, Loneedo, Roliak, Nibari, S'elar, and more—for their resources. In the end, despite these efforts, the Predacons were still defeated by the combined forces of the Maximals and Autobots. The last Great War ended when the Tripredacus Council was left with no choice but to surrender.
In the aftermath of the war, a set of temporary terms were drawn up to maintain peace between the Maximals and Predacons until a formal treaty, the Pax Cybertronia, could be written and signed. Though, a number of field commanders refused to lay down arms during this newfound peace, The Razor's Edge such as Deathsaurus Descent into Evil Intimidation Game and Megatron Timelines #1 Megatron profile Still, the once and former Predacon Empire eventually adapted to peacetime and became the Predacon Alliance. The Razor's Edge
2006 IDW Beast Wars continuity
[edit]After the Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons ended with the latter surrendering to the former, Beast Wars Glossary: Great War (1) entry Dawn of the Predacus Cybertronian society became forever divided into factions. Beast Wars Glossary: Megatron (G1) entry As peace settled in, Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Gimlet profile the planet underwent the "Great Upgrade" in preparation for the coming of the next generation of Cybertronians, the Maximals and Predacons. Beast Wars Glossary: Great War (1) entry Beast Wars Glossary: Cybertron (1) entry During this transitional era, some Autobots and Maximals took to calling themselves "Cybertrons" in an effort to show a greater sense of unity and renounce the factional divides of old. Beast Wars Glossary: Cybertron (2) entry While on the Decepticon/Predacon side, there remained a sense of disarray after the war. Beast Wars Sourcebook #1 Drancron profile In time, the Maximal Imperium was formed, The Gathering #1 led by three Autobots-turned-Maximals—Prowl, Silverbolt, and Ironhide—who became the Maximal Elders. Beast Wars Glossary: Maximal Elders entry Eventually, the Predacons took it upon themselves to renew the age-old conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons by going to war against the Maximals, inciting another "Great War" of their own, Beast Wars Glossary: Great War (2) entry and declaring themselves the Predacon Empire. Beast Wars Sourcebook #3 Scorponok profile
This war lasted for dozens of stellar cycles, Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 Stinkbomb profile involved hundreds of military campaigns, Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 Survive profile and escalated to other worlds. Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 Terragator profile On the Maximals' side was a young graduate of the Maximal Military Academy named Optimus Primal, who proved himself time and again in the field of battle, Timelines #1 Optimus Primal profile while in the Predacon Army was a field commander named Megatron, Timelines #1 Megatron profile who would also serve as a general. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Megatron profile Combiner technology was revived in the form of the monstrous Predacon Tripredacus, to which the Maximals responded with Magnaboss. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Magnaboss profile During one event, a key Maximal weapons facility was nearly taken over by members of its staff who had defected to the Predacons, but Security Officer K-9 thwarted the takeover by destroying the facility's main missile silos. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 K-9 profile Another event saw a small Maximal platoon sent to destroy a Predacon weapons depot, but the Predacons caught wind of the plan and launched an ambush, leaving Rockbuster the sole surviving Maximal. Beast Wars Sourcebook #3 Rockbuster profile The Thoroughbred Corps was likewise wiped out, leaving only a few survivors (namely Mach Kick). Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Mach Kick profile As the war raged, the Maximals used the shell of a crashed alien ship to create a transforming defense base called Orcanoch, which was sabotaged and sunk by the Predacons during an undersea struggle. Beast Wars Sourcebook #3 Orcanoch profile
Over time, some participants (including Rockbuster) grew weary of the war and bowed out to pursue other interests, Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Halfshell profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Motorarm profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #3 Rockbuster profile while others found they enjoyed the war. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Gimlet profile The Predacons BB and Starscream were among those held at a Maximal prison facility, where they were subjected to "re-education" programs. The two eventually escaped captivity and joined a small army led by a Predacon named Galvatron. Beast Wars Sourcebook #1 BB profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 Starscream profile When the war reached a critical juncture, certain Maximals were called back to Cybertron to help defeat the Predacons once and for all. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Motorarm profile Ultimately, the Predacon government surrendered, and the war started to die down as preparations for a formal peace treaty, the Pax Cybertronia, began in earnest. However, a certain group refused to take this surrender lying down. Calling themselves "Destrons", Beast Wars Glossary: Destron entry this rogue Predacon faction Beast Wars Glossary: Cybertron (2) entry was led by Galvatron, who sought to make his own bid for power. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Galvatron profile
During a routine scouting mission, a lowly Predacon named Shokaract had discovered capsules containing a mysterious new energy called Angolmois, which possessed highly corruptive properties. Beast Wars Sourcebook #3 Shokaract profile This substance caught the attention of Galvatron, who aimed to find more on the Earth-like planet of Gaea, which had an unusually high concentration of Angolmois energy. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Galvatron profile Beast Wars Glossary: Gaea entry Maximal commander Lio Convoy led a squadron to oppose Galvatron's campaign on Gaea, with said squadron including Apache and Tasmania Kid. Beast Wars Sourcebook #1 Apache profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 Tasmania Kid profile During this conflict, the young Maximal Lio Junior was born from the interaction between a mysterious protoform and Lio Convoy's Matrix. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Lio Junior profile And once Lio Convoy's forces were bolstered by the arrival of Skywarp and Santon, Lio Junior's unique spark enabled him to reformat the two newcomers into combining with him to form the mighty Magnaboss (so named in honor of the original). Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Lio Junior profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Magnaboss II profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #3 Santon profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 Skywarp profile
Also during this conflict, Galvatron's own brother Megastorm Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Megastorm profile was directly exposed to Angolmois energy, which mutated him into a new form named "Gigastorm". He declared himself the new leader of a subfaction of Destrons, Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Gigastorm profile the Cyber Beasts, first created when Gigastorm exposed the likes of Starscream, BB, Dirge, and Thrust to Angolmois Energy, upgrading them into "Hellscream", "Max-B", "Dirgegun", and "Thrustor", respectively. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Hellscream profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Max-B profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #1 Dirgegun profile Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 Thrustor profile Up on the planet's moon, the conflict on Gaea was observed by the Celestial agents Artemis and Moon. Though the pair kept their distance for most of the fight, Moon eventually broke his oath of non-interference and personally joined up with Lio Convoy's forces. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Moon profile Beast Wars Glossary: Artemis entry The conflict finally ended when Galvatron was destroyed by his own hunger for power. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Galvatron profile
While this was going on, the Pax Cybertronia was finally signed and ratified by the Maximal Imperium and the remaining factions of the defeated Predacon Empire, Beast Wars Glossary: Pax Cybertronia entry bringing an official end to this Great War. Beast Wars Glossary: Great War (2) entry Unofficially, however, several Predacon generals refused to lay down arms Timelines #1 Megatron profile and formed a dissident underground movement in defiance of the treaty. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Megatron profile One such general was Magmatron, who tried to ruin the Pax Cybertronia in its infancy. Picking up where Galvatron left off, Magmatron tried to amass enough Angolmois Energy to overthrow the Maximal Imperium. He nearly succeeded, too, Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Magmatron profile but was ultimately defeated by a Maximal team led by Big Convoy, Beast Wars Sourcebook #1 Big Convoy profile and was convicted as a war criminal. Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 Magmatron profile
The postwar era of the Pax Cybertronia saw the Predacons form the Predacon Alliance, led by the Tri-Predacus Council. Beast Wars Glossary: Tri-Predacus Council entry The use of the unified "Cybertron" term fell out of fashion, but was occasionally still used as a synonym for "Cybertronian". Beast Wars Glossary: Cybertron (2) entry In time, the bi-partate Committee for State Affairs was formed to uphold the Pax Cybertronia's constitutional mandates Beast Wars Glossary: Pax Cybertronia entry and carry out day-to-day government operations, allowing the Maximal Elders to withdraw from overseeing most public affairs. Beast Wars Glossary: Maximal Elders entry
Notes
[edit]- It is stated in the toy bio for BotCon 2005 Deathsaurus that he was recreated "centuries" after his original defeat by the Autobot Star Saber, in reference to the Transformers: Victory episode "Showdown! The Fortress vs the Victory Unification". Since that episode took place in the 21st Century, the notion of Deathsaurus being recreated more than one century later dates the Fun Publications version of this Great War to no earlier than the 23rd Century.
- The IDW version of this Great War includes events that are intentionally analogous to those of the Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo cartoons.
Contentious continuity
[edit]To put it bluntly, the very idea that there was ever such a war—let alone a "Great War"—fought between the Maximals and Predacons during the time set between the end of the Autobot/Decepticon civil war and the theft of the Golden Disk (the precursor event that led to the start of the Beast Wars on prehistoric Earth) is completely antithetical to the backstory lore of the Beast Wars animated series.
In the first episode, Optimus Primal made the first mention of a past conflict known as "the Great War", which he spoke of in an ambiguous context, only noting that he feared possibility of the Predacons acquiring enough energon to "start it again." Initially, writer/story editor Bob Forward put this reference into the episode simply as a vague explanation for why the Maximals and Predacons were in conflict with each other, as if to say that the two factions had previously fought "the Great War" between each other in the past. This idea was immediately dropped, however, when Forward and fellow Beast Wars writer/story editor Larry DiTillio observed the fans' reaction to the episode: The fandom had assumed that the "Great War" instead referred to the Cybertronian Civil Wars fought between the Autobots and Decepticons back in the previous two generations of the Transformers brand.<ref>Bob Forward interview from the Rhino Entertainment DVD release of Beast Wars: Transformers — The Complete First Season</ref> Subsequently, Forward and DiTillio latched onto the fans' perception, as all later references to the "Great War" made throughout the Beast Wars cartoon (in "Dark Designs", "Law of the Jungle", "The Agenda (Part 1)", and "The Agenda (Part III)") were explicitly clear that it did, indeed, refer to the war fought between the Autobots and Decepticons, not to one fought between the Maximals and Predacons.
Beast Wars would also mention a peace treaty called the "Pax Cybertronia". While it was only mentioned once (and thus left largely to the fans to fill in the blanks on its history) the obvious implication was that it was the treaty that formally ended the Autobot/Decepticon Great War, from which point the referenced lore of the cartoon's post-Great War history would see the Autobots and Decepticons succeeded by their descendants, the Maximals and Predacons, as the new dominant factions of Cybertron in a planetwide restructuring process that the Beast Wars sequel series Beast Machines would later refer to as "the great upgrade from Autobot to Maximal" in the episode "Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search".
Furthermore, the first episode of Beast Wars would also establish that "There has been peace between the Maximals and Predacons for centuries," (as stated by Optimus Primal), while the episode "Dark Designs" would declare the "Great Wars" to have last been fought "three centuries ago" (as stated by Blackarachnia). Although, other episodes from Beast Wars and Beast Machines (like "The Agenda (Part III)", "The Reformatting", "The Key", and "End of the Line") would suggest an even greater length of time had passed since the age of the Great War, as things like things like the Ark, Vector Sigma, its key, and the Plasma Energy Chamber were all treated as mere legends before the characters learned of the reality of each, with the aforementioned Beast Machines episode "Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search" having Nightscream even state that the Great War happened "eons ago". Either way, the intended post-Great War timeline of the Beast Wars cartoon was that the Great War ended with the Pax Cybertronia, followed by the Maximals and Predacons replacing the Autobots and Decepticons over a lengthy period of peace and upgrading, until the time when the Golden Disk was stolen by Megatron.
With that said, in the mid-to-late 2000s, a number of expanded-universe Beast Wars media was written and produced by Fun Publications and IDW Publishing, to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Beast Wars cartoon in 2006. Among these works were some toy bios, character profiles, a prose story titled "The Razor's Edge" (all from Fun Pub), and the Beast Wars Sourcebook series of profile books (from IDW). In each of these works, the backstory lore of the cartoon was fleshed out with several new ideas, some of which were wholly original while others were recycled from dropped concepts originally developed for the cartoon by Forward and DiTillio. In particular, Forward's original idea of "the Great War" referring to a past conflict between the Maximals and Predacons was one such dropped idea that was brought back. But even more surprising was that it was not only restored but also distinguished from the other "Great War", enabling both to coexist as two separate "Great Wars" within the same timeline! And, these works even shifted the timeframe of the Pax Cybertronia to have not ended the Autobot/Decepticon war, but rather the Maximal/Predacon war, repositioning the treaty far later in the timeline.
The author's reasoning for this was the belief that, after the Decepticons had surrendered to the Autobots at the end of their Great War, the Maximals and Predacons would have needed some time to hash out the details of the treaty; during this time, the Maximals and Predacons would have had their own Great War since not all hostilities would have yet fully subsided. In the case of the Beast Wars Sourcebook, this also enabled events akin to the Japanese Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo cartoons to slot into this timeframe, taking place prior to the Pax Cybertronia<ref>{{#if: In this universe, [Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo] happened before the Pax Cybertronia. Many are wondering how that works since it was assumed that the Pax Cybertronia was signed immediately after the Decepticons lost. However, that was never stated implicitly, and in general treaties need time to be worked up. After the Autobots and Decepticons stopped fighting, there was still a period of time where hostilities had to calm down while the Maximals and Predacons hammered out the details of the Pax Cybertronia. |"In this universe, [Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo] happened before the Pax Cybertronia. Many are wondering how that works since it was assumed that the Pax Cybertronia was signed immediately after the Decepticons lost. However, that was never stated implicitly, and in general treaties need time to be worked up. After the Autobots and Decepticons stopped fighting, there was still a period of time where hostilities had to calm down while the Maximals and Predacons hammered out the details of the Pax Cybertronia."—|}}{{#if: http://web.archive.org/web/20200203170245/https://www.bwtf.com/comicbooks/idw/bwsourcebook1/ |Ben Yee|Ben Yee}}{{#if: Ben's World of Transformers |, Ben's World of Transformers|}}{{#if: IDW Publishing: Beast Wars Sourcebook #1 Comic Book Review |, "IDW Publishing: Beast Wars Sourcebook #1 Comic Book Review"|}}{{#if: 2007 |, 2007{{#if: |/{{#switch:{{#len:}}|1=0{{{month}}}|{{{month}}}}}{{#if: |/{{#switch:{{#len:}}|1=0{{{day}}}|{{{day}}}}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: http://web.archive.org/web/20200203170245/https://www.bwtf.com/comicbooks/idw/bwsourcebook1/ ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:http://web.archive.org/web/20200203170245/https://www.bwtf.com/comicbooks/idw/bwsourcebook1/%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:http://web.archive.org/web/20200203170245/https://www.bwtf.com/comicbooks/idw/bwsourcebook1/%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:http://web.archive.org/web/20200203170245/https://www.bwtf.com/comicbooks/idw/bwsourcebook1/%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:http://web.archive.org/web/20200203170245/https://www.bwtf.com/comicbooks/idw/bwsourcebook1/%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref>—a decision that stemmed from a whole other fan perception of the time. And yet, for the many reasons given above, all of this was completely unnecessary. While these decisions may not explicitly contradict the letter of the cartoon (as in, Beast Wars never actually said that there wasn't a war between the Maximals and Predacons after the Autobot/Decepticon war ended), they do very much go against the spirit of what the cartoon was trying to say about its in-universe history. Beast Wars never stated outright that there was no Maximal/Predacon war because it didn't need to. After all, "There [had] been peace between the Maximals and Predacons for centuries."
What's more, character profiles written for the retail release of the BotCon 2006 comic story "Dawn of Future's Past" (which were condensed down into toy bios for two of that year's convention exclusives) declared that Optimus Primal and Megatron were both veterans of this Great War, which, again, is not what they were supposed to be in the cartoon: The first episode presented Optimus as young and untested, not an experienced combat soldier, while Megatron would later be revealed to have been viewed as a rogue criminal by his own people, not the respected military commander that his profile made him out to be. To say nothing of how making both of them veterans of a war that was apparently fought before the "centuries" of peace first mentioned in the first episode would also make the two significantly older than the cartoon intended them to be.
This perception of Optimus Primal and Megatron as war veterans (along with "Dawn of Future's Past" retconning two characters who were born on Earth in Beast Wars into having already existed on Cybertron beforehand) would eventually lead to the BotCon 2016 comic story "Dawn of the Predacus" taking things to an absurd extreme by depicting nearly every character from Beast Wars as having served in the Great War—the Autobot/Decepticon Great War—when the cartoon was pretty unambiguous about the Maximals and Predacons being several degrees removed from the Autobots and Decepticons, the "ancient ancestors" (see that story's article for more).<ref>Though, to be a little fair, the idea of at least Megatron having been around since the Autobot/Decepticon war was first mentioned in 2004's Transformers: The Ultimate Guide, but which is still pretty ridiculous.</ref>
To cut a long story short, there really isn't supposed to have been a "Great War" fought between the Maximals and Predacons (and certainly not one that involved Optimus Primal and Megatron) in the past lore of the Beast Wars cartoon, and the fact that there is such a conflict described at all in any official Transformers media is very much at odds with the cartoon itself.