Editing Tarantulas (BW)

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:''Tarantulas is a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] from the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]] portion of the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[File:Tarantulas-BW10th.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|[[BotCon 2000|"And fries! Lots of FRIES!"]]]]

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

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

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

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

==Fiction==
===Toy bios===
[[File:PrimalVSMegs-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Why Megatron, I do believe you're trying to seduce m—oh, hey, [[Razorbeast]].]]
Tarantulas was a sneaky, mysterious ninja feared across the galaxy. A master of the martial arts, he was suspected in the disappearances of many [[Human|Earthlings]], and rumors swirled of giant cocoons where he stored his prey. {{storylink|#Toys|Tarantulas bio}}

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

After the [[quantum surge]], Tarantulas became a [[Transmetal]], with the accompanying vehicle mode to match. With his new set of wheels, Tarantulas didn't have to rely on stealth and deceit as much, instead speeding head-first into battle and using his new mechanical beast mode to overpower his enemies. {{storylink|#Transmetal|Transmetal Tarantulas bio}}
{{--}}

===Cartoon continuity===
====''Beast Wars'' cartoon====
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Scott McNeil]] (English, portions of "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]" only), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)|[[Xue Weigang]] (Chinese), [[Alexander Novikov]] (Russian, 1st dub), [[Hervé Jolly]] (French), [[Lutz Harder]] (German), [[Riccardo Peroni]] (Italian), [[Jun-seok Song]] (Korean), [[Humberto Vélez]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Fábio Vilalonga]] (Portuguese)}}

[[File:BeastWars1-Tarantulasprebeast.jpg|left|thumb]]

Lieutenant Tarantulas of the [[Predacon Secret Police]] was one of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s original crew, a mole inside his organization feeding information back to the [[Tripredacus Council]] without his knowledge. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} More than that, he was a ''direct'' agent of the Council and shared their origins that existed outside of [[Autobot]] and [[Decepticon]], with an overall agenda to alter the timeline by going back to prehistoric Earth and completely destroying the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'' and the Transformers within]]. {{storylink|Other Victories}} The plan went tits up though, as Megatron's ''Darksyde'' warship ended up crashing on an unidentified planet and contact with Cybertron was lost. {{storylink|Beast Wars (Part 1)}} Tarantulas carried on as normal despite this setback. {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}}

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

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

[[File:ChainofCommand Tarantulas firing.jpg|left|thumb|Sure, he's fast on the draw, but he ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.]]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[[File:TangledWeb-Tarantulasmotorcycle.jpg|right|thumb|It's important that you understand that Transmetal Tarantulas's beast mode has a jaw.]]

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

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

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

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

[[File:CuttingEdge-Tarantulasleadsraptorsintobattle.jpg|left|thumb|You've been cool, but you've never been Leading An Army Of Cyborg Velociraptors Into Battle cool.]]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

====Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity====
=====Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base=====
[[File:Yokohama Unicron Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|100px]]
As part of a plot to destroy the [[2014]] [[Transformers Expo]] in [[Yokohama]] and the Cybertronian artifacts within, Tarantulas, working on [[Unicron]]'s behalf, secretly granted [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]] a new body and intelligence regarding [[Yokohama Convoy|Nemesis Prime]]. True to plan, NAVI-ko was sent to activate the clone and guide him to the Transformers Expo. However, thanks to Nemesis Prime's inherent sense of justice, the plan failed. {{storylink|Yokohama Decepticon Secret Base}}

=====''Cloud''=====
While the Maximals were trying to help out the wayward [[Hot Rodimus]] and [[SARA]] of the [[Cloud World]], they investigated an energon mine, only to find the Predacons waiting there. The two sides battled, and Hot Rodimus took the opportunity to transform into helicopter mode to pursue his true quarry, the [[Shockwave (Cloud)|Shockwave]] from his world. The two's battle set off the nearby energon, forcing the Predacons to retreat. {{storylink|Wild (Cloud)|Wild}}

In another fight with Shockwave, Hot Rodimus thought back to their confrontation with the Beast Warriors, including Tarantulas. {{storylink|TFC-A03}}

=====''Beast Wars Diorama Story''=====
[[File:BWDiorama Motorarm Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|A ravenous, sinister fiend... and Tarantulas.]]
Sometime after Starscream's arrival to prehistoric Earth, Tarantulas was confronted in battle by a time-displaced [[Motorarm (BW)|Motorarm]], who fended off the Predacon with his Beetle Claw attack. Tarantulas was not present when the Autobots from [[Transformers (2007 franchise)|another universe]] and Maximals combined all of their energies to attack a team of Predacons and Decepticons. {{storylink|Motorarm Chapter}}

=====''Legacy VS500 Collection Special Comic''=====
Tarantulas was a spectator for the second week of the [[Speedia 500]] on [[Velocitron]]. {{storylink|Velocitron Speedia 500 Part 3}}
{{--}}

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

[[File:Primevaldawn2 tarantulas matrix.jpg|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}} {{storylink|Primeval Dawn II}}

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

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

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

[[File:Escape-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1|Tarantulus {{sic}} basically just never dies.]]

After using the [[Divine Light]] to access [[Primus]]'s power, [[Cryotek (RID)|Cryotek]] reanimated several [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticon]] corpses into facsimiles of [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s old subordinates, including one of Tarantulas. {{storylink|Wreckers: Finale Part II}}

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

Tarantulas had learned that [[Alpha Trion]] had been assembling the [[Child of Primus|Children of Primus]] to counter Unicron's Minions, and so he sent Blackarachnia on a mission to [[Primax 797.18 Epsilon|her home Cybertron]] to sever the link between the Transformers and [[Primus]] by invading [[Vector Sigma]]'s chamber and destroying Alpha Trion. He gave Blackarachnia a swarm of [[Piranacon (Universe)|Piranacon]]s and directions to the chamber through a structural weak point near the [[Rust Sea]]. {{storylink|Homecoming (Universe)|Homecoming}}
{{-}}

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

====2006 IDW ''Beast Wars'' continuity====
One account stated that when Tarantulas was born at the [[Pit (BW)|Pit]], a glitch in the process granted him insight into the fact that an alien force was manipulating the Predacons for its ends. Thus, Tarantulas became obsessed with whatever this force was. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}}

[[File:DawnofthePredacus TarantulasPredacusCouncil.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.65|He's laughing at the chances of the [[fandom]] at large accepting this comic as the one true pre-Beast Wars canon.]]
Another account stated that Tarantulas was one of the [[Tripredacus Council]]'s covert agents, working for them since before the Great Wars began to be recorded. As a key member of the council's schemes, Tarantulas helped develop the combiner technology that led to [[Predacus]]. {{storylink|#Combiner Wars|''Combiner Wars'' Tarantulas bio}}

Before his travels off-world, Tarantulas worked in tandem with the Tripredacus Council, who sought to unite Cybertron under a single, "purer" race. As the Great War drew to a close, Tarantulas received field intelligence reporting startling news: both [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] had died in a terrible confrontation between their forces. Though his masters weren't particularly moved by this turn of events, [[Megatron (BW)|a renegade]] within their army's ranks was. It became clear to the council that this upstart would resume the offensive against the enemy forces despite being ordered not to, and so Tarantulas was sent back out into the field to try and prevent any further complications from arising out of the situation.

While Tarantulas was away, the Council's secret base was discovered, and due to an [[Axalon (BW)|exploration vessel]] accidentally getting in its path, the transmatter bomb the Council had attempted to launch, to reformat all of Cybertron at once, was deflected from its proper course. Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ravage all met up with Tarantulas in the field, and confronted the gestalt [[Predaking (G1)|Predaking]], who was among the Decepticons causing dissension in their ranks. Tarantulas and his allies isolated him on the battlefield, and merged into their own gestalt form, [[Predacus]], to slay him.

[[File:DawnofthePredacus RavageAndTarantulasLaugh.jpg|thumb|upright=2.1|Seriously, this might be a medical condition.]]
Tarantulas next met with the upstart now calling himself "Megatron", and told him that the transmatter raining down on the planet was the result of a doomsday weapon of Galvatron's going off, triggered by the mad tyrant's death. He next informed Megatron that Predaking has committed suicide out of shame for his involvement in Galvatron's plans. The Tripredacus Council had hoped these lies would be enough to dissuade Megatron from continuing hostilities, but this was not the case, and so moved on to plan B: sniping Megatron with a stun beam, and surrendering to the Autobots themselves.

For the "great risks" Tarantulas took towards the pursuit of peace, he was granted amnesty after the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. He had a hearty laugh at the expense of the Autobots' gullibility over this. {{storylink|Dawn of the Predacus}}

During his time on Earth, Tarantulas discovered the force he was obsessed with since birth was the [[Vok]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #4}} He also programmed the Predacons' mobile fortress, the [[Arachnid]], utilizing his own personality programs to give it some form of sentience, accompanied by Tarantulas's own tendency for cruelty. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook #1}}

While [[Magmatron]] surveyed the timestream, he witnessed several key events during the Beast Wars. Among these was Tarantulas in his original "beast" body skulking in his lair. {{storylink|The Gathering issue 1|The Gathering #1}}

====SD BotCon====
Tarantulas joined Ravage at a bar to [[Dawn of the Predacus|laugh maniacally over drinks]], only for the pair to be approached by [[Beetle]] after their fourth outburst; the pair were being kicked out since everyone else was tired of their cackling. Thankfully, Tarantulas knew of a place where they could laugh to their hearts' content... a children's ball pit! {{storylink|SD SG issue 5|SD BotCon #1}}

====''Timelines''====
[[File:TheftOfGoldenDisk-Tarantulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.66|What y'wanna do? Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers? Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakkers? 9 to 5, chillin' at Hewlett Packard? WHAT?]]
Tarantulas decoded the information on the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] which had been freshly stolen by Megatron. He thought this was quite hilarious, but then, he thinks that about everything. {{storylink|Theft of the Golden Disk}}

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

Using the decoded coordinates, the ''Darksyde'' opened a [[Unspace|transwarp]] portal, which it and the [[Axalon (BW)|''Axalon'']] passed through. {{storylink|Dawn of Future's Past}}

Two weeks after [[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] was reborn on [[Earth]], Tarantulas fought to defend an orbital weapon from the Maximals. The launching pad was destroyed by Airazor. {{storylink|The Razor's Edge}}
{{-}}

====''Wings Universe''====
[[File:Tarantulasemerges-ACommonFoe.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1| "Well, howdy! Just scratching the wall, don't mind me!"]]
One of four mysterious protoforms found by [[Sky-Byte (RID)#Wings Universe|Sky-Byte]] in the laboratory of [[Jhiaxus (G2)#Wings Universe|Jhiaxus]] while trying to save his former collaborator's clones from the Autobots, {{storylink|A Common Foe}} Tarantulas and [[Tripredacus Council|the other three]] pledged allegiance to the Predacons in suspiciously quick time.<ref name="TFSS3bio">"Tarantulas is a being without a history. In his rush to remove Jhiaxus' clones from his laboratory before the Autobots discovered its location, Sky-Byte mistakenly extracted four stasis pods of unknown origin. The emergent robots immediately declared for the Predacon cause, some might say suspiciously quickly. Of the four robots, Tarantulas has since discovered an endless fascination with experimental science, especially seeking any opportunity for vivisection."</ref>

=====''Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts''=====
The Tarantulas of [[Primax 509.28 Epsilon]] was interviewed by [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Shotimus Prime]], who seemed determined to prove that Tarantulas was also [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]]. Annoyed by Shotimus's badgering, Tarantulas eventually resorted to pulling the Matrix out of Shotimus's chest, reverting him to Hot Shot, and then hitting him repeatedly with it. {{storylink|Hot Shot's Bot Thoughts}}

====Waspscream continuity====
In [[Primax 208.06 Zeta]], Tarantulas joined [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspscream]]'s successful coup against Megatron. Waspscream then convinced Tarantulas to decode Megatron's Golden Disk by promising to make Tarantulas his lieutenant upon returning to Cybertron and deposing the Tripredacus Council. Unfortunately en route, Megatron escaped, conquered Cybertron with a [[transformation virus]], and turned the bodies of Cybertron's populace into [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]]s. Upon arrival, Waspscream's crewmembers who had [[transmetal]] forms managed to survive the virus and escape Megatron's clutches, eventually finding their way to the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], who granted them [[technorganic]] forms. Waspscream's Predacons waged a valiant Spark War against the Vehicons, eventually achieving victory. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16}}

===''Beast Wars Metals'' manga===
[[File:TarantulasMangaMouth01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Tarantulas raises an army of mannequins to strike terror into his foes.]]
Following the [[Quantum surge]], Tarantulas was upgraded into a [[Transmetal]]. Scheming with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] within their floating island base, [[Hindenburg]], Tarantulas developed a plan to revive the deceased [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] as a [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] slave. Recovering Primal's mindless, raging body, Tarantulas staged a strange voodoo ceremony (complete with boiling cauldron). As Megatron pricked his finger and prepared to use his mutated blood to turn Primal's rampaging body into his slave, the spark of Optimus Primal returned to it just in the nick of time. As Primal turned into a Transmetal, Tarantulas began to celebrate, convinced that his plan had worked out better than he had thought, unaware of what was really going on. In fact, he was ''so'' convinced that Primal was now a Predacon slave, that he ordered the monkey to give him a shoulder massage. Optimus Primal proceeded to knock Tarantulas's block off. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 1|Beast Wars Metals #1}}

Tarantulas pulled himself together and confronted Tigatron, only to be promptly sliced in half. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 2|Beast Wars Metals #2}} 

Undeterred, he taped himself back together and planted an [[arachnoid]] in Tigatron which gave Tarantulas control of the Maximal samurai's mind and body. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 3|Beast Wars Metals #3}} Airazor linked her mind to Tigatron's in an attempt to free her beloved and while her body fought Tigatron, Airazor's consciousness fought Tarantulas and his virtual minions. Ultimately, with Blackarachnia's help, Tigatron's mind was freed, though Airazor died in the process, killed by the mind-controlled Tigatron. Optimus Primal arrived and promptly stomped Tarantulas to death and blew his body to pieces. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 4|Beast Wars Metals #4}} 

Shortly afterward, the energies from sparks freed from an obliterated [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] brought Tarantulas back to life as a mindless zombie. He fought Optimus Primal but was destroyed for good by Primal's rocket-fists. {{storylink|Beast Wars Metals issue 5|Beast Wars Metals #5}}

===Fire in the Dark===
====''Legends'' anthology====
When [[human]] archaeologists uncovered a cave filled with primitive language, [[Mini-Con]] [[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] translated it for them. The markings told of a time when the Maximals and Predacons crash-landed on prehistoric Earth, though the stranded Transformers were seen by the [[Natiltec]] as  gods. The "spider-god" and the "[[Waspinator (BW)|wasp-god]]", under instruction from their [[Megatron (BW)|leader]], enslaved the humans for the purposes of excavating "[[Energon|glowing rose crystals]]". Eventually, a "[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|wolf-god]]" came, and had a fierce battle with the spider, allowing the captive humans to flee. The spider was defeated by the wolf, and then buried underground in a cave-in. {{storylink|Fire in the Dark}}

====Ask Vector Prime====
Dimensional observer [[Vector Prime]] explained that in [[Aurex 1104.30-JH Zeta]], Tarantulas had his own agenda on prehistoric Earth. He deployed his [[Arachnoid]]s across the globe to search for traces of [[Super Energon]], accumulating a large cache of the powerful substance. Optimus Primal sacrificed himself to hijack Tarantulas's makeshift craft and destroy it in orbit, causing a [[Quantum surge|Super Energon Transwarp Explosion]] which granted a [[Transmetal]] upgrade to many participants in the conflict as well as created the [[Fuzor]]s. Later, Megatron attempted to use Tarantulas's secret experiments in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide, but ultimately, the Maximals emerged victorious in the war for the [[Mini-Con]]s. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/13}}

===Legends World===
The Tarantulas of the [[Legends World]] was head of [[Tera-Kura Co.]]'s science department and an expert at building robots. {{storylink|Headmaster Chapter Prologue}} He sneakily browsed the toys for sale at [[Transformers Celebration 2014]]. {{storylink|Legends Bonus Vol.}} Later, Tarantulas was responsible for production of Tera-Kura's [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird Shadow]]s. One day, he was approached by the [[Decepticon]] [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] of [[G1 World|another universe]], who offered him use of their technology in exchange for his help in building them new [[transtector]]s. Realizing he could use this tech to conquer the Legends World for himself, Tarantulas accepted. {{storylink|Headmaster Chapter Prologue}} Once a partnership between the Decepticons and Tera-Kura had been formed, he used data stolen from the [[Autobot]] Headmasters to build a body for [[Skullcruncher (G1)|Skullcruncher]] as well as the drone [[Butla]]. Seeking to eliminate the Autobots, his rivals on the technology market, he and [[Weirdwolf (G1)|Weirdwolf]] then sent out Skullcruncher to lure out and destroy them, but the Headmaster was defeated. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 22|Bonus Edition Vol. 22}} Tarantulas's boss, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], chewed them out over their violent approach, leading to a disgruntled Tarantulas building a body for Megatron that would turn him into the destructive [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]]. In the end, Megatron resisted the body and taught them a lesson, though Tarantulas pointed out that as he'd planned, Galvatron's destruction had increased Tera-Kura's sales. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 23|Bonus Edition Vol. 23}}

Not ones to give up, Tarantulas and Weirdwolf had [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]] hypnotize Megatron back into Galvatron only for [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] to undo the spell. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 25|Bonus Edition Vol. 25}} He was present at the office when [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] attempted to take over Tera-Kura. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 26|Bonus Edition Vol. 26}} When a group of [[Nightbeat (G1)|mass-produced Headmasters]] from [[Axalon Trading Company|Autobot Axalon Trading Company]] started stealing Decepticon transtectors on the orders of [[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]], Tarantulas responded by activating the Galvatron body's mask, briefly brainwashing the unfortunate [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] into being evil. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 28|Bonus Edition Vol. 28}} Since his Megatron plan wasn't working out, Tarantulas chose to enter the Galvatron body and pilot it himself, using it to defeat Megatron and use his head mode as a soccer ball. Though he was defeated by [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] and [[Shūta Gō]], he was happy with the data he'd gathered about controlling a transtector. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 29|Bonus Edition Vol. 29}} He then finished a new transtector for Weirdwolf, shocking its owner by making it sentient (and revealing that Skullcruncher's had been so all along). {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 30|Bonus Edition Vol. 30}}

Tarantulas was initially gleeful when Tera-Kura purchased [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], but quickly grew unsatisfied and wanted control of ''both'' Metroplex and Autobot Axalon's new base, [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Maximus]]. He had Weirdwolf infiltrate Maximus and take it for Tera-Kura by using the [[Master Sword]], but the plan failed when Weirdwolf was unable to control the giant transtector's power. Using what he'd learned from piloting Galvatron, Tarantulas took things into his own hands by taking direct control of Metroplex and having him attack Maximus. The battle between Metroplex and Fortress Maximus ended with Fortress destroying Tarantulas's control device, and the scientist was arrested for his crimes. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 31|Bonus Edition Vol. 31}} He eventually broke out of jail and encountered [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], who agreed to hide him from the law in exchange for a transtector of his own. Tarantulas then found himself pressed to mass-produce these bodies for Astrotrain's master plan, and once he was done and expected to get along with his "fellow jailbird", Astrotrain promptly deemed him unnecessary and turned on him, sending him fleeing. {{storylink|Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 40|Bonus Edition Vol. 40}} He next found refuge with Weirdwolf's faction of Decepticons, only to again be press-ganged into building bodies, this time for [[Full-Tilt (G1)|Full-Tilt]] and [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]]. {{storylink|LG-43 Trypticon Project Chapter}} As such he was present for the resurrection of Trypticon. {{storylink|LG43 Trypticon Mobilization Chapter: Decepticon Civil War|Decepticon Civil War}}

===Ask Vector Prime===
To the best of [[Vector Prime]]'s knowledge, Tarantulas and [[Sideways (Armada)|Sideways]] did not think of themselves as relatives. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Vector Prime, 2015/05/15}}

[[Sideways (AVP)|Sideways]] claimed he showed up at the last second to help win [[#3H comics|the battle against Primal Prime]] but only referred to Ravage being there, not Tarantulas. {{storylink|Source:Ask Vector Prime/Sideways#July 6, 2015|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/06}} He also claimed to know the secret origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council. {{storylink|Ask Vector Prime#Facebook|Ask Sideways, 2015/06/28}}

===2005 IDW continuity===
{{first|[[Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|''Sins of the Wreckers'' #1]]}}
[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Mesothulas.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.6|"I'm not [[Sideways (disambiguation)|Sideways]]! Okay, maybe I am... but basically, no, I'm not."]]
Mesothulas was a non-affiliated scientist, an avid student of [[Shockwave (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Shockwave]], {{storylink|Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers|Requiem of the Wreckers}} who served as a consultant for [[Prowl (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Prowl]] during the early stages of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Mesothulas saw their relationship as symbiotic—Prowl's imagination would feed into Mesothulas's desire to make the impossible real and vice versa. This collaboration yielded many of the weapons and technologies that the Autobots would use during the war, including [[stasis bullet]]s, [[Spark extractor|spark extraction]], [[Decepti-Bomb]]s, and [[positive reinforcement prison]]s; most notably, Mesothulas developed the guilt-detecting supercomputer known as [[Aequitas]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Mesothulas eventually came to believe that the war itself was a sort of macrocosmic "organism", and could be manipulated at will with the right tools. {{storylink|Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers|Requiem of the Wreckers}} Mesothulas's mad science would eventually yield what he considered his greatest success, the artificial life-form known as "[[Springer (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Ostaros]]". Prowl eventually began to doubt the ethics involved with Mesothulas's inventions, and events came to a head after the scientist unveiled his latest creation: a hellish prison dimension he called the "[[Noisemaze (dimension)|Noisemaze]]". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

Realizing that Mesothulas's increasingly depraved experiments could not continue, Prowl cashed in a favor with [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]], asking him to dispose of Mesothulas by pushing the scientist into his own Noisemaze, then destroying everything in his workshop. When faced with the innocent Ostaros, however, neither Prowl nor Impactor could bring themselves to kill the young "Transformer", and instead Prowl falsified a new identity for him as the Autobot [[Springer (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Springer]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}} Thanks to the [[Anti-rad armor|bulky, face-concealing armor]] Impactor wore, Mesothulas was left to believe that Prowl had personally disposed of him. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}} 

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3 Ultra Energon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|''But then one day he went to that science lab''<br> ''That mutated spider came down'']]
Though Mesothulas was prepared for such an occurrence, having built a personal jumpgate built into his body, the disorienting effects of the Noisemaze meant that it took centuries before Mesothulas could put it to use. With his lab ransacked and his experiments left in shambles, Mesothulas turned his efforts outwards: he followed in the footsteps of his idol Shockwave—a trail that led him to [[Earth]]. There, he discovered and refined samples of Shockwave's [[Ore-13]] to create an artificially derived superfuel he called [[obtenteum]], which became the basis for all of his future inventions. Using obtenteum, he established a base within the Noisemaze he dubbed the [[Tor]]; inspired by the native wildlife, he turned the Tor into a laboratory for developing the perfect bio-disguise, a [[size changing|mass-shifting]] bodyform that formed the basis for the [[spark]]-shielding [[Chimeracon]] upgrade. Fascinated by Earth's spiders, he eventually modified his own body with Chimeracon technology to become a gigantic arachnid, renaming himself "Tarantulas". {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}}

The Chimeracon process required further raw material, and so Tarantulas returned to Cybertron and began the incident that would later be immortalized as the "[[Roadbuster affair]]"—by shrinking down into a tiny size, Tarantulas was able to crawl into [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]]'s ear, whispering for him to torture his recruits. Roadbuster assumed that he was hearing the voice of [[Mortilus]] and cheerfully followed the orders of "Mortilus" to the letter, dumping the bodies of his dead recruits into a pit where Tarantulas could later recover them. The other Autobots soon found out what had happened, and intervened in time to save [[Hubcap (G1)|Hubcap]] from the fate that befell his friends. By that point Tarantulas had already fled the scene and everyone assumed that Roadbuster had suffered a debilitating mental breakdown. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} Eventually, Tarantulas was able to turn Hubcap to his side and convince him to serve as a mole within the Autobot ranks, using his [[Outlier (group)|outlier]] powers to uncover Prowl's secrets, including the data containing Aequitas's proclamations. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Even though Tarantulas admitted having been the voice of "Mortilus" that drove Roadbuster mad, the terrified Hubcap went along with it, hoping to gain a stronger Chimeracon body for himself and seeing justice meted out against Roadbuster. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}} 

[[File:SinsoftheWreckers3-Tarantulasspider.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.6|''Oh, and now Meso crawls over everyone's walls'' <br> ''And he's swingin' all over town'']]
Following the end of the war—and a series of diplomatic incidents that saw Prowl reduced to a wanted fugitive—Tarantulas sought to rekindle the relationship that he and Prowl had one enjoyed, and sought to bring the disgraced strategist back into the fold. To do so, he became the patron of the post-war anarchist cell known as [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]]; clad in Chimeracon bio-disguises, they became his private enforcers, operating from the Noisemaze and carrying out his orders. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} Tarantulas ordered Mayhem to abduct Prowl shortly after the [[Combiner Wars (event)|Combiner Wars]], and had him spirited away to the Tor. There, Tarantulas suspended Prowl in his webs {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 1|Sins of the Wreckers #1}} and presented the [[data slug]] that contained information on the Aequitas trial, stolen from [[Verity Carlo]], as collateral for an open conversation between the two. {{Storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 2|Sins of the Wreckers #2}} 

With the greatest of anticipation, Tarantulas unveiled his new form to Prowl, who was horrified at his old collaborator's metamorphosis. Prowl suspected Tarantulas intended to use the war crimes data from Aequitas to simply blackmail him, but Tarantulas revealed his ''true'' desire: he simply wished to work with his old compatriot once more, to recreate the symbiosis of their original possibly-more-than-professional relationship. When Prowl still refused, he was placed in the company of his would-be rescuers: Verity, Springer, Roadbuster, and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], their most shameful, damning thoughts opened bare to him thanks to Tarantulas's new invention, the guilt-extracting [[Impetus]]. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 3|Sins of the Wreckers #3}} 

[[File:K-PLUTCH.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|You or a loved one may be entitled to financial compensation.]]
Tarantulas explained to Verity that her current sickly condition was a result of exposure to the Aequitas supercomputer back on [[Garrus-9]]; when he attempted to force Prowl into Impetus, Prowl tried to talk him out of it, lying that he had killed Ostaros that day in the lab. Before a grief-stricken Tarantulas could torture Prowl any further, rescue arrived in the shape of Wrecker space station ''[[Debris]]'', its mass threatening to rip the Noisemaze apart. Tarantulas ordered the Chimeracons to counterattack and for Hubcap to transmit the Aequitas data across the galaxy, only for Hubcap to turn on his employer and free the Autobot prisoners instead. Roadbuster was briefly able to overpower him by using his vehicle mode to ram the gigantic spider out a window... but Tarantulas had survived the fall, shrinking himself and crawling into Roadbuster's head once more. 

Tarantulas taunted his old victim one last time... then expanded back to his full size, blowing open Roadbuster's head from the inside out. As the surviving Wreckers regrouped at the Tor and prepared to take down the entire structure, Tarantulas revealed himself, smugly promising that he would soon do "something weird" to everyone. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 4|Sins of the Wreckers #4}}

[[File:SinsOfTheWreckers5-springervstarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.6|"Quick! Someone get a giant slipper!"]]
Using his mass displacement technology to enlarge his spider mode to its maximum size, Tarantulas activated a final contingency plan: shrinking the Tor itself down to pocket size so that he could safely transport his lab out of the collapsing dimension, while revealing that he had healed Verity's illness for no other reason other than to one-up Prowl. As they battled, Tarantulas continued to grow, ranting madly about his need for revenge for Ostaros's murder, finally prompting Impactor to reveal that ''he'' had destroyed the lab on Prowl's orders. Tarantulas demanded to know what had become of Ostaros—and then made the connection between Springer's voice and the fate of his creation. Tarantulas scurried into the depths of his facility to reunite with his creation, even as Arcee sliced off his beast mode head and used it to trip the retinal scanner and halt the Tor's contraction. 

Tarantulas managed to find Springer as the Autobot finished rigging the facility to blow, earning himself a punch in the face from the green Autobot. His words were garbled by the energies of the Noisemaze, preventing any kind of meaningful dialogue between creator and creation. The pair struggled with one another as Springer repeatedly stabbed Tarantulas, neither able to speak or hear each other. Escaping the Tor and reuniting with the other Autobots, Springer escaped as Impactor destroyed the Noisemaze, seemingly destroying Tarantulas with it. {{storylink|Sins of the Wreckers issue 5|Sins of the Wreckers #5}} 

[[File:RequiemOfTheWreckers-hyehyehhyeh.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Only a student of Shockwave's would consider [[The Falling, Interlude: The First Who Was Named|becoming a furry while using time travel to tamper with history]].]]
Unbeknownst to the Wreckers, however, Tarantulas had survived his encounter with the Wreckers, and escaped the destruction of the Noisemaze by shrinking to miniscule size and hitching a ride on Springer as he escaped. Tarantulas spent a year hiding out in the retrofitted barn that Springer and Verity called home, using their Cybertronian transmitter to communicate with the rest of the galaxy. He established a dialogue with the rogue Decepticon [[Overlord (G1)|Overlord]], who had been left rudderless following his botched battle with [[Megatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Megatron]] on the [[Necroworld]], and Tarantulas hatched a new plan. The pair relocated to an extinct volcano; using his knowledge of biotechnology, Tarantulas upgraded Overlord with a Chimeracon body, using samples of Verity's DNA to create a human alter-ego for Overlord: firebrand politician "Megan Guiglione", a twisted experiment so that Tarantulas could watch what happened when he introduced an irrational aggressor into Earth's political ecosystems. Using this cover identity to amass money and resources, Tarantulas began developing what he considered to be his ultimate masterstroke: the [[Timemaze]], a functional time machine that would allow him to use [[time travel]] to his advantage by repeatedly splintering the timeline by sending Overlord back in time and creating infinite new realities for him to experiment with.

When Verity inadvertently learned of Overlord's human disguise, he brought her back to the volcano to dispose of; Tarantulas, on the other hand, wanted her kept alive, in the hopes that protecting her would win him the favor of his beloved Ostaros. In the meantime, Tarantulas showed her his newest invention in between bickering with Overlord. It soon became clear that Overlord's irrational hatred of Megatron—a "temporal cornerstone"—overrode his loyalty to Tarantulas, and as Tarantulas realized his erstwhile partner would use the Timemaze to travel back in time solely for the purpose of repeatedly killing Megatron, the pair fell to fighting. When Springer did arrive, Tarantulas immediately stood down, hoping that he could make amends with his creation. Before he could do so, however, Overlord shot him in the back of the head. 

[[File:RequiemOfTheWreckers-TarantulasDies.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.8|Tarantulas' encounter with Garfield ended in tragedy.]]
When Overlord was finally defeated, Springer knelt beside Tarantulas's mangled body. Though he had been fatally wounded, Tarantulas admitted that he was happy to be reunited with his greatest creation one last time; while they couldn't be together, he was glad that, after bringing so much chaos into the universe, Springer was proof that he could leave something good behind. Having made peace with his legacy, Tarantulas died. {{storylink|Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers|Requiem of the Wreckers}}
{{-}}

===''Beast Wars: Uprising''===
[[File:TriggerWarnings Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|[[Predator (alien)|"You're one ugly mother..."]]]]
'''Tarantulas of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]]''' served as chief science officer at the [[Mandala]], the headquarters of the [[Predacon Secret Police]]. Loyal only to his own scientific... curiosity... Tarantulas also moonlighted with the Predacon anarchists known as the [[Mayhem Attack Squad]], providing tech support to them in exchange for hired goons when he needed them. {{storylink|Trigger Warnings}} In his downtime, he visited the same software developers' chat room as [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]. {{storylink|Identity Politics}}

A PSP deep-cover agent in the [[Maximal Command Security Force]] caught a murder case in Iacon, the death of a [[Builder of Cybertron|Builder]] named [[Twirl (G1)|Twirl]]. Tarantulas examined the data [[Wolfang (Predacon)|Wolfang]] provided his superiors and recognized Twirl was not a [[Micromaster]], but a [[Targetmaster (technology)|Targetmaster]], one who had somehow survived the [[Targetmaster Extirpation|Extirpation]] a generation prior. Finding the idea of his own weapon of mass destruction appealing, Tarantulas inserted himself into the case and pinged the Mayhemists to be on alert as well.

Wolfang tracked down the Mayhemists, believing them to be responsible for the murder. He encountered Tarantulas and arrested him for conspiracy and terrorism, but Tarantulas managed to talk his way out of imprisonment when he came before [[Onyx Primal]]. Instead, he joined the PSP as they intercepted Wolfang, who had found the true murderer, another secret Targetmaster named [[Overrun]]. Fearing the idea of Tarantulas or anyone getting ahold of the power of a Targetmaster, Wolfang and Overrun died keeping him out of PSP hands. {{storylink|Trigger Warnings}}

Getting his mitts on the [[Robosmasher|Robo-Smasher]] that Overrun had left behind, Tarantulas decided to play with it in [[Proximax]], with his first target being the disgraced former Resistance member [[Grimlock_(G1)|Grimlock]]. His scheme was noticed by the [[Ex-Bot_(BWU)|Ex-Bots]], who thanks to some pre-cognitive warning from [[Overshoot|Overshoot's]] ghost were able to jam the Robo-Smasher, giving Grimlock the chance to obfuscate and sabotage the Predacon's scheme. Before they could do anything with him, the [[Vehicon Apocalypse]] broke out.

Tarantulas managed to disappear during the chaos, only reappearing once the Vehicons were done and dusted, at the side of Megatron, head of [[Darksyder|Darksyder, Inc.]], and one of the largest powers left on Cybertron. Tarantulas, for his part, was giddy at the thought of meeting Stiletto again. {{storylink|Derailment}}

Millennia later, historians would remember "Tarantulus", but somehow came to conflate him with Blackarachnia, and were even convinced he was [[Lio_Convoy|Lio Convoy's]] head scientist. {{storylink|Lio Convoy: Unity Through Tyranny}}

===2021 ''Beast Wars'' comic===
[[File:SavageLandingPart1-beautifuldestruction.jpg|thumb|left|300px]]
Tarantulas was a Predacon separatist in the employ of [[Megatron (BW)|Galavar]]; {{storylink|Savage Landing Part 1}} although he considered himself one of the greatest geniuses in Cybertronian history, {{storylink|Savage Landing Part 4}}, most regarded him as a wanted criminal, a treacherous mad scientist whose reputation for cruelty and indiscriminate violence had earned him infamy among the Maximals. {{storylink|Pod Part 1}} 

Eventually, Galavar went rogue, changed his name to "[[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]", and launched a daring heist to steal a mysterious [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] from the Maximal [[Ministry of Science|Science Ministry]]. While half of Megatron's team stole the disk, Tarantulas, [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], and [[Skold]] broke into the [[Great Shipyard]] in [[Vos (polity)|Vos]], liberated the [[Transwarp Drive|transwarp]]-capable warship ''[[Darksyde (BW)|Darksyde]]'' from its berth, and sabotaged the rest of the fleet to prevent any pursuers. Tarantulas busied himself with hacking the security protocols required to access the ship's transwarp drive, before the vessel came under assault from the nearby Maximal science vessel ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]''. Tarantulas successfully unlocked the transwarp drive, and followed a set of coordinates inscribed on the golden disk—a jump that took to a mysterious, primitive world. After a brief orbital dogfight with the Maximal starship, who'd followed them across time and space to this unfamiliar planet, both ships crashed on opposite sides of a lush valley. To survive high concentrations of [[energon]] radiation, the ''Darksyde'''s computer system refitted its passengers with [[beast mode]]s that would allow them to safely operate outside their ship. Upon reactivating in his new form, Tarantulas joined Megatron as the Predacon leader vowed to hunt down and dispatch any Maximals who'd survived the crash. {{storylink|Savage Landing Part 1}}

[[File:SavageLandingPart3-TarantulasvsDinobot.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]
As the Predacons settled in, Tarantulas busied himself with tracking a number of anomalous [[unspace]] signatures within the ship, and butted heads with Megatron's nominal lieutenant [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] when he ordered Tarantulas to scout out their immediate surroundings. Tarantulas snapped that, as rogue agents, he and the other Predacons answered to no one and could do as they pleased. {{storylink|Savage Landing Part 2}} That evening, [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] returned with a prisoner: the Maximal flier [[Nyx]]. While Megatron interrogated their captive, Tarantulas operated the electrical torture device intended to shock her into surrendering her secrets; when Nyx refused to speak, however, Tarantulas deduced that she must be protecting other Maximal survivors, and a pleased Megatron turned Nyx over to Tarantulas to dispose of as he liked. As such, Tarantulas rigged up a public execution, using his new [[Transformation Lock Lens|transformation lock lens]] to keep his victim from fighting back or escaping. The show went as planned, until Dinobot had a crisis of conscience and abruptly turned on his allies. With the advantage of surprise on his side, Dinobot quickly incapacitated Tarantulas by kicking him in the face, then used his security clearance to remotely trip the ''Darksyde'''s lockdown protocol and trap all the other Predacons in the base while Nyx transformed and escaped. {{storylink|Savage Landing Part 3}}

It took Tarantulas several hours to unscramble the ship's systems, and by the time that he succeeded both Dinobot and Nyx had disappeared into the jungle that divided the ''Darksyde'' from the crashed ''Axalon'', which necessitated a manhunt to find and dispatch the traitor. {{storylink|Savage Landing Part 4}} By following Dinobot's trail, the Predacons found the crashed ''Axalon'' and devised a plan to take out both Dinobot and the Maximals in one fell swoop—while Megatron and the other Predacons launched a frontal assault, Tarantulas infiltrated the ship to bring it down from within. While sneaking around the ship's lower levels, he encountered [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]], whom he attempted to eat before Rattrap shot him in the face and escaped into the ship's vents. Frustrated, Tarantulas swore to find a way to sabotage the Maximal starship and kill everyone aboard. {{storylink|Savage Landing Part 5}} 

[[File:SavageLandingPart6-Dinobotstabbed.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
While searching for anything he could salvage from the ''Axalon'''s many empty laboratories, and, after accessing the ship's consist, discovered that the Maximals had been carrying a cargo of [[protoform]]s they'd ejected into orbit before the crash. Eager at the prospect of raising his own army and overthrowing Megatron, Tarantulas quickly wrote a [[shell program]] and attempted to access the stasis pod network to upload his code, but as he struggled with the ship's security systems, Rattrap used the ship's [[GCMG-Five|cargo-loading exoskeleton]] to grab the Predacon scientist and hurl him out the nearest window. Tarantulas quickly recovered, and, while Dinobot faced down the other Predacons alone outside the''Axalon'', Tarantulas ambushed the ex-Predacon, stabbed him through the chest, and joined in his comrades as they beat their former comrade to the brink of death before [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] used the Axalon's autoguns to intimidate the Predacons into leaving. {{storylink|Savage Landing Part 6}}

While fruitlessly trying to contact the orbital stasis pod network from the ''Darksyde'', Tarantulas discovered that his earlier experiment had indeed paid off: his attempts to hack the Maximal pods had yielded [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]], who'd taken the initiative of deorbiting the remaining stasis pods and infecting many of them with the same program Tarantulas had used to turn her into a Predacon. However, Tarantulas found that Blackarachnia was no slave, but a fiercely independent warrior who refused to take orders from anyone. {{storylink|Pod Part 2}} Tarantulas attended Megatron's celebration commemorating their new member, but quickly found himself the object of suspicion when Megatron pointedly remarked that Tarantulas had "forgotten" to inform Megatron of this new development. {{storylink|Thicker Skin}} When Terrorsaur played a cruel prank on Skold by locking her in the ship's brig, Tarantulas and the other Predacons watched the ship's security system in shock as the little Predacon befriended and decapitated their prisoner [[Powerhug (BW)|Powerhug]]. {{storylink|Skold's No Good, Very Bad Day}} 

[[File:MaximalsStrikeBackPart3-Tarantulastransforms.jpg|thumb|right|300px]]
As Terrorsaur's impatience with Megatron's leadership grew, he grew bold enough to directly criticize their commander, and found himself on the receiving end of a savage beatdown. Fortunately, Tarantulas used one of his inventions to save Terrorsaur before Megatron could deliver the killing blow; the moment Megatron turned his back, he warned Terrorsaur that he'd saved him only because he'd need the spare parts one day. {{storylink|Maximals Strike Back, Part 1}} When the Maximals launched a full-scale assault on the ''Darksyde'' to retrieve the Golden Disk and disable their transwarp drive, Tarantulas fetched up against Nyx once again, {{storylink|Maximals Strike Back, Part 2}} but couldn't stop her from blasting the delicate transwarp engine and permanently destroying it. A furious Tarantulas transformed to attack, but wound up immobilized by Nyx's new taser. Although Tarantulas survived the battle, not all of his comrades were as lucky: Terrorsaur perished, and while the other Predacons licked their wounds Tarantulas eagerly took custody of Terrorsaur's corpse and got to work, promising his dead comrade that he'd find new purpose beyond death. {{storylink|Maximals Strike Back, Part 3}}

Some time later, Tarantulas and Blackarachnia worked together to construct an elaborate maze designed to trap Maximals, then used (and subsequently abandoned) Waspinator as a guinea pig to test it. When [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] blundered into their trap, he found a pre-recorded message in which the two argued over who would take the credit for the trap. {{storylink|Rhinox's Amaze-ing Adventure}} At another point, Tarantulas took part in a skirmish over energon that ended with Cheetor getting injured. {{storylink|The Speedway of Central Consciousness}}

[[File:PrimalRage-BlackarachniaTarantulas.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Prepare for trouble! Make it double!]]
When Scorponok and Waspinator discovered a mysterious sample of red energon in the jungle, Tarantulas analyzed it and discovered that the substance possessed unusual aggression-increasing properties. He and Blackarachnia found a way to weaponize the substance into an explosive, then ambushed Optimus Primal and Dinobot while the two Maximals were alone in the jungle and escaped after planting the bomb on Dinobot's back. {{storylink|Primal Rage}}

At some point around this time, Tarantulas came into contact with the enigmatic [[Vok]], aliens who hailed from unspace and the self-appointed guardians of this world, who sought to permanently remove the Maximals and Predacons from their planet. In exchange for the secrets of the universe, Tarantulas betrayed his fellow Cybertronians; while he worked behind the scenes to undermine the tentative Maximal-Predacon alliance, {{storylink|The Beginning of the End}} he also made the direct step of locating every fallen stasis pod he could find and reprogramming the Predacons within into loyal "[[Children of the Vok (group)|Children of the Vok]]" who would serve as shock troopers in their impending assault on the Cybertronians. {{storylink|The End (BW)|The End}} 

[[File:TheBeginningOfTheEnd-TarantulasTerrorsaur.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]
However, when Rhinox and Scorponok discovered that someone had used Megatron's access code to disable the ''Darksyde'''s transwarp drive, Megatron immediately realized that Tarantulas, the only other Predacon who could've known the code, had been working against them. Tarantulas tried to flee to the Vok, but Dinobot impaled the Predacon scientist with his sword and brought him back to the ''Darksyde'' for questioning. In retaliation, Tarantulas activated his hidden experiment: since taking custody of Terrorsaur's corpse, he'd rebuilt him into a monstrous, mindless, physically-enhanced [[zombie]]. "Experiment ZT-Omega" made short work of his captors, then freed Tarantulas so that he could send a message to Cybertron using the Darksyde's jury-rigged transwarp drive in the hopes that someone could send a ship to their space-time coordinates and rescue him. {{storylink|The Beginning of the End}}

As the Children of the Vok besieged the Predacon base, Tarantulas gleefully took in the chaos until Blackarachnia attacked him. However, the arrival of the Vok interrupted their fight. The inscrutable aliens had come to the conclusion that ''all'' Cybertronians were inherently violent and could not be allowed to live, and powered up a massive [[reversion device]] to scour the planet clean. Together, the Maximals and Predacons successfully weaponized transwarp technology to banish both the aliens and Megatron, and Tarantulas slipped away amidst the confusion. With Megatron gone, Blackarachnia took command of the remaining Predacons and decided that, before leaving the planet, they'd track down the treacherous scientist and kill him. {{storylink|The End (BW)|The End}}

{{--}}

==Games==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game continuity===
====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game comic====
[[File:BWgameUK-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Some great dialog there, Tarry.]]
Upon arriving on prehistoric Earth, the dangers of Energon radiation forced the Maximals and Predacons to take on beast alternate forms. Tarantulas picked up a tarantula in his palm and scanned it. Soon, Tarantulas spotted [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] moving in on the Predacons' crash site. Swearing revenge, Tarantulas transformed and attacked, and threatened to skin the Maximal alive. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic}}

====''Beast Wars: Transformers'' video game====
{{voiceactor|??? (English), ??? (Japanese)}}
[[File:BeastWarsPSX-Tarantulasstats.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|Sadly, there's no Eat Cheetor level.]]

Many Beast Wars combatants had managed to construct personal bases, customized to their personal tastes, due to the extended duration of the war. Tarantulas still preferred to operate out of a dark, underground lair. Tarantulas joined his fellow Predacons in battling not only the persistent Maximal resistance, but the interdimensional monsters known as the [[Skriix]].

=====Maximal campaign=====
After [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] had expanded his own personal base too close to Tarantulas's own territory, creating an opening for the Predacon to infiltrate Rhinox's personal metropolis. Tarantulas overtook Rhinox's base and reprogrammed its defenses, prompting the Maximals to retake it. The Maximal's offensive push forced Tarantulas to retreat deeper and deeper into the annexed territory, until he finally returned to his own lair. While he was in control of Rhinox's forces, however, Tarantulas had gained access to sensitive information, prompting the Maximals to follow Tarantulas back to his hide-out, and eliminate him once and for all.

=====Predacon campaign=====
Rhinox's expansion into Tarantulas's territory allowed the Predacons to infiltrate the Maximal's "Urban Area" and eliminate Rhinox. {{storylink|Beast Wars: Transformers (video game)|Beast Wars: Transformers}}

{{BW VG|Tarantulas|P}}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (N64)===
[[File:N64 Tarantulus.jpg|thumb|left|Player 2 Has Entered His Stomach. Continue?]]
[[File:N64Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Arboreal Camouflage Tarantulas? Blue Crusader Tarantulas?]]
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)}}
In an alternate timeline created when Megatron sent a message through Transwarp back to his past self, Tarantulas participated in a series of all-out battles with the other beast warriors.

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

Then he came back, newly promoted and with an armada of Transwarp battleships under his command, out to end the Beast Wars and enforce the Tripredacus Council's will... {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)|Beast Wars Transmetals}}

{{BW fighter ending|Tarantulas|N64}}

====Move list====
{{note|This list only includes the character's unique special moves in Beast Mode, as their attacks in Robot Mode and Vehicle Mode are identical to those of every other character.}}
{| class="wikitable"
!colspan=2|'''Beast Attacks'''
|-
|C-Right||Web Snare
|-
|C-Up||Seek n' Suck
|-
|C-Left||Venom Mist
|}

===''Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals'' (PS)===
{{voiceactor|[[Alec Willows]] (English), [[Yūichi Nagashima]] (Japanese)}}
====Maximal story====
Tarantulas joined the other Predacons in an assault on the ''Axalon''. Unfortunately for them, Optimus Primal and his team fought back, beating the Predacons all the way back to the ''Darkside''. By the time it was all over, Tarantulas had already abandoned the mission and taken off. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)}}

====Predacon story====
Tarantulas gleefully informed Megatron that their plan was already underway, and the Maximals had taken the bait and were on the approach. Mocking Rampage for not understanding the subtle intricacies of "beat up the Maximals, follow them to their base, then beat them up even more", Tarantulas joined a team of Predacons in beating them back to the ''Axalon''. On the ship's bridge, with the Maximals all but defeated, Tarantulas and the others prepared to finish them. However, Rhinox arrived at that moment and activated Sentinel's auto-guns, forcing the Preds to make a hasty retreat. {{storylink|Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)}}

====Move list====
{| class="wikitable"
!colspan=2|'''Robot Mode'''
!colspan=2|'''Beast Mode'''
|-
|Special attack||Multi Missiles
|Special attack||Web Pulse
|-
|Super attack||Shadow Slash
|Super attack||Shocking Snare
|}

===''Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars''===
[[File:DuelFight Tarantulas.gif|thumb|upright=1.1]]
Megatron was capable of summoning Tarantulas forth to the battlefield during his attempts to acquire the super-powerful [[Energon Quartz]]. {{storylink|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle|Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Battle Tactics''===
[[File:BattleTacticsTarantulas.jpg|thumb|400px]]
Tarantulas participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He appeared in three different bodies:
*''Tarantulas''—This Super Rare character first appeared in the "Beast Wars: Episode 2" event, and could be recruited by by collecting 250 units of Cybermetal, 75 units of Transmetal, 35 event cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas''—This Epic Character was available in the August Daily Campaign and could be recruited by collecting 20 Alpha cores, 20 Beta cores, 20 Omega cores, and 10 cores of this character.
*''Tarantulas Transmetal''—This Super Rare character was available to 2500 players during the second event of the "Transmetals: Episode 3" mini events.
{{storylink|Transformers: Battle Tactics}}
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Timelines.jpg|thumb|400px|Watch out!/Here comes the spider bike!]]
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
[[File:Battle-Tactics-Tarantulas-Transmetal.jpg|thumb|400px]]
{{!}}}
{{--}}

===''Transformers: Earth Wars''===
[[File:Tarantulas EarthWars.jpg|thumb|upright=2.00]]

Tarantulas was an agent of the Tri-Predacus Council, but is only loyal to himself.{{Storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Tarantulas bio}}

Tarantulas had stolen Rampage's half-spark, and was told by Blackarachnia that Megatron had become lost in time. He told her that this news was rather splendid. They wanted to weaponize Rampage's half-spark somehow. With it, the Heralds of Unicron would fear them. Tarantulas suspected that the prophesied Great Resetting was about to begin. They were attacked by [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]], the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]] and the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]]. Soundwave ordered them to slaughter Tarantulas and Blackarachnia before they could erase their temporal data on Megatron they may have collected. {{Storylink|Transformers: Earth Wars|Lost In Time}}

*'''Class:''' Special
*'''Lowest Star Rating:''' 2 stars
*'''Ability: Life Stealing Charge''' - Rush into combat imprisoning buildings on your path for 7 seconds. The vines deal damage per second, slow down defences by 70% and heal your nearby allies by a percentage of the defence’s damage value per second.
**'''Cost''': 5 ability points, +2 for reuses.
[http://wiki.transformersearthwars.com/character:tarantulas  Tarantulas at Transformers: Earth Wars Wiki]

{{--}}

===''Transformers Roleplaying Game''===
Tarantulas was a ruthless scientist with ties to the Tripredacus Council. A  reclusive, mysterious manipulator, his shadowy origins led some around him to speculate that he was a descendant of [[Unicron]]. His creations included the horrific "Experiment ZT-Omega", an undead revenant created after Tarantulas resurrected Terrorsaur's sparkless corpse. {{storylink|Technorganic Secrets}}

==Toys==
===''Beast Wars''===
[[File:BWtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|Interested in getting hog-tied with spider-butt rope? (''Takara / Hasbro "smooth bubble" version pictured'')]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-p1|'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 1996/1997)}}</ul>
:*''Takara name'': '''Tarans'''
:*''Takara ID number'': '''D-4'''
:*''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles
{{toydesigner|[[Takio Ejima]] (TakaraTomy), [[Masakatsu Saito]] (TakaraTomy)}}

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

: The original Tarantulas...es... shipped on cards with "rocky"-shaped bubbles. Later (and more numerous) assortments moved to a smooth, rounded bubble, leading the first packaging type to become sought-after collectibles on the secondary market. This is also the source of a toy variant: smooth-bubble Tarantulaseseses lack yellow paint on the elbows found on the rocky-bubble samples. Speaking of packaging, Tarantulas's [[stock photography]] on the cardbacks showed him as being mainly transparent orange plastic rather than the transparent purple of the finalized toy.

: The [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] release of Tarantulas was originally identical to the Hasbro smooth-bubble release, missing elbow-paint and all. In January 1998, a slightly color-altered version was released, using a brighter shade of green and a slightly darker gray. The color-altered version also replaced the blue eyes on the "robot" head and the black eyes of the "mutant" head with gold.

: This mold was used to make the first [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Blackarachnia toy]].

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

{{-}}{{anchor|VS4}}{{anchor|VsDinobot}}
[[File:VS4-DinobotTarantuas.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The classic battle of dino vs spider. We've all heard the tale.]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-m1p1|'''Kyōbō no Taiketsu: Dinobot VS Tarans''' (VS pack, 1997)}}</ul>
:*''ID number'': '''VS-4'''
:*''Release date'': July ??, 1997
:*''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles

: In Japan, "Tarans" was available both as an individual and in a "Ferocious Showdown" (凶暴の対決 ''Kyōbō no Taiketsu'') two-pack with "[[Dinobot (BW)/toys#VS4|Dinobot]]". Both toys in this set were identical to their individual releases.

: Both the original toy and Takara's later "more show-like" redeco of Tarantulas was released via this VS set.<ref>{{citesocial|quote=@urochiiikey 情報提供ありがとうございました! 調査したところ、オークションサイトで "凶暴の対決 "の別カラーバージョンを見つけました。情報を更新させていただきます。(機械による翻訳) https://t.co/Z9ESfl7fKV|link=https://twitter.com/tfwiki/status/1418228061464678400|name=TFWiki|site=Twitter|year=2021|month=07|day=22|(defunct=)}}</ref>

{{-}}{{anchor|MicroVerse2}}
[[File:BW Biocombat Ani Mutants Orcanoch.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-m1|'''Maximal Orcanoch Micro Playset''' (Playset, 1997)}}</ul>
{{toydesigner|[[Takio Ejima]] (TakaraTomy), [[Masakatsu Saito]] (concept artist)}}

: In Europe, the ''Beast Wars''-branded ''[[MicroVerse]]'' playsets (see below) were released solely as ''Beast Wars/Biocombat'' (English/Spanish/Italian packaging) or ''Beast Wars/Ani Mutants'' (French/Dutch/German packaging) products.

: This release is entirely identical to the [[#MicroVerse|US ''MicroVerse'' release]] of the toy, aside from the packaging and the branding.

{{-}}{{anchor|TM1}}{{anchor|Transmetal}}
[[File:BWtoy-TarantulasTransmetal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm-a spawn of-a Unicron! I-a slice-a ya pizza!]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-p1|'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)}}</ul>
:*''Takara name'': '''Metals Tarans'''
:*''Takara ID number'': '''D-44'''
:*''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

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

: The Japanese version of "Metals Tarans", released in September 1999, is slightly different, replacing the "TARANTULAS" [[tampograph]] with "DESTRON" and the Predacon sigil, plus his robot mode eyes are painted as a single visor to match the show look better.

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

{{-}}{{anchor|FKTM}}{{anchor|FKTransmetal}}
[[File:Tarantulas-FKTM.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|It's like Eight Legged Freaks, but classier, and with a pizza cutter.]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-p1|'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Transmetal, 1999)}}</ul>
:*''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon
{{toydesigner|[[Masakatsu Saito]] (concept artist)}}

: Transmetal Tarantulas toy was later redecoed in grays, silver, and black, as part of the second wave of "[[Fox Kids]]" toys, so called for the advertisements for the Fox channel on the packaging (as the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] had moved there from syndication). Internal Hasbro documents have listed this toy as "Steel Force Tarantulas",<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ</ref> a name that did not make it to final packaging.

: These colors were used to depict Tarantulas in the ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' and [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|''Universe'' comics]]. This toy was also later [[repurposing|repurposed]] as Tarantulas's [[Tarantulas (BWSG)|''Shattered Glass'' counterpart]]. With the toy's limited availability, its secondary-market asking price is kind of up there, thanks to its use in the [[BotCon]] fiction.

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

{{-}}{{anchor|VS44}}{{anchor|VsMetals}}
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-m1p1|'''Gōriki no Taiketsu: Metals Rhinox VS Metals Tarans''' (VS set, 1999)}}</ul>
:*''ID number'': '''VS-44'''
:*''Release date'': September ??, 1999
:*''Accessories'': Sawblade weapon

: In Takara's ''Metals'' line, "Metals Tarans" was also available in a "Strength Showdown" (剛力の対決 ''Gōriki no Taiketsu'') VS set with [[Rhinox (BW)/toys#VS44|Transmetal Rhinox]]. Both toys are identical to their individual releases.
{{-}}

===''MicroVerse''===
[[File:Tarantulas-Microverse.jpg|100px|thumb|I'm not [[Fantastic Four|The]] [[Thing]], I swear!]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-m1|'''Maximal Orcanoch Micro Playset''' (Playset, 1997)}}</ul>
:*''Series'': '''''Beast Wars: Transformers'''''
{{toydesigner|[[Takio Ejima]] (TakaraTomy), [[Masakatsu Saito]] (concept artist)}}

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

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/1997/Predacon/Tarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on MicroVerse Tarantulas at TFU.info]
{{-}}

===''Beast Wars 10th Anniversary''===
[[File:BWXtoy-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|He's not here to help assemble Transmutate. That leg's his dinner.]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-p1|'''Predacon Tarantulus''' {{sic}} (Beast Wars 10th Anniversary, [[2006]])}}</ul>
:*''Accessories'': Launcher, 4 spider-leg missiles
{{toydesigner|[[Marcelo Matere]] (packaging artist)}}

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

: This release of Tarantulus has [[Misassembly|misassembled]] forearm/claws, which can be easily swapped to the correct position due to the [[ball joint]]ed elbows. Due to [[trademark]], his packaging renders his name as Tarantul'''u'''s.
::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2006/Predacon/PredaconTarantulas/predacontarantulas.htm More information on 10th Anniversary Tarantulas at TFU.info]''
{{-}}

===''Timelines''===
[[File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFP.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Everyone's second-favorite purple-and-yellow motorcycle two-Mini-Con-having servant of Unicron.]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-p1|'''Tarantulas''' (Deluxe, 2015)}}</ul>
:*''Accessories'': Axe

:Part of the third [[Transformers Figure Subscription Service#Series 3.0 (2015)|Transformers Figure Subscription Service]], ''[[Transformers Timelines (toyline)|Timelines]]'' Tarantulas is a redeco of ''[[Transformers United|United]]'' [[Scrapheap (G1)#United|Scrapheap]], itself a retool of ''[[Transformers (2010 toyline)#RTS|Transformers: Reveal the Shield]]'' Deluxe Class [[Wreck-Gar (G1)#Transformers (2010)|Wreck-Gar]] with a new head. He turns into a motorcycle. The toy is meant to represent his pre-''Beast Wars'' appearance. The toy also comes with two [[Arachnoid]]s that can be pegged into his left and right arms. The Arachnoids have paint applications that allow them to resemble Tarantulas' in-show claws.

:When first revealed at [[BotCon 2014]], [[:File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFPslideshow.jpg|the toy's color was different from the final release's appearance]]. The toy was lighter colored (including the Arachnoids), his mouthplate was green, and his arms were entirely colored green, among many other differences.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2015/Predacon/TFSSTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on Tarantulas on TFU.info]''
{{2010Wreck-GarMold}}
{{-}}

===''Combiner Wars''===
{{anchor|DawnOfThePredacus}}
[[File:Timelines botcon tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|*Insert Spider-tank related caption here*]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-p1|'''Dawn of the Predacus''' (Multi-pack, 2016)}}</ul>
:*''Accessories'': Claw weapon, Combiner Foot/Hand

: A [[retool]] of ''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' Deluxe Class [[Rook (CW)#Generations|Rook]], "Predacon Tarantulas" features a new head, with both it and the figure's deco being based on his Transmetal form. Tarantulas transforms into an {{w|Reconnissance vehicle|armored reconnissance}} vehicle; reminiscent to a {{w|Type 87 ARV}}. As a ''Combiner Wars'' Deluxe limb he is able to combine with any Voyager Class toys released as part of the same subline or any ''Unite Warriors'' Voyager Class figure or into one of [[Godbomber#Legends|''Legends'' Godbomber]]'s legs but is, of course, intended to be combined with Sea Clamp, Cicadacon, Ramhorn, and Ravage to create [[Predacus#Generations|Predacus]].

: Rather than 5mm hands, Tarantulas has forward-facing 5mm ports in front of his fists. This allows him to mount his claw-like accessory as an integrated weapon or use ''Combiner Wars'' combiner hands (one of which is included) as giant "Hulk hands".
 
: He was available exclusively at [[BotCon 2016]] in the "Dawn of the Predacus" box set with [[Ravage (G1)/toys#BotCon2016|Ravage]], [[Ram Horn#Generations|General Ramhorn]], [[Cicadacon#Generations|General Cicadacon]], and [[Sea Clamp#Generations|General Sea Clamp]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2016/Predacon/BCTarantulas/tarantulas.htm More information on ''Combiner Wars'' Tarantulas at TFU.info]''
{{CWRookMold}}
{{-}}

===''Legacy''===
{{anchor|LegacyEvo}}
[[File:TF-Legacy-Deluxe-Class-Tarantulas.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|Stealing the surgical equipment from [[Knock Out (Prime)#Legacy|his wavemate]].]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{Bp-p1|'''Predacon Tarantulas''' (Deluxe Class, [[2022]] / [[2023]])}}</ul>
:*''TakaraTomy ID number'': '''TL-11'''
:*''TakaraTomy release date'': [[November]], [[2022]]
:*''Accessories'': Crossbow, buzzsaw
{{toydesigner|[[Mark Maher]] (Hasbro), [[Shogo Hasui]] (TakaraTomy)|[[Dennis Chan]] (sculptor)}}

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Transformers: Legacy]]'' Deluxe Class toys, "Predacon Tarantulas" is a fairly cartoon-accurate version of the character, transforming into a realistically-shaped (if not realistically-colored) spider resembling a Lycosa tarantula (which is actually a species of wolf spider, not a true tarantula). His accessories include a (non-firing) crossbow similar to his original toy's weapon, and a (non-spinning) buzzsaw evoking his Transmetal design. He has a single Predacon faction symbol on his right thigh, which is only barely visible due to being a similar shade of purple to his plastic.

: The ends of his spider-legs are ''sort of'' [[Fire Blast effect]] compatible; they're roughly the right diameter towards the midpoint of the "toes", but the rounded ends mean the effects need to be pushed down quite a bit to reach that point and the grip relies mainly on stretching the effects' attachment holes slightly, meaning some parts just don't want to stay on at all.

: This figure was officially revealed by Hasbro on the [[April 12]], [[2022]], Fan First Tuesday.

: This figure was repackaged the following year for the sixth wave of ''Legacy'' Deluxes in ''Evolution''-branded packaging. The figure itself has no notable changes.

{{-}}{{anchor|United}}
[[File:LegacyVersusTarantulus.jpg|upright=1.67|thumb|Is this the Beast Wars equivalent of a [[Diaclone]] redeco?]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{bp-multi|'''Prime Universe Cliffjumper VS Beast Wars Universe Tarantulas, G1 Universe Squeezeplay, Cyberverse Universe Tarn''' (Multi-pack, [[2024]])}}</ul>
:*''Accessories'': Crossbow, buzzsaw
{{toydesigner|[[Mark Maher]] (Hasbro), [[Shogo Hasui]] (TakaraTomy)}}<ref>[[March 28]], [[2024]]'s [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlrpW_ZFKvE Hasbro Pulse | Transformers 40th Anniversary Fanstream | March 28, 2024] on YouTube, with [[Ben MacCrae]], [[Evan Brooks]], [[Mark Maher]], [[Kelly Rose]], and [[Matt Ferguson]].</ref>

: "Beast Wars Universe Tarantulas" is a redeco and new-head retool of the aforementioned ''Legacy'' figure, in a primarily orange color scheme inspired by the prototype deco for the original 1996 Tarantulas toy. The figure's new head is based on the original Tarantulas mold's non-mutant robot face, but in contrast to the rest of the figure, it is painted based on [[#Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|''Beast Wars 10th Anniversary'' Predacon Tarantulus]]. He retains the same two weapon accessories as the previous release. While the box spells his name normally, the instructions sheet refer to the figure as [[Tyrantulas]].  

:Tarantulas was part of a [[Target]]-[[exclusive]] "Versus Multipacks" with [[Cliffjumper (WFC)#Legacy|Prime Universe Cliffjumper]], [[Squeezeplay (G1)#Legacy|G1 Universe Squeezeplay]] (with [[Lokos#Legacy|G1 Universe Lokos]]), and [[Tarn (Cyberverse)#Toys|Cyberverse Universe Tarn]]. 

{{-}}

===''Beast Wars Again''===
[[File:TF-BW-Again-JP-BWVS-06-Tarantulas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|What was his Canon Event?]]
<ul class="iconlist">{{Bp-m1p1|'''Gyakushin no Taiketsu''' (Multi-pack, [[2024]])}}</ul>
:*''ID number'': '''BWVS-06'''
:*''Release date'': [[January 27]], 2024
:*''Accessories'': Crossbow, buzzsaw
{{toydesigner|[[Hisashi Yuki]] (TakaraTomy)|[[Hidetsugu Yoshioka]] (packaging artist)}}

: Released as part of the ''[[Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Again|Beast Wars Again]]'' line, the "Treacherous Showdown" (逆心の対決) set contains Tarans and [[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Beast Wars Again|Dinobot]]. Tarans is a redeco of [[#Legacy|''Legacy'' Tarantulas]] in more cartoon-accurate colors.       
{{-}}

==Merchandise==
===''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''===
[[File:Tarantulasmutatingcard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67]]
*'''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{--}}

===''Robot Heroes''===
[[File:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal & Predacon Tarantulas''' (Two-pack, 2008)
{{toydesigner|[[Bill Rawley]] (Hasbro)|[[Marcelo Matere]] (concept artist)}}

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

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

===Prime 1 Studio===
*'''Megatron Transmetal 2''' (2023)
**''ID Number'': '''PMTFBW-03''' / '''03DXS''' (Deluxe)

:[[Prime 1 Studio]] ''Premium Masterline'' [[Megatron (BW)/toys#P1STransmetals2|Megatron Transmetal 2]] is a highly detailed statue of Megatron's robot mode posing over a defeated Transmetal Tarantulas.

:The regular release of the statue comes only with Tarantulas' intact upper body attached to the base. The Deluxe version, meanwhile, comes with an extra right arm for Megatron that is holding the decapitated head of Tarantulas and alternate body parts that replace Tarantulas' regular head with the internal mechanisms of his sliced neck.

{{--}}

==Notes==
[[File:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Tarantulas is one of Reprolabels's best customers.]]
[[File:TMtigatronboxback2.jpg|thumb|Pew! Pew!]]

*Tarantulas's name may come from an unproduced ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'' [https://www.yojoe.com/archive/unproduced/manimalart.shtml Manimal] named [https://www.yojoe.com/archive/unproduced/man95-5.shtml Tarantulus], as the ''Beast Wars'' Maximal name itself was derived from the Manimals.
*The original Tarantulas toy has ''nine'' eyes in [[beast mode]], as does the show model. This makes characters' references to him as "eight-eyes" rather... interesting.
*Tarantulas's original toy bio paints him as a really dumb ninja-like stealth assassin. His intelligence stat of 4 was maintained for his Transmetal toy and (much later) his ''Legacy'' toy. All of his other toys give him a more cartoon-accurate stat of 10.
*In the first season, Tarantulas is characterized more as a cannibalistic, psychotic gourmand who happens to be the Predacons' Science Officer than as the mad scientist and master plotter he becomes from "[[Spider's Game]]" onwards. This is to the extent that his official season one profile makes several mentions of his eating habits, describes his sole interest as being "food", and summarizes his relationship with the other Predacons as simple disdain, as he considers them to all be potential meals.
*In the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Tarantulas retained his trademark cackle, but it was a little ''different''. His voice was very high-pitched and he shrieked almost constantly. His trademark laugh more closely resembled a wicked witch of sorts.
*From "[[Optimal Situation]]" onwards, the [[Arachnoid]]s sport a Tarantulas-themed insignia.
*Tarantulas's body in "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" is based on [[Ransack (Cybertron)|''Cybertron'' Ransack]]. His body in "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]", however, is a unique design not directly based on an existing toy, unlike the rest of the show characters in the story.
*From what can be observed from the art on the back of Transmetal Tigatron's packaging, Tarantulas's vok-enhanced abilities include levitating and firing energy beams from his eye(s?) in [[robot mode]]. Neat!
*In the 2021 ''Beast Wars'' comic, Tarantulas's Cybertronian body is a stylized version of his "Mesothulas" body from the [[2005 IDW continuity]].<ref>{{citesocial|link=https://twitter.com/jcburcham/status/1357004320382668801|name=Josh Burcham|site=Twitter|quote=Tarantulas is actually based on a popular fan idea of a repaint of Cybertron Brakedown.|year=2021|month=02|day=03}}</ref>
*Tarantulas is referred to as simply "Tarantula" in the [[commercial]] advertising his toy. This commercial and also early promotional pictures showed the original Tarantulas toy as being transparent orange, but the final toy was a clear deep purple instead. Presumably, this was for a little visual variety in the early line, which already had a largely tan toy ([[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]) and a largely yellow toy ([[Cheetor (BW)/toys|Cheetor]]) in the Deluxe range, plus a Mega-sized Predacon arachnid then planned to be orange ([[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]]), and [[Tigatron]], who was at one point slated to be a traditional orange tiger.
*In the original control art for Tarantulas, the claws are shown in the same configuration as used in the show. In other words, the claws were somehow swapped during the assembly process and have remained as such on every version of the mold thereafter.
*Tarantulas' earliest known concept has him as a [[flipchanger]], likely in the Basic [[size class]]<ref>[[Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Generations]], p105</ref> and transforming similarly to [[Insecticon (BW)|Insecticon]].  Tarantulas' final Deluxe's transformation remains mostly the same aside from folding in the legs and having a missile launcher. 
*The original Hasbro ''Beast Wars'' packaging art for Tarantulas depicts him with his mutant mask on; his later redeco Blackarachnia was drawn with the mask off, likely for a distinctive contrast. [[Wolfang (Maximal)#Toys|Wolfang]] and [[K-9#Toys|K-9]] as well as [[Waspinator (BW)/toys#Toys|Waspinator]] and [[Buzz Saw (BW)#Toys|Buzz Saw]] share this status.
*According to [[Mark Maher]] on Instagram, the Tarantulas figure from the ''Legacy'' four pack doubles as the troop builder "[[Tyrantulas]]," a drone created by the original Tarantulas.  Though the outer packaging used the usual spelling, the instructions sheet used "Tyrantulas."  <ref>{{citesocial|quote=Calling Tyrantulas to the main stage, he is a drone of Tarantulas by the way, I never really got to expand on my Legacy story line with Jhiaxus and Tarantulas, what a pair they make together too!|link=https://www.instagram.com/markclonus/reel/C5HeKDyub-r/|name=markclonus|site=Instagram|title=|year=2024|month=03|day=29|(defunct=)}}</ref>

===Character background===
Tarantulas's origins vary based on the continuity or writer. He declares in "[[Other Victories]]" that he and the [[Tripredacus Council]] do not descend from either Autobots or Decepticons, such that they would not be affected by the destruction of the ''Ark''. Megatron's line about "Unicron's spawn" in "[[Nemesis Part 1]]" was not intended by [[Bob Forward]] to be taken literally beyond being an insult; [[Larry DiTillio]] said Bob "regrets" the line and they never had a fixed idea of Tarantulas's origin. Had the show continued, the characters "might" have been descended from the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]].<ref>{{citesocial|link=https://groups.google.com/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/VuUYzijtOr4/m/wZUyUuwoaPAJ|name=Larry DiTillio (via LANAMAC)|site=alt.toys.transformers|quote=Actually Bob regrets the "Unicron's spawn" line, he really wasn't thinking when he dropped that one in. We really had no set notion on the origins of the T's, but had we contineud with the show, it might very well have been that they were part of the Liege Maximo or Jhiaxus faction for the comic books.|year=1999|month=06|day=12}}</ref> A Unicronian origin also creates potential canonical issues, as Tarantulas says that "under our rule, Cybertron will conquer the universe" ("Other Victories"), whereas Unicron's goal would have been to eat Cybertron. But, much like [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]]'s line about "[[Darksyde (BW)|the dark side]]", this line developed a life of its own. Eventually, this connection was reasserted in [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' storyline, initially written by... Bob Forward. Other writers have made their own takes on Tarantulas's background, variously leaning onto the Unicron connection or leaving it as a mystery.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu''), '''Tarantulas''' (タランチュラス ''Taranchurasu'')<!--eHOBBY-->
*''Italian:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal toy)
*''Korean:'' '''Tarantulas''' (타란튤라스 ''Talantyullaseu'')
*''Mandarin:'' '''Zhīzhū''' (Taiwan, 蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Hóng Zhīzhū''' (Taiwan second and third season, 紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider"), '''Lángzhū''' (China, 狼蛛, "Tarantula")
*''Polish:'' '''Tarantulator'''
*''Portuguese:'' '''Tarântulos''' (Brazil)

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:TarantulasArm.jpg|''Beast Wars'' control art
File:BWcommercial-Tarantulas.jpg
File:Transmetal Tarantulas control art.jpg|Transmetal control art
File:Timelinestoy-TarantulasDOFPslideshow.jpg|''Timelines'' concept deco
File:BotCon-2016-Tarantulas-profile art.jpg|''Combiner Wars'' / "Dawn of the Predacus" profile art
File:EW-skin-Tarantulas-Legacy-United.jpg|''Legacy: United''-themed skin in ''Earth Wars''
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Armada Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:Beast Wars Again]]
[[Category:Beast Wars combiners]]
[[Category:Beast Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Beast Wars: Uprising Predacons]]
[[Category:Cloud Predacons]]
[[Category:Combiner Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Earth Wars Predacons]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Decepticons]]
[[Category:IDW (2005) Transformers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]
[[Category:Legacy Predacons]]
[[Category:Legends World natives]]
[[Category:Minions of Unicron]]
[[Category:Ninjas]]
[[Category:Predacon Secret Police]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scientists]]
[[Category:Timelines characters]]
[[Category:Toys"R"Us exclusives]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Transmetals]]
[[Category:Unicron-related characters]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]
[[Category:Universe Predacons]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Predacons]]