Editing Tarantulas (BW)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

====The Razor's Edge====
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}}

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

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

[[Image:Primevaldawn2 tarantulas matrix.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Further proving the maxim: "If you want to steal the Matrix, you basically can."]]
Following the Beast Wars, Tarantulas's body returned to life, reanimated by the Vok powers he'd previously absorbed. The undead Tarantulas, along with a rebuilt Ravage (as [[Ravage (G1)|Tripredacus Agent]]), nurtured new troops to life through enigmatic means, growing [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]] and [[Iguanus (BW)|Iguanus]] in tubes. {{storylink|Primeval Dawn Part 1}}

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

===''Beast Wars Metals'' comic===
[[Image:TarantulasMangaMouth01.jpg|thumb|left|250px|]]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

{{-}}

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

{{-}}

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

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

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

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

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

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

{{--}}

==Merchandise==
[[Image:Tarantulasmutatingcard.jpg|thumb|300px|right]]
* '''Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game''' (1997)
:Tarantulas was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars [[Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game|card game]].
{{-}}
===Robot Heroes===
[[Image:Robotheroestarantulasprimal.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Don't take your eyes off your mech fluid, Primal.]]
*'''Optimus Primal vs Predacon Tarantulas''' (2008)

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

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

{{--}}

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Tarans''' (タランス ''Taransu'')
*''Italian:'' '''Metal Tarantulas''' (Transmetal toy)
*''Mandarin:'' '''Láng-Zhū''' (China, 狼蛛, "Tarantula"), '''Jr-jū''' (Taiwan, 蜘蛛, "Spider"), '''Húng Jr-jū''' (Taiwan, 紅蜘蛛, "Red Spider")
*''Polish:'' '''Tarantulator'''
*''Portuguese:'' '''Tarântulos''' (Brazil)

==References==
{{reflist}}


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