=The Stage of Battle is the 2nd War... Beast Wars, Maximize!!=
[[File:Beastwarsmaxgroup.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Rattrap and Airazor conspire to ruin school picture day.]]
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'''''Beast Wars: Transformers''''' is a Daytime Emmy award-winning [[computer-generated imagery|computer-animated]] television series produced by [[Mainframe Entertainment]] that premiered on [[April 22]], [[1996]] in syndication in the United States.<ref>Though this episode played several days earlier in several US markets, its most widespread screening was on the 22nd.</ref>
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)|Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers]]'' catalog story
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Though [[Trukk not munky|reviled]] by many ''Transformers'' fans when it first hit the airwaves in 1996, ''Beast Wars'' is now considered by many to be among the finest examples of ''Transformers'' storytelling, striking a happy balance between character, humor, and story.
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{{bigquote|Their ancestors waged war across the galaxy.<br>The conflict continues as two opposing factions renew their struggle for control of the universe.<br>Once again, on a new battleground, "The Beast Wars" have begun...|Opening blurb for ''Beast Wars''|from the official website [https://web.archive.org/web/19981212012813/http://beastwars.com/ BeastWars.com].}}
|caption=You have NO idea how much strife this one little catalog story has caused.
{{TOC|limit=2}}
|title="The Stage of Battle is the 2nd War... Beast Wars, Maximize!!"
|romaji=Tatakai no Butai wa Sekando Sensō...Bīsuto Wōzu, Henshin!!
''Beast Wars'' opens at an unspecified time and place, where two warring factions of robots have crashed on a strange planet populated by animals like those on [[Earth]]. The planet abounds in mystery, with vast deposits of raw [[energon]] and evidence of [[Vok|alien]] activity. The Energon forces the newly arrived Transformers to take on protective beast forms to shield themselves from the ambient Energon radiation. And so begin the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]]...
|date=Spring [[1998]]
|packaged with=Spring 1998 Japanese ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)|Beast Wars]]'' toy releases
|continuity=[[Micro-continuity|Its own]] (see "Continuity" below)
}}
Though at first the show seemed to be in an entirely separate continuity, by the end of the first season's 26 episodes, viewers had been treated to a number of classical Transformers references, such as [[Unicron]] and even the reappearance of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], last seen as a [[ghost]] in the third season of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the original cartoon]]. These ties to the original story increased as the second season progressed and the planet was revealed as prehistoric Earth, the characters having been thrown back in time. The third season was entirely structured around the [[Maximal]]s defending their dormant [[Autobot]] ancestors aboard the ancient crashed [[Ark (G1)|Ark]].
'''New leaders are appointed as a new war begins.'''
{{TOC}}
==Synopsis==
While [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] and [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] are off fighting their own [[Beast Wars (event)|life-or-death struggle]], a new conflict, the "2nd War", is about to unfold on a [[Gaia|planet]] within a [[Solar System|star system]] located in a remote part of the [[Milky Way|galaxy]]. The participants of this conflict are members of the heroic [[Maximal]] Space Guard and the evil [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] Armored Corps, respectively. Their battle is fought over a mysterious weapon hidden in ancient ruins of the planet, a weapon known as the "[[Angolmois Energy|Great King of Angolmois]]". It is said that the victor of this conflict, be it Maximal or Predacon, will be decided in the [[July|seventh month]] of the Cosmic Year [[1999]].
The show won over many viewers through fun, intriguing stories and generally high production values. Strong characterization, top-notch scripting and voice acting, and complex, overarching plot threads are among the reasons cited for the show's enduring popularity. Some of the show's mysteries and machinations still remain topics for fan debate decades after its conclusion.
The leaders of both sides of this new conflict are introduced by each of their immediate predecessors. Megatron introduces [[Galvatron (BW)|Galvatron]] as the [[Emperor of Destruction|New Emperor of Destruction]], and recalls a time when, back on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], the two once disagreed over how to conquer the universe. This led to a fight between the two, in which Galvatron bested Megatron after catching him off guard. Though he now acknowledges Galvatron's ambition and his care for those under his command, Megatron also begrudgingly admits that Galvatron may hold enough dignity to succeed him as Emperor.
The show's CGI, though somewhat primitive by today's standards, was revolutionary by television standards of the time (and puts [[Transformers: Energon (cartoon)|some]] [[Robotmasters (cartoon)|later]] [[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|shows]] [[Transformers: Cyber Missions|to]] [[Prime Wars Trilogy#Cartoons|shame]]). Mainframe's animators took pains to ensure their characters gestured and emoted in great detail, and the "camera" work often took creative advantage of the format's flexibility.
Meanwhile, Optimus Primal introduces the new Maximal leader, [[Lio Convoy (BW)|Lio Convoy]], who was originally an ace in the Maximal Space Guard. Optimus notes that he is strong, valiant, and even kind, but also, admittedly, a bit too frank at times. Nevertheless, Optimus considers him to be an ideal leader, and remains hopeful that he can count on Lio Convoy to do all that he can to help maintain peace throughout the universe.
==Production==
''Beast Wars'' was produced by [[Canada|Canadian]] animation company [[Mainframe Entertainment]], and distributed by [[Claster Television]] and [[Alliance Atlantis]]. Prior to working on ''Beast Wars'', Mainframe had pioneered in the use three-dimensional [[computer-generated imagery]] for television animation with their critically-acclaimed ''{{w|ReBoot}}'' series, which was itself the world's first fully 3D CG-animated television series with 22-minute episode lengths (and which even predated such films as {{w|Pixar}}'s ''{{w|Toy Story}}''). Character modeling for ''Beast Wars'' was done using hardware developed by {{w|Silicon Graphics}} and software developed by {{w|Softimage (company)|Softimage}}. Character animation was all done in-house, with Mainframe creating a working environment that allowed as much work to be done within the same company as possible, creating smoother communication and work efficiency between each production department, in contrast to how competitor animated productions of the time would instead divide their animation labor between multiple companies for budgetary reasons. Lip-syncing and facial expressions for the characters were made using an advanced facial animation program called GRIN, which had been custom-made by Mainframe themselves.
Executive producer [[Christopher Brough]] reached out to television writers [[Bob Forward]] and [[Larry DiTillio]] to bring them on as story editors for ''Beast Wars'', which the two were initially disinterested in due to not being fans of giant robots. Nonetheless, Forward and DiTillio were willing to meet and talk with Brough, who wanted the two for their adept storytelling prowess and was willing to give them total creative control. Since neither Forward nor DiTillio had been familiar with the [[Transformers brand|''Transformers'' brand]] beforehand, the pair decided to create something completely new and different from the ground up. They found an appeal in the science fiction aspect of ''Transformers'', with the characters themselves being technological lifeforms who were at war with each other. Thus, they sought to create a science fiction show, first and foremost, one that explored the nature of the robotic characters and the greater world they inhabited. As the series progressed, Forward and DiTillio soon became aware of the ''Transformers'' internet newsgroups like [[alt.toys.transformers]], where they began to interact directly with the [[fandom]] and learn more about the existing ''Transformers'' mythos, which would greatly influence the later story arcs of the cartoon.
The first season of the show was created basically on the fly, with Forward and DiTillio juggling their own desire for serialized storytelling with Hasbro's desire for more episodic stories. The total cost for those first twenty-six episodes was about $18 million USD, but the second and third seasons would each cut that cost in half, resulting in both receiving only thirteen episodes. Initially, Hasbro has wanted to delay the release of the second season to 1998, in order to let them focus more on [[Kenner]]'s ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' toyline in [[1997]], in anticipation of the upcoming release of ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}''. Since this would have certainly been a death knell for ''Beast Wars'', Hasbro was convinced to let production on the second season proceed sooner than later, with Season 2 premiering in late 1997. Despite the reduced episode length (or perhaps because of it), the second season had a much tighter storyline, with seeds for the [[The Agenda (Part 1)|three]]-[[The Agenda (Part 2)|part]] [[The Agenda (Part III)|finale]] planted as early as the [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)|second]] and [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)|third]] episodes of the season. Season 3 was similarly streamlined in its story arcs, but also had the greatest number of episodes that were designed to [[Depth Charge (BW)|introduce]] [[Dinobot II|new]] [[Tigerhawk|characters]] or new [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#OptimalOptimus|upgraded]] [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TM2|forms of]] [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#TM2|existing]] [[Megatron (BW)/toys#TM2|characters]], all to [[to sell toys|advertise their new toys]] released that year.
When it came to each season's finale, there was an uncertainty about whether or not there would be another season to follow. A rule of thumb that Forward and DiTillio followed when crafting each finale basically boiled down to "Kill 'em all, let Hasbro sort 'em out." This led to the first and second seasons each ending on dramatic cliffhangers with the fates of multiple characters left open ended. For the third season, once it was determined that [[Nemesis Part 1|its]] [[Nemesis Part 2|finale]] would be the series ender, the script went through several draft revisions to add in more scenes that would wrap up several plot points and tie up as many loose ends as possible. Veteran ''[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Transformers]]'' comic writer [[Simon Furman]] had even been brought in to write this finale, which was his first-ever script job for television animation.
Voice acting for ''Beast Wars'' was done in Vancouver, [[British Columbia]], with many notable voice actors getting their start on ''Transformers'' with this series. Many that would become fan favorites included [[Garry Chalk]], [[David Kaye]], [[Scott McNeil]], [[Venus Terzo]], [[Ian James Corlett]], [[Richard Newman]], and [[David Sobolov]]. Many of them would even return to voice act in later ''Transformers'' series to come, such as the ''Beast Wars'' sequel series ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' and the three series belonging to the [[Unicron Trilogy]]. [[Susan Blu]] (the original voice of [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] from the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]]) lent her talents to the series as voice director, and would go on to do the same for ''Beast Machines'', ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]]'' and briefly ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]''. Music for the series was composed by [[Robert Buckley]], who has previously worked on ''ReBoot'' and would continue to work on later Mainframe series like ''Beast Machines'', ''{{w|Shadow Raiders}}'', ''{{w|Weird-Ohs}}'', and more.
[[File:BW Maximals.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Time for Rattrap to lead.]]
[[File:BW Predacons.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Waspinator is loved by fans.]]
Because developing new CGI character models was, at the time, an expensive and time-consuming process, the number of on-screen characters in ''Beast Wars'' was relatively small compared to most other ''Transformers'' shows. It is thus practical to list all the Transformers who appeared in the cartoon. They are listed in order of appearance. (The [[stasis lock]]ed [[Autobot]]s and [[Decepticon]]s aboard the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] are not on this list.) Note that many characters besides these are also full-fledged ''Beast Wars'' characters, having appeared in other media.
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Allied with the Maximals, nominally a Predacon.
† Became a Maximal towards the end of the series, though originally a Maximal protoform.
==Quotes==
'''Galvatron''': "Your time is over, Megatron!"
==Continuations and addenda==
The lasting popularity of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon went on to ensure its place as a poignant and memorable part of ''Transformers'' history, multiple parties creating numerous continuations, spinoffs, and other addenda.
===Sequel===
'''Lio Convoy''': "Please leave it to me! Optimus, sir!!"
{{main|Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)}}
In late 1999, ''Beast Wars'' received a direct sequel in the form of ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Machines]]'', a two-season cartoon series that continued the story back on Cybertron in the same future era from whence the Maximals and Predacons had originally hailed before coming to prehistoric Earth. While most of the ''Beast Wars'' cast of Maximals returned, ''Beast Machines'' replacing the Predacons with the an all new [[Vehicon (BM)|Vehicon]] faction, but still led by the same Megatron. ''Beast Machines'' also distinguished itself from ''Beast Wars'' with a much darker and far more cerebral story, which left the fandom far more divided in its reception of the series than it had ever felt about ''Beast Wars''.
===Expanded universes===
Outside of the cartoons, several additional storylines that tied into ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines'' were produced both during and after the [[Beast Era]] had run its course. While these "{{w|expanded universe}}s" all contained the same ''events'' of the two cartoons—which are understood to have occurred exactly as they were portrayed onscreen—the ''context'' of said events differed with the inclusion of "extra" stories taking place "just offscreen" of the cartoons' episodic events. While each of these expanded ''Beast Wars'' universes are contradictory to each other, they all coexist as separate realities within the greater ''Transformers'' [[multiverse]]. The most notable of these include:
*A series of comics, text stories, script readings, and toy bios/profiles created by [[3H Productions]] from [[1997]] to [[2004]], which include such series as ''[[Reaching the Omega Point]]'', ''[[Transformers: The Wreckers|The Wreckers]]'' ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'', and ''[[Transformers: Universe (2003 franchise)|Universe]]''. Throughout [[2005]] to [[2016]], [[Fun Publications]] published a number of ''Beast Wars''-related comics and text stories also set in this [[Beast Era timeline (3H)|3H ''Beast Wars'' continuity]], including "[[Dawn of Future's Past]]" and "[[Theft of the Golden Disk]]" among others.
*The sprawling [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity]] that first began in [[1985]], which included the Japanese dubs of ''[[Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers|Beast Wars]]'' and ''[[Beast_Machines: Transformers (cartoon)#Japanese release|Beast Machines]]'', the two Japanese-original spinoff series ''[[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars II]]'' and ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (cartoon)|Beast Wars Neo]]'', and a whole lot more.
*The [[Dreamwave Generation One continuity]] that launched in [[2002]], in the form of multiple comic series and [[Transformers: More than Meets the Eye|profile books]] published by [[Dreamwave Productions]]. Several concepts first introduced in the ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines'' cartoons were integrated into the Generation 1 setting of these comics, which also featured occasional references to the two cartoons meant to further reinforce their connection. [[2004]]'s ''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]'' further fleshed out this universe and treated it as the "one true" ''Transformers'' continuity<ref>The saga has spawned many inconsistencies and divergent storylines, but now, at last, the one true history can be revealed." —''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]'', Page 8, Generation 1 introductory description</ref> that also included ''Beast Wars''.<ref>"The Ark and its inhabitants lay deactivated for four million years, buried under a volcano in what would become Northwest United States. Life on the planet evolved around it, disturbed only by a brief alien visitation by a race called the Vok and the commencement of the Beast Wars (''see pages 80–81'')." —''Transformers: The Ultimate Guide'', Page 17, "Awakening" section of "The Ark" two-page spread.</ref> A [[Transformers: Beast Wars — Shell Game|''Beast Wars'' miniseries]] set immediately after the [[Nemesis Part 2|final episode]] was also planned, but only released a [[Ain't No Rat|preview story]] before cancelation. A few related prose stories for both ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines'' (and for the Dreamwave comics) were also published in the ''[[Transformers Legends (book)|Transformers Legends]]'' anthology book.
*In [[2006]]–[[2008]], [[IDW Publishing]] produced two ''Beast Wars'' [[Transformers, Beast Wars: The Gathering|comic]] [[Transformers: Beast Wars: The Ascending|miniseries]] and a set of [[Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|profile books]]. [[Beast Wars timeline (IDW)|This continuity]] is notable for including characters and events from the two Japanese ''Beast Wars'' series (''[[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars II]]'' and ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (cartoon)|Beast Wars Neo]]''), with said events used as backstory content set ''before'' the American cartoon, while the two miniseries themselves occur during the cartoon's third season. In 2016, a one-shot prequel story titled "[[Dawn of the Predacus]]" was published to (at least, in theory) help bridge the gap between Generation 1 and ''Beast Wars''.
*From [[2009]] to [[2014]], Fun Publications also created ''[[Transformers: Wings Universe]]'', a nearly unaltered version of the North American [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]] that also worked in ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines'' with its own original stories set both in and around all three cartoon series.
Meanwhile, in [[The Art of War issue 1|Issue #1]] of [[Devil's Due Press]]'s ''[[G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers: The Art of War]]'', a [[:File:Historyofcybertron.jpg|glimpse of Optimus Primal]] is seen in the memory banks of the Decepticon [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]], suggesting that a version of ''Beast Wars'' also happened in the [[G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity|''G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers'' continuity]], but such has never been explored beyond that single cameo.
==Continuity==
==Continuity==
Over the course of its roughly three-year run (and even long after), the continuity of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon underwent a rather fluctuous evolution, with numerous changes and [[retcon]]s made to it along the way by multiple disparate parties.
This catalog story was originally written for the express purpose of explaining the premise of the then-upcoming Japanese-original series ''[[Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers#Beast Wars II|Beast Wars II]]'', which had been created to fill the gap left by the delayed Japanese release of the second and third seasons of the American [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]]. Once the first season had finished airing, it would be succeeded by the ''Beast Wars II'' [[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (cartoon)|animated series]], along with an accompanying [[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (manga)|manga series]] published by ''[[Comic BomBom]]''. This little story was released about a month ahead the ''Beast Wars II'' cartoon's debut, and attempted to explain just how ''Beast Wars II'' was supposed to fit into the continuity of the American ''Beast Wars'' cartoon.
One of the biggest changes that occurred across the cartoon's three seasons was its depiction of its main villain faction, the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]. In the first season, it was constantly stated that [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] sought to acquire enough [[energon]] to fuel the Predacons' ultimate goal of conquering the galaxy, and occasional references were given to the notion of him being a "tyrant". In the series' [[production bible]], the Predacons were described as "a race of feral conquerors who believe they alone have the right to rule Cybertron (and any other planet they can train their lasers on.)"<ref name="Backstory">[https://www2.unicron.com/1996-transformers/media/4377-backstory.html ''Beast Wars'' Series Story Bible "Backstory" excerpt at Unicron.com]</ref> Likewise, Megatron himself was described as "the most feared leader of the Predacons", suggesting he was originally meant to be the overall commander of the whole faction (much like how his [[Megatron (G1)|Generation 1 namesake]] was the leader of all [[Decepticon]]s).<ref name="Backstory"/> This is further supported throughout the first season in instances where such treacherous Predacons as [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] and [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] would express a desire to overthrow Megatron and "rule the Predacons" as a whole.
As described above in the Synopsis, it is stated that ''Beast Wars II'' is set concurrent to the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] fought between [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] and [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] on what was, at the time, not yet revealed to be prehistoric [[Earth]]<ref>At least, in Japan. By March 1998, the English version of the American cartoon had already [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)|revealed]] the planet to be Earth.</ref> (in Japan, the planet was instead known as "[[Energoa]]" prior to its reveal as Earth). But, it was not initially made clear if this meant it took place during the same timeframe as the Beast Wars (since the time travel aspect had not yet been confirmed in the Japanese dub) or if took place in the far future timeframe that Optimus Primal and Megatron's crews had originally come from before traveling back in time to prehistoric Earth. Needless to say, the latter became the most widespread interpretation once it was made clear on both sides of the Pacific that the American ''Beast Wars'' cartoon was set on Earth in prehistoric times. Additional support for this interpretation came from the setting ''Beast Wars II'' itself, [[Gaia]]—a post-apocalyptic planet overrun by plant and wildlife—which bore a strong resemblance to Earth (with the manga making even more explicit hints to the planet's identity by featuring city ruins that heavily resembled [[Tokyo]]). The manga even featured guest appearances by Optimus Primal that depicted him as native to the timeframe of ''Beast Wars II''. This notion even bled back over into some American media, with the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|Beast Wars]]'' toy bio for ''[[Transmetal 2|Transmetals 2]]'' [[Cybershark#TM2|Cybershark]] alluding to the ''Beast Wars II'' [[Seacon (BW)|Seacons]] as his contemporaries, while the ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline)|Beast Machines]]'' bio for ''[[Dinobot (BM)|Dinobots]]'' [[Magmatron (BW)#Beast Machines|Magmatron]] positioned the events of ''Beast Wars Neo'' as having occurred before ''Beast Machines''.
By the second season, however, things changed dramatically for the Predacons as a faction. Megatron rarely, if ever, mentioned galactic conquest anymore, and his primary agenda switched from obtaining energon to altering history. This was played off as having been his made goal all along, retconning his depiction in the first season. Furthermore, his desire to alter history was due to a complete overhaul of the Predacons' status back on Cybertron. Instead of the galactic conquerors they were billed as in the first season, the second and third season reimagined them as disgruntled second-class citizens subordinate to the authority of the Maximal government on Cybertron. The episode "[[Other Visits (Part 2)]]" first made mention of a coalition called the [[Predacon Alliance]], while "[[The Agenda (Part 1)]]" introduced one of the alliance's ruling bodies, the [[Tripredacus Council]]. It was these episodes that fully reinterpreted Megatron as not the main Predacon leader he was originally made out to be, but rather a lawless criminal whose own people considered a radical and a renegade.
By the [[Emissary of the Fourth Planet|thirty-sixth episode]] of ''Beast Wars II'', it was revealed that Gaia's ancient inhabitants hadn't lived on the planet for several tens of thousands of years, which placed ''Beast Wars II'' that far into the future. Conversely, the [[Dark Designs|thirteenth episode]] of the American ''Beast Wars'' cartoon stated that the cast of that show originally hailed from only three centuries into the future.<ref>Though, a later [[Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search|episode from the ''Beast Wars'' sequel ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' stated the future era was set "eons" later.</ref> However, the specific "three centuries" line from the English version had actually been omitted from the Japanese dub of the episode, so there was no contradiction there. That said, a few discrepancies did eventually begin to crop up in the immediate sequel series to ''Beast Wars II'', ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (cartoon)|Beast Wars Neo]]''. Namely, ''Beast Wars Neo'' [[Big Convoy, Move Out|opened]] with explicit confirmation that the Maximals and Predacons were at war with each other, and had been for some time, while in the [[Beast Wars (Part 1)|first episode]] of the American cartoon, Optimus Primal stated that the Maximals and Predacons were instead at peace with each other, and had been for centuries (this line was kept faithfully in the Japanese dub). Likewise, the supercomputer [[Vector Sigma]] was shown to be a known public figure on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], residing in a [[Tower of Light|tower]] as the highest authority on the planet. By contrast, the [[The Reformatting|first episode]] of the American ''Beast Wars'' sequel series ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' showed that Vector Sigma had long ago evolved into a new form called the [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]], and presented it as a long lost legend hidden deep within the planet (though, to be fair, since ''Beast Wars Neo'' was made first, there was no way the Japanese production staff could have predicted the future developments of ''Beast Machines'').
No doubt, the first-season depiction is what inspired the portrayal of the Predacons seen in the two Japanese-original spinoff series ''[[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars II]]'' and ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (cartoon)|Beast Wars Neo]]'', wherein the Predacon leaders [[Galvatron (BW)|Galvatron]] and [[Magmatron]] were known by all other Predacons and Maximals as respected [[Emperor of Destruction|Emperors of Destruction]] with their own vast resources across the cosmos, and who answered to no higher Predacon authorities. This was due to the second and third seasons of the American ''Beast Wars'' cartoon having not yet aired in Japan at the time when ''Beast Wars II'' and ''Neo'' were in production (see [[#Beast_Wars:_Transformers_(cartoon)#Japan|below]] for more). The Japanese simply weren't aware of the changes the second season would make to both Megatron's leadership status and the political structure of the Predacons as a whole, and thus didn't know about the Predacon Alliance, the Tripredacus Council, or Megatron really being just a lowly crook with delusions of grandeur.
Besides the timeframe discrepancies, there were other factors that ended up contradicting this catalog story's depiction of Optimus Primal and Megatron. The two are presented here as Maximal and Predacon authority figures in positions of power that allow them to appoint other individuals with official titles of leadership; Optimus in particular is treated as Lio Convoy's senior officer. This is in stark contrast to how, in the English version of ''Beast Wars'', Optimus was merely the captain of a science vessel, while Megatron was, indeed, originally perceived as the main leader of all Predacons in the cartoon's first season, but [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)#Megatron and the Predacons|changes]] made during the show's second season revealed that he was instead a wannabe tyrant with delusions of grandeur, and was considered a criminal on Cybertron even by his own people (but, like the Vector Sigma contradiction, there was no way the Japanese could have predicted what the second season would change after the first season). Nonetheless, the first-season depiction of Megatron as a true leader likely influenced the depictions of Predacon leaders [[Galvatron (BW)|Galvatron]] and [[Magmatron (BW)|Magmatron]] in ''Beast Wars II'' and ''Neo'', respectively. Both were the captains of their own spacefaring vessels, were known by all as fearsome emperors, and answered to no higher authorities within the Predacon ranks. This stood in contrast to how, later in ''Beast Wars'', the [[Tripredacus Council]] was revealed to be the true head of government for the Predacons, with Megatron being labeled a dangerous renegade.
====Relationship with Generation 1====
The early Japanese depiction of Optimus Primal and Megatron as high-ranking Maximal and Predacon leaders seems to have stemmed from an early perception of the two that originally pegged them as being the same characters as their Generation 1 namesakes, [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]. When the original [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' toyline]] started up in [[1996]], the earliest toy bios and [[Optimus Primal vs Megatron!|pack-in comic]] presented the Maximals and Predacons on present-day Earth and as just [[Autobot]]s and [[Decepticon]]s having been upgraded by "Bio-Genetic Engineering". While this idea was dropped when the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon came along, it seems Takara hadn't quite gotten the memo over in Japan, as the earliest Japanese toy bios for Optimus and Megatron were based on their earliest American toy bios, with both giving them the lofty titles of "Supreme Commander" and "Emperor of Destruction" just like their namesakes. Optimus Primal was even given the same Japanese name as Optimus Prime, "Convoy", and his toy bio treated him as if he was the same Convoy of old. Special Japanese-only redeco toys even mentioned a "trailer truck" and a "Walther P-38" as having been Primal and Megatron's previous [[alternate mode|altmodes]]. Likewise, the Maximal and Predacon factions themselves were given the same Japanese names as those of the Autobot and Decepticon faction, being "Cybertron" and "Destron", respectively, in a seeming attempt to remove as much distinction between the two sets of factions as possible.
[[File:G1Prime BWMegs.jpg|upright=1.5|thumb|The surprise reappearance of the Autobots and Decepticons was the final key that firmly connected the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon to [[Generation 1 continuity family|Generation 1]].]]
When the [[Beast Wars (Part 1)|two-part]] [[Beast Wars (Part 2)|pilot]] episodes premiered in [[April]] 1996 (five months ahead of the rest of the season as a preview airing), the two episodes showed that the cartoon had completely ignored what the toyline had originally established, continuity-wise, and created its own completely new universe from the ground up. Story editors [[Bob Forward]] and [[Larry DiTillio]] were new to ''Transformers'' at the time and, at first, paid little heed to what all had come before, fiction-wise, giving the cartoon pilot the initial impression of seeming like a new rebooted continuity unconnected to Generation 1. The only direct references to past ''Transformers'' lore in the pilot were a mention of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] as the Maximals' and Predacons' home planet, and the onscreen presence of [[energon]] (but which was reimagined as naturally-occurring crystals instead of the artificially-created liquid fuel substance that it had been in prior appearances).
One particular nugget of lore from the first episode that caught fans' attention was a mention by Optimus of a past event known as the "Great War". Originally, Bob Forward had thrown this in as a nebulous bit of history to vaguely explain why the Maximals and Predacons were presently in conflict with each other.<ref name="Forward">Bob Forward interview from the [[Rhino Entertainment]] DVD release of ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete First Season, [[August 12]], [[2003]]</ref> But as the passionate fandom was wont to do at the time, it took that reference to more specifically refer to the [[Cybertronian Civil Wars|civil wars]] that had been fought between the Autobots and Decepticons in previous ''Transformers'' fiction.<ref name="Forward"/> Forward and DiTillio got wind of this fan-initiated idea and ran with it, as every later mention of the "[[Great War (G1)|Great War]]" in the show would unquestionably refer to the Autobot-Decepticon conflict of Generation 1. And even as early as the [[The Web|third episode]], an [[Easter egg]] cameo appearance of the Decepticon [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] was inserted into a dream sequence.
This perception even appeared to bleed over into other Japanese ''Beast Wars'' media: The [[Free the Captured Matrix!|third chapter]] of the ''Beast Wars II'' manga featured a short bio for Optimus Primal that described him as "A fierce fighter who has fought against the Destron army for thousands of years."<ref>数千年にわたり、デストロン軍と戦いつづけで猛者。コンボイの称号を与える軍の評議会の一員でもある。エネルゴン探索の任務遂行中に消息をたったともいわれていたが...!?</ref> And when he later guest-starred in the [[Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!|''Beast Wars II'' movie]], he was depicted as a "legendary Supreme Commander" that everyone knew and was in awe of, complete with his own [[Energon Matrix|Matrix]]. That same movie also had [[Galvatron (BW)|Galvatron]] refer to a "Megatron" as "the greatest and most vicious legendary Transformer in history." But, it was never clarified if this grandiose description was in reference to Generation 1 or ''Beast Wars'' Megatron... likely because, at the time, the movie treated the two as if they were the same person, just as it seemed to do for Optimus (Although, when Lio Convoy and Optimus Primal first interacted with each other in the movie, Lio Convoy at one point asks "Please forgive me. But, who are you?" when looking directly at Optimus, casting some doubt over whether they actually knew each other beforehand like this catalog story claimed).
As the first season continued, more references to Generation 1 were added in, such as a mention of the Decepticon [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] in "[[Dark Designs]]", or imagery of [[Unicron]] in both "[[Possession]]" and "[[Other Voices, Part 1]]". But arguably the biggest example came in the aforementioned "Possession", wherein the ghost of Starscream actually guest-starred in person, directly calling back to events from the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]]'s [[Starscream's Ghost|third]] [[Ghost in the Machine (G1)|season]] and [[The Transformers: The Movie|movie]]. Said episode even confirmed that the Autobots and Decepticons of Generation 1 were the ancestors of the Maximals and Predacons.<ref name="Possession">'''Blackarachnia:''' "But you're ancient history."<br>'''Starscream:''' "Ancient, yes. History, no!"<br>'''Scorponok:''' "What's he talking about?"<br>'''Blackarachnia:''' "The Decepticons were our ancestors. For centuries, they warred with the Autobots."<br>'''Megatron:''' "The ancient ancestors of the Maximals." —"[[Possession]]"</ref> And by the [[The Agenda (Part III)|end]] of the second season, said ancestors were finally seen alongside their descendants aboard the crashed Autobot vessel, the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'', solidifying the fact that the ''Beast Wars'' cast had indeed traveled back in time from the future to ancient Earth, long before the 1980s setting of Generation 1.
'''''BUT''''', within the Japanese dub of the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon's first season itself, this perception was ''not'' the case. While the dub did insert references to Optimus being a Supreme Commander and Megatron being Emperor of Destruction, the dub was more or less accurate on the matter to the original English version. The two were ''never'' described as being the same characters as their Generation 1 namesakes, and even when the Decepticon [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] made his [[Possession|famous guest appearance]], the episode's Japanese dub made it even ''more'' explicit than the English version that Megatron had ''no'' familiarity with him at all.<ref>In the Japanese dub of "[[Possession]]", when hearing [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] describe Starscream's history, Megatron actually says "I've never heard of him."</ref> Consequently, this show of restraint by the dub turned out to be fortuitous in the long run, as the later two seasons of the series made it [[The Agenda (Part III)|abundantly clear]] that Optimus Primal and Megatron were completely separate individuals from Optimus Prime and the original Megatron.
=====The "cartoon vs. comics" debate=====
===The Great King of Angolmois===
[[File:Starscream ghost BW.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|left|[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream's]] [[ghost]] from the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Sunbow cartoon]], but with a [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel comics]]-colored blue face.]]
One last contradiction in this catalog story is the fact that it refers to a "weapon" called the "Great King of Angolmois" (アンゴルモアの大王 ''Angorumoa no Daiō'') that lies within ancient ruins of the planet. In both the cartoon and manga, it was instead a lava-like substance called "[[Angolmois Energy]]". Evidently, this was an early concept for the main plot device that was to be fought over by the forces of Lio Convoy and Galvatron, and even made it into the bio for [[Megastorm (BW)#Toys|Megastorm's toy]]; bios for later toys would instead reflect the cartoon and manga by referring to "Angolmois Energy".
As ''Beast Wars'' continued its original broadcast, a question often debated by the fandom was, exactly, which version of Generation 1 the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon was meant to be in-continuity with. At the time, the two major continuities of Generation 1 were the [[Sunbow Productions|Sunbow]] [[The Transformers (cartoon)|cartoon]] and the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|comics]], both of which were strongly defended by their respective fanbases as to which was considered the "[[true fan|true]]" version of Generation 1. Across its three seasons, ''Beast Wars'' made references to both the Sunbow cartoon<ref>[[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]]-specific references:
*"[[Dark Designs]]": After suffering a head injury and thinking he's the Decepticon [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]], [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] stutters and repeats the end of his sentences in homage to Shrapnel's speech quirk in the G1 cartoon.
*"[[Possession]]": [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] appears as a disembodied spark in homage to his appearances as a ghost in the old episodes "[[Starscream's Ghost]]" and "[[Ghost in the Machine (G1)|Ghost in the Machine]]". Also, [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] mentions Starscream getting blasted by [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] after having first betrayed him, which happened in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''.
*"[[The Agenda (Part 2)]]": [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage's]] transformation to [[Mini-Cassette|cassette mode]] is accompanied by the classic [[Transformation#The noise|transformation sound]] from the G1 cartoon.
*"The Agenda (Part 2)"/"[[Master Blaster]]": The original [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] sports a color scheme more similar to his cartoon colors than his comic colors (namely, he has red eyes and a gray helmet instead of yellow eyes and a black/blue helmet).
*Various Season 2–3 episodes: The design of the ''Ark'' is the one from the cartoon rather than the comics.
*The ''Ark''{{'}}s computer is named "[[Teletraan I]]" (as it was in the cartoon), rather than "[[Aunty]]" (as it was in the comics).
*"[[Optimal Situation]]": The interior of [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime's]] chest is a faithful recreation of its design in ''The Transformers: The Movie''. Also, his eyes are blue instead of yellow.
*"[[Nemesis Part 2]]": A line from the Covenant of Primus reads, "And in the darkest hour, there will be a light," in reference to the prophetic phrase "[[darkest hour|light our darkest hour]]" originally from ''The Transformers: The Movie''.</ref> and the Marvel comics<ref>[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Generation 1 comics]]-specific references:
*"Possession": Starscream's animation model has a light gray head with a dark blue face, colored like his Marvel comics appearance.
*Various Season 2–3 episodes: The Transformers' creator-god from the comics, [[Primus]], is invoked by name several times, culminating in the [[Nemesis Part 1|series]] [[Nemesis Part 2|finale]] introducing the [[Covenant of Primus]] as a religious tome of prophecies.
*"[[The Agenda (Part 1)|The Agenda]] [[The Agenda (Part 2)|(Parts]] [[The Agenda (Part III)|1–3)]]": The former Decepticon [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] possesses the ability to speak normally, which was far more common in the comics than in the cartoon, where he mostly spoke with animal noises.
*Various Season 2–3 episodes: The name of the ''Ark'' itself, which was used in the comics but never in the cartoon.</ref> (though, admittedly, more from the former than the latter), resulting in a unique continuity that was more like a mixture of the two.
But, said references had mainly been gleaned by Forward and DiTillio from online interaction with fandom rather than direct exposure to the source material. The two were actually more interested in creating their own brand new [[canon]] for ''Beast Wars'';<ref name="DiTillio">Larry DiTillio interview from the [[Rhino Entertainment]] DVD release of ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete First Season, [[August 12]], [[2003]]</ref> the references were merely sprinkled in to add flavor.<ref name="Forward"/> In a 1997 interview, DiTillio even stated, "In a sense I treat ''Transformers'' like the [[King Arthur]] tales. It's one vast canon, with a lot of variations..."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20030410135115/http://www.bwtf.com/interviews/ld997.shtml Larry DiTillio Interview (September 1997), on BWTF.com] (archived)</ref> This abstention from picking one continuity over the other was likely to give the ''Beast Wars'' writers more creative freedom, unrestricted to either version of Generation 1 (and likely to avoid upsetting any fans who favored one over the other).
Interestingly, the concept of a powerful weapon hidden deep within ancient ruins on Earth would later be recycled wholesale and fully utilized just two years later in the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)|''Car Robots'' cartoon]], with [[Fortress Maximus (RID)|Brave Maximus]] being said weapon.
That said, additional media written to tie into the cartoon would attempt to make their own decisions about which G1 continuity the show was a part of. In [[BotCon 1999|1999]]–[[BotCon 2000|2000]], [[3H Productions]] published a multi-part story for the official ''Transformers'' convention ,[[BotCon]]. Titled ''[[Reaching the Omega Point]]'', it was written by Marvel Comics writer [[Simon Furman]] (who would also write the [[Nemesis Part 2|final episode]] of ''Beast Wars'') and tied directly into the cartoon's third season. More relevantly, ''Omega Point'' also made blatant use of the Marvel continuity (plus the events of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'') as its Generation 1 backstory, in an attempt to fully and strictly connect ''Beast Wars'' to the [[Marvel Comics continuity]]. Two [[The Last Days of Optimus Prime|other]] [[Alignment|stories]] Furman wrote for [[unofficial conventions|Transforce]] in [[2000]]–[[2002]] even sought to close the gap between the [[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Marvel ''Generation 2'' comics]] and ''Beast Wars'', with Furman even once declaring ''Beast Wars'' and ''Omega Point'' (but not ''Beast Machines'') to be fully part of the comics universe (in [[personal canon|his mind]], at least).<ref>{{citesocial|link=https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/mMaaTA90sUc/n-q9ZLE0XvEJ|site=alt.toys.transformers|name=Andrew Crane|month=05|day=30|year=2000|quote=Simon Furman regards Beast Wars as taking place in his comic universe (according to an interview in the Transforce 2000 magazine, he ignores Beast Machines entirely). His own post-BW storyline is Reaching the Omega Point (the BotCon stories).}}</ref>
===Conclusion===
In the mid-2000s, [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] began to make some serious efforts to organize the ever-growing [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon timeline]] that included all of the cartoons from the [[Beast Era]]. Due to all of the contradictions laid out above, Takara made the decision to ignore this catalog story entirely, throwing out every claim and character-depiction it made in order to clean up all of the issues between the American and Japanese cartoons. Opting to lean into "several tens of thousands of years" statement given by ''Beast Wars II'', it was decided to relocate the two American cartoons away from the two Japanese ones, by acknowledging the "three centuries" statement given by the English version of ''Beast Wars'' that the Japanese dub had originally omitted. When fans in the west first learned of this timeline, the placement of ''Beast Wars II'' and ''Neo'' being set so long ''after'' the ''Beast Machines'' cartoon came as quite a startling shock, having long since taken both this catalog story and the ''Beast Machines'' Magmatron toy bio as gospel, since all the continuity issues described above were virtually unknown to anyone outside of Japan due to ''Beast Wars II'' and ''Neo'' having not yet been fully translated into English at the time.
However, when ''Beast Machines'' started up in 1999 and carried on the world of the ''Beast Wars'', it too made references to Generation 1, but ''only'' from the Sunbow cartoon and ''none'' from the comics. What's more, 3H's next BotCon storyline, ''[[Transformers: The Wreckers|The Wreckers]]'', was both a direct tie-in to ''Beast Machines'' and a direct follow-up to ''Omega Point''. But like ''Beast Machines'', ''The Wreckers'' used the Sunbow cartoon (plus Marvel's [[Primus]]/Unicron myth) as its Generation 1 backstory, despite following the more Marvel-based ''Omega Point''. And yet, the [[back-up strips|back-up series]] for ''The Wreckers'', ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'', used the Marvel ''Generation 2'' comics' depiction of the [[Swarm (G2)|Swarm]] as the backstory of the ''Beast Wars'' [[Vok]] aliens. And then the next series, ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]'', made prominent use of the Marvel character [[Primus]] and the Sunbow character [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] together as close associates. As a result, this made the [[Beast Era timeline (3H)|combined continuity]] of ''Beast Wars'', ''Omega Point'', ''Beast Machines'', ''The Wreckers'', ''Primeval Dawn'', and ''Universe'' an altogether mixture of Sunbow and Marvel lore, just as ''Beast Wars'' had originally been on its own. And when the [[Dreamwave Generation One continuity]], the [[2006]] [[Beast Wars timeline (IDW)|IDW ''Beast Wars'' comics]], and the ''[[Transformers: Wings Universe|Wings Universe]]'' all created their own Generation 1 backstories for ''Beast Wars'', each of them likewise combined elements from both Marvel and Sunbow.
There was, however, one ''more'' discrepancy created by this attempt to fix all of the others: With the relocation of ''Beast Machines'' set before ''Beast Wars II'' and ''Neo'', this now placed the [[Great Transformation|technorganic reformatting]] Cybertron underwent at the end of ''Beast Machines'' as happening ''before'' its appearances in ''Beast Wars Neo'' as a metallic planet. This last hole would be filled in [[2019]] by a ''[[Transformers Legends (comic)|Transformers Legends]]'' [[LG-EX Blue Big Convoy|pack-in comic]], which explained how and why Cybertron was turned back into a metallic world several eons after the end of ''Beast Machines''.
Over in Japan, meanwhile, there was no such contention over which G1 continuity ''Beast Wars'' (specifically, the [[Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers|Japanese-dubbed version]]) was a part of. Since the Marvel ''Transformers'' comics had not been formally released in Japan during their original run in the West, the [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Japanese release|Sunbow cartoon's Japanese dub]] had long since established itself as the [[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|primary ''Transformers'' continuity in Japan]], with nearly all Japanese ''Transformers'' material released up to that point having had some relation to that cartoon. When the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon was aired in Japan, it was considered a part of the sprawling [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity]], since there was no other major ''Transformers'' continuity in Japan at that point. This perception even extended to the Japanese guidebook ''[[Beast Wars Universe]]'', which covered the original English version rather than the Japanese version, and was written from the perspective that ''Beast Wars'' took place solely and specifically in the [[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]] instead of the unique Sunbow/Marvel mixture universe that it actually was.
Thus, with the discarding of this catalog story from the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity]], its events have since been relegated to a little [[micro-continuity]] all unto itself. If anything, it still somewhat fits with the ''Beast Wars II'' and ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (manga)|Beast Wars Neo]]'' manga, which stuck to the catalog story's placing all the characters in the same timeframe. Though, the subsequent ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals (manga)|Beast Wars Metals]]'' manga still treats Optimus Primal and Megatron as separate individuals from Optimus Prime and G1 Megatron, meaning they'd just be high-ranking Maximals and Predacons all on their own without any inherent ties to their namesakes.
===Prehistoric setting===
==Notes==
[[Image:Possession_BWPlanet.jpg|thumb|upright=1.08|To be Earth, or not to be Earth. That was the question.]]
===Transformers references===
====The planet's identity====
*The "Maximize" in the title of this story is actually "Henshin" (変身), a Japanese word for "transformation" that was used in the Japanese dub of the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'' cartoon]] as the Japanese equivalent/replacement for both "Maximize" and "Terrorize" in the original English version. "Maximize", rather than "Transform", is used here to reflect that dubbing decision, and also because ''Beast Wars II'' would distinguish "Henshin" from "Transform" by specifically using the former for those with [[beast mode]]s, while the latter would be used by those with mechanical vehicle modes.
Initially, the cartoon's setting for the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] was an uncertain one. The first episode noted that Megatron's crew of Predacons had intended to travel from Cybertron to Earth, but also included a line from [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] stating, "It's all wrong. This cannot be Earth." While the planet certainly resembled a primitive version of Earth, it had two moons. This initial ambiguity largely stemmed from what went on behind-the-scenes of the show. At the time, Forward and DiTillio were originally unsure if the series was going to be set on Earth in the past or on just a similar but still completely different planet.<ref name="Forward"/> They assumed it was going to be Earth,<ref name="TFConVok">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oSaFcWEVuI Who are The Vok in Beast Wars? Transformers writer Bob Forward has all the details!], from the [https://www.youtube.com/@TFcon TFCon] YouTube channel; [[May 30]], 2023. Recorded at the Bob Forward panel of [[unofficial conventions|TFCon Los Angeles 2023]] on [[March 9]].</ref> but added the second moon to make it less obvious.<ref name="Forward"/>
*Also included in this catalog is a brief recap of the final events of "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]", which had, at the time, recently aired in Japan on [[March 25]], [[1998]]. Said recap is given the title of '''~Convoy's Great Explosion~''' (〜コンボイ大爆発編〜 ''~Konboi Dai Bakuhatsu-hen~''). At the bottom of this recap is also an ad for the then-new ''Beast Wars II'' [[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (cartoon)|animated series]] and [[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (manga)|manga series]].
Since Hasbro's marketing department was equally unsure of just what to do with the show,<ref name="Forward"/><ref name="TFConVok"/> Forward and DiTillio were given mostly free reign to do whatever they wished with it.<ref name="DiTillio"/> Ultimately, they decided to reveal the planet as Earth after all, with the [[Planet Buster|second moon]] blown up in the first season's [[Other Voices, Part 2|finale]], and the planet's identity confirmed in-show just [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)|two episodes later]]. With this revelation also came further developments to help flesh out the prehistoric setting of the series, such the introduction of humanity's unevolved [[anthropoid|ancestors]] in "[[Code of Hero]]", and the second season [[The Agenda (Part III)|finale]] uncovering the ancient Autobot starship, the ''[[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'', which had crash-landed on Earth four million years ago in the ''Transformers'' fiction of the 1980s.
===Real-world references===
*The "seventh month of the Cosmic Year 1999" and "Great King of Angolmois" are both derived from ''{{w|Les Prophéties|The Prophecies}}'' of [[France|French]] seer {{w|Nostradamus}},<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20170430004120/http://www.maar.us/tenth_century_nostradamus_quatrains.html The text of Nostradamus's ''Prophecies'', Century X, in the original French with an English translation.] See Quatrain 72.</ref> whose prophecies were popular in [[Japan]] at the time. What these two bits actually ''mean'', however, is a ''lot'' to unpack, but most interpretations basically boil down to either a prophecy of doom brought about by either a tyrannical warlord like {{w|Genghis Khan}} or by terrorism, or a prophecy of prosperity brought about by either a rich philanthropist or a king like {{w|Francis I of France}}, occurring at some point in [[July]]–[[September]] of the year [[1999]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PSiN-CVROJYC&q=Angolmois+mongolian&pg=PA67#v=snippet&q=Angolmois%20mongolian&f=false ''Saint Germain's Prophecy for the New Millennium: Includes Dramatic Prophecies from Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce and Mother Mary''] at Google Books</ref> In reality, it is still not entirely certain what, if anything, this prophecy referred to.
*[[Lio Convoy (BW)|Lio Convoy]] addresses [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] with the honorific of "{{w|Senpai and kōhai|senpai}}", which is used to refer to a person of senior experience, hierarchy, level, and/or age, who offers guidance, friendship, and general assistance to a newer, younger, and/or inexperienced person (known as the "{{w|Senpai and kōhai|kōhai}}") belonging to the same group, like a personal mentor. It is commonly used in the Japanese education system to refer to older students of higher grades by younger students of lower grades. In this case, it is used to indicate that Optimus Primal is Lio Convoy's personal mentor/superior (and is translated in the Quotes section above as "sir").
====Dating the Beast Wars====
===Other trivia===
Once the planet was established as prehistoric Earth, there still remained the question of just how long ago in the past the events of the cartoon were set. When, exactly, did the Beast Wars happen in the history of this fictional universe? The discovery of the ''Ark'' in "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]" led several characters to make casual comments about there being "four million years",<ref>'''Megatron:''' "Autobots and Decepticons, still frozen in emergency stasis. Awaiting the moment, four million years hence, when they will awaken to start the Great War." —"[[The Agenda (Part III)]]"</ref><ref>'''Optimus Primal:''' "We'd have four million years to clean you off the walls, Megatron. I might risk it." —[[Optimal Situation]]</ref> "the next couple million years",<ref>'''Rattrap:''' "Yeah. And now all we gotta do is keep it that way for the next couple million years." —[[Optimal Situation]]</ref> and "a few million [[units of time|stellar cycles]]"<ref>'''Rhinox:''' "[[Depth Charge (BW)|You've]] traveled back in time."<br>'''Rattrap:''' "Yeah a few million stellar cycles back in time." —"[[Deep Metal]]"</ref> until the awakening of the Autobots and Decepticon aboard the Ark in [[1984]], which suggested the Beast Wars happened not too long after the ''Ark'' had first crash-landed on the planet.
*Galvatron is depicted here mostly in shadow because, at the time, the color scheme for his toy had not yet been finalized. Indeed, his toy pictured elsewhere in the catalog is represented by an unpainted gray [[prototype|hardcopy]].
Outside the cartoon, the various ''Beast Wars'' tie-in media attempted to provide more precise dates for when the show's events were set:
*The first was given in [[2003]], in the [[Sixtrain! Activate Red Mode!!|fifth chapter]] of the Japanese ''[[The Transformers: Micromaster|Micromaster]]'' prose series. In this story, artifacts of the Beast Wars found by Autobot [[Micromaster]]s in the early 1980s were dated to have first arrived on Earth "three million years ago."
*In [[2004]], the [[Primeval Dawn Part 2|second]] and [[Primeval Dawn Part 3|third]] chapters (both written by [[Simon Furman]]) of ''[[Primeval Dawn]]'' (which was set not long after the [[Nemesis Part 2|final episode]] of ''Beast Wars'') provided a most specific date for the time period of the Beast Wars, that being "180,000 Years BC".
*While Dreamwave's plans for a [[Transformers: Beast Wars — Shell Game|''Beast Wars'' comic series]] were [[unreleased Dreamwave issues|canceled]], the script for the unpublished [[Shell Game issue 1|first issue]] (also written by Simon Furman) was to be set immediately after the cartoon's final episode and used the same date for the Beast Wars as ''Primeval Dawn'', "180,000 Years BC".
*From [[2006]] to [[2008]], IDW Publishing's two ''Beast Wars'' comic miniseries, ''[[Transformers, Beast Wars: The Gathering|The Gathering]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars: The Ascending|The Ascending]]'' (both written once again by Simon Furman) each took place during the third season of the cartoon, and dated the Beast Wars to "70,000 Years BC". However, the glossary entry for the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'' found in the back of the collected edition of the ''Beast Wars Sourcebook'' claimed the Great War took place "millions of years later" from the Beast Wars,<ref>"Through the valiant efforts of the Maximals, the plan was thwarted and the Nemesis disabled. Millions of years later, the Nemesis was uncovered again. This time the original Megatron mined the ship for its power core, known as '[[Heart of Cybertron|The Heart of Cybertron]].'" —Beast Wars Glossary "Nemesis" entry; ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook|Beast Wars Sourcebook]]''</ref> leaning more towards the cartoon's original statements. But the glossary's entries for [[Optimus Prime (G1)]] and [[Megatron (G1)]] both reflected the comics' timeframe by stating they awoke on 1980s Earth "thousands of years later" from the Beast Wars.<ref>"For a time, the Predacon Commander of the same name used Megatron's Spark to bolster his own power. That Megatron was ultimately defeated and the Spark of his Decepticon namesake was returned to its rightful owner. Thousands of years later, Megatron would emerge on Earth to start his war anew." —Beast Wars Glossary "Megatron (G1)" entry; ''Beast Wars Sourcebook''</ref><ref>"Optimus Prime would reawaken thousands of years later on modern day Earth where his conflict with Megatron began anew." —Beast Wars Glossary "Optimus Prime (G1)" entry; ''Beast Wars Sourcebook''</ref>
While these different dates all remain contradictory to each other, they each belong to a different expanded-media continuity for the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon (see "[[#Expanded universes|Expanded universes]]" above); respectively, the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity]], the [[Beast Era timeline (3H)|3H Beast Era continuity]], the [[Dreamwave Generation One continuity]], and the [[Beast Wars timeline (IDW)|IDW ''Beast Wars'' continuity]] (the ''[[Transformers: Wings Universe|Wings Universe]]'' gave no timeframe for its version of the Beast Wars, but made references to the works by 3H Productions, suggesting it also used the ''Primeval Dawn'' timeframe).
===Future setting===
====Distance from the Great War====
[[Image:The Probe Cybertropolis.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Apparently, the future is [[neon]]-lit.]]
As the cartoon continued its worldbuilding, it soon became clear that the Maximals and Predacons were not only the distant descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons, but had also originally come from a future time set long after the age of said ancestors. This then led to questions about just how far into the future they originally hailed. While the show never actually addressed when the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]] between the Autobots and Decepticons ended, it did provide some hints about how long after the war the future era of ''Beast Wars'' was set. In the first season, the [[Beast Wars (Part 1)|first episode]] stated that the Maximals and Predacons were currently at peace, and had been "for centuries."<ref>'''Optimus Primal:''' "There has been peace between the Maximals and Predacons for centuries." —"[[Beast Wars (Part 1)]]"</ref> In the episode "[[Dark Designs]]", [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] offhandedly stated that the "Great Wars" had occurred "three centuries ago."<ref>'''Blackarachnia:''' "[[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]]? That was a Decepticon from the Great Wars three centuries ago." —"[[Dark Designs]]"</ref><ref>Of note, this was the only time the ''Beast Wars'' cartoon ever referred to the "Great Wars" in the plural rather than the singular "Great War"; making this line an oddity from the beginning.</ref> And in "[[Law of the Jungle]]", it was said that only "hundreds of [[units of time|stellar cycles]]" had passed since the Autobots and Decepticons first ''began'' the Great War.<ref>'''Dinobot:''' "It has been this way for hundreds of stellar cycles, ever since Autobot and Decepticon first began the Great War." —"[[Law of the Jungle]]"</ref> Collectively, this presented a relatively short time span (for a race with lifespans of up to ''millions'' of years) between the age of the Autobots and Decepticons and that of the Maximals and Predacons.
'''''HOWEVER''''', outside of these first-season references, the rest of the show would instead suggest a much greater span of time since the end the Great War. In the series' production bible, the backstory written for the show noted that knowledge of the Maximals and Predacons having descended from the Autobots and Decepticons came from "Cybertron Mythology"<ref name="Backstory"/> In "[[Possession]]", the Autobots and Decepticons were described as not just the Maximals' and Predacons' "ancestors", but specifically their "''ancient'' ancestors",<ref name="Possession"/> And in the same episode, despite the guest-starring Decepticon [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] having garnered quite the infamous reputation in the original ''Transformers'' fiction, [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]], [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]], and [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] were the only ones among the main cast who had ever heard of him. And much later, in "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]", upon first laying eyes on the ''Ark'', the Maximal [[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]] said that he originally thought the ''Ark'' was only a legend.<ref>'''Silverbolt:''' "I've heard only legends."<br>'''Blackarachnia:''' "Oh, it's no legend, JoJo. Eons before Maximals and Predacons even existed, your ancestors, the Autobots, launched this ''Ark'' containing their finest heroes. But it was attacked by Decepticons and crashed here, on Earth." —"[[The Agenda (Part III)]]"</ref>
In the sequel series ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Machines]]'' (which was set in the same future setting of ''Beast Wars''), other Generation 1 elements (namely [[Vector Sigma]],<ref name="Oracle">'''Optimus Primal:''' "The [[Oracle (BM)|Oracle]]. The Oracle computer that foretold the coming of the first Transformers to Cybertron. That's what's been calling me!"<br>'''Rattrap:''' "But, that's just a legend... Isn't it?" —"[[The Reformatting]]"</ref><ref>'''Tankor-Rhinox:''' "The legends are true... The Oracle exists."</ref><ref name="Vector Sigma">'''Tankor-Rhinox:''' The old Autobot [[datatrax]] refer to a powerful spheroid computer called Vector Sigma."<br>'''Diagnostic Drone:''' "And you believe the Oracle to be this 'Vector Sigma'?" —"[[The Key]]"</ref> its [[Key to Vector Sigma|Key]],<ref>'''Tankor-Rhinox:''' "You enjoy history, Optimus. Ever hear of the [[Key to Vector Sigma]]"?<br>'''Optimus Primal:''' "An old Autobot legend."<br>'''Tankor-Rhinox:''' "Guess again. Cold hard reality!" —"The Key"</ref> and the [[Plasma Energy Chamber]]<ref>'''Megatron:''' "[[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|He]] found WHAT?! The Plasma Energy Chamber is only a legend!"<br>'''Diagnostic Drone:''' "As was the Key to Vector Sigma. Do you detect a pattern forming, here?"</ref>) were all likewise regarded by the characters as mere legends before their existences were fully realized. And in "[[A Wolf in the Fold]]", the Maximal [[Nightscream (BM)|Nightscream]] called the [[Hate Plague]] as an "ancient" virus.<ref>'''Nightscream:''' "Sounds like a new strain of that ancient [[Hate Plague virus." —"[[A Wolf in the Fold]]"</ref> The original story treatment for the series even claimed "what little is known" about the Autobots and Decepticons is known mostly from legend, and that the era of the Maximals and Predacons was set a ''whopping'' "millions of years later".<ref>{{citesocial|quote=@walruslaw @DaGrimBo I've acquired the Beast Machines series bible and Marv Wolfman's original treatment. First off, "Beast Hunters"|link=https://twitter.com/20thDan/status/1695541111421583425|name=Check your sources.|site=Twitter|year=2023|month=August|day=26}}<br>"IMAGINE... the planet CYBERTRON, where legend says THE TRANSFORMERS have lived for tens of millions of years. while little is known about the early tribes, wheat is known is that ages ago, Autobots fought like stainless steel knights against the malevolent world- destroying Decepticons. Their great battle ended with the Autobots' victory.<br>IMAGINE... millions of years later, a tension filled cold war has long been brewing between the Autobots' successors, the strong and valiant MAXIMALS and the Decepticons descendants, the dark, feral PREDACONS. Until now the spark of war has not ignited."</ref> And when both Optimus and Nightscream stumbled upon the ruins of the Autobot city of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], in "[[Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search]]", it was stated that the Great War had occurred not "three centuries ago" (as originally given in "Dark Designs"), but rather "''eons'' ago",<ref>'''Nightscream:''' "[[Iacon (polity)|This city]] was lost ''eons'' ago after the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]] between the Autobots and the Decepticons."<br>'''Optimus Primal:''' "Not lost, merely replaced, during the [[Great Upgrade|great upgrade from Autobot to Maximal]]." —"[[Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search]]"</ref> which fits ''much'' better with the amount of time needed for the ''vast'' Autobot/Decepticon history to have all faded into myth and legend by the time of the Maximals' and Predacons' future setting.
And yet, despite all of that, the more miniscule time gap of "three centuries" is the one that more people have taken to heart in the years since, making its way into other licensed works and even creator commentary. [[3H Productions]]' ''[[Apelinq's War Journals]]'' (which was set both right before and during ''Beast Machines'') specified the future date as "316 [[AU]]", as in "316 stellar cycles" into the future. [[Departure|Issues #1]] and [[Betrayal|#2]] of ''[[Transformers: The Wreckers|The Wreckers]]'' (which was also set both during and right after ''Beast Machines'') clarified that this was about "three hundred years" after the destruction of [[Unicron]] in [[2005]],<ref>"Our setting is the planet Cybertron – some three hundred years after the destruction of the Chaos-Bringer, Unicron." —"[[Departure]]"</ref><ref>'''Glyph:''' "We have been awaiting the rescue effort for quite some time. Though I must admit, over three hundred years is a bit longer than we had expected!" —"[[Betrayal]]"</ref> in reference to the events of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. The previous ''[[Reaching the Omega Point]]'' story "[[Covenant (story)|Covenant]]" had also referred to Unicron's defeat in 2005,<ref>"And in 2005... [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] arose to destroy Unicron and lead the Transformer race into the next phase." —"[[Covenant (story)|Covenant]]"</ref> so it matched up. Additionally, ''[[Beast Wars Universe]]'',<ref name="BWU">旧アニメからBWまでの空白期間はおよそ300~500年(スタッフ談)、グレートウォー終結から300年後とされている。よって、“ザ・リバース”のラストから本格的終戦までは、大きく見積って200年を要した事になる。—''[[Beast Wars Universe]]'' Page 3, "Chronicles of Cybertron"</ref> a 1997 interview with Bob Forward,<ref>{{citesocial|quote=BeastBob1: Mmph. Well, he is sans body at the beginning of "Possession" though that could have happened at some point while hurtling thru space for 300 years --maybe more, depending on his space-time position. In any case, I haven't seen the episode myself. A lot of the writing was deliberately vague because we were not sure how much Starscream animation could be done, afforded, etc. -- if any.|link=https://groups.google.com/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/szTUVRTiarQ/m/IwheFulUjrwJ|name=Hooks|site=alt.toys.transformers|title=Age Of Innocence: 1997 Bob Forward Interviews|year=2001|month=01|day=15}}</ref> an interview with Larry DiTillio on the [[Rhino Entertainment]] DVD set of the cartoon's first season,<ref name="DiTillio"/> and ''[[Transformers: The Ultimate Guide]]''<ref>"Beast Wars introduced fans to the next era of TRANSFORMERS, set some 300 years after the Great War on Cybertron and Earth." —''Transfomers: The Ultimate Guide'', Page 78, Beast Wars introductory description</ref> all likewise mentioned the interim of "300 years", while IDW's ''The Gathering'', ''The Ascending'', and ''Beast Wars Sourcebook'' gave no timeframe for how long after the Great War the future era of ''Beast Wars'' was set. But in promotion of the one-shot prequel story "[[Dawn of the Predacus]]", IDW author [[John-Paul Bove]] had tweeted that the story was set "30 years after [[The Transformers: The Movie|The Battle for Autobot City]], 300 years before The Beast Wars".<ref name="Bove">{{citesocial|quote=Next week find out what happened after G1 and before Beast Wars @BotCon... #transformers #G1 #beastwars|link=https://twitter.com/wordmongerer/status/716433907621736448|name=John-Paul Bove @wordmongerer|site=Twitter|year=2016|month=04|day=02}}</ref>
====Distance from the present day====
With most ''Beast Wars'' media accepting the "three centuries" claim, there still remained the question ''when'' in the future these three centuries were set. As stated before, the cartoon never said when the Great War ended, so the tie-in media opted to provide their own different answers. ''Reaching the Omega Point'' introduced a dark alternate future ruled by a tyrant named [[Shokaract]], which "[[Terminus (issue)|Terminus]]" stated was set in the 32nd Century. A preceding story, "[[Schism (story)|Schism]]", stated that this dark future was set "two hundred years" after the first chapter of ''Omega Point'', "Covenant", which itself was set during the normal future setting of ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines''. Logically, 200 years before the 32nd Century would place said normal future setting in the 30th Century, which would then place the Great War three centuries earlier in the 27th Century. The related apocryphal story "[[Alignment]]" even seemed to support this notion with its own events set both right before the 300-year time gap and "several hundred years" after the destruction of Unicron.<ref>"It had been several hundred years since the chaosbringer Unicron had been destroyed," –"[[Alignment]]"</ref>
However, as noted above, the ''Omega Point'' sequel series, ''The Wreckers'', explicitly (and repeatedly) placed the future setting of ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines'' about "three hundred years" after Unicron's demise in 2005, which would place the ''Beast Wars'' future in the 24th Century, essentially [[retcon]]ning away the 30th Century implication. Although, in the [[Escape (Universe)|second issue]] of the next series, ''[[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]'', the inside-cover recap of the [[Abduction|first issue's]] events instead claimed this future setting was in the 23rd Century, but this was likely an error. The ''[[Transformers: Wings Universe|Wing Universe]]'' story "[[A Common Foe]]" saw the civil wars between the Autobots, Decepticons, and all other related parties finally brought to their formal conclusion in the year [[2013]], so three centuries later from then would again be the 24th Century. Likewise, IDW Publishing's "Dawn of the Predacus" featured its own take on the end of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], which the aforementioned tweet by John-Paul Bove dated to thirty years after 2005 and three hundred years before the future setting of ''Beast Wars'', placing that story in [[2035]] and the future once again in the 24th Century.
Aside from these, there was one thing that initially did ''not'' adhere to the "three centuries" notion. In the Japanese dub of "[[Dark Designs]]", Blackarachnia's "three centuries ago" line from the English version was not retained, instead changed to a pop culture reference joke. And when the first Japanese-original spinoff series ''[[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars II]]'' started up, it was originally billed as taking place during the same future setting of the American ''Beast Wars'' cartoon. The main setting of ''Beast Wars II'' was the planet [[Gaia]], which was all but stated outright to be a post-apocalyptic version of Earth. In its [[Emissary of the Fourth Planet|thirty-sixth episode]], it was revealed that Gaia's ancient inhabitants (in other words, humanity) had abandoned the planet "several tens of thousands of years ago", a significantly greater time gap than just "three centuries ago". At first, there was no contradiction, since, as mentioned, the "three centuries" line was left out of the Japanese dub. But when the theatrical feature "[[Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!]]" and the sequel series ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (cartoon)|Beast Wars Neo]]'' both came along, a number of new contradictions soon arose between ''them'' and the American ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines'' cartoons.
To rectify this, when [[TakaraTomy]] began to formally assemble the [[Japanese Generation 1 cartoon timeline]] in the mid-2000s, they opted to give acknowledgement of the "three centuries ago" line from the English version and use both it and the "tens of thousands of years ago" statement from ''Beast Wars II'' to relocate both it and ''Beast Wars Neo'' to take place many millennia ''after'' the Japanese dub of ''Beast Machines''. Plus, vintage Generation 1 and Generation 2 media released in Japan had also placed the end of the Autobot/Decepticon wars in the 21st Century, so once again, the future setting of ''Beast Wars'' was placed in the 24th Century. And meanwhile, another particular exception was given in ''Beast Wars Universe'', which treated the end of the American Generation 1 cartoon, "[[The Rebirth]]", as the last known event of the Great War in the book's chronology for ''Beast Wars'', titled "Chronicles of Cybertron". It also claimed that the full amount of time between "The Rebirth" and the future setting of ''Beast Wars'' was estimated (by the ''Beast Wars'' series' staff) to be "about 300–500 years", with the Great War having apparently gone on for another two centuries after "The Rebirth",<ref name="BWU"/><ref>The notion of the Great War having lasted another couple of centuries possibly stemmed from Blackarachnia's statement in "Possession" that the Autobots and Decepticons warred with each other "for centuries", since both she and Megatron also stated in "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]" that the Great first began in [[1984]]. Had it only ended in the 21st Century, the war beginning in 1984 would mean it ''barely'' lasted for only a ''single'' century. However, Blackarachnia's statement from "Possession" also seemingly ignored all of the pre-Earth warring that the Autobots and Decepticons did back on Cybertron millions of years earlier, so it was always a questionable statement.</ref> before reaching its end in the 23rd Century, which would place the future of ''Beast Wars'' in the 26th Century. But, none of ''these'' statements have ever been realized in any canonical fiction, so they remain only [[pseudocanon]] at best.
==Awards and nominations==
===1998 Daytime Emmy Awards===
*Outstanding Achievement in Animation - [[Clyde Klotz]] '''(WINNER)'''
==International releases==
===Japan===
In Japan, the ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' cartoon was split into 2 separate 26 episode series.
====''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers''====
{{nav-bwj}}
'''''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers''''' ( ビーストウォーズ超生命体トランスフォーマー ''Beast Wars Chō Seimeitai Transformers'') aired in 1997, consisting of the North American season 1 episodes. In charge of localization was [[Yoshikazu Iwanami]], an audiography director whose resume included shows such as the [[TV Tokyo]] dubs of [[Saban Entertainment]]'s ''[[X-Men]]'' and the original ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. Iwanami's signature style of localization and dubbing relies heavily on satirical comedy and ad libbing, most commonly turning the programs into self-referential parodies of themselves. While the early episodes of ''Beast Wars'' were fairly innocuous in their ad libs, as time went on their inclusion became progressively more intrusive and by the last third of the series there was a severe tonal shift.
The ad libbing in ''Beast Wars'' primarily consisted of "noise"; talking for the sake of talking and reducing atmospheric silence or visual subtlety to a minimum. One particular trait of the dub was that each character had their own unique vocal tic with which they would punctuate their sentences or, more commonly, chant incessantly for no apparent reason. For instance, Waspinator would chant "''bun''", Scorponok would chant "''orya''", Blackarachnia would hiss "''chā''", Rhinox would ramble "''dana''" and so on. This gimmick was especially pronounced during fight scenes, when characters would repeatedly and comically shout their vocal tics every time they pulled the trigger of their weapons, reducing firefights to a cacophony of unending gibberish.
Many characters underwent considerable changes in personality and characterization. Some of these changes were gradual; Megatron began the series as a gravelly voiced and uncharismatic slob who would loudly hock loogies after fits of maniacal laughter. That trait was phased out in exchange for him becoming an effeminate, mood-swinging goofball; his tone of voice transitioning from a ferocious baritone to a silly high pitch at the drop of a hat. He was also made humorously cowardly, shouting out wimpy excuses while retreating (including the claim that he was late for piano practice).
Other characters were fundamentally altered right from the get go. [[Predacon computer|NAVI-ko]], the Predacon computer, gained a girly and fitful personality and characters would talk with her rather than at her. Tigatron was made into a humorous samurai ronin parody. Airazor had her gender changed, becoming a young male and Tigatron's trusty ward (and later, his lover).
All 26 episodes were aired without any edits for time or content (unlike the Japanese broadcasts of ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)#Japanese release|The Transformers]]'' and many future imported Western ''Transformers'' shows). However, the episodes were aired out of their original sequence: "[[A Better Mousetrap]]" and "[[The Probe]]" were switched around in accordance to their production order, while "[[The Spark]]" and [[The Trigger, Part 1|both]] [[The Trigger, Part 2|parts]] of "The Trigger" were all moved up earlier to come before "[[Victory (episode)|Victory]]". As a result, [[Sentinel (BW)|Sentinel]] appeared in "The Probe" before its proper debut in "A Better Mousetrap", while "The Spark" comes before "Victory", making it seem like the Maximals were abandoning Airazor in their attempt to leave Earth.
''Beast Wars'' aired on [[TV Tokyo]] in the Wednesday 6:30 PM timeslot. As the second season of the North American ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' was not ready for localization by the time ''Beast Wars'' ended in Japan, a pair of domestically produced cartoon series, ''[[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars II]]'' and ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (cartoon)|Beast Wars Neo]]'', were commissioned to fill the gap. The [[Japanese themes|opening theme]] for ''Beast Wars'' was "[[War War! Stop It]]" by [[Banana Ice]] while the ending theme was "[[For the Dream|FOR THE DREAM]]" by [[Mickey-T|Mickey]].
'''''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals''''' (超生命体トランスフォーマー ビーストウォーズメタルス, ''Chō Seimeitai Transformers Beast Wars Metals'') aired in 1999, consisting of the North American season 2 and 3 episodes. While ''Beast Wars'' had been fairly judicious in its self-referential humor, even in its last stretch of episodes, ''Beast Wars Metals'' was an unrestrained self-parody, constantly breaking the fourth wall and demonstrating awareness of its own status as a TV series.
Ad libbing was cranked to the max and many characters received major personality adjustments to reflect the aggressively comedic nature of the series. [[Depth Charge (BW)|Depth Charge]] became a goofy old man who enjoyed singing fishing songs while transforming, for example, and [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] spoke with the rough-and-tumble dialect of a Japanese street punk. The show was unrelentingly self-aware, regularly acknowledging the camera, the TV channel and, in one of the more obnoxious gags, [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] would constantly smell what the audience was eating (making remarks to the effect of, "Oh, that's Sato-san's curry" as he sniffed). For good or ill the show proved a shot in the arm for the franchise, and this success catapulted Iwanami into a brand mainstay. Iwanami's dubbing style has become synonymous with imported Transformers cartoons in Japan, and he continues to voice direct most series to this day, all with the same heavily "punched up" direction.
The distribution of episodes for ''Beast Wars Metals'' was complicated. Japan included selected episodes in two separate theatrical releases:
:*''[[Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers]]'' (premiering the episode "[[Bad Spark]]")
:*''[[1999 Summer Toei Anime Fair]]'' (premiering the episode "[[Cutting Edge]]").
Since the above episodes were released theatrically, they are not included in the show's proper 26 episode list, with their places being taken by two original [[clip show]]s:
:*Episode 14: "[[Where Is the Banana?]]"
:*Episode 26: "[[Remix: I Forgot the Banana!]]"
As with the other installments in the ''Beast Wars'' franchise, ''Beast Wars Metals'' aired on [[TV Tokyo]] in the Wednesday 6:30 PM timeslot. The series had two opening themes, "[[Tamashii no Evolution]]" and "[[Sennen no Soldier]]" by [[Hironobu Kageyama]], and two ending themes, "[[Ba-Bi-Bu-Be Beast Wars|BA-BI-BU-BE Beast Wars]]" and "[[Halleluyah|HALLELUYAH]]" also by Kageyama.
===United Kingdom===
When originally aired on GMTV in the United Kingdom, ''Beast Wars'' was only screened on school holidays, usually in double bills on Bank Holidays, and one episode per morning on half-term weeks, meaning that only a few episodes were shown a year, with wide gulfs in between (most prominently, ''three months'' passed between the airings of "Other Visits" parts [[Other Visits (Part 1)|1]] and [[Other Visits (Part 2)|2]]). In a sign of things to come, "[[Beast Wars (Part 1)]]" was shown some 25 minutes earlier than billed due to rescheduled news reports, meaning many fans missed the entire opening episode. Things went from bad to worse when "[[Equal Measures]]" was skipped, and only continued when, after "[[Victory (episode)|Victory]]", the series skipped directly to "[[Other Voices, Part 1]]". The entirety of the second season followed the conclusion of the first, but the channel never aired the third season; although it was subsequently released on VHS, the [[cliffhanger]]-resolving "[[Optimal Situation]]" was only available as a free gift with purchase at [[Toys"R"Us]].
Additionally, these GMTV airings were modified in various ways. The first and most foremost alteration was the removal of the word "Transformers" from the series' title, which was only reinstated with "[[Other Voices, Part 1]]". With regard to the actual content, the earliest episodes generally had nothing more extreme than the removal of uses of the word "[[Slag (slang)|slag]]" (as it is effectively a synonym for "slut" in English slang), but with the beginning of the second season, edits were steadily made to episodes for no readily apparent reasons. Additionally, any scenes featuring flashing images were routinely put through a filter that slowed such scenes down to comical levels. This culminated in a butchered version of "[[The Agenda (Part 1)|The Agenda]]", which snipped out many short scenes throughout all three episodes for no reason, from inconsequential moments like Tarantulas cackling and driving out of his lab in Part 1, to key scenes such as Silverbolt and Optimus Primal's "office talk" in Part 2, and in what was the last straw for many fans, the complete second half of [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]'s speech (''the part explaining [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s entire motivation''), also from Part 2.
During the time they had the rights to the series, GMTV also showed the entirety of seasons one and two on the then-obscure digital-only channel ITV2.
Channel 5, a terrestrial channel, showed the entire series in its complete form in 2003. Thankfully. This got rerun too, leading to the ''Beast Wars'' comics getting [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|used as reprints in Titan's Movie-based comic]].
===France===
In France and (French) Belgium, the show was called "Animutants" and had a good-quality dubbing, rather close to the original voices. But while the first two seasons of the show were aired, the third one never was; the show always ended with "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]", leaving the viewers in the area with the worst case of cliffhanger ever.
However, the French dubbed episodes that can nowadays be found on DVD and VHS stop at "[[Other Visits (Part 2)]]", but we can assume that the TV broadcast reached the end of the season.
===Belgium===
Beast Wars aired under its original name with Dutch subtitles, but like the French broadcast, it stopped abruptly after "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]".
===China===
In China, the show was localized as ''Chāonéng Yǒngshì'' (超能勇士, "Super-Powerful Warriors") and released in a good-quality dubbing by the People's Art Theatre of Liaoning. It was very successful on the TV station and once won a very high audience rating. Like the Japanese dub, Season 2 and Season 3 episodes were also merged into one season called ''Chāonéng Yǒngshì: Jīnshǔ Biàntǐ'' (超能勇士：金属变体, "Super-Powerful Warriors: Transmetals"). Neither title included "Transformers", leaving some of the audience unaware that this was a sequel to [[The Transformers (cartoon)|their childhood]]. Following the Chinese release of ''Beast Machines'', the People's Art Theatre of Liaoning re-dubbed the show with character names changed into the Chinese translation of ''Beast Machines'', I.E. changing the name of [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] from Hēixīngxīng Duìzhǎng (黑猩猩队长, "Captain Chimpanzee") to Xīngxīng Jiāngjūn (猩猩将军, "General Gorilla").
===Vietnam===
In Vietnam, the show was called ''Chiến tranh quái vật vũ trụ'' ("Galaxy Monster Wars"). The show was released on VHS tapes with a very good Vietnamese dub, then it was copied to VCD. Unfortunately, as happened in France, only the first two seasons were aired. It ended with "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]", and left the fans with a cliffhanger.
===Germany===
The German dub used the original title, ''Beast Wars''. The show was initially very successful on the TV Station RTL2 and was released on VHS. However, only the first season was shown and dubbed. Furthermore, the TV broadcast had many fight scenes censored to comply with Germany's strict laws against TV violence; however, the VHS Release was uncut. After many reruns the show was cancelled and the second and third Season were never shown in Germany.
===Italy===
The toyline was already renamed ''Biocombat'', but the cartoon got the long and unusual title of ''Rombi di tuono e cieli di fuoco per i Biocombat'' ("Thunderbolts and Flaming Skies for the Biocombat"). Such long titles were indeed a tradition for cartoons dubbed in Italian in the '90s. The theme song was replaced with the homonymous "[[Rombi di Tuono e Cieli di Fuoco per i Biocombat]]".
The dub made many changes—much dialogue was simplified, and every silence was filled with either a narrator describing aloud what just happened or Megatron having inner monologues.
For some reason, "Gorilla Warfare" and "The Probe" were switched around in the airing order. To patch this, the former begins with the narrator stating that Optimus Primal is searching around for another probe after last time's failure.
The ''Beast Wars'' dub is the first time the terms "Autobots" and "Decepticons" were kept as such in an Italian dub. While "Decepticons" was kept in subsequent series, to hear "Autobots" again, Italians had to wait until 2007 when the first live action movie was released, since ''Robots in Disguise'' and the Unicron Trilogy went back using "Autorobot".
===Spanish America===
The show aired in many Latin American countries, mainly through [[Cartoon Network]]'s South American feeds, as well various local TV stations. The dub was recorded at Audiomaster 3000 in Mexico. Apart from some name changes (Optimus Primal became Optimus Primitivo, to name an example) the dub was completely uncut.
*''Beast Wars'' — The Complete First Season (2005)
{{-}}
===Japan===
{{main|Geneon Universal Entertainment}}
[[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer]]'s Japanese DVD sets of the series come with optional English language dialogue with Japanese subtitles, allowing fans in Japan to view the more serious version of the show if desired.
;VHS
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Enter the Super Lifeform Transformers (1997)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Cheetus's Crisis (1997)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Disappeared (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — The Solitary Warrior Tigatron (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — New Weapons of Terror! (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Goodbye, Rattle!? (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Floating Island Death Match (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — The Destrons' Dramatic Finish (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Two Dinobots? (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Revive, Beast Power! (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — The Immortal Starscream (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Fare Thee Well, Tigatron (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — To Protect the Peace... (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Special'' — Great Cybertron Army Collection (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Special'' — Great Destron Army Collection (1998)
*''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Great Quiz Collection (1999)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals'' — DVD BOX 1 (2000)
*''Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals'' — DVD BOX 2 (2000)
{{-}}
===United Kingdom===
{{main|Universal}}
The entire run of the show ended up on VHS from 2000 to 2001, though "[[Aftermath]]" was only available as a pack-in with [[Claw Jaw#toys|Claw Jaw]], and "[[Optimal Situation]]" could only be obtained as a free gift with purchase at [[Toys"R"Us]]. DVD releases were considerably more spotty, starting from "[[The Agenda (Part 1)|The Agenda]]" and releasing only ten episodes across two volumes. In both cases, however, cuts were gone! Characters could rightfully swear!
*"[[The Trigger, Part 1|Floating Island Death Match, Part 1]]" and "[[The Trigger, Part 2|Floating Island Death Match, Part 2]]" (2006)
*"[[Dark Voyage|Around and Around the Jungle]]" (2006)
*"[[Possession|The Immortal Starscream]]" (2006)
==Notes==
*The first season of ''Beast Wars'' cost $18 million, according to [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/browse_thread/thread/b334d45514e26ab4/bc8e54e9165e0823?hl=en&lnk=st&q=bob+forward+interview+inferno+megatron&rnum=1#bc8e54e9165e0823 a 1997 interview with Bob Forward].
*The decision to go forward with a second season came in late November of 1996.<ref>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/KcGZU0EOPf0/_zV_QoKiGe8J</ref>
*There are three known unproduced ''Beast Wars'' episodes: "[[A Greater Ape]]", "[[Bitch Wars]]", and "[[Dark Glass]]".
*{{w|lang=ja|B-CLUB (模型雑誌)|B-Club magazine}} erroneously claims that ''Beast Wars'' is the first fully CGI television show in the world, a title actually held by ''{{w|Insektors}}''. Mainframe's own CGI show ''{{w|ReBoot}}'' also predates ''Beast Wars''.
*The Production Designer for the show, [[Clyde Klotz]], won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in 1997. How cool is that?
*For reasons unknown, neither the [[Rhino Entertainment|Kid Rhino]] nor the [[Shout! Studios|Shout! Factory]] U.S. DVD releases of ''Beast Wars'' season three included the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UmCEsbUe6E opening that was televised], which included an original shot of the ''Axalon'' and ''Darksyde'' spaceships crashing down to prehistoric Earth. Instead, all season three episodes began with the season two [[title sequence|opening]] for the first part of the beginning credits.
*Also, the ''Beast Wars'' season one releases from both Rhino and Shout! Factory used the shorter version of the [[title sequence]] and [[theme song]] that originated from when ''Beast Wars'' was shown as part of the syndicated ''[[Power Block]]''.
*''Russian:'' '''''Bitvi Zverey''''' (Битвы зверей, "Battles of the Beasts"), '''''Zhestokye voini''''' (Жестокие войны, "Cruel wars")
*''Spanish:'' '''''Guerra de Bestias''''' (America, "War of Beasts")
*''Vietnamese:'' '''''Chiến tranh quái vật vũ trụ''''' ("Galaxy Monster Wars")
==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{reflist}}
==External Links==
<nowiki>[[Category:Beast Wars II media]]
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhWipIfRhqz0stsLo2v9If0qbNDVfoSrY "Beast Wars Super Lifeform Transformers" playlist] on TakaraTomy's YouTube channel (JP only)
[[Category:Pack-in material]]</nowiki>
<nowiki>[[Category:Beast Wars media]]
[[Category:Television series]]</nowiki>
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==Origin==
==Origin==
How the Beast Era came about.
How the Beast Era came about.
==Franchises of the Beast Era==
==Franchises of the Beast Era==
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' (1996–2001)===
===''Beast Wars: Transformers'' (1996–2001)===
[[File:Optimusprimalvsmegatronsplash.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.8|Before 'toon began, there was... the comic!]]
In the very beginning, when the toyline debuted in 1996, the line presented itself as a complete reinvention of the ''Transformers'' brand, but one that was still set on [[Earth]] in the present day. Numerous references to "Bio-Genetic Engineering" being the source of the Maximals' and Predacons' organic [[beast mode]]s were given in the toys' packaging blurb, in a short [[Optimus Primal vs Megatron!|comic]] [[pack-in material|included]] with the very first [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Optimus Primal]] and [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Megatron]] toys, and in many of the toys' [[bio]]s. Combined with the bio for that first Optimus Primal toy closely paraphrasing the motto of the original [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#The Transformers|Optimus Prime toy]] from [[1984]] ("Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."), the original implication was that ''Beast Wars'' was simply another continuation of the [[The Transformers (franchise)|first]] [[Transformers: Generation 2 (franchise)|two]] iterations of the ''Transformers'' brand, with the Maximals and Predacons merely being genetically-enhanced Autobots and Decepticons, and Optimus Primal and Megatron being the very same individuals as their [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Generation 1]] [[Megatron (G1)|namesakes]].
Granted, the line wasn't ''explicit'' about this connection at the time, but there was no reason ''not'' to think so. Plus, the [[1997]] release of the Maximal [[Grimlock (G1)/toys#Beast Wars|Grimlock]] toy featured a bio that made it abundantly clear that he was, indeed, the very same Autobot [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] of old, which further reinforced these implications. But after the cartoon took off and cemented itself as the dominant ''Beast Wars'' fiction, the toyline gradually shifted away from its original continuity to one more closely resembling that of the cartoon. A number of 1997 toy bios mentioned "[[energon crystal]]s" (a prominent part of the cartoon's first season), while [[Drill Bit (BW)|Drill Bit]]'s bio referred to the ''Beast Wars'' setting not as "Earth" but instead "the mysterious planet" (as it was known in the cartoon's first season). By [[1998]], the original toy continuity was practically dropped entirely, with the packaging blurbs for the [[Transmetal]]s, [[Fuzor]]s, and [[1999]]'s [[Transmetal 2|Transmetals 2]] directly mentioning events specific to the cartoon's second and third seasons.
====Toyline====
====Toyline====
====Cartoon====
====Cartoon====
Latest revision as of 19:45, 7 May 2026
The Stage of Battle is the 2nd War... Beast Wars, Maximize!!
While Optimus Primal and Megatron are off fighting their own life-or-death struggle, a new conflict, the "2nd War", is about to unfold on a planet within a star system located in a remote part of the galaxy. The participants of this conflict are members of the heroic Maximal Space Guard and the evil Predacon Armored Corps, respectively. Their battle is fought over a mysterious weapon hidden in ancient ruins of the planet, a weapon known as the "Great King of Angolmois". It is said that the victor of this conflict, be it Maximal or Predacon, will be decided in the seventh month of the Cosmic Year 1999.
The leaders of both sides of this new conflict are introduced by each of their immediate predecessors. Megatron introduces Galvatron as the New Emperor of Destruction, and recalls a time when, back on Cybertron, the two once disagreed over how to conquer the universe. This led to a fight between the two, in which Galvatron bested Megatron after catching him off guard. Though he now acknowledges Galvatron's ambition and his care for those under his command, Megatron also begrudgingly admits that Galvatron may hold enough dignity to succeed him as Emperor.
Meanwhile, Optimus Primal introduces the new Maximal leader, Lio Convoy, who was originally an ace in the Maximal Space Guard. Optimus notes that he is strong, valiant, and even kind, but also, admittedly, a bit too frank at times. Nevertheless, Optimus considers him to be an ideal leader, and remains hopeful that he can count on Lio Convoy to do all that he can to help maintain peace throughout the universe.
This catalog story was originally written for the express purpose of explaining the premise of the then-upcoming Japanese-original series Beast Wars II, which had been created to fill the gap left by the delayed Japanese release of the second and third seasons of the American Beast Wars cartoon. Once the first season had finished airing, it would be succeeded by the Beast Wars IIanimated series, along with an accompanying manga series published by Comic BomBom. This little story was released about a month ahead the Beast Wars II cartoon's debut, and attempted to explain just how Beast Wars II was supposed to fit into the continuity of the American Beast Wars cartoon.
As described above in the Synopsis, it is stated that Beast Wars II is set concurrent to the Beast Wars fought between Optimus Primal and Megatron on what was, at the time, not yet revealed to be prehistoric Earth[1] (in Japan, the planet was instead known as "Energoa" prior to its reveal as Earth). But, it was not initially made clear if this meant it took place during the same timeframe as the Beast Wars (since the time travel aspect had not yet been confirmed in the Japanese dub) or if took place in the far future timeframe that Optimus Primal and Megatron's crews had originally come from before traveling back in time to prehistoric Earth. Needless to say, the latter became the most widespread interpretation once it was made clear on both sides of the Pacific that the American Beast Wars cartoon was set on Earth in prehistoric times. Additional support for this interpretation came from the setting Beast Wars II itself, Gaia—a post-apocalyptic planet overrun by plant and wildlife—which bore a strong resemblance to Earth (with the manga making even more explicit hints to the planet's identity by featuring city ruins that heavily resembled Tokyo). The manga even featured guest appearances by Optimus Primal that depicted him as native to the timeframe of Beast Wars II. This notion even bled back over into some American media, with the Beast Wars toy bio for Transmetals 2Cybershark alluding to the Beast Wars IISeacons as his contemporaries, while the Beast Machines bio for DinobotsMagmatron positioned the events of Beast Wars Neo as having occurred before Beast Machines.
By the thirty-sixth episode of Beast Wars II, it was revealed that Gaia's ancient inhabitants hadn't lived on the planet for several tens of thousands of years, which placed Beast Wars II that far into the future. Conversely, the thirteenth episode of the American Beast Wars cartoon stated that the cast of that show originally hailed from only three centuries into the future.[2] However, the specific "three centuries" line from the English version had actually been omitted from the Japanese dub of the episode, so there was no contradiction there. That said, a few discrepancies did eventually begin to crop up in the immediate sequel series to Beast Wars II, Beast Wars Neo. Namely, Beast Wars Neoopened with explicit confirmation that the Maximals and Predacons were at war with each other, and had been for some time, while in the first episode of the American cartoon, Optimus Primal stated that the Maximals and Predacons were instead at peace with each other, and had been for centuries (this line was kept faithfully in the Japanese dub). Likewise, the supercomputer Vector Sigma was shown to be a known public figure on Cybertron, residing in a tower as the highest authority on the planet. By contrast, the first episode of the American Beast Wars sequel series Beast Machines showed that Vector Sigma had long ago evolved into a new form called the Oracle, and presented it as a long lost legend hidden deep within the planet (though, to be fair, since Beast Wars Neo was made first, there was no way the Japanese production staff could have predicted the future developments of Beast Machines).
Besides the timeframe discrepancies, there were other factors that ended up contradicting this catalog story's depiction of Optimus Primal and Megatron. The two are presented here as Maximal and Predacon authority figures in positions of power that allow them to appoint other individuals with official titles of leadership; Optimus in particular is treated as Lio Convoy's senior officer. This is in stark contrast to how, in the English version of Beast Wars, Optimus was merely the captain of a science vessel, while Megatron was, indeed, originally perceived as the main leader of all Predacons in the cartoon's first season, but changes made during the show's second season revealed that he was instead a wannabe tyrant with delusions of grandeur, and was considered a criminal on Cybertron even by his own people (but, like the Vector Sigma contradiction, there was no way the Japanese could have predicted what the second season would change after the first season). Nonetheless, the first-season depiction of Megatron as a true leader likely influenced the depictions of Predacon leaders Galvatron and Magmatron in Beast Wars II and Neo, respectively. Both were the captains of their own spacefaring vessels, were known by all as fearsome emperors, and answered to no higher authorities within the Predacon ranks. This stood in contrast to how, later in Beast Wars, the Tripredacus Council was revealed to be the true head of government for the Predacons, with Megatron being labeled a dangerous renegade.
The early Japanese depiction of Optimus Primal and Megatron as high-ranking Maximal and Predacon leaders seems to have stemmed from an early perception of the two that originally pegged them as being the same characters as their Generation 1 namesakes, Optimus Prime and Megatron. When the original Beast Wars toyline started up in 1996, the earliest toy bios and pack-in comic presented the Maximals and Predacons on present-day Earth and as just Autobots and Decepticons having been upgraded by "Bio-Genetic Engineering". While this idea was dropped when the Beast Wars cartoon came along, it seems Takara hadn't quite gotten the memo over in Japan, as the earliest Japanese toy bios for Optimus and Megatron were based on their earliest American toy bios, with both giving them the lofty titles of "Supreme Commander" and "Emperor of Destruction" just like their namesakes. Optimus Primal was even given the same Japanese name as Optimus Prime, "Convoy", and his toy bio treated him as if he was the same Convoy of old. Special Japanese-only redeco toys even mentioned a "trailer truck" and a "Walther P-38" as having been Primal and Megatron's previous altmodes. Likewise, the Maximal and Predacon factions themselves were given the same Japanese names as those of the Autobot and Decepticon faction, being "Cybertron" and "Destron", respectively, in a seeming attempt to remove as much distinction between the two sets of factions as possible.
This perception even appeared to bleed over into other Japanese Beast Wars media: The third chapter of the Beast Wars II manga featured a short bio for Optimus Primal that described him as "A fierce fighter who has fought against the Destron army for thousands of years."[3] And when he later guest-starred in the Beast Wars II movie, he was depicted as a "legendary Supreme Commander" that everyone knew and was in awe of, complete with his own Matrix. That same movie also had Galvatron refer to a "Megatron" as "the greatest and most vicious legendary Transformer in history." But, it was never clarified if this grandiose description was in reference to Generation 1 or Beast Wars Megatron... likely because, at the time, the movie treated the two as if they were the same person, just as it seemed to do for Optimus (Although, when Lio Convoy and Optimus Primal first interacted with each other in the movie, Lio Convoy at one point asks "Please forgive me. But, who are you?" when looking directly at Optimus, casting some doubt over whether they actually knew each other beforehand like this catalog story claimed).
BUT, within the Japanese dub of the Beast Wars cartoon's first season itself, this perception was not the case. While the dub did insert references to Optimus being a Supreme Commander and Megatron being Emperor of Destruction, the dub was more or less accurate on the matter to the original English version. The two were never described as being the same characters as their Generation 1 namesakes, and even when the Decepticon Starscream made his famous guest appearance, the episode's Japanese dub made it even more explicit than the English version that Megatron had no familiarity with him at all.[4] Consequently, this show of restraint by the dub turned out to be fortuitous in the long run, as the later two seasons of the series made it abundantly clear that Optimus Primal and Megatron were completely separate individuals from Optimus Prime and the original Megatron.
One last contradiction in this catalog story is the fact that it refers to a "weapon" called the "Great King of Angolmois" (アンゴルモアの大王 Angorumoa no Daiō) that lies within ancient ruins of the planet. In both the cartoon and manga, it was instead a lava-like substance called "Angolmois Energy". Evidently, this was an early concept for the main plot device that was to be fought over by the forces of Lio Convoy and Galvatron, and even made it into the bio for Megastorm's toy; bios for later toys would instead reflect the cartoon and manga by referring to "Angolmois Energy".
Interestingly, the concept of a powerful weapon hidden deep within ancient ruins on Earth would later be recycled wholesale and fully utilized just two years later in the Car Robots cartoon, with Brave Maximus being said weapon.
In the mid-2000s, Takara began to make some serious efforts to organize the ever-growing Japanese Generation 1 cartoon timeline that included all of the cartoons from the Beast Era. Due to all of the contradictions laid out above, Takara made the decision to ignore this catalog story entirely, throwing out every claim and character-depiction it made in order to clean up all of the issues between the American and Japanese cartoons. Opting to lean into "several tens of thousands of years" statement given by Beast Wars II, it was decided to relocate the two American cartoons away from the two Japanese ones, by acknowledging the "three centuries" statement given by the English version of Beast Wars that the Japanese dub had originally omitted. When fans in the west first learned of this timeline, the placement of Beast Wars II and Neo being set so long after the Beast Machines cartoon came as quite a startling shock, having long since taken both this catalog story and the Beast Machines Magmatron toy bio as gospel, since all the continuity issues described above were virtually unknown to anyone outside of Japan due to Beast Wars II and Neo having not yet been fully translated into English at the time.
There was, however, one more discrepancy created by this attempt to fix all of the others: With the relocation of Beast Machines set before Beast Wars II and Neo, this now placed the technorganic reformatting Cybertron underwent at the end of Beast Machines as happening before its appearances in Beast Wars Neo as a metallic planet. This last hole would be filled in 2019 by a Transformers Legendspack-in comic, which explained how and why Cybertron was turned back into a metallic world several eons after the end of Beast Machines.
Thus, with the discarding of this catalog story from the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity, its events have since been relegated to a little micro-continuity all unto itself. If anything, it still somewhat fits with the Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo manga, which stuck to the catalog story's placing all the characters in the same timeframe. Though, the subsequent Beast Wars Metals manga still treats Optimus Primal and Megatron as separate individuals from Optimus Prime and G1 Megatron, meaning they'd just be high-ranking Maximals and Predacons all on their own without any inherent ties to their namesakes.
The "Maximize" in the title of this story is actually "Henshin" (変身), a Japanese word for "transformation" that was used in the Japanese dub of the Beast Wars cartoon as the Japanese equivalent/replacement for both "Maximize" and "Terrorize" in the original English version. "Maximize", rather than "Transform", is used here to reflect that dubbing decision, and also because Beast Wars II would distinguish "Henshin" from "Transform" by specifically using the former for those with beast modes, while the latter would be used by those with mechanical vehicle modes.
Also included in this catalog is a brief recap of the final events of "Other Voices, Part 2", which had, at the time, recently aired in Japan on March 25, 1998. Said recap is given the title of ~Convoy's Great Explosion~ (〜コンボイ大爆発編〜 ~Konboi Dai Bakuhatsu-hen~). At the bottom of this recap is also an ad for the then-new Beast Wars IIanimated series and manga series.
The "seventh month of the Cosmic Year 1999" and "Great King of Angolmois" are both derived from The Prophecies of French seer Nostradamus,[5] whose prophecies were popular in Japan at the time. What these two bits actually mean, however, is a lot to unpack, but most interpretations basically boil down to either a prophecy of doom brought about by either a tyrannical warlord like Genghis Khan or by terrorism, or a prophecy of prosperity brought about by either a rich philanthropist or a king like Francis I of France, occurring at some point in July–September of the year 1999.[6] In reality, it is still not entirely certain what, if anything, this prophecy referred to.
Lio Convoy addresses Optimus Primal with the honorific of "senpai", which is used to refer to a person of senior experience, hierarchy, level, and/or age, who offers guidance, friendship, and general assistance to a newer, younger, and/or inexperienced person (known as the "kōhai") belonging to the same group, like a personal mentor. It is commonly used in the Japanese education system to refer to older students of higher grades by younger students of lower grades. In this case, it is used to indicate that Optimus Primal is Lio Convoy's personal mentor/superior (and is translated in the Quotes section above as "sir").
Galvatron is depicted here mostly in shadow because, at the time, the color scheme for his toy had not yet been finalized. Indeed, his toy pictured elsewhere in the catalog is represented by an unpainted gray hardcopy.
