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| | #REDIRECT[[Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers#Beast Wars II]] |
| '''''Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers''''' (ビーストウォーズII 超生命体トランスフォーマー ''Beast Wars II: Chō Seimeitai Transformer''), pronounced "Beast Wars Second", was the first Japanese-only [[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|''Beast Wars'' franchise]], consisting of the following components:
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| *A [[Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)#1998 (Beast Wars II)|toyline]].
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| *A [[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (manga)|manga]] series.
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| *A [[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (cartoon)|cartoon]].
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| *A theatrical-release movie, ''[[Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers|Beast Wars Special]]''.
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| *A [[Beast Wars II Sausage|sausage]].
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| The ''Beast Wars II'' toyline consisted almost entirely of [[redeco]]es (and the occasional [[retool]]) of [[The Transformers (toyline)|Generation 1]], ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)|Generation 2]]'', ''[[Machine Wars: Transformers|Machine Wars]]'', and American [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' toys]], although all new molds were created for the two faction leaders: [[Lio Convoy]], a white lion, [[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]], a purple dragon, and [[Moon (BWII)|Moon]] an oft-abused robot space bunny anime mascot. Most of the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] are mechanical while the [[Maximal]]s all have beast modes.
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| The cartoon series aired in Japan between season one of [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'']] and seasons two and three, in order to fill the gap until the later seasons could be dubbed into Japanese. It was followed by ''[[Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo (franchise)|Beast Wars Neo]]''. The Cybertron (Maximal) team starts off with Lio Convoy, [[Apache]], [[Bighorn]], [[Tasmania Kid]], [[Scuba]], and [[Diver (BWII)|Diver]]. The Destron (Predacon) side starts off with Galvatron, [[Megastorm]], [[Starscream (BWII)|Starscream]], [[BB]], [[Dirge (BWII)|Dirge]], and [[Thrust (BWII)|Thrust]].
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| Years later, [[IDW Publishing|IDW]] worked the characters from ''Beast Wars II'' and at least some version of the events of the anime into [[Beast Wars timeline (IDW)|their Beast Wars comic continuity]].
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| ==Continuity==
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| [[File:PrimalLioConvoyCatalog01.jpg|thumb|left|250px|This counts in the manga, but not the ''other'' manga, and it doesn't count in the cartoon, but it ''might'' count in the American comics. Who the ''hell'' knows...]]
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| Where ''Beast Wars II'' is situated relative to previous ''Transformers'' continuity, the first ''Beast Wars'' series, and any contemporary Earth calendar has been a source of confusion over the years. Part of the confusion stemmed merely from western audiences attempting to understand a series that was never officially translated into English, with years spent on the internet hearing reports from other people who spoke Japanese, observing visual media without the context of translated text, and so on.
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| Initial understanding was that ''Beast Wars II'' starred characters who were contemporaries to the Maximals and Predacons of the original Beast Era series. In other words, that they hailed from the same future [[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] and [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] were from before entering transwarp space and traveling back in time to start the Beast Wars. This was mostly a "default" assumption (as in, there was no reason NOT to think it), and it appeared to be confirmed at first by [[catalog#Beast Wars II|different ''Beast Wars II'' catalog images]] that showed Lio Convoy and Optimus Primal (and Megatron and Galvatron) interacting.
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| By the end of ''Beast Wars II'', however, information surfaced that refuted this assumption. Like ancient [[Vok]]-occupied Earth of ''Beast Wars'', the planet Gaia of ''Beast Wars II'' was only later identified as a '''''future''''' version of Earth. A long abandoned civilization was present on Gaia since the early episodes, but in [[Emissary of the Fourth Planet|episode 36]], it was revealed that humanity left the planet behind tens of thousands of years ago. Compared to dialogue from [[Dark Designs|episode 13]] and [[Possession|episode 21]] of ''Beast Wars'', which indicated that THOSE Maximals and Predacons were from only a mere three centuries in the future of modern Earth. ''Beast Wars II'' therefore seemed to be taking place ''far'' in the future from the perspective of both the viewers of the show AND the crews belonging to Optimus Primal and Megatron. This was even further reinforced during [[Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!|the ''Beast Wars II'' movie special]], where Optimus Primal was pulled out of space and time, and Lio Convoy's crew treated him as a legendary figure from the past.
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| The [[Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers (manga)|''Beast Wars II'' manga series]] stuck to the back story as established in that early catalog, treating Lio Convoy and Optimus Primal as contemporaries [[Free the Captured Matrix!|in the third issue of the series]]. A [[The Maximal Brainwashing Operation|one-off manga special]], however, does not follow the serialized manga continuity and instead takes place in the timeline of the cartoon series. And where [[Beast Wars II Sausage|the sausage]] fits into all this, we don't rightly know.
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| And then there's the IDW Beast Wars comics, which framed a ''different'' take on the events of ''Beast Wars II'' (and its successor, ''Beast Wars Neo''), establishing them as taking place almost three centuries ''before'' the original Beast Wars series. ''[[Transformers, Beast Wars: The Gathering|Beast Wars: The Gathering]]'' established Lio Convoy and [[Big Convoy]] and their crews as seasoned veterans by the time of the theft of the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]], who fought the last Predacon hold-outs at the time of the Pax Cybertronia's signing which ended the Great War.
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| And so, the question of where ''Beast Wars II'' takes place in Transformers continuity has the same answer as most such questions in the franchise:
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| Well, it depends.
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| [[Category:Beast Era]]
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| [[Category:Beast Wars II| ]]
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| [[Category:Japanese franchises]]
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