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| | =The Stage of Battle is the Second War...Beast Wars, Maximize!!= |
| [[File:Beastwarsmaxgroup.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|Rattrap and Airazor conspire to ruin school picture day.]]
| | {{comicstory |
| '''''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 has caused. |
| {{TOC|limit=2}}
| | |title="The Stage of Battle is the Second War... Beast Wars, Maximize!!" |
| | | |japanese=闘いの舞台はセカンド戦争...ビーストウォーズ、変身!! |
| ==Overview==
| | |romaji=Tatakai no butai wa sekando sensō... Bīsutou~ōzu, 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=January [[1998]] |
| | | |packaged with=Early 1998 Japanese ''Beast Wars'' toy releases |
| 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]].
| | |continuity=Its own (see "Notes" below) |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| ==Production==
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| [[File:Beastwarsscalepreliminary.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.9|Early CGI model work for the initial ''Beast Wars'' cast.]]
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| ''Beast Wars'' was produced by [[Canada|Canadian]] animation company [[Mainframe Entertainment]], and distributed for syndicated television 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 the series was done using hardware developed by {{w|Silicon Graphics}} and software developed by {{w|Softimage (company)|Softimage}}, with toys from the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)|''Beast Wars'' toyline]] provided by Hasbro to use as a basis for each [[character model]].
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 Hasbro would cut that cost in half for the the second and third seasons, with each receiving only thirteen episodes. Initially, Hasbro had wanted to delay the release of the second season to 1998, in order to let them focus more on [[Kenner]]'s ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|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 more tightly planned 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. Conversely, the story arcs of the third season weren't quite as streamlined, due to Season 3 having the most episodes designed to [[Depth Charge (BW)|introduce]] [[Dinobot II|new]] [[Tigerhawk|characters]] or new [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#OptimalOptimus|upgrades]] [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#TM2|for]] [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#TM2|existing]] [[Megatron (BW)/toys#TM2|characters]], meant to [[to sell toys|advertise their new toys]] released that year. | |
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| 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 many of the series' major plot points, tying up as many loose ends as possible. Veteran ''[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Transformers]]'' comic writer [[Simon Furman]] had even been brought in to write the second part of this finale, which was his first-ever script job for television animation.
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| 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.
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| ==Episodes==
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| {{main|List of Beast Wars episodes}}
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| ''Beast Wars'' had 52 episodes over 3 seasons.
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| ===Season 1: 1996–1997=== | |
| {{columnlist|4|
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| # [[Beast Wars (Part 1)]]
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| # [[Beast Wars (Part 2)]]
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| # [[The Web]]
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| # [[Equal Measures]]
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| # [[Chain of Command (BW)|Chain of Command]]
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| # [[Power Surge (episode)|Power Surge]]
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| # [[Fallen Comrades]]
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| # [[Double Jeopardy]]
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| # [[A Better Mousetrap]]
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| # [[Gorilla Warfare]]
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| # [[The Probe]]
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| # [[Victory (episode)|Victory]]
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| # [[Dark Designs]]
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| # [[Double Dinobot]]
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| # [[The Spark]]
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| # [[The Trigger, Part 1]]
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| # [[The Trigger, Part 2]]
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| # [[Spider's Game]]
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| # [[Call of the Wild]]
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| # [[Dark Voyage]]
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| # [[Possession]]
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| # [[The Low Road]]
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| # [[Law of the Jungle]]
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| # [[Before the Storm]]
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| # [[Other Voices, Part 1]]
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| # [[Other Voices, Part 2]]}}
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| ===Season 2: 1997–1998===
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| {{columnlist|4|
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| # [[Aftermath]]
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| # [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)]]
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| # [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)]]
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| # [[Tangled Web]]
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| # [[Maximal, No More]]
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| # [[Other Visits (Part 1)]]
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| # [[Other Visits (Part 2)]]
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| # [[Bad Spark]]
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| # [[Code of Hero]]
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| # [[Transmutate (episode)|Transmutate]]
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| # [[The Agenda (Part 1)]]
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| # [[The Agenda (Part 2)]]
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| # [[The Agenda (Part III)]]}}
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| ===Season 3: 1998–1999===
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| {{columnlist|4|
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| # [[Optimal Situation]]
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| # [[Deep Metal]]
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| # [[Changing of the Guard]]
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| # [[Cutting Edge]]
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| # [[Feral Scream Part 1]]
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| # [[Feral Scream Part 2]]
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| # [[Proving Grounds]]
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| # [[Go with the Flow]]
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| # [[Crossing the Rubicon]]
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| # [[Master Blaster]]
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| # [[Other Victories]]
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| # [[Nemesis Part 1]]
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| # [[Nemesis Part 2]]}}
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| ==Credits== | |
| {{see|Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)/credits (season 1)}}
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| {{see|Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)/credits (season 2)}}
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| {{see|Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)/credits (season 3)}}
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| ==Characters==
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| [[File:BW Maximals.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Time for Rattrap to lead.]]
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| [[File:BW Predacons.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Waspinator is loved by fans.]]
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| 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.
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| {{-}}
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| {{featuredcharacters
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| |h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1= | |
| ;Main Cast
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| *[[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] ([[Garry Chalk]])
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| *[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] ([[Richard Newman]])
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| *[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]* ([[Scott McNeil]])
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| *[[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] ([[Ian James Corlett]])
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| *[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] (Scott McNeil)
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| *[[Tigatron]] ([[Blu Mankuma]])
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| *[[Airazor (BW)|Airazor]] ([[Pauline Newstone]])
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| *[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]] (Scott McNeil)
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| *[[Depth Charge (BW)|Depth Charge]] ([[David Sobolov]])
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| *[[Tigerhawk]] (Blu Mankuma)
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| ;Others
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| *[[Transmutate (BW)|Transmutate]] ([[Susan Blu]])
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| |h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=
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| ;Main Cast
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| *[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] ([[David Kaye]])
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| *[[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] ([[Don Brown]])
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| *[[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] ([[Doug Parker]])
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| *[[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] ([[Alec Willows]])
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| *[[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] (Scott McNeil)
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| *[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]]† ([[Venus Terzo]])
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| *[[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] ([[Jim Byrnes]])
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| *[[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] ([[Colin Murdoch]])
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| *[[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] ([[Campbell Lane]])
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| *[[Dinobot II]] (Scott McNeil)
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| ;[[Tripredacus Council]]
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| *[[Ram Horn]] ([[Lee Tockar]])
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| *[[Sea Clamp]] (Ian James Corlett)
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| *[[Cicadacon]] (Scott McNeil)
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| ;Others
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| *[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (Lee Tockar)
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| |c4=
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| *[[Vok]] (Blu Mankuma, Richard Newman)
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| ;[[Decepticon]]s
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| *[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (Doug Parker)
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| *[[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] (Garry Chalk)
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| ;[[Anthropoid]]s
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| *[[Blix|Leader Neanderthal]] (Garry Chalk)
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| *[[Una]] (Susan Blu)
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| *[[Chak]] (?)
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| ;Computers
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| *[[Sentinel (BW)|Sentinel]] (Ian James Corlett)
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| *[[Predacon computer|Predacon Computer]] ([[Carol Savenkoff]])
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| *[[Teletraan I]] (David Sobolov)
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| |nonumbering=true
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| }} | | }} |
| <nowiki>*</nowiki> Allied with the Maximals, nominally a Predacon.
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| † Became a Maximal towards the end of the series, though originally a Maximal protoform.
| | '''New leaders are appointed as a new war begins.''' |
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| ==Continuations and addenda== | | ==Synopsis== |
| 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.
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| ===Sequel===
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| {{main|Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)}}
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| 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''.
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| ===Expanded universes===
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| 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:
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| *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.
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| *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.
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| *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.
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| *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''.
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| *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.
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| 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.
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| ==Continuity==
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| 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.
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| ===Shifting developments===
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| ====Megatron and the Predacons====
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| ====Relationship with Generation 1====
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| [[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]].]]
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| 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).
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| =====The "cartoon vs. comics" debate=====
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| [[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.]]
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| 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:
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| *"[[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.
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| *"[[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]]''.
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| *"[[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.
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| *"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).
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| *Various Season 2–3 episodes: The design of the ''Ark'' is the one from the cartoon rather than the comics.
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| *The ''Ark''{{'}}s computer is named "[[Teletraan I]]" (as it was in the cartoon), rather than "[[Aunty]]" (as it was in the comics).
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| *"[[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.
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| *"[[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:
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| *"Possession": Starscream's animation model has a light gray head with a dark blue face, colored like his Marvel comics appearance.
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| *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.
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| *"[[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.
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| *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.
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| 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).
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| 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>
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| ===Prehistoric setting===
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| [[Image:Possession_BWPlanet.jpg|thumb|upright=1.08|To be Earth, or not to be Earth. That was the question.]]
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| ====The planet's identity====
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| 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"/>
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| 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.
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| ====Dating the Beast Wars====
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| 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.
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| Outside the cartoon, the various ''Beast Wars'' tie-in media attempted to provide more precise dates for when the show's events were set:
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| *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."
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| *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".
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| *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".
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| *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>
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| 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).
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| ===Future setting===
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| ====Distance from the Great War====
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| [[Image:The Probe Cybertropolis.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Apparently, the future is [[neon]]-lit.]]
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| 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.
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| '''''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>
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| 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.
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| And yet, despite all of that, the more miniscule time gap of "three centuries" is the one that more people have taken to heart and [https://web.archive.org/web/20000229151413/http://www.bwtf.com:80/bwfiles/defense.html propagated] 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>
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| ====Distance from the present day====
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| 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>
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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 put into practice in any canonical fiction, so they remain only [[pseudocanon]] at best.
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| ==Awards and nominations==
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| ===1998 Daytime Emmy Awards===
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| *Outstanding Achievement in Animation - [[Clyde Klotz]] '''(WINNER)'''
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| ==International releases==
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| ===Japan===
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| In Japan, the ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' cartoon was split into 2 separate 26 episode series.
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| ====''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers''====
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| {{nav-bwj}}
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| '''''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.
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| 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).
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| 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.
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| ''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]].
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| ====''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals''====
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| {{nav-bwm}}
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| '''''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.
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| 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.
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| The distribution of episodes for ''Beast Wars Metals'' was complicated. Japan included selected episodes in two separate theatrical releases:
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| :*''[[Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers]]'' (premiering the episode "[[Bad Spark]]")
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| :*''[[1999 Summer Toei Anime Fair]]'' (premiering the episode "[[Cutting Edge]]").
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| 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:
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| :*Episode 14: "[[Where Is the Banana?]]"
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| :*Episode 26: "[[Remix: I Forgot the Banana!]]"
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| 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.
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| ===United Kingdom===
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| 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]].
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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]].
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| ===France===
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| ===Belgium===
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| Beast Wars aired under its original name with Dutch subtitles, but like the French broadcast, it stopped abruptly after "[[The Agenda (Part III)]]".
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| ===China===
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| 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").
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| ===Vietnam===
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| 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.
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| ===Germany===
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| 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.
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| ===Italy===
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| 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]]".
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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".
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| ===Spanish America===
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| 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.
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| ==Home video releases==
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| ===Canada===
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| {{main|Alliance Atlantis}}
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| [[File:Alliance Beast Wars Vol1 DVD.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85]]
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| ;VHS
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| *''Beast Wars'' — A Feature Length Beasties Adventure (1996)
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| *''Robots-Bêtes'' — Une Adventure Cybernetique (1996)
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| *''Beast Wars'' — Beasties Escape (1998)
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| *''Robots-Bêtes'' — L'Évasion (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars'' — Warning from Space (1998)
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| *''Robots-Bêtes'' — Alert Dans L'Espace (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars'' / ''Robots-Bêtes'' Three pack (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars'' — Optimus Lives! (1998)
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| *''Robots-Bêtes'' — L'Empreinte D'Optimus (1998)
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| ;DVD
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| *''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes — Where the Beasties Began! (2005)
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| *''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes: Volume 2 — The Saga Continues! (2005)
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| *''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes: Volume 3 — The Battle Rages On! (2005)
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| *''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes: Volume 4 — The Predacons Advance! (2005)
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| *''Beast Wars'' — The Complete First Season (2005)
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| {{-}}
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| ===Japan===
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| {{main|Geneon Universal Entertainment}}
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| [[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.
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| ;VHS
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Enter the Super Lifeform Transformers (1997)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Cheetus's Crisis (1997)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Disappeared (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — The Solitary Warrior Tigatron (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — New Weapons of Terror! (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Goodbye, Rattle!? (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Floating Island Death Match (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — The Destrons' Dramatic Finish (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Two Dinobots? (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Revive, Beast Power! (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — The Immortal Starscream (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Fare Thee Well, Tigatron (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — To Protect the Peace... (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Special'' — Great Cybertron Army Collection (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Special'' — Great Destron Army Collection (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Great Quiz Collection (1999)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — We're Back! (1999)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Convoy Reborn (1999)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I Quit! (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Huh? The Face? (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I'm a Crab! (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I Do Love You! (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Gro~w Bigger (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Rrray! (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — The Movie (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I Am Resurrected (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Love Typhoon (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Sssshiny! (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — I Hath Returned (2000)
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| *''Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Metals'' — Happy? This Should Do It (2000)
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| [[File:Pioneer BeastWars Laserdisc Box2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85]]
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| ;{{w|LaserDisc}}
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Maximal Edition (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Predacon Edition (1998)
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| ;DVD
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — DVD BOX (2000)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals'' — DVD BOX 1 (2000)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals'' — DVD BOX 2 (2000)
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| {{-}}
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| ===United Kingdom===
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| {{main|Universal}}
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| 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!
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| [[File:UK Beast Wars Vol3 VHS.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|Not featuring [[Razorclaw (BW)|Razorclaw]].]]
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| ;VHS
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Free Video (2000)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 1 (2000)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 2 (2000)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 3 (2000)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 4 (2000)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 5 (2001)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 6 (2001)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 7 ([[March 5]] 2001)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 8 (March 5, 2001)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 1 (2001)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 2 (2001)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 3 (2001)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 4 (2001)
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| ;DVD
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 1 (2004)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 2 (2005)
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| {{-}}
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| ===United States===
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| [[File:Rhino BeastWars Vol1 DVD.jpg|thumb|upright=0.55]]
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| ;{{main|Rhino Entertainment}}
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 1 (2002)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 2 (2002)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete First Season (2003)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Second Season (2004)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Third Season (2004)
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| ;{{main|Shout! Studios}}
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| *''Transformers - Beast Wars'': Season One (2011)
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| *''Transformers - Beast Wars'': The Complete Series (2011)
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| *''Transformers - Beast Wars'': Seasons 2 & 3 (2011)
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| *''Transformers - Beast Wars'': Chain of Command (2014)
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| *''Transformers - Beast Machines'': The Complete Series (2014)
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| {{-}}
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| ===Australia and New Zealand===
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| {{main|Madman Entertainment}}
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 1 (2006)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 2 (2006)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 3 (2006)
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| *''The Transformers: Beast Wars'' — Complete Collection (2009)
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| {{-}}
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| ===Russia===
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| Russian DVD sets come with only Russian dialogue and no subtitles.
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| ;DVD
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| *''Transformery: Beast Wars'' — Season 1 Vol. 1 (first 13 episodes of the first season) (2011)
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| {{-}}
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| ===Germany===
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| ;DVD
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| ;[[Pandavision]] (2012)
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| *''Transformers: Beast Wars'' - Season 1 (April 24, 2012)
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| ===Pack-ins and Giveaways===
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| {{main|Hasbro|Pack-in material}}
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| ;VHS
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Aftermath]] & [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)]] (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Aftermath]] (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)]] (1998)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Bad Spark]] & [[Code of Hero]] (1999)
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| ;DVD
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Equal Measures]] (2006)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[A Better Mousetrap]] (2006)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[The Spark]] (2006)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Spider's Game]] (2006)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Possession]] (2006)
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| *''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — [[Code of Hero]] (2006)
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| *"[[Beast Wars (Part 1)|Enter the Super Lifeform Transformers]]" and "[[Victory (episode)|The Destrons' Dramatic Finish]]" (2006)
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| *"[[Beast Wars (Part 2)|Destroy the Destrons]]" (2006)
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| *"[[The Web|Cheetus's Crisis]]" (2006)
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| *"[[Equal Measures|Operation: Time Bomb Transfer!]]" (2006)
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| *"[[Chain of Command (BW)|Convoy Disappeared]]" (2006)
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| *"[[Power Surge (episode)|The Sky-Mountains Explode]]" (2006)
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| *"[[Fallen Comrades|The Solitary Warrior, Tigatron]]" (2006)
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| *"[[Double Jeopardy|Kick of the Spider Woman]]" (2006)
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| *"[[The Probe|New Weapons of Terror!]]" (2006)
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| *"[[Gorilla Warfare|The Assassin Virus]]" (2006)
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| *"[[A Better Mousetrap|Goodbye, Rattle!?]]" (2006)
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| *"[[The Spark|The Falcon Warrior, Airazor]]" (2006)
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| *"[[The Trigger, Part 1|Floating Island Death Match, Part 1]]" and "[[The Trigger, Part 2|Floating Island Death Match, Part 2]]" (2006)
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| *"[[Dark Voyage|Around and Around the Jungle]]" (2006)
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| *"[[Possession|The Immortal Starscream]]" (2006)
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| ==Notes== | | ==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].
| | ===Continuity=== |
| *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>
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| *There are three known unproduced ''Beast Wars'' episodes: "[[A Greater Ape]]", "[[Bitch Wars]]", and "[[Dark Glass]]".
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| *{{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''.
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| *The Production Designer for the show, [[Clyde Klotz]], won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in 1997. How cool is that?
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| *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. Likewise, 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]]'', instead of the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FKpU0pnne8 full version] that was used for screenings outside of the ''Power Block''. When released on DVD in Canada, however, [[Alliance Atlantis]] did use the correct openings for both seasons.
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| ===Foreign names===
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| *''English:'' '''''Beasties''''' (Canada; broadcast only<ref>https://imissbionix.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/beast-wars-beasties-dvd-sets-wont-be-released-in-canada/</ref>)
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| *''Japanese:'' '''''Beast Wars Chō Seimeitai Transformers''''' (ビーストウォーズ 超生命体トランスフォーマー, "Beast Wars Super Lifeform Transformers"), '''''Chō Seimeitai Transformers Beast Wars Metals''''' (second and third seasons, 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, "Super Lifeform Transformers Beast Wars Metals")
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| *''Bulgarian:'' '''''Voinata na zverovete''''' (Войната на зверовете "War of the Beasts")
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| *''Cantonese:'' '''''Ciunang Jungsi''''' (Hong Kong, 超能勇士, "Super-Ultra Warriors")
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| *''French:'' '''''Animutants''''' (France), '''''Robots-Bêtes''''' ("Beast-Robots", Canada)
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| *''Italian:'' '''''Rombi di tuono e cieli di fuoco per i Biocombat''''' ("Thunderbolts and Flaming Skies for the Biocombat")
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| *''Latvian:'' '''''Briesmoņu kari''''' ("Monster Wars")
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| *''Mandarin:'' '''''Bǎibiàn Jīngāng''''' (Taiwan, 百變金剛, "Morph Vajra"), '''''Biànxíng Jīngāng: Yěshòu Zhànzhēng''''' (China, 变形金刚：野兽战争, "Transformers: Beast Wars")
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| *''Polish:'' '''''Kosmiczne Wojny''''' ("Cosmic Wars")
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| *''Russian:'' '''''Bitvi Zverey''''' (Битвы зверей, "Battles of the Beasts"), '''''Zhestokye voini''''' (Жестокие войны, "Cruel wars")
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| *''Spanish:'' '''''Guerra de Bestias''''' (America, "War of Beasts")
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| *''Vietnamese:'' '''''Chiến tranh quái vật vũ trụ''''' ("Galaxy Monster Wars")
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist|2}}
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| ==External Links==
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| [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhWipIfRhqz0stsLo2v9If0qbNDVfoSrY "Beast Wars Super Lifeform Transformers" playlist] on TakaraTomy's YouTube channel (JP only)
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| <nowiki>[[Category:Beast Wars media]] | | <nowiki>[[Category:Beast Wars II media]] |
| [[Category:Television series]]</nowiki> | | [[Category:Pack-in material]]</nowiki> |
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