Beastformer (species)
Possibly better known as the Battle Beasts. They were another toy line produced by Takara. They never got their own TV show, but they did guest star in an episode or two of Transformers Headmasters, as Takara considered the two part of the same continuity (when Battle Beasts were released in the west, no such connection was given, making the two lines separate).
They were a race of anthropomorphic animals in armour which bore some similarity to Transformer design. Unlike Transformers, they were not capable of transforming, and did not have alt-modes.
Other similarities to the Transformers were that there were two factions, one "good" and one "evil". In the Headmasters show, the "Good" ones were enslaved by the "bad ones", who were working for Galvatron. In a fascinating parallel to Beast Wars, the 'good' Battle Beasts were mostly made up of mammals and birds, while the 'bad' Battle Beasts were mostly made up of reptiles and insects.
The key gimmick with the Beastformers, besides being technically part of the Transformers continuity, was their rub signs, which displayed either a fire, water, or wood symbol. These symbols were part of a 'ro-sham-bo' type of game that collectors could play, with fire trumping wood, which trumps water, which trumps fire. A fourth symbol, the Sun Burst, was introduced soon afterwards, which trumped all other symbols. Eventually, these rub signs were replaced by a clear marble-like 'crystal' akin to the 'spark crystals' of the later Beast Wars and Beast Machines figures.
