Cheetor (BW)

The name or term "Cheetor" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Cheetor (disambiguation).

Cheetor is a Maximal (and later an Autobot) from the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

There he is, your little guy.

Cheetor is full of youthful overconfidence. He's also the fastest Maximal on four legs, so he gets into way too much trouble. Thankfully, Optimus Primal keeps a steady eye on him. In return, Cheetor has grown to idolize Primal, whom he calls "Big Bot." Optimus Primal knows the young and inexperienced Cheetor needs a good role model, so he doesn't mind too much. And, hey, he's a good kid. Just... keep him away from Dinobot, okay? Impressionable minds, and all.

Speaking of bad influences, Cheetor had a brief crush on the Predacon turncoat Blackarachnia, adding some real tension between him and Silverbolt. He seems over her now.

Cheetor also appears to have vague precognitive skills, sensing important events before they actually happen--usually in the form of ominous dreams. With such power and potential, who knows—maybe the lad is destined for great things someday.

Japanese name: Cheetus or Cheetas (チータス Chītasu)<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a></sup>

Chinese name (Taiwan): Bàu-tz (豹子, "Cheetah" or "Panther" or "Leopard") / Hūa Bàu (花豹, "Leopard", used in Beast Machines sometimes)

French name (cartoon): Vélocitor

Indonesian name: Sidor (probably a pronunciation mistake)

Italian name: Ghepard (original toy), Metal Ghepard (Transmetal)

Polish name: Gepardon

Spanish name: Chitor

Fiction

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No, really. HE WANTS TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE TRANSFORMERS.

<span style="font-size:125%;font-weight:900;">I want to tell you about the Transformers!</span><hr /> This character article is a stub and is missing information on their fictional appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

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Cartoon continuity

Dawn of Future's Past

A former cadet of the Maximal Command Security Force, Cheetor left the organization young after being recruited by Optimus Primal based on his leadership potential, and joined the crew of the Axalon. Full of youthful enthusiasm and hoping to see the furthest reaches of space, Cheetor instead became embroiled in conflict when the Golden Disk was reported stolen while the Axalon was docked at a Maximal satellite. His vehicle mode could reach 550 mph, making him the fastest Maximal aboard the Axalon even before landing on prehistoric Earth. Dawn of Future's Past

Beast Wars cartoon

Voice actor: Ian Corlett (English), Wataru Takagi (Japanese), Tata Guarnieri (Portuguese)

What? Is it my breath?

After the Axalon crash-landed on a mysterious planet, the most youthful crew member of the disabled ship chose a cheetah as his new beast form. Impressed with his own appearance, the young 'bot renamed himself Cheetor. He then got beaten up by Waspinator. Beast Wars (Part 1)

Cheetor dreams of Rattrap's rescue attempt before it happens.

Far too frequently, Cheetor looked up to Optimus Primal enough to rush out in an all-too eager attempt to prove himself. He seemed to botch as many missions as he carried out successfully; he broke an experimental communicator, rushed into combat, got himself captured by Tarantulas, The Web and set up remote survey posts in the middle of a lightning storm on a bed of unstable energon crystals because someone stroked his ego. Equal Measures

It seems Cheetor also trusted Dinobot more than the rest of his crew. When Optimus Primal was feared dead, a vote was held to decide whether Rattrap or Dinobot would lead the Maximals. Naturally, both parties voted for themselves, but as Rhinox read out the votes, he was only surprised by Dinobot's second vote. This would imply that he did NOT vote for Dinobot, and that it must have been Cheetor. Chain of Command

When Tigatron turned up, Cheetor fast bonded with "Big Cat" and looked up to him. Tigatron's eventual death left him greatly distraught.

When the quantum surge from the explosion of the Planet Buster engulfed the planet, Cheetor's exostructure was mutated into a shiny new Transmetal body. Along with a tougher metal hide and built-in weaponry, his beast mode gained the ability to fly via two powerful thrusters in his torso. Unfortunately, his first attempt at flying led him on a one-way trip into a bulkhead. As Rattrap later remarked after a disastrous rescue attempt, a few flying lessons wouldn't have hurt. Aftermath Once he got the hang of it, he was constantly used on flight and recon missions.

Ultra gear!

When Blackarachnia defected to the Maximals, Cheetor swiftly gained a big crush on her and deliberately joined her on a mission; he was left annoyed when she dismissed him as a "nice kid" Cutting Edge, and more so when she further emphasised what she thought of the crush via a big pointy weapon. Proving Grounds Despite this, the crush briefly flared up again when she almost died. Crossing the Rubicon

While supporting Depth Charge's attack on Megatron's perverse cloning experiments, Cheetor came in contact with the direct energy beam of the transmetal driver, causing a massive explosion that made his fellow Maximals believe he was dead. However, he was seriously damaged and wandered around for megacycles afterwards, not knowing where he was, before he finally stumbled back to base.

Refusing treatment in the CR chamber, he was prone to hallucinations, panic attacks, paranoia, and delirium. He escaped the base and would rest for hours at a time, only to awaken and find himself somewhere foreign, his gears exhausted. Feral Scream Part 1

Rawr.

In reality, his Transmetal body was in conflict with the alien "Transmetal 2" power infused into it by the transmetal driver. While unconscious, he would undergo a mutation into a feral beast that acted with savagery and aggression. With Optimus Primal's help, he finally gained control of the power and rejoined the rest of the Maximals, who were surprised at the rapid changes to him. Feral Scream Part 2

"Oh, joy," Rattrap remarked on this. "Cyber-puberty."

IDW Beast Wars comics

Cheetor appeared outside the Ark alongside Optimus Primal and Rhinox. The Gathering #3

Beast Machines cartoon

Voice actor: Ian Corlett (English), Wataru Takagi (Japanese), Hercules Fernando (Portuguese)

Primal and Rattrap were both rescued by a confused and amnesiatic Cheetor shortly after their crash-landing on Cybertron. After meeting up with Blackarachnia, the foursome decided to flee downwards into the older, abandoned layers of the planet to regroup and figure out what happened. As their bodies slowly shut down, Optimus discovered the Oracle supercomputer, which, seeking to restore the balance between organic and technological, reformatted their bodies into new, technorganic bodies with enhanced abilities. However, this meant that Primal and friends had to relearn their transformation abilities, which now came from a state of Zen-like calmness. Behind Primal, Cheetor was the first to master the ability to transform, which speaks to his growing maturity--he is more able to focus in Beast Machines than he was in Beast Wars. This command over his spark may come from the time undoubtedly spent with Optimus learning to control his Transmetal 2 beast mode. As a cheetah, he is capable of moving at very fast speeds and able to deflect shots. In robot mode, he wields twin scimitars that could act as shields, as well as letting him glide for short distances. His body features a special coating allowing for virtually friction-less movement.

Arguably, as a result of the amnesiac shock and his inexperience at transformation, Cheetor reverts back into his younger, 'kid' persona for a time, more reliant on 'Big Bot' than ever, and is somewhat more hotheaded and rash than the cool bot he'd become at the end of the Beast Wars. The loss of Rhinox and Silverbolt has an effect on his confidence, even though he isn't completely sure that they're missing. This resulted in his being attacked by Aero Drones and having to be rescued by a belligerent Primal, in one instance. Master of the House In fact, up until the events surrounding the discovery of Nightscream and his tree, Cheetor only disobeys orders when goaded by Blackarachnia (when during the Beast Wars he would disobey orders like it was going out of style), and spends quite a lot of time loyally babysitting a steadily deteriorating Primal. Later, Cheetor and crew encounter the survivor Nightscream, though he initially shows mistrust and suspicion towards the bat. Unlike Optimus, Cheetor states, he can't rely on "blind faith" when "in the heat of the battle." Tangentially, Cheetor means he has to rely on himself; this statement forebodes the time coming where Cheetor will have to assert himself rather than operating under blind faith, whether that be in Optimus or the matrix. He destroys the fruit tree that was causing feral insanity in his fellow Maximals, following his instinct as to what was causing their behavior. When Primal was severely weakened by the strain of reformatting Nightscream, Cheetor took over as leader, much to his surprise (and Rattrap's, from the look on his face). Cheetor does not allow the troops time to think he's weak, and comes on strong from the beginning, inadvertently showing his under-confidence and continuing reliance on Optimus. Forbidden Fruit

In the events of his first stint as leader, Cheetor's earliest leadership style gets its best showcase. On the positive side, he is a team player still; unlike Maximals who have commanded over him in the past, Cheetor shows he is open to the input of others when in battle, including those younger than him (Nightscream). More than once he listens to Nightscream’s suggestions and even discusses Optimus’s place as leader, ultimately listening to the younger bot’s advice. He remains loyal to Rattrap as a friend, admonishing the others for suggesting they abandon him, though this wounds Rattrap's pride more than anything--the idea that Cheetor will "cover for him" strikes Rattrap as "charity." After their relationship in the Beast Wars, in which their friendship began with Rattrap rescuing Cheetor and covering for him in the fashion of an older brother, this reversal, and the pass-over Optimus made on Rattrap, proves an awkward kind of moment; the two must now renegotiate their power relationship, and it leads to Rattrap joining Megatron for a time and blaming Optimus for selling him a “lemon.” On the negative side, Cheetor is very obviously stressed; he did not wish to be leader at any point before this and has never had any more ambition than Optimus's respect. He is unwilling to take risks with Optimus out of commission, and refuses to take the initiative to destroy Megatron while their enemy is weakened. At this point, it is rather plain that the immediate safety of his allies is more important than winning a war, which says much about Cheetor's priorities and tendency not to look far forward. He is a very loyal young bot; when Rattrap "sold [them] out for weapons," Cheetor lost his temper entirely. Mercenary Pursuits

Cheetor's relationship with Blackarachnia is also an interesting one to note in the first missions of the techno-organic war. Silverbolt is not around, and for much of the time neither of them seem to even remember his existence as anything other than a kind of theoretical void. Yet he only makes one suggestive comment to her the entire season ("Boy am I glad to see you," when Blackarachnia first rescues him and the others, and even then the suggestiveness lies in his tone, not his words). Instead they lapse into a brother-sister relationship, best showcased when Blackarachnia teases him for being a "scaredy-cat" to get him to come exploring with her, and he, like a little brother who doesn't want to be thought cowardly, calls "wait up!" Master of the House It is another mark of Cheetor's growing maturity that he 1.) starts to sense that continued stated interest will lose him a good friend, and 2.) once he is leader, he tends to give her orders in a conversational kind of way, up until she keeps arguing with him for reasons that are not apparent or logical to him (as of their mission to bring out the inner Maximal in Tankor, when Blackarachnia keeps insisting they go for Thrust instead). Revelations Part 2

His maturity pans out for him when Silverbolt returns, as Blackarachnia is the first to tell him that Cheetor has grown up and that she believes in him: "Cheetor's not a kid anymore; he'll get us through this!" Notably Cheetor saves the day with humility and perceived team work, supposing Silverbolt is "a genius" when he negligently holds up a power core, which Cheetor then rather brilliantly uses to blow up Obsidian. The idea is actually Cheetor's, but he is unafraid of dropping his pride (Silverbolt has been throwing nasty "kid" comments at him the whole mission long) and giving credit where he thinks it's due, though in this case he would be mistaken. Spark of Darkness Cheetor is also quick to remind Silverbolt of "what she [Blackarachnia] went through to get you back," as though defending a sister. By this time he has evidently abandoned all idea of a romantic relationship with his fellow Maximal, and instead acts as her friend and brother.

Cheetor's relationship with Optimus is of course the most interesting. Also a site of changing power roles, Cheetor has to assert himself and demand some modicum of respect out of his commander, who has acted as a father to him since the beginning of the Beast Wars. Like a typical father-son pair, they are often irrational about and to one another. Cheetor ignores the greater concerns of a war when Optimus is injured, and turns a blind eye to Nightscream's pleas to him that Cheetor should take over while Optimus is emotionally distraught after discovering the empty Maximal bodies and still being weak from the reformatting. And though Cheetor taking over again is the logical choice, it visually upsets Optimus and causes Cheetor to act apologetic: "You weren't thinking clearly, Optimus; you haven't been since resuming command.... I wanted you back in charge because I believe in you. But you've left me no choice. I'm taking over." This entire confrontation is fraught with tension, from Cheetor ordering Optimus out of the exploding plant when it's not his watch ("Everyone out, now! That's an order, Optimus!"), Optimus's stunned face as his loyal, idolizing follower of an entire war not only removes him from command, but (humiliatingly) does it in a public fashion (ordering him out in front of the rest of the team), to the way Optimus freezes as Cheetor informs him that he will be taking over, and looks away first from the younger Maximal's hard gaze, part shocked and part ashamed.

In the events following, while Optimus has turned again to the Oracle, Rattrap is seemingly on board to help Cheetor do more asserting, ever since Optimus proved he was no longer stable to lead field operations. He remains a figurehead, however, communing with the Oracle more than ever, much to Cheetor's chagrin and even anger on occasion (Cheetor: "Fine, whatever. Just tell us when you want our help." Optimus: "I'm sorry... but some journeys must be made alone.") Cheetor and Optimus more than ever occupy a space where Optimus is growing reliant on his son and more unstable, causing his protege considerable stress, anger, and fear, but while feeling fear, anger, and humiliation himself, which arguably causes him to cling harder to the Oracle.

This irrationality increases as Optimus bites back at Cheetor, trying to reclaim his position of leader and by proxy force (and therefore devolve) Cheetor back to his more pliant, hero-worshiping state. On one level, it appears Optimus is unable to deal with Cheetor growing up inasmuch as his protege has separate and uncontrollable ideas from his own; like a father, he has a difficult time with allowing his "son" figure to grow out of his previous role and thus away from him. The irrationality comes in at the point that it is contradictory to what Optimus set down when he first put Cheetor in charge, Forbidden Fruit wherein he acknowledged the wisdom of Cheetor relying on his instincts (thus himself) and seemed to think Cheetor was mature enough to lead the team. As he grows more reliant on the Oracle, Optimus more and more makes it clear that Cheetor is only an adult when Optimus needs him to be, and can be treated as a child when it suits Optimus. It is therefore no surprise that Cheetor sometimes vacillates between irrational childishness (often concerning Optimus) and more leaderly maturity.

And the relationship goes the other way, of course. After Tankor discovers the Key to Vector Sigma and uses it on the Maximals, Cheetor's defiance reaches an almost cataclysmic level. Like a dueling parent-child pair, in which the young adult or teenager is trying to assert his own beliefs and right to be heard while the parent demands a younger form of deference, Cheetor and Optimus trade philosophical, tactical, and even blatantly hurtful verbal spars through Rattrap, even when they're looking at each other and standing only a few feet from one another (Cheetor really IS a young adult... what's Optimus's excuse?) Cheetor even allows his anger to seep into their battle with Tankor, right up to the point when Optimus's life is threatened ("This is one of those subtle victories?" a comment which is at the very least disgruntled, and at its worst a little ominous). He and Optimus spend the entire episode arguing over every detail; it is worth noting though that Cheetor is most often correct or at least worth listening to on this mission (controlling a mole to save Nightscream worked, despite how dangerous it was--and the Maximals have followed plenty of dangerous plans with Optimus before; controlling the mole instead of the warehouse also saved their lives in the nick of time, again Cheetor's suggestion; and though Optimus had a good idea of finally drilling as fast as he could, his order for the others to "contain" their fellows was even more dangerous than Cheetor's schemes); this move shows that though his method of getting through to Optimus is flawed, his actual claim to respect is not. The conversation between Cheetor and Optimus at the end of this struggle is one of the best between them and shows their underlying issues most clearly. The Key

((Glaring at one another)) Cheetor: Lucky for us he came to his senses and helped us bring back that mole. Optimus: That mole almost destroyed everyone and everything we've fought for. Cheetor: ((taking a step forward)) Like Tankor would've been more cooperative! Rattrap: Hey, what do I look like here, a Ham radio? You two got somethin' to say to each other, you can just do it without the middle mouse. Cheetor: ((face finally cracking from his glare to something more vulnerable)) Look, you've gotta start respecting me; I'm not just some kid anymore. I proved myself while you were off with the Oracle. Optimus: ((with a small look as though he's only now come to realize something)) You really think this team needs TWO leaders? Cheetor: ((after looking down, thinking, and now with a disappointed and angry expression. His voice is quiet and harsh)) Right... Fine. Nightscream: Glad that's settled. Blackarachnia: No, it's not. Some problems aren't that simple. Optimus: ((watches Cheetor walking away with a sad and somewhat puzzled expression)) The Key

Cheetor continues blatantly ignoring orders, arguing the difference between an order given to him and his right to make a command decision after Rattrap discovers the Catalyst program The Catalyst, and continues leading the group into the field almost exclusively, until Optimus takes them on a field trip to see the Plasma Energy Chamber. By this time he is caustically angry with Optimus, taking every opportunity to get a jab in, and Optimus enjoys proving him wrong. Cheetor does seem to put this aside and argue more reasonably and maturely with Optimus when he realizes Optimus has gone from idealistic to genocidal (loss of technology would lead to the spark containment chambers failing and thus potential loss of sparks, and Optimus does not yet have the wherewithall to reformat the whole planet). Cheetor points out to Optimus--actually sounding like Optimus, and even going so far as to completely echo his words from his rebuke when Cheetor attempted to free Rhinox, thus showing that 1.) he is indeed his Big Bot's protege and has learned well, 2.) he's been listening, and Optimus is blatantly contradicting himself, and 3.) he is wise enough and grown-up enough to act as Optimus's own conscience if he must. He points out that Optimus said the Oracle had been tampered with (and Cheetor has not been down with this whole mystical thing for a while now—during the Beast Wars Optimus was a very pragmatic, proactive bot, and that's the Optimus Cheetor takes after), and that if Optimus does this, he's no better than Megatron (Optimus said something of a very similar flavor to Cheetor when he was trying to free Rhinox from his Tankor programming, despite having done the same thing to Tankor much earlier in the war). Optimus actually listens, and something finally clicks. The conversation they had after the first Key crisis, in which Optimus commented that a team cannot have two leaders, gets a resolution here: Optimus calls Cheetor "second-in-command," the first time he's acknowledged that Cheetor occupies a higher rank at all times, not just when Optimus is out of commission, and then consults him on what he might "recommend."

Cheetor, evidently thinking he was going to have to slough through another argument with a machete, is caught off guard and has to think fast; he does and makes a good plan, one which, barring interference by a backstabbing Rhinox, might have worked. Optimus is his old self for a moment, with a proactive "let's do it"; the face Cheetor gives him after this simple moment of respect and deference is of absolutely joyous and innocent pride. Cheetor can die happy now; which is good, because he almost does. Optimus again shows a moment of irrationality (he is shown the Maximals one-by-one as they are transformed into techno-matter; the last one shown is Cheetor and it affects Optimus the most emotionally, wherein he shouts an impotent "NO!" and presses his hand to the screen before Cheetor's image vanishes). Optimus subsequently consigns them all to a sure death when he opens the Plasma Energy Chamber, driving Megatron to strike with his own doomsday weapon; Cheetor and Thrust look on as the world is about to end. End of the Line In the following events, Optimus has to deal with the fallout of his mistakes--not just to himself, but with his team; as leader, Cheetor also has to deal with his arguments with Optimus, and the idea that his last weeks spent with his mentor were in bitter arguments. He is the one to discover Optimus's body, and his face is very shadowed, which is suggestive; he is grief-stricken but no one can grasp many details about his face, as though the moment is too private. Nightscream makes a dig that Cheetor would have wanted Optimus out of the way, and Cheetor's response is very emotional, stating that "disagreeing with someone's ideas isn't the same as wanting them slagged! I never wanted this, NEVER!" Nightscream actually seems scared (he quivers when Cheetor looks his way again), and Rattrap tries to sooth the situation gently by telling Cheetor that he didn't mean anything by it. While they confront Optimus and he asks for forgiveness, Cheetor seems to be the only one who believes that genocidal, apocalyptic abuse of power is something that merits the need for forgiveness, as does attempting to die and run away from it, leaving Cheetor to clean up the remaining mess. All this aside, though, he does get to the heart of the matter, and it is a touching moment: "We need you, Optimus!" At this point he comes closer, where Optimus can see his face through the watery divide between them—showing his vulnerability suddenly very clearly: "I need you!" Part of his growing up is also in admitting this vulnerability--that he is not totally self-sufficient, that he needs, loves and even likes having Optimus around, and that he doesn’t know everything; the other part of it is, of course, admitting Optimus’s fallibility too (“I can forgive you for your mistakes, but not for giving up.”). This is a significant moment in Cheetor's development--when he admits that he still needs his father and mentor in his life, and he's not so grown-up that he's ready to be alone. Fallout

After these events, Cheetor and Optimus have a much less tempestuous relationship, and by and large Cheetor is not just a large support for Optimus on the field of combat--he also remains an emotional pillar. On one instance, Cheetor mentions Rhinox, triggering a moment of pensive sadness in Optimus, and he places a paw on his mentor's shoulder; Blackarachnia motions to them and says "See? It's just like old times"--indicating that Cheetor and Optimus's relationship, though there being more respect and equality in terms of team responsibility, are back to the steady father-son relationship they had before, except that Optimus can now enjoy the friendship of an adult son without having to babysit him so often. Wolf in the Fold In his latter leadership style, Cheetor shows Optimus's tendency to negotiate before firing--both times Megatron goes offline, Cheetor is the first to extend his hand to the Vehicon generals, and remains patient even when it's slapped away. Fallout, Spark of Darkness He is also remarkably patient with Silverbolt's taunting, only marginally confronting him and still deferring to the others for ideas in combat. During the time Blackarachnia brings back Silverbolt, Cheetor sticks with Optimus when his commander is taken up into Megatron's floating base, and is tortured as a result (this is not explored, but Megatron informs them that extracting the information he wants will be "painful and , regrettably, fatal"--this process has already begun by the time they've been freed). Also notable is that Cheetor almost never speaks to Megatron in these encounters and is never directly addressed; he doesn't even get a creepy "pussycat" comment from Megatron. When it comes to Megatron, Cheetor allows Optimus to have his old rivalry, and seldom does he step on those toes--probably the smart idea.

When Megatron spreads a hate plague among the Maximals, there is a return of some of Cheetor's resentments from before the release of the Key and plasma energy that nearly destroyed the planet: he comments on his teammates inability to follow orders (a comment on how often they argue with him), gets them going with a pretty scary "shut your mouths and beat your feet!" (which he's probably been dying to use for a while), and spends a lot of time arguing with an affected Rattrap, who resents his position as second-in-command and finally gets a chance to show it. Cheetor also attacks Optimus the most forcefully, telling him he's tired of his "self-righteousness" and kicking and hitting him until Optimus too has the hate plague. Wolf in the Fold

Cheetor is the last Maximal (other than Optimus) to fall in the final battle, and he manages to single-handedly defeat all three Vehicon generals, by launching Strika and Obsidian into space with the anti-gravity generators, and by overpowering Thrust before removing his spark. Cheetor's end is one of the most ironic and somewhat emotionally interesting. Megatron, who has never addressed him by name once all through either war, takes Cheetor out himself, now wearing the body of Optimal Optimus. Cheetor lets down his guard when he sees it, and his last words, before he's blasted, are "Big Bot?" He seems somewhat awake when his spark is removed, though whether Megatron removed it on-site or allowed a clean-up crew behind him to do it is a mystery--though without extinguishing Cheetor's spark, and knowing Cheetor was actually in the base with him while he was confronting Optimus, it would probably have been the smart move to remove Cheetor's spark on-site rather than leave another enemy at his back, who knows the body of Optimal Optimus fairly well. <span style="font-size:10px;background-color:#ececec;border-width: 0 1px 0 1px;border-style:solid;padding: 0 5px 0 5px;border-color:#cccccc;" class="tt1_nowrap">Sparkwar Part 2</span>

From his arriving to save Optimus in the first foray of their time back on Cybertron to the nature of his death, Cheetor's life throughout Beast Machines is almost completely consumed with his relationship to Optimus as he learns how to be, not just an adult, but a leader as well. Thus it is little surprise when, after years of prophetic dreams on Earth, philosophical disagreements with Optimus and a striking similarity to Hot Rod/ Rodimus Prime at a number of points, it is Cheetor who takes over for Primal. The reformatting requires the sacrifice and the guiding sparks of Optimus and Megatron, who bring technological and organic into balance, leaving behind the more moderate and practical leader to rebuild their society. Cheetor is the last person to see Optimus, who appears to him as the voice of the Oracle tells Cheetor to “transform and transcend,” and he relies, “I understand.” Optimus smiles peacefully and proudly to him as he disappears. Cheetor then delivers the final speech about the nature of their fight and Optimus’s mission, signaling that he does indeed understand the weight and significance of his mentor’s sacrifice. The baton has been passed and Cheetor is now the receptive spark to guide Cybertron to its next destination. <span style="font-size:10px;background-color:#ececec;border-width: 0 1px 0 1px;border-style:solid;padding: 0 5px 0 5px;border-color:#cccccc;" class="tt1_nowrap">Sparkwar Part 3</span>

3H comics

It was revealed that Cheetor was a Matrix Templar, as he and with bonehead stunts. He is such a big Rodimus idolizer that "My first changeform was even based on yours!"

He later said of Rodimus's past "I'm not lookin forward to the day they chronicle my early bonehead adventures onto <strong class="selflink">a datacon for all the world to see</strong>." Wreckers: Finale Part II

Hope he never reads this.

Beast Wars Metals comic

Off to go train with Piccolo or something, I'm sure.

Following the Quantum surge, Cheetor was upgraded into a Transmetal but left stranded on Energoa far, far away from the other Maximals and believed dead by Rattrap. Following Optimus Primal's return to life, Cheetor could be seen staring poetically at the moon from his distant location. Raise the Curtain for Beast Wars Metals!!

Henkei! Henkei! pack-in comic

The Cirrrcle of Liiiife...

After Screamscream and Ravage stole energon cubes from Hound, Cheetor appeared on the scene, defeated both of them and got the cubes back, getting the adoration of Hound and random fauna. Cheetor then went to live in a safari park. Henkei! Henkei! #8

Toys

<div class="noprint">Main article: Cheetor (BW) toys</div>

Trivia

• Cheetor fired the first shots of the Beast Wars. First he shot at Waspinator, unprovoked, and again at Megatron while Optimus was attempting to negotiate. What a little rascal.

• Cheetor has the first line in the show Beast Wars; he also has the last line in the show Beast Machines, closing the arc of the two shows in a coherent development of Cheetor as a young rookie to Cheetor as commander.

• Aside from Tigatron, Cheetor is the only character in Beast Wars who is definitely in the correct scale to the lifeform he has adopted as a beast mode. As a result, Cheetor has the odd distinction of being the yardstick by which other Beast Wars characters' scale inconsistencies can be measured.

• On the other hand, Cheetor's original toy is monstrously out of scale with his fellow Deluxe Class toys and is only scale-compatible with larger toys such as the Ultra-class Optimus Primal.

• Mainframe Entertainment's original plan for Transmetal Cheetor was to have his face mature over the course of the season, from a big-eared, wide-eyed, rounded face into one close to the toy. Also, he would have had a "Hero's Heart" which glowed after completing brave or heroic feats, somewhat akin to the classic anime character Astro Boy. Due to time and financial restrictions, none of these concepts panned out. Thankfully. His toy, however, DOES have a molded heart on the abdomen.

I wonder what Beast Machines Cheetor thinks of this artwork?

• Comic Bom Bom advertisements for the Game Boy Color's Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle feature Cheetor with a slightly different (and much happier) head than the version which appeared in the game's instruction manual. Both are sickeningly cute, though.

• Cheetor has the somewhat dubious honour of being the only Maximal Megatron never refers to by name on the show.

• In "Bee in the City", Beast Wars Megatron accidentally calls Bumblebee "Cheetor", the first instance of a running gag where the plucky young yellow kid-appeal bot is called by another kid-appeal bot's name.

• In the Japanese dub of the Beast Wars cartoon and in the Beast Wars Metals manga, Cheetor had the quirk of ending nearly every sentence in a long, stressed "Jā-n", which is supposed to sound like a cute kitty growl.

References

<ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-0">[#cite_ref-0" title="">↑</a> The "Cheetus" Romanization was used on a Japanese Beast Wars <a href="http://www18.tok2.com/home/jackhama/transformers/bwtcard_1/img/003.jpg trading card]. Conversely, the Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle Complete Manual, the official strategy guide for Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle video game, used "Cheetas". Neither source is particularly more valid than the other in these matters, as both contain various errors—the trading cards otherwise render Dirge as "Darge", while the Complete Manual features Scuba as "Skuba".</ol>

External links

• Cheetor at TFU.info