Beast Wars (Part 1)
Writers: Bob Forward
Summary: The Maximal and Predacon forces crash land on a mysterious, primitive world.
Major Characters (in order of appearance): Optimus Primal, Megatron, Dinobot
Minor Characters (in order of appearance): Characters
Original Air Date: September 16, 1996
Summary
The first thing seen is the Axalon and the unnamed Darksyde ships falling out of a warp portal. Megatron orders the Darksyde to open fire, easily shunting the Maximal ship towards the planet. Optimus Primal, as the ship tumbled, made two orders - eject all stasis pods into orbit, and fire upon the Predacon ship. The Darksyde was blasted enough to knock it also to the nearby planet.
On the (then unknown) prehistoric Earth, both sides found that the massive Energon readings were off the scale, and required alternate 'beast modes' to be able to survive outside of the ship. All of the crewmates picked new forms based on the most powerful creatures of the planet, and (apparently/logically) renamed themselves accordingly. On the Maximal ship, Rattrap, Cheetor, and Rhinox were born. Optimus Primal took the form of a gorilla.
The Predacons, Dinobot, Waspinator, Tarantulus, Terrosaur, and Skorponok began to explore. Dinobot, reading the Golden Disk, called Megatron a fool for landing on this planet, and challenged him for the leadership of the Predacons. Megatron deceived him and had Skorponok blast him.
The Maximals did the same, and Cheetor, eager to show off his new speed, took off after a team of cheetahs. Primal called him back, but the energon interfered with their communicators. Cheetor, on his own, ran into Waspinator, and the two engaged. Seeing the explosions of weaponry, the two respective teams ran to assist their comrades.
An explosion knocked Cheetor over, and rubble pinned him down. Primal ordered Rattrap to help him. Rattrap plainly told him to "kiss his skinplate." Primal rushed to help Cheetor, and was wounded in the process, injuring one of his Prime Jets. As the Maximals retreated, Primal lectured Rattrap on his rebellion.
On the retreat, the Maximals encountered the lone Dinobot. He challenged Primal to the death for leadership of the Maximals...
Notes
-Before they gain their beast modes, the Maximals and Predacons are shown mostly in shadow. This is probably to save the animators the trouble of coming up with entirely different models for each character. However, if you pay close attention, there are some marked differences to the facial areas shown, and rattraps' arms are slightly different.
-The Japanese version of the episode, titled "Enter the Super Robot Lifeform Transformers", has a slightly alternate opening. The episode begins with scrolling letters across an outerspace backdrop, "Star Wars"-style, which explain the basics of the Transformers history (Cybertron, factions, energy plundering, etc).
Technical/Animation Glitches
- Minimal to none
Continuity Errors
- Error
Transformers References
- References
Real-World References
- Reference
External Links
- Link
