Transformers: Beast Wars facts for kids
Transformers: Beast Wars is an exciting series of stories and toys from Hasbro. It's a big part of the larger Transformers world. The Beast Wars stories happen right after the original Transformers: Generation 1 adventures, which started with the 1984 TV show and the animated movie.
The Beast Wars series didn't follow the Japanese Transformers stories, even though Beast Wars later had its own special Japanese shows. Before Beast Wars, Hasbro tried to bring back the original toys and cartoons as Transformers: Generation 2. Hasbro also planned another series called Transtech, which would have mixed characters and styles from Beast Wars and Generation 1, but this plan was stopped. Instead, the Transformers world started over with new stories, called reboots. The first of these was the Japanese show Transformers: Car Robot, known around the world as Transformers: Robots in Disguise.
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What is Beast Machines?
Beast Wars was followed by a new series called Beast Machines. This show had a different team making it. In Beast Machines, the good guys, the Maximals, find themselves back on their home planet, Cybertron. They are not working properly and are stuck in their first animal forms, the ones they had at the start of Beast Wars.
They can't remember what happened before. They have to fight to stay alive against robots called Vehicons. These Vehicons are like mindless drones, controlled by the evil Megatron. The whole planet is empty, and all the other Transformers are gone. So, Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap, and Blackarachnia start a new mission. This time, their goal is to free their entire planet from Megatron's control.
Beast Wars in Japan
Two Japanese series, Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo, were made to fill time. They were released while the second and third seasons of the original Beast Wars were being translated into Japanese. The Japanese version of these seasons was called Beast Wars: Metals.
The characters in these Japanese shows come from the future that the Beast Wars teams left behind. However, the events of Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo actually happen much further in the future. In these shows, the giant evil robot Unicron returns. Unlike the first Beast Wars series, Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo used traditional animation, not computer graphics. They were also made for a younger audience. Beast Wars II even had its own movie in theaters.
The Beast Wars Neo toys were made especially for the Japanese market. In Western countries, the cybernetic (robot-like) Transmetal Beast Wars Transformers sold very well. But Japanese fans liked animal forms that looked more realistic. Because of this, Beast Wars Metals wasn't as popular with Japanese fans. The second and third seasons of Beast Wars and their toys only lasted a few months in Japan. They were then replaced by Transformers: Car Robots the next year. In Car Robots, some unused Transmetal 2 toy designs were used for the Predacons, who were called Destrongers in Japan. Beast Machines was also brought to Japan in 2004, called Beast Wars Returns, but it didn't become very popular there.
Beast Wars Comic Books
The Beast Wars and Beast Machines series are officially seen as the future of the Generation 1 Transformers universe. This means they are not specifically tied to the original cartoon or the Marvel Comics series. The writers of the shows chose this idea so they could pick the best parts from different Generation 1 stories.
BotCon Comics
In the comics made for BotCon (a big Transformers fan convention), two special Beast Wars stories were told.
In the Omega Point story, many events lead to a huge battle against Shokaract. This Predacon is powered by the Dark Essence of Unicron himself. This story also introduces a character named Apelinq. It's also the only time we see characters like Windrazor, Sandstorm, Antagony, and Cataclysm.
In the Primeval Dawn story, Tarantulas comes back to life. He is joined by Ravage, Spittor, Iguanus, and Razorclaw. They want to finish the mission Tarantulas started. To stop them, the Vok (powerful alien beings) create Primal Prime. Primal Prime teams up with Airazor, Tigatron, and Ramulus, who have also returned from the dead.
IDW Publishing Comics
A mini-series of comics takes place at the same time as the third season of Beast Wars. It introduces characters who weren't in the original TV show, such as Magmatron, Razorbeast, and Injector. Other characters who appear are Grimlock in his Beast Wars body (which was a recolored Dinobot toy) and Ravage in his Transmetal II form, known as "Tripredacus Agent."
This comic mini-series focuses on Magmatron. He is sent by the Tripredacus Council to capture Megatron after Ravage failed. However, Magmatron has his own secret plan. He wants to create his own army from the stasis pods that the Maximals' ship, the Axalon, ejected in the first episode of Beast Wars.
His plan is partly stopped by the Maximal secret agent, Razorbeast. Razorbeast makes sure that the program used to change the protoforms (unformed Transformers) turns many of them into Maximals instead of Predacons. The two sides then fight to stop Magmatron from returning to Cybertron with a captured Megatron. They get some unexpected help from Grimlock. This ensures Magmatron goes back to Cybertron empty-handed. However, Razorbeast's Maximals and many Predacons (led by Ravage, who is now a Transmetal II) are left on Earth. This leaves the door open for future comic series.
Beast Wars Video Games
There have been two video games based on Beast Wars. The first game, simply called Beast Wars, was released for the PlayStation and PC. It is a third person shooter game. It is based on the first season of the TV show. In the game, players can control either the Maximals or the Predacons. They go on a series of missions to stop the other team from getting enough resources to win the war and leave the planet.
The PC version of the game had a multiplayer feature. This allowed up to 8 players to play together over a LAN. It even had its own play rooms on the MS Gaming Zone, though these have since been removed. The second game, Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals, is a fighting game similar to Fighting Vipers. It is based on the second season of the show. The PlayStation version was released by Hasbro Interactive, and the Nintendo 64 version was released by bam! Entertainment. Most of the voice actors from the TV show also voiced their characters in the game. A third game was being planned for the PlayStation 2, but it was stopped before it was fully developed. There was no official reason given for why the project was cancelled.
