Toonami Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Toonami Wiki

Beast Wars: Transformers is a 52 episode CGI animated television series, produced by Mainframe Entertainment, that debuted in 1996, serving as the flagship of the Beast Wars franchise which also included Transformers: Beast Machines. The series was set in the future of the original Transformers universe as a sequel to the first Transformers series. The story editors for Beast Wars were Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio. In Canada, the series was retitled Beasties because the broadcaster, YTV, declined to air a show with "War" in the title.[1]

Beast Wars: Transformers premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in 1998, replacing The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest for just one week. Only the last five episodes of Season 2 were shown. These five episodes had never been shown on any American cable channel before this event.

Plot[]

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 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…

Characters[]

Over the course of the series certain transformers were fuzed together forming Fuzors (i.e. Tigatron + Airazor = Tigerhawk). Also over the course of the series certain transformers changed into different animals, for example Megatron started out as a T-Rex, but later on changed to a dragon.

Maximals[]

  • Optimus Primal — Silverback Gorilla
  • Rhinox — Rhinoceros
  • Rattrap — Rat
  • Cheetor — Cheetah
  • Dinobot — Velociraptor
  • Tigatron — White Tiger
  • Airazor — Peregrine Falcon
  • Silverbolt — Wolf/Eagle
  • Depth Charge — Manta Ray
  • Tigerhawk — White Tiger/Peregrine Falcon

Predacons[]

  • Megatron — T-Rex — Dragon
  • Scorponok — Scorpion
  • Tarantulas — Tarantula
  • Terrorsaur — Pteradactyl
  • Waspinator — Wasp
  • Blackarachnia — Black Widow
  • Inferno — Fire Ant
  • Quickstrike — Scorpion/Snake
  • Rampage — Crab
  • Ravage — Panther
  • Dinobot II (Dinobot Clone) — Velociraptor

Voice Cast[]

Character English Voice Actor Japanese Voice Actor
Optimus Primal Garry Chalk Takehito Koyasu
Megatron David Kaye Shigeru Chiba
Rhinox Richard Newman Daiki Nakamura
Rattrap Scott McNeil Kappei Yamaguchi
Cheetor Ian James Corlett Wataru Takagi
Dinobot Scott McNeil Keiji Fujiwara
Scorponok Don Brown Masashi Endō
Tarantulas Alec Willows Yūichi Nagashima
Terrorsaur Doug Parker Nobuo Tobita
Waspinator Scott McNeil Kensō Katō
Tigatron Blu Mankuma Kōichi Tōchika
Blackarachnia Venus Terzo Ryōka Yuzuki
Airazor Pauline Newstone Tetsuya Iwanaga
Inferno Jim Byrnes Shinichirō Miki
Silverbolt Scott McNeil Mitsuo Iwata
Quickstrike Colin Murdoch Nobuo Tobita
Rampage Campbell Lane Nobuyuki Hiyama
Ravage Lee Tockar Toshiyuki Morikawa
Depth Charge David Sobolov Kiyoyuki Yanada
Dinobot II Scott McNeil Keiji Fujiwara
Tigerhawk Blu Mankuma Kōichi Tōchika
Ram Horn Lee Tockar Yukimasa Kishino
Sea Clamp Ian James Corlett Jōji Yanami
Cicadacon Scott McNeil Chafūrin
Vok Blu Mankuma
Richard Newman
Hidetoshi Nakamura
Transmutate Susan Blu Haruna Ikezawa
Leader Neanderthal Gary Chalk
Chak Kappei Yamaguchi
Una Susan Blu Ryōka Yuzuki

Gallery[]

Episodes[]

Color Season Episodes U.S. Season Premiere U.S. Season Finale
1 26 April 22, 1996[2] April 1, 1997
2 13 October 26, 1997 March 13, 1998
3 13 October 25, 1998 May 7, 1999

The show's CGI, though somewhat primitive by today's standards, was revolutionary by television standards of the time. 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.

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, last seen as a ghost in the third season of 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 Maximals defending their dormant Autobot ancestors aboard the ancient crashed Ark.

All episodes of Beast Wars have been released on VHS and DVD. Most recently as "Transformers - Beast Wars: The Complete Series" which was released by Shout! Factory in 2011.

Broadcast History[]

After a 2-part preview aired in April 1996[2], Beast Wars premiered in North America in First-run syndication from September 18, 1996 to March 7, 1999. During this time, the series aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in 1998, replacing The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest for just one week. Only the last 5 episodes of season two aired from March 9-13, 1998. The series was then aired on Fox beginning in 1999. The series also aired on G4-TV through the Action Blast! programming block which consisted of one episode of Beast Wars and one episode of Transformers: Cybertron.

  • United States (First-run Syndication) — April 22 - 23, 1996[2]; September 18, 1996 – March 7, 1999
  • United States (Cartoon Network) — March 9-13, 1998
  • United States (Fox) — 1999 - 2001
  • United States (G4-TV) — 2006[3] - 2007
  • Canada (YTV) - 1997 - 2007
  • Japan (TV Tokyo) — October 1, 1997 - March 29, 2000
  • Japan (Cartoon Network) — August 2003[4] - August 19, 2004[5]
  • Latin America (Cartoon Network) — 2000 - 2001[6]

Toonami Broadcast History[]

  • Toonami (United States) — March 9-13, 1998
  • Toonami (Japan) — August 2003[4] - August 19, 2004[5]

External Links[]

References[]

Toonami Series
Cartoon Network (1997-2008)
Thundercats Ring Roulette Ring Voltron Ring JQuest Ring Robotech Ring Beast Wars Ring Sailor Moon Ring DBZ Ring Super Friends Ring
Reboot Ring PPG Ring Ronin Warriors Ring GForce Ring Gundam Wing Ring Batman TAS Ring Tenchi Muyo Ring Tenchi Universe Ring Tenchi in Tokyo Ring
Blue Sub Ring Superman TAS Ring Outlaw Star Ring Big O Ring Star Blazers Ring Cardcaptors Ring Mobile Suit Gundam Ring 08th MS Team Ring Dragonball Ring
Batman Beyond Ring Zoids NC Ring Gundam 0080 Ring Harlock Saga Ring Record of Lodoss War Ring Patlabor Ring Hamtaro Ring Zoids CC Ring G Gundam Ring
He-Man Ring Transformers Armada Ring GI Joe Ring Samurai Jack Ring Hack Sign Ring Martian Successor Nadesico Ring Gigantor Ring Neon Genesis Evangelion Ring Dai Guard Ring
YuYu Hakusho Ring Rurouni Kenshin Ring Justice League Ring Cyborg 009 Ring SD Gundam Ring Dragon Ball GT Ring Clone Wars Ring Duel Masters Ring Astro Boy 2003 Ring
Transformers Energon Ring Jackie Chan Adventures Ring Gundam SEED Ring Megas XLR Ring Rave Master Ring Teen Titans Ring JLU Ring DICE Ring Zatch Bell Ring
The Batman Ring One Piece Ring Transformers Cybertron Ring Yugioh Ring Naruto Ring BoBoBo Ring IGPX Ring Wulin Warriors Ring Pokemon Chronicles Ring
Hikaru No Go Ring FF4 WGH Ring Pokemon Ring Yugioh GX Ring Prince of Tennis Ring MAR Ring Storm Hawks Ring Megaman Starforce Ring Eyeshield 21 Ring
Transformers Animated Ring Bakugan Ring Blue Dragon Ring Ben 10 Ring Kiba Ring
Adult Swim (2012-Present)
Bleach Ring Trigun Ring Astro Boy Ring Deadman Wonderland Ring Casshern Sins Ring FMA Brotherhood Ring GITS 2nd GIG Ring Cowboy Bebop Ring Samurai 7 Ring
Eureka 7 Ring GITS SAC Ring Symbionic Titan Ring Thundercats 2011 Ring Inuyasha Ring Tenchi Muyo GXP Ring Naruto Ring Soul Eater Ring IGPX Ring
One Piece Ring SAO Ring Big O Ring Star Wars The Clone Wars Ring FLCL Ring King Star King Ring Korgoth Ring Space Dandy Ring Shippuden Ring
Samurai Jack Ring Blue Exorcist Black Lagoon Ring AOT Ring Beware the Batman Ring Gurren Lagann Ring Hellsing Ring DBZ Kai Ring Inuyasha Final Act Ring
Kill la Kill Ring SAO II Ring Michiko & Hatchin Ring Akame Ga Kill Ring Parasyte Ring Samurai Champloo Ring Dimension W Ring HunterxHunter Ring Iron Blooded Orphans Ring
One Punch Man Ring JoJos Ring Dragon Ball Super Ring Gundam RE96 Ring Sand Whale Ring Tokyo Ghoul Ring Lupin the Third IV Ring Outlaw Star Ring Black Clover Ring
My Hero Academia Ring FLCL Prog Ring Pop Team Epic Ring FLCL Alt Ring Boruto Ring Mob Psycho Ring Megalo Box Ring SAO III Ring Promised Neverland Ring
Lupin the Third V Ring Food Wars Ring Gundam The Origin Ring Fire Force Ring GenLock Ring Dr Stone Ring Demon Slayer Ring Paranoia Agent Ring Ballmastrz Ring
Assassination Classroom Ring Gemusetto Ring Primal Ring SSSS-Gridman Ring Yashahime Ring Harley Quinn Ring Fena Pirate Princess Ring2 Blade Runner Black Lotus Ring Made in Abyss Ring
Shenmue Ring Lupin the Third VI Ring Housing Complex C Ring Unicorn Warriors Eternal Ring My Adventures With Superman Ring FLCL Grunge Ring FLCL Shoegaze Ring Lycoris Recoil Ring Uzumaki Ring
Advertisement