Beast Wars: Rebooted Options

[Anonymous X]

If you could conceive of a series reboot of Beast Wars, in the style of IDW's Generation One comic series, how would you go about it?

(Let's assume for a moment this continuity-rebooted BW would be in comic book form.)

What cast would you have, as you wouldn't have to factor in Hasbro wanting certain toys/characters marketed, or an animation budget?

Would you keep the TV show's prehistoric Earth backdrop, or switch the modern day Earth setting of the early toy package bio? Or would you set it elsewhere, with more travel across space and/or time?

Use some of the Japanese Beast Wars characters and story ideas, or ignore it completely?

Give a better back story to how the characters all met up, or the situation on Cybertron (if it still exists)?

What aspects of the existing Beast Wars back story would you keep? Would the Maximal/Predacon era still be centuries after the present day and Autobot/Decepticon 'Great War', for example?

Any ideas about how you'd go about it, please share!

[TheAFNYGuy]

I'd say Beast Wars doesn't need a reboot, and work within the existing canon. As long as its got the same principals as Beast Wars (A realistic focus on a small central cast of developed characters), I don't mind what setting its in. I'd prefer to use the show characters as much as possible.

[tec]

Well consitering I dint like the IDW G1 main stuff I hope no TF series follows it (no offence guys)

[xZAOx]

Sorry, I wouldn't touch Beast Wars at all. Leave something un-rebooted around here. Trying to fathom is like...trying to imagine "Gee, what would happen if I went and murdered everyone I knew? All my family, pets, and friends?"

[Kalimol]

Meh. Beast Wars isn't that great. The writing is IDW level, or much better, but it has problems at the level of premise and overall arc forced by Hasbro's concept. It's just not very coherent.

Well, IDW's reboot isn't altogether that toy-centric, is it? The characters are taken off the Marvel versions and redesigned. For that reason, it seems like the basic premise would have to stay the same - time travel is unavoidable. (And this avoids anything really silly, like tyranosaurs flying F-4s, so it's really best.) I guess the redesigns would take from the Movie more than the anime look of the IDW reimaginings, to match the "higher tech" and "more organic" themes.

At the very least, as with Animated, avoid the two ship-bases; it's hard to take that setup seriously in light of Red vs. Blue. It also seems like Animated takes as much from the premise of Beast Wars as it does from G1. Avoid that material, and it would stand out more.

For instance, there needs to be a better reason to get the crews back there. The idea that a ship, any ship in the entire burgeoning Predacon fleet, has the ability to travel through time as easily as space, is just too damned much. Make it a little more controlled - perhaps an event where the Maximals have constructed a time machine to try to change some key event in history, but it's a one-shot deal based on projecting into a certain passing black hole. Other options are that they are archeologists or other agents tracking down a specific artifact, but it's one-way and one-window. In any event, something is on prehistoric Earth, and they're sent to find it and then stay low for a few centuries.

In the process, eight or so Predacon criminals break in and manage to travel through, possibly changing the time frame somehow. The original "gate team" of five Maximals follows after them, maybe plus one military type. I think I would also push the time table forward to about 5000 B.C.E. so that there is some human civilization to interact with.

As in Animated, make the Predacons bigger than the Maximals; give the Maximals special Movie-style "pod" transformations to travel through the gateway and DNA scanners to blend in as organic animals once they arrive. The Predacons' beast modes would be shreddy-mechanical, powerful, and in some cases alien; because they underestimate the forces of the gateway, most of them arrive scattered and inactive on the other side, to individually heal or be discovered and reactivate as the series progresses.

No bases or extra equipment save maybe a Maximal supply crate; no weapons for the Maximals save for a couple of guns, meaning they'd start creating simpler bladed or gunpowder weapons for the occasion. Since the Maximals can't just blend in as planned, both factions learn the language; individual Pedacons take charge of civilizations as cruel tyrant-protectors, while Maximals become nigh-invisible, mythic guardians. Develop some human characters, too, here and there.

The only thing I would borrow from Japan would be the size changing - I'd put Rattrap at about five feet with a two-foot rat mode, Cheetor at twelve feet or so as a robot, Primal at fifteen, the Predacons at 20+, etc., to make their interaction with the humans more interesting. Casts - Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap, Rhinox, Airrazor; Megatron, Dinobot (who would not defect early), Tarantulas, Terrorsaur (written as Starscream), Waspinator, Scorponok, Quickstrike, Inferno, Blackarachnia.

The initial setting would be ~ 1000 years in the future or unspecified, with loose references to IDW's G1, kept remote - just drop in that "Maximal" and "Predacon" are manufacture lines, and everyone is an "Autobot" by faction.

Whatever happened would come out of the characters and premise - the artifact wouldn't be a god device and no extra plot devices of mystical import would be introduced.

Edit - well, no, that would be the way to handle it - make Dinobot the "good" military type who follows the team through, with the same body type as the criminals. He'd be lost and deactivated, too, which leads to the team searching for him and reactivating him somewhere along the series. Maybe he's served with Megatron, or something.

This post has been edited by Kalimol: Jul 9 2008, 07:55 PM

[Mako Crab]

I would exclude the cartoon cast entirely, since their story has already been told and I see no reason to reboot an already excellent show.

However, my story would take place within the same continuity as the BW show. So 300 years into our future.

As early as season 1 we know that the Maximals back on Cybertron had sent out search parties looking for the Axalon and the renegade Predacons. The story would follow the crew of a Maximal vessel that traces the Axalon all the way back to Earth.

But instead of travelling through time, they set down on the planet without any incident. I'm not sure how I'd portray Earth 300 years from now. Couple ideas:

1. Recovering from complete devastation due to the Cybertronian civil war (stuff like Jhiaxus nuking Northern America). The human race is still alive and well, but its population and major cities have been decimated. They'd still have basic technology and still remember that Transformers caused their near extinction. I like this idea, because it gives the Maximals (and Predacons who will eventually follow) a reason to hide themselves from the natives. It could also provide a good reason why they disguise themselves as animals instead of vehicles. If 95% of all the vehicles on the planet are burnt out wrecks now, then yeah. No good to use a vehicle alt mode.

2. I... had another idea, but what the hell. I'm really digging that first idea. So there it is! Oh yeah, and considering how well the cavemen fared against the Preds in Beast Wars (approximately the same height, etc. etc.), I think there could be a good match against the Preds now with humans that are more clever and possess tools and tech more advanced than spears and hammers.

It also sort of ties into why exactly Earth and its surrounding solar system was declared off-limits. Yes, yes, I'm liking this idea. Dammit, now I have to write this into a fanfic. See what you've done!

No idea which Maximals and Predacons from the toyline I'd use for this story. I'd have to go back through and see what all we have to work with.

http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Beast_Wars_%28toyline%29

Hmmm....

[mignash]

I'd prefer a continuation of the existing story. I know comics usually "reboot" a story. The G1 Marvel comics and TV show didn't have to follow each other... but there are still pleanty of opportunities for fiction inside the existing story.

I wouldn't mind a story of the Mutants, or origin stories of Packrat and Fractyl joining the Maximals and Predacons. Early stories of Depth Charge and Protoform X would be nice, or even the early days of Optimus Primal and Rhinox's first missions together.

[Kalimol]

Bah. The last thing Beast Wars needs is an in-continuity, toy-centric, poorly contrived, time-hopping, conceptless story about everyone's favorite toy. I can't make the Botcon comics unhappen, but . . . .

Mako - I love the idea of a post-apocalyptic Earth. Scourge would rule in that setting.

Edit - Alternately, for the archeology thing - the Maximals, the 6-foot, 23XX ones, send a ship through a similar one-shot time device to chronicle human civilization with a much larger crew in stasis. One of the crew is a criminal eventually revealed as Megatron; during transit, he reprograms seven or eight of the crew as his Predacons, and when a fight breaks out, the ship is destroyed in the atmosphere. Stasis pods and Maximals/Predacons are scattered across the planet. I still want 5000 B.C.E. and makeshift weapons, though, as the first is an option that the original writers simply didn't have due to animation constraints and the second would be a way to make that interaction with the humans more interesting while explaining why robots would use swords.

This post has been edited by Kalimol: Jul 9 2008, 08:34 PM

[Mako Crab]

I'm going through the TF wiki right now seeing who all was toy-only during the first two years of Beast Wars toys (1996, 1997). I can't belive I'm entertaining the idea of how to work Panther, Rhino, Under-3, Beetle and Manta Ray into the story. What's wrong with me!?

*keeps looking*

Dark Eggbot? .... Oh, now he is definitely going in the story! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-waspy.gif)

Kalimol- I like your ideas about putting both Maximals and Predacons at a serious disadvantage with the lack of bases, ships, and most of their technology. Evens the playing field a bit and ups the ante in terms of what conflicts they really want to risk getting into. I also like your idea of incorporating the Maximals into human culture as part of their mythology. The Predacons as tyrants ruling over some civilizations I can see working easily too, since so much of human mythology depicts monsters or men/bipeds with animal heads.

Mako - I love the idea of a post-apocalyptic Earth. Scourge would rule in that setting.

*reads the bio for Scourge*
Ooh, that could be fun!

[EvilEyeSigma]

I would like to see some non-show characters, like Jetstorm, Manterror, and Polar Claw.

[Mouse_Pad]

I love BW as much as anyone, but I'm tired of it being treated as a sacred cow. We have prequel stories and sequel stories and interlacing stories and all of them contradict each other. BW is the mystical, magical center of the TF multiverse.

I'd personally like to see a version of BW set on modern Earth, like the original bios and mini-comic. Maybe there never were Autobots and Decepticons.

[Magnusblitz]

I would exclude the cartoon cast entirely, since their story has already been told and I see no reason to reboot an already excellent show.

However, my story would take place within the same continuity as the BW show. So 300 years into our future.

As early as season 1 we know that the Maximals back on Cybertron had sent out search parties looking for the Axalon and the renegade Predacons. The story would follow the crew of a Maximal vessel that traces the Axalon all the way back to Earth.

But instead of travelling through time, they set down on the planet without any incident. I'm not sure how I'd portray Earth 300 years from now. Couple ideas:

1. Recovering from complete devastation due to the Cybertronian civil war (stuff like Jhiaxus nuking Northern America). The human race is still alive and well, but its population and major cities have been decimated. They'd still have basic technology and still remember that Transformers caused their near extinction. I like this idea, because it gives the Maximals (and Predacons who will eventually follow) a reason to hide themselves from the natives. It could also provide a good reason why they disguise themselves as animals instead of vehicles. If 95% of all the vehicles on the planet are burnt out wrecks now, then yeah. No good to use a vehicle alt mode.

This is exactly what I was thinking. 300 years in the future, and some Maximals and Predacons end up on Earth 300 years in the future, probably still recovering from post-apocalypse. Lots of animals and vegetation, but humanity might be limited to smaller areas or something. Since there's no real (good) reason for Transmetals, that would leave out a lot of the later characters. Fuzors could still be used simply as "errors". Off the top of my head, favorites I'd like to see:

Maximals:

Polar Claw (platoon commander)
B'Boom (drill sergeant, probably a little psychotic, loves the smell of napalm in the morning)
Cybershark (swashbuckling pirate type)
Wolfang (loner hunter-type, aka Batman, fights with B'Boom a lot because of it)
Air Hammer (quiet, but friendly)
Armordillo (the Rhinox role, big, slow, powerful, but also a tinkerer)

Predacons:

Transquito (ostensibly the leader, but unliked and promoted above his station, only keeps his position due to Buzz Saw's doing, somewhat like Galvatron/Cyclonus)
Buzz Saw (lieutenant, likeable, in the mold of that "honorable bad guy" sort)
Sky Shadow (very well liked, politico-like, but has an ulterior motive...)
Injector (vain and self absorbed, but backs it up)
Razorclaw (similar personality to his G1 namesake, just lives for hunt/battle, very capable)
Terragator (sly, clever interrogator)
Spittor (the dumb but optimistic shock troop)

I actually like the selection of Predacons a bit more, the Maximals tend a bit too much towards the "badass" side, but meh.

[Mako Crab]

I think Razorclaw would be the star of the show. The Wolverine type. Yes... the more stories about our heroic Predacon crab, the better. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-fire.gif)

[Col. Jupiter]

I have no interest in BW being rebooted now that Animated has shown it's perfectly fine to recycle its characters and concepts into new incarnations of the franchise.

[Kalimol]

All two of them.

No, I still think there's potential for this in the comics on the more "serious" side of TF. Animated still trumps it in every imaginable way, sure.

[Col. Jupiter]

All two of them.

Okay, got me there. But give it time.

No, I still think there's potential for this in the comics on the more "serious" side of TF. Animated still trumps it in every imaginable way, sure.

I'm sure it could be done, and be done well. But as I said, I wouldn't be interested in it.

[Rust]

GC Rust's "Beast Wars"

The year is 2010, the Great War between the Autobots and the Decepticons is finally nearing it's conclusion and the aid of new technology supported by the experiences upon Earth creates a new type of Cybertronian life: The Maximal.

Quickly proliferating around the whole of Cybertron, the Maximal race is fuel efficient and far more adaptable. While some Autobots remain "pure", most have opted to undergo the Maximization process. Decepticons captured and convicted of war crimes also undergo the process - to serve out their sentences within the newly created "Stasis Pod".

As the Transformer race moves on, so too does Humanity. A wave of anti-Transformer sentiment sweeps the globe, and newly elected governments ban contact with Cybertron and Cybertronian inspired or aided tech. Humanity seems determined to put the Transformers in the past, and the Maximal Elders (Comprised of such peerage as Ultra Magnus, Arcee, Hot Rod, and Optimus Prime) are content to allow Humanity to go their own way.


Unfortunatly for Humanity, the Decepticons still remaining free have not forgotten about them, or the Cybertronian secrets still buried beneath the surface of their planet.


It begins peacefully enough. A young Maximal named Terrorsaur advocates a study of the Decepticons still living on Char in an effort to better understand their motivation and goals. The Maximal Elders do their best, but ultimately allow an expedition to be made to Char by a group of like minded Maximals who take to calling themselves 'Predacons'. The group fails to make a routine status report for several days in a row, and eventually it's decided the Decepticons tired of the smaller Transformers getting underfoot.


A few months later, the Maximal Security Ship 'Axalon' under the command of Maximal Security agent K-9 comes under assault by an unknown band of renegade Cybertronians wearing an unfamiliar symbol and lead by an unidentified Maximal. Later security analysis would reveal that among the boarders, the Predacon Terrorsaur was present.

The renegades made off with several Stasis Pods carrying Decepticon War Criminals, and alarmingly were traced as heading back towards Earth. Unable to warn Earth of the impending arrival of Cybertronian Hostiles, the Maximal Elders decide to send in a covert special ops team with the task of the capture and/or elimination of the renegades with minimal Human contact.

Lead by the Axalon's former commander, the strike team makes use of new Maximal technology to adopt various Beast Modes. However, they come to discover that avoiding Human contact is a more difficult prospect then any of them anticipated, and the renegades - Predacons all - also have beast modes.

What's worse, the experimental technology has had unintended side effects, and the vast majority of Beast Warriors find themselves forced to contend with their more beastly natures - they are creatures of emotions and passions now as much as they are logical robotic entities.

More alarmingly, the Predacons have consolidated behind a single leader, and it isn't the charismatic Terrorsaur. The Predacons are commanded by none other then Megatron himself.


The Cast

K-9 - Maximal Strike Force Commander
Rattrap - Maximal Demolitions Specialist
Airrazor - Maximal Air Warrior
Stampy - Maximal Reconnaissance
Stinkbomb - Maximal Engineer
Rhinox - Maximal Medic


Tigatron - Maximal Pacifist (Non-aligned)


Megatron - Predacon Commander (Alligator Alternate Mode)
Terrorsaur - Predacon Subcommander
Scourge - Predacon Scientist
Ravage - Predacon Spy
Sky Shadow - Predacon Air Warrior
Waspinator - Predacon Air Warrior



Later I'd go about bringing in more Beast Wars alumni. Chief among them Protoform X (Rampage) and Optimus Primal.

For those wondering about my Maximal choices, I tried to give the Strike Team as many "Normal" animal modes as possible to allow them the greatest amount of freedom in moving about the Human world without difficulty. Rhinox is the only one who lacks that, being confined to a local zoo which also happens to be the Maximals "base" for all intents and purposes.


STORY EDIT: Also, the Vok would play heavily into the stories, given the chance to shine that they were robbed of when the show went more and more G1-centric.

This post has been edited by GC Rust: Jul 9 2008, 10:25 PM

[Caboose!]

I would exclude the cartoon cast entirely, since their story has already been told and I see no reason to reboot an already excellent show.

However, my story would take place within the same continuity as the BW show. So 300 years into our future.

As early as season 1 we know that the Maximals back on Cybertron had sent out search parties looking for the Axalon and the renegade Predacons. The story would follow the crew of a Maximal vessel that traces the Axalon all the way back to Earth.

But instead of travelling through time, they set down on the planet without any incident. I'm not sure how I'd portray Earth 300 years from now. Couple ideas:

1. Recovering from complete devastation due to the Cybertronian civil war (stuff like Jhiaxus nuking Northern America). The human race is still alive and well, but its population and major cities have been decimated. They'd still have basic technology and still remember that Transformers caused their near extinction. I like this idea, because it gives the Maximals (and Predacons who will eventually follow) a reason to hide themselves from the natives. It could also provide a good reason why they disguise themselves as animals instead of vehicles. If 95% of all the vehicles on the planet are burnt out wrecks now, then yeah. No good to use a vehicle alt mode.

This is exactly what I was thinking. 300 years in the future, and some Maximals and Predacons end up on Earth 300 years in the future, probably still recovering from post-apocalypse. Lots of animals and vegetation, but humanity might be limited to smaller areas or something. Since there's no real (good) reason for Transmetals, that would leave out a lot of the later characters. Fuzors could still be used simply as "errors". Off the top of my head, favorites I'd like to see:

Maximals:

Polar Claw (platoon commander)
B'Boom (drill sergeant, probably a little psychotic, loves the smell of napalm in the morning)
Cybershark (swashbuckling pirate type)
Wolfang (loner hunter-type, aka Batman, fights with B'Boom a lot because of it)
Air Hammer (quiet, but friendly)
Armordillo (the Rhinox role, big, slow, powerful, but also a tinkerer)

Predacons:

Transquito (ostensibly the leader, but unliked and promoted above his station, only keeps his position due to Buzz Saw's doing, somewhat like Galvatron/Cyclonus)
Buzz Saw (lieutenant, likeable, in the mold of that "honorable bad guy" sort)
Sky Shadow (very well liked, politico-like, but has an ulterior motive...)
Injector (vain and self absorbed, but backs it up)
Razorclaw (similar personality to his G1 namesake, just lives for hunt/battle, very capable)
Terragator (sly, clever interrogator)
Spittor (the dumb but optimistic shock troop)

I actually like the selection of Predacons a bit more, the Maximals tend a bit too much towards the "badass" side, but meh.

This,

I think Razorclaw would be the star of the show. The WolverineDeadpool type. Yes... the more stories about our heroic Predacon crab, the better. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-fire.gif)

Except Razorclaw's personality thing is this.

[chiasaur11]

Sorry, I wouldn't touch Beast Wars at all. Leave something un-rebooted around here. Trying to fathom is like...trying to imagine "Gee, what would happen if I went and murdered everyone I knew? All my family, pets, and friends?"

Jail and or the electric chair. Before you were done, even!
The beast wars one is the harder question of the two.

[tec]

Platoon this subcommand that im sorry none of this sounds anything remotely Beast Warsish

The First Maximuls where an exploration ship with one side mission that half the crew dint even know about

And the Preads where renagades that Megs kept in line with fear and promose of power