The Energon Pub

i found this on don murphy's board
http://www.donmurphy.net/board/showthread.php?t=17852

Primal = Prime ( that's obvious )

Rhinox = Ironhide (Big, Broad, Tough, and Primals good friend)

Rat Trap = Cliff jumper (his attitude)

Cheetor = Hot rod (the young teenage under achiever)

Tigatron = Ratchet (peaceful, not a fighter)

Air razor = Arcee (the only female Autobot on the team)

Scorponok = Soundwave (he looks like him)

Terrorsaur = Starscream (wants to get Megatron out of the way so he can lead, and his voice is very similar to Starscream)

Primal = Prime. No, they are both the leaders of their group of good guys and Primal was given the name out of respect, but the way they lead aren't exactly the same.

Rhinox = Ironhide. NO! Rhinox is a scientist first and then, when the time calls for it, he brings out those guns that we all love to see. I'd say he is more like Wheeljack.

Rattrap = Cliffjumper. No. Cliffjumper is always ready to go to battle and take risks. Rattrap is the exact opposite and decides to stay alive rather than being a hero.

Cheetor = Hot Rod. This I can kind of agree with; they are the generic "teenaged" TF trying to prove themselves to their comrades and, of course, Cheetor's robot mode did get a little likeness of Hot Rod from the animators.

Tigatron = Ratchet. No. Tigatron is an excellent hunter and understands the basics of the hunt (he just doesn't agree with war), given this I would say he is like Mirage. "It is ironic that, given his unwillingness to fight, Mirage is a superior hand-to-hand combatant, and a skilled sharpshooter, having honed his talents hunting game on Cybertron. " But, on the other hand, Tigatron's love of Earth makes him comparable to Hound.

Airrazor = Arcee. NO! WHAT!? Just because they are both the only female Autobot/Maximal means they are the same??? Arcee is a nursemaid and Airrazor can hold her own as a warrior.

Scorponok = Soundwave. It is true that they designed Scorponok to be the loyal troop of BW Megatron as Soundwave was to G1 Megatron and Scorponok's Cyberbees were somewhat like Laserbeak. Other than that, these two have nothing in common.

Terrorsaur = Starscream. This is iffy. It is true that both wanted to get rid of their respective leaders and lead themselves, but I don't think the BW staff wanted Terrorsaur to be an exact copy of Starscream. Plus, despite what this other guy wrote, Doug Parker could not do a decent Starscream voice to get himself out of a paper bag. That voice in "Possession" was an insult to Chris Latta (may he rest in peace).

I would love to see a great SS voice get someone out of a paper bag.

Tigatron might be comparable to Beachcomber as well, but then you have the same problem as Ratchet - Beachcomber didn't have the mad skillz that Tigatron had.

Most of the similarities in the characters are ultimately due to the tendency of cartoons to play off simple archetypes/cliches - like the rebellious, naive, kid who is destined to be a great leader.

I don't really like the G1 comparisons. BW's broke the mold, because it was the first TF show that didn't have vehicles, if I am not mistaken.

I pretty much could pull any comparison out my hat if I try hard enough.

Matt D wrote:I don't really like the G1 comparisons. BW's broke the mold, because it was the first TF show that didn't have vehicles, if I am not mistaken.

The Transmetals had vehicle modes.

I pretty much could pull any comparison out my hat if I try hard enough.

Just like the guy at Murphy's board did. You could put together something, but if it is incorrect, I would say so.


I'm a huge fan of BW, in fact, I bought and currently am teaching myself to use Maya in order to create my own post-BW/BM mini-series.

Primal=Prime. The only way I see this is that they both led their factions at some point. On Cybertron, Primal was a Scientist, not a Warrior, nor the true leader ofthe Maximals. But I see where they get this from.

Rhinox=Ironhide. Kinda, but he's more the Wheeljack & Ratchet type, inventing stuff & doing repairs. He's like Ironhide only in the sense that he's known Primal for a long time.

Rattrap=Cliffjumper. I don't really think so. Cliffjumper was a little mouthy sometimes. For shooting off his mouth, I'd say Brawn. Especially coming from "Microbots", where he can't stop insulting Perceptor.

Cheetor=Hot Rod. No argument there

Tigatron=Ratchet. Nope. Repairs are what Ratchet does. Tigatron is the BW incarnation of Beachcomber. neither of them like fighting, & the have a strong appreciation for nature & what it had to offer. Plus, they both get sad when something beautiful is destroyed. For Beachcomber, it was "The Golden Lagoon", & Tigatron's was "The Trigger Part 2"

Airrazor=Arcee. They're both female TF's. SO?!?! Airrazor can relate to Tigatron & appreciate Earth. Arcee would rather join the Autobots & kick some Decepticon ass. Not really the same IMHO.

Scorponok=Soundwave. They do not look alike. All there is that they are both unquestionably loyal to their generation's Megatron. That's about it.

Terrorsaur=Starcream. This is one I could see. Both wanted leadership of their respective Factions, & they roughly (note, I said roughly) sounded like each other. Plus, they both had flying alt. modes.

There you have it.

in responce i say this

characterwise, peeps can say whoever, because that comes down to perspective. design wise however:

cheetor and tigatron= autobot cars (as in prowl and bluestreak)

tarantulous = soundwave

waspinator = seekers

rhinox= i think this was an origional design concept, but his look an transformation are too simular to slag to not mention

after the first wave of non flip formers, i think for the most part they stopped trying to play simularities to the g1

This whole comparing Beast Wars TFs to G1's is getting old.....not to mention annoying quick.

They are all completely different characters and entities in my book.

Dinobot = Carnivac: Oh come on, it's so obvious.

Well I can see this getting out of hand fast.

I can see what they ment by Primal being Prime. Primal isn't literally Prime, they made sure they covered that later in the series. But when it first started off, who's to say they had made that choice? For all we know, Primal very well could have been Prime.

To me they are seperate characters. I can't say that I enjoy the show in any way shape or form, so I can't comment to heavily on it.

Originally, when Kenner was working on the story for the toy line, things were very different. The writers for the show hadn't developed that story or any of the characters. Based on the early tech specs, most of the characters with G1 names were the G1 characters in new forms and the story actually took place on modern-day Earth.

Instead of Cliffjumper, I think Rattrap was more like Gears. Think about it, they're two guys who just really don't wanna be on earth and both have some form of attitude problem.

Scorpinok to me seemed more like Cyclones. He was very loyal to Megatron, and while he may have moments of greatness, he still is a bit gullible or clumsy in a way.

A few thoughts of my own.

Scorpinok - Astrotrain: loyal, and what would astrotrain do if not a hauler? well, he DID make his army of trains that were faulty so you have the failed inventor thing.

Waspinator- Nautilator: read his entry in dreamwaves more than meets the eye books.

FirstChAoS wrote:A few thoughts of my own.

Scorpinok - Astrotrain: loyal, and what would astrotrain do if not a hauler? well, he DID make his army of trains that were faulty so you have the failed inventor thing.

Waspinator- Nautilator: read his entry in dreamwaves more than meets the eye books.

idk about the comics, but untill that episode in season 3, astrotrain was anything but loyal.

for example, the episode your quoteing, triple takeover, and the episode were the aliens thought he was god.

Well actually, Here are the correct Similarites I think to comparing the BW Characters with there G1 Counterparts

Op Primal - Prime (Obviosly)

Rhinox - Wheeljack/Ironhide

Rattrap - Gears/Cliffjumper

Cheetor - Sideswipe/Hot Rod

Dinobot - All the Dinobots possibly

Tigatron - Kup (Older and more wise maximal)

AirRazor - Arcee

Megs - G1 Megs (didnt see that one coming ^_^)

Waspinator - The Insecticons

Terrorsaur - Starscream (Obviosly)

Scorponok - Soundwave/Shockwave

Waspinator - Again, The Insecticons

Tarantulas - Unclear because he's a spawn of Unicron

Inferno - Abit of Shockwave in him

Blackarachnia - Maybe an evil version of arcee lol

God Magnus wrote:Originally, when Kenner was working on the story for the toy line, things were very different. The writers for the show hadn't developed that story or any of the characters. Based on the early tech specs, most of the characters with G1 names were the G1 characters in new forms and the story actually took place on modern-day Earth.

I actualy would like if they did a version of the Beast Wars like that as a comic special or something. It's be... interesting, with the Bat to Gorilla and Croc to Tyranno thing aswell as who became who. Some are given from look and capabilities, but some are way out there like Waspinator's robot head. :/

Skullgrin140 wrote:Well actually, Here are the correct Similarites I think to comparing the BW Characters with there G1 Counterparts

Op Primal - Prime (Obviosly)

Rhinox - Wheeljack/Ironhide

Rattrap - Gears/Cliffjumper

Cheetor - Sideswipe/Hot Rod

Dinobot - All the Dinobots possibly

Tigatron - Kup (Older and more wise maximal)

AirRazor - Arcee

Megs - G1 Megs (didnt see that one coming ^_^)

Waspinator - The Insecticons

Terrorsaur - Starscream (Obviosly)

Scorponok - Soundwave/Shockwave

Waspinator - Again, The Insecticons

Tarantulas - Unclear because he's a spawn of Unicron

Inferno - Abit of Shockwave in him

Blackarachnia - Maybe an evil version of arcee lol

Why did you list Waspinator twice?

I always thought of Tarantulas as a descendant of Bombshell because of these reasons:

1. Both used Cerebro-shells.
2. Both were experts on energon and converting energy to energon cubes. In tarantulas's case it was harvesting Raw Energon while in Bombshells it was converting raw materials into energon.
3. Both had there own agendas and weren't completely loyal.
4. My favorite reason: The Insecticons weren't on the Ark so destroying the Ark would have no effect on him.

4. My favorite reason: The Insecticons weren't on the Ark so destroying the Ark would have no effect on him.

I never realised that before. That makes great sense.

sisco777 wrote:I always thought of Tarantulas as a descendant of Bombshell because of these reasons:

1. Both used Cerebro-shells.
2. Both were experts on energon and converting energy to energon cubes. In tarantulas's case it was harvesting Raw Energon while in Bombshells it was converting raw materials into energon.
3. Both had there own agendas and weren't completely loyal.
4. My favorite reason: The Insecticons weren't on the Ark so destroying the Ark would have no effect on him.

Except it doesn't work, given that the Insecticons are still G1 Decepticons and Tarantulas right out told Tigerhawk that he and the Tripredacus Council are not of G1 Decepticon origin. This goes with the theory, that I believe, that they descend from the G2 Decepticons.

Predaprince wrote:Except it doesn't work, given that the Insecticons are still G1 Decepticons and Tarantulas right out told Tigerhawk that he and the Tripredacus Council are not of G1 Decepticon origin. This goes with the theory, that I believe, that they descend from the G2 Decepticons.

Hmmm,just rewatched the ep and your right. But it could still work though its way less possible.

The insecticons weren't on the ark so destroying it doesn't affect Tarantulas directly.In the movie Bombshell is turned into a Sweep so it fits the "Spawn of Unicron" comment. Even so, its way to risky for Tarantulas to destroy the Ark cause without the Matrix around Unicron never would have come so the Spawns of Unicron made in the movie wouldn't exist. So if Tarantulas was a descendant of Bombshell and thus the sweeps he would have endangered himself. Though if that was one of the clones of bombshell turned into a sweep and not the original its still plausible.

Anyway the G2 origin you said is more likely. It would also somewhat explain his hatred of the Vok if they are indeed what happened to the the Swarm. *sigh* Why did Beast Wars leave so many unanswered plot points?

Off topic Why didn't the Insecticons appear in a Beast Wars ep they were around on Earth at the time right?

sisco777 wrote:

Predaprince wrote:Except it doesn't work, given that the Insecticons are still G1 Decepticons and Tarantulas right out told Tigerhawk that he and the Tripredacus Council are not of G1 Decepticon origin. This goes with the theory, that I believe, that they descend from the G2 Decepticons.

Hmmm,just rewatched the ep and your right. But it could still work though its way less possible.

The insecticons weren't on the ark so destroying it doesn't affect Tarantulas directly.In the movie Bombshell is turned into a Sweep so it fits the "Spawn of Unicron" comment. Even so, its way to risky for Tarantulas to destroy the Ark cause without the Matrix around Unicron never would have come so the Spawns of Unicron made in the movie wouldn't exist. So if Tarantulas was a descendant of Bombshell and thus the sweeps he would have endangered himself. Though if that was one of the clones of bombshell turned into a sweep and not the original its still plausible.

Anyway the G2 origin you said is more likely. It would also somewhat explain his hatred of the Vok if they are indeed what happened to the the Swarm. *sigh* Why did Beast Wars leave so many unanswered plot points?

Off topic Why didn't the Insecticons appear in a Beast Wars ep they were around on Earth at the time right?

I like some unanswered stuff....I think revealing the mysterious aliens was a mistake, it made them less scary....especially just a bunch of disembodied skulls. They were more interesting in the first season, which was my fav season, by the way.