Though it has been brewing for multiple issues, the first real conflict in the Beast Wars comic books has arrived between the Maximals and the Predacons. This battle sees the Predacons attacking the Maximals at their defenseless ship, taking the battle to the good guys. Each beastly combatant pairs off with another, with the robots in disguise forming potential rivalries with their sparring partners.
Some of the matchups between Transformers are to be expected, like Optimus vs. Megatron, but other battles are far more interesting arrangements. Here’s who fights who and how they fair in the first big battle of the Beast Wars.
Cheetor vs. Scorponok and Waspinator
The scuffle begins with the impetuous Cheetor taking on Scorponok. The slow, dumb and lumbering thug is quickly taken to task by Cheetor, who outpaces him with ease. Not one of the Predacon’s stinger or claw strikes connect, with his anger at missing being responded to with taunts from Cheetor.
To even the odds, Waspinator begins firing at Cheetor with his stinger. This likely homages the fact that Cheetor and Waspinator were the first two Maximal and Predacons to face each other in the original cartoon. Surprisingly, given his penchant for being beaten and blown up, Waspinator and later Terrorsaur put Cheetor on the run.
Rhinox vs. Skold
The powerful Rhinox seemingly meets his match from a newer, much smaller Beast Wars character. Skold, like Nyx, recycles a design from a concept that didn’t make it into the cartoon. In this case, it’s the character Snapper, although Skold is a female and transforms into a different species of snapping turtle.
Rhinox is locked in a grip with Skold for a while, and he remarks that she’s almost as strong as him. She follows up his remarks by uppercutting the much larger Maximal. Ironically, Skold’s Cybertronian form seen in the series’ first issue is based on the design of Tankor, whom Rhinox would become in Beast Machines.
Tarantulas vs. Rattrap
Megatron orders Tarantulas to sneak into the Maximal’s Axalon ship, which is where Rattrap was trying to recover the ship’s defense systems. The ship’s lights soon go out, and when he goes to inspect it, Rattrap is attacked by the gigantic Tarantulas. Before the disgusting Predacon can eat him, however, Rattrap shoots the spider’s torso with a soldering gun.
He uses the opportunity to get away, hiding from Tarantulas as the latter plans to destroy the ship. It’s likely that Rattrap will have to use his wits and lay of the land to stop his Predacon rival. This characterization makes Rattrap much more of a thinker and less of a battle-ready shooter like he was on the show. Ironically, this matches an early idea for the character on the show, in which he was physically much less mobile than the other Maximals. This was later used to some extent on Beast Machines, where Rattrap became much more of a tech-savvy inventor.
Optimus Primal vs. Megatron
Of course, Optimus Primal and Megatron also face off with each other. The battle begins with both of them issuing warnings for the other to surrender. With neither party interested in giving up, the battle ensues, with Megatron eventually knocking Optimus down onto his back.
Primal retaliates by kicking Megatron and bringing him down to his level. It’s only the timely intervention of Nyx and Dinobot, however, that keeps Optimus from being overpowered by Megatron’s T-Rex head arm. Primal is notably smaller than Megatron in this continuity, both in beast mode and robot mode. This puts the Maximal leader at a disadvantage that he’s never had before, but it’s sure to make for some interesting fights between the Transformers faction leaders in the future.
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