History ComicBook / BeastWarsUprising

[[caption-width-right:350: ''[[Music/TheBeatles "You say you want a revolution/Well, you know/]][[Wiki/TFWikiDotNet We all want to change the world."]]]]''

* WarIsHell: And then some. The series goes to great lengths to portray each and every war and battle scene as realistically devastating and visceral as possible. And then [[spoiler:the Vehicon Apocalypse]] begins and it goes UpToEleven.

->''The days that followed that fateful broadcast were an imbroglio of conflict. Nearly a third of Maximal and Predacon hunkered down, wanting no part in the chaos filling every street on the planet. Some took the opportunity to settle old scores, or set themselves up as petty over some city. A tenth of Predacons and nearly a quarter of Maximals declared as loyalists for the Builders. The rest began the Grand Uprising, the Fourth Cybertronian War. Cities were stormed, fortresses rushed. Malignant Builders were torn from the architecture of penurious Maximal and Predacon tumbledowns. Freedom fighters and revolutionaries once again saw daylight, as prisons and dungeons were besieged and liberated, though so to were murderers and thieves returned to the population. Fear permeated to planet, but amongst the Maximals and Predacons, an inchoate hope also blossomed.''

** The rebels see any Maximal or Predacon who doesn't side with them as a traitor.

* CurbStompBattle: In the finale, the Tripredacus Council take the Preditron matter into their hands by [[spoiler:fighting him in a DuelToTheDeath… while they're [[CombiningMecha combined into Tripredacus]]. Needless to say, poor Preditron doesn't survive the ensuing fight, if it can even be called one.]]

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Cybershark simply can't fathom why Ser-Ket would be upset about [[spoiler:the Resistance using Buzzclaw as a disposable patsy and callously killing him when the time comes]]. It was for the greater good!

* InternalDeconstruction: An especially vicious one for the entire ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' franchise. The Autobots and Decepticons are barely-distinguishable juntas determined to keep their ForeverWar going in some form or another out of bloodlust and hedonism, the Maximals and the Predacons are a new generation used as proxies in said war, GreyAndGreyMorality is everywhere, WarIsHell, AnyoneCanDie, the Transformers confined to a scant few worlds by the "PunyHumans" they once protected or attacked, lack of Energon and resources is decimating Cybertron, and most of the famous characters are long-dead, living the CListFodder to take center stage. It's a tale that takes just about all of the franchise's Saturday-morning clichés and tropes and conventions and tears them all down to tell a grim story of war, morality, death, and the inexorable march of time.

** The Grendel Gambit, Galvatron's last zany scheme to get at mankind. The exact specifics aren't clear, thanks to ''The Book of Logos'' being written in pseudo-Jacobian speech, but the general indication is he and the Decepticons tried disguising themselves to get past mankind, and it ''really'' didn't work.

** Hot Rod, Full-Tilt, Sunstorm, and Goldbug are about the only Builders who thinks ''maybe'' treating the Predacons and Maximals like crap, and murdering them for utterly petty reasons isn't the best way to go. They're later joined by Buckethead and the Constructicons, who even agree to a cease-fire with the Resistance. Grimlock would count as well, given he's fighting alongside the Resistance, but his [[AntiHero ruthless strategies]] kind of put a kibosh on that.

* DemotedToExtra: Of the Maximals of the original ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', only Cheetor, Tigatron, and Airazor have notable roles. Optimus Primal, Rhinox, and Silverbolt were killed offscreen, while
Dinobot and Rattrap make only brief appearances in one story.

* HereWeGoAgain: A big theme of the story is the cyclical nature of history, and the struggle to break those cycles.
** [[spoiler:At the end, Galvatron II has created three Vehicon Generals (Thrust, Jetstorm, and Tankor) to serve him. The DistantFinale epilogue later offhandedly refers the events of the main story as the ''First'' Vehicon Apocalypse…]]

* HistoryRepeats:

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: A double-version at that: the Builders of Cybertron who forced the Maximals and Predacons to fight for their amusement are sent to the Games to entertain the troops. Unfortunately for the Resistance, those Builder [=POWs=] were also infected with the Vehicon virus and quickly overrun the Resistance's capital after succumbing.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Sure, mankind may have become a technologically enlightened people, capable of reviving people who've been dead for thousands of years... but they're also arrogant snobs, who won't revive people they don't like, and have boxed the Cybertronians in, not to mention that if they do something they don't like, humanity's perfectly prepared to take what little else they have. [[spoiler:Though they're alright if the Cybertronians do something positive.]] \\
One of the worlds they destroyed was the planet Master, which had been taken over by Galvatron and the Decepticons, forcing the inhabitants, regardless of alignment, to flee to Cybertron to live as second-class (at best) citizens.

* IgnoredEpiphany: Even after the Uprising escalates horribly out-of-control and [[spoiler:the Vehicon Apocalypse]] begins, Grimlock is stubbornly steadfast that his "no matter the costs" attitude was completely justified and the G-Virus was totally a good idea. He only finally begrudgingly admits that he may have been wrong [[spoiler:just before dying]].

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Ram Horn shoots Cicadacon after Tripredacus is forcibly separated, not because of any altruistic motive, but because he saw what Cicadacon and the deceased Sea Clamp thought of him. The guy still had it coming.

* TautologicalTemplar: Fortress Maximus is partly responsible for Cybertron's current crappy state. He thinks it's still better than any possible alternative, regardless of the fact that Cybertronians are still being made to live in a police state where at any point they might be made to fight and die for no real reason.

* EvilKnockoff: To counter Lio Convoy, Eject plans to create an evil duplicate with an Energon Matrix of his own.

* HopeSpot: According to Jim Sorenson, the rise of Rodimus Prime was one for the Autobots, which has something to do with his low status in the story's present.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Lio Convoy starts feeling this way more and more as the Uprising drags on and the Resistance [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized starts becoming just as bad as the Builders]].

* NoPlaceForMeThere: [[spoiler:In the end, a near-crippled and repentant Lio Convoy leaves the newly-peaceful and free Cybertron, deciding he's too polarizing figure to lead the reconstruction of the planet.]]

* TheParanoiac: Killer Punch. It's not enough to save him, but he does manage to reveal Synapse's murderous intent.

* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Averted. Apparently here Lio Convoy and Lio Junior aren't related at all. Likewise, Galvatron from ''Beast Wars II'' and Megastorm have no relation. However, ''Beast Wars'' Galvatron is treated as a reincarnation of G1 Galvatron, as opposed to his anime version, who just took the name.

** Dante the Cyberdroid wasn't even supposed to be here today! And like in the planned ending of ''Clerks'', he ends up getting killed.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: On a species-wide scale. The hidden text of "Micro-Aggressions" says mankind and the Autobots did work together at first, but by the 2030s, the relationship was pretty much dead.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Galvatron II recruits "his" old gang, whatever leftover partners of his, Scourge and Cyclonus' that he could find, but by the time of the Vehicon Apocalypse has gotten fed up of them. Afterward, he's got three Vehicon drones ready to go, and all they need is some Sparks...

* AbusivePrecursors: The Builders of Cybertron are utter dicks, having created the Maximals and Predacons solely to fight in their stead when they couldn't, and then after that putting them in rigged arena combat just so they can bet on it. They're also not above murdering people who've won previous games to "liven things up".

* BizarreAlienBiology: One of the key points of this universe is that, unlike some continuities, Maximals and Predacons are not just smaller, more efficient versions of Autobots and Decepticons, but an entirely separate race altogether. This means the Beast Upgrade doesn't work on the Builders and their flunkies.

** Lord Imperious Delirious is disgusted by Cybertronian mecha-biology. [[spoiler:It spurs him to invent the Vehicons, to remove the spark from every living thing on the planet.]]

* {{Fauxshadow}}: During his talk with the Oracle, Overshoot is told one day mankind and Cybertronians will work together to fight something "beyond good, beyond evil". Sadly, the stories never show this happening.

** The Oracle is very much aware of the Builders, and the Uprising, and the horrible things it will produce, but feels it needs to happen, destruction to allow better things to follow.

** [[spoiler:The Megatron from ''[[WesternAnimation/BeastWars Beast Wars]]''. He succeeded in killing Optimus Prime which wiped out all the Maximals. Before she disappeared, Blackarchnia managed to infect the original Megatron with cyber-venom wiping the Predacons from the timeline and creating the "Uprising" universe.]]

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Played with in Hatchet's book ''Lio Convoy: Unity Through Tyranny.'' While it decidedly vilifies Convoy as a tyrant whose atrocities forced the Builder's Council to release the Vehicons, it also accurately critiques "simplistic" views of Lio Convoy as a hero and visionary. It implies the legitimately nasty stuff Convoy ''did'' authorize like the G-Virus had gotten downplayed or airbrushed out over the centuries.

* HybridOverkillAvoidance: In the final days of the war, Galvatron became a mixture of Headmaster, Powermaster and Targetmaster - the Triple Threat Masters. It came at the cost of vastly reducing Galvatron's lifespan, but no-one involved cared so much.

* InterspeciesRomance: Heavily implied to have happened between Rapticon and N'ell.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: During "Cultural Appropriation", the Oracle says as much about mankind and Transformers, in its own way.

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The Resistance has some pretty legitimate grievances against the Builders, but they're willing to do an awful lot of unsavoury actions to get their freedom.

* TooDumbToLive: Hot Rod really comes across as this in "Micro-Aggressions", since he believes Snapper will be treated fairly by the Builders after he's arrested. This is while they're at an arena where those same Builders had just been planning to make prisoners of war fight for their amusement.

** Hot Rod and Full-Tilt are about the only Builders who thinks ''maybe'' treating the Predacons and Maximals like crap, and murdering them for utterly petty reasons isn't the best way to go. They're later joined by Buckethead and the Constructicons, who even agree to a cease-fire with the Resistance.

* UncertainDoom: After Scylla's killed in the Battle of Yuss, Cybershark is put in charge of the forces remaining there. Later on, the fleet falls to the Vehicons, and Cybershark goes missing, presumed dead or assimilated.
* UngratefulBastard: Optimus Prime sacrificed his second life, and the Matrix with it, to save humanity from the Swarm. Humanity responded by penning Cybertronians into a small area of space, and never once showing any gratitude.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In the midst of their raid on the Forever Vaults, the Monster Go-Bots accidentally infect a hapless guard with the G-Virus, and think no more of it. That guard turns into a new Galvatron. Then, during the Vehicon Apocalypse, [[spoiler:this Galvatron witnesses Megatron using Waspinator to ward off the Vehicon hordes, and gets inspired to grab some drones of his own, which leads to at least one more bout with them.]]

* TheVirus: Starting with "Safe Spaces", [[spoiler:an apparent "upgrade" the Builders installed starts turning Micromasters into hulking drones, which tear out the Sparks of anyone they catch, turning them into more drones.]]

** The Matrix of Leadership is notably absent from the series, "The Book of Logos" imples it was destroyed along with Optimus by the Swarm.
** In "Intersectionality", Synapse is arrested by the Dinosaur's crew, and told he'll be sent back to Cybertron and put on trial when everything's over. He's never seen again. Trans-Mutate, meanwhile, is entirely absent from ''Derailment'' after apparently returning to Cybertron with everyone else. "The Inexorable March" suggests she was looking for answers about her and Rampage's creation.

* WorthlessYellowRocks: Circa 1984, Starscream led a raid on the British Museum and during the battle, Brawn threw some worthless stone that got lodged in Skywarp's cockpit. Upon the stone's removal, Skywarp found a use for it as a paper weight and the Maximals and Predacons eventually put it in a museum of Decepticon artifacts. The stone's human name? ''The Rosetta Stone''. Its rightful owners eventually reclaim it but considering the fate of human society, it might have been kinder to leave it on Cybertron.

* OneSteveLimit: In this universe, names don't repeat: every Transformer is given a specific name that no other Cybertronian shares. Hence we have characters like Scavenger and Skavenger, Dead End and Dead-End, Skywarp and Sky Warp, etc. The only one who breaks this is Rampage, due to taking the name on spur of the moment when someone else mishears him.

* DemotedToExtra: Of the Maximals of the original ''WesternAnimation/TransformersBeastWars,'' only Cheetor, Tigatron, and Airazor have notable roles. Optimus Primal, Rhinox, and Silverbolt were killed offscreen, while

* '''''[[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Alone_Together Alone, Together]]''''', a club-exclusive comic '''[[note]] [[https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Transformers-Collectors-Club/Issue-55?id=104985#7 Issues 55-60]] cover the storyline. [[/note]]''' featuring Trans-Mutate and Protoform X, dealing with the mysterious Destructons and their deranged leader, Lord Imperious Delirious.

* ''''[[http://www.transformersclub.com/prose/Beast-Wars-Uprising-Coda-The-Inexorable-March%20(3).pdf The Inexorable March]]''''': A coda to the finale.

* PetTheDog: Given their severe, often petty and irrational, attitudes towards Cybertronians, the fact that humanity let them keep the Energon Matrix is nothing short of astounding.

* MechanicalEvolution: Despite taking place in an alternate universe to the Beast Wars, and technically still being on Cybertron, the Maximals and Predacons have vehicular forms rather than their Beast Modes. Though there are some exceptions. It wouldn't be until Not All Megatrons that they finally gained the ability to transform into animals.

* NotSoDifferent:
** During "Cultural Appropriation", the Oracle says as much about mankind and Transformers, in its own way.

** In "Safe Spaces", the Resistance (or at least one part of it) is forcing Builder P.O.W.s to fight to the death, just as the Builders were back in "Micro-Aggressions".

* RealityEnsues:
** "A Brush With Infamy" explores exactly what would happen when you have robots the size of cities duking it out - massive environmental damage.
** During "Derailment", Preditron fights Tripredacus. [[spoiler:He gets beaten into the ground and dies. Valiant warrior-king or not, he's severely outclassed by the combiner.]]

--->[[TearJerker Plasma Kord Where are you I am lonely]]

* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons:
** Lord Imperious Delirious uses Cybertronian tech to reformat himself into a dragon.
** Megatron skips past a T-Rex mode and settles for a dragon as his beast mode.

* [[HumansAreSurvivors Cybertronians Are Survivors]]: The Cybertronian race went through pretty much eleven million years of continuous warfare ending in the 24th century with their planet and race being sent to the brink but by the 25th century, they've got their house back in order.

* HumansAreAdvanced: It took a little less than forty years for humans to reverse-engineer and surpass the limits of Cybertronian technology. By the twenty-fourth century AC, they've actually overcome ''death''. [[spoiler: As the later stories show however, it didn't take long for Cybertronians to catch up and eventually overcome the humans.]]

* HumansAreBastards: Sure, mankind may have become a technologically enlightened people, capable of reviving people who've been dead for thousands of years... but they're also arrogant snobs, who won't revive people they don't like, and have boxed the Cybertronians in, not to mention that if they do something they don't like, humanity's perfectly prepared to take what little else they have. [[spoiler:Though they're alright if the Cybertronians do something positive.]]
** One of the worlds they destroyed was the planet Master, which had been taken over by Galvatron and the Decepticons, forcing the inhabitants, regardless of alignment, to flee to Cybertron to live as second-class (at best) citizens.
* HumansAreSpecial: It took a little less than forty years for humans to reverse-engineer and surpass the limits of Cybertronian technology. By the twenty-fourth century AC, they've actually overcome ''death''. [[spoiler: As the later stories show however, it didn't take long for Cybertronians to catch up and eventually overcome the humans.]]

* DemotedToExtra: Of the Maximals of the original''WesternAnimation/TransformersBeastWars,'' only Cheetor, Tigatron, and Airazor have notable roles. Optimus Primal, Rhinox, and Silverbolt were killed offscreen, while

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Played with in Hatchet's book ''Lio Convoy: Unity Through Tyranny.'' While it decidedly vilifies Convoy as a tyrant whose atrocities forced the Builder's Council to release the Vehicons, it also accurately critiques ''simplistic'' views of Lio Convoy as a hero and visionary. It implies the legitimately nasty stuff Convoy ''did'' authorize like the G-Virus had gotten downplayed or airbrushed out over the centuries.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade/HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Played with in Hatchet's book ''Lio Convoy: Unity Through Tyranny.'' While it decidedly vilifies Convoy as a tyrant whose atrocities forced the Builder's Council to release the Vehicons, it also accurately critiques ''simplistic'' views of Lio Convoy as a hero and visionary. It implies the legitimately nasty stuff Convoy ''did'' authorize like the G-Virus had gotten downplayed or airbrushed out over the centuries.

** According to Blackarachnia's Collector's Club bio, she and Nightscream killed Optimus Primal long before the start of the ''Uprising'' stories after he refused to turn on their Autobot masters.

** [[spoiler:After Humanity expells the Transformers and practically treats them like a lesser species than them and nearly become gods, end up internally destroying themselves and become non-important in the future.

* TalksLikeAPirate: Scylla be talkin' all pirate-like, yar.

* ''Alone, Together'', a club-exclusive comic featuring Trans-Mutate and Protoform X, dealing with the mysterious Destructons.
* ''Broken Windshields'': Lio Convoy, agent of the Builders, is inspired to revolution after a meeting with a Maximal called Blackarachnia.
* ''Head Games'': Hapless Predacon Buzzclaw starts going up in the world when the Resistance recruits him for an important mission. But there's this nagging voice in Buzzclaw's head...
* ''Broken Bridges'': Burnt-out MCSF officer Stilleto has to deal with her own twisted memories, at the same time she holds off a Resistance attack.
* ''Micro-Aggressions'': Former Autobot troublemaker Grimlock's back, and has a plan to get at the Builders, involving the horrific G-Virus.
* ''Intersectionality'': Out on the fringe of Cybertronian space, the good ship ''Dinosaur'' runs into several problems, including someone murdering the crew.
* ''Trigger Warnings''': Jaded cop Wolfang has to deal with a murder, a mysterious dame, his bosses and his own conflicting loyalty, as he stumbles on a terrible secret.
* ''Identity Politics:'' Long before the Uprising, an ambitious Predacon named Gnashteeth, and his underling Scorponok decide to go into business for themselves, yeeeess...
* ''Not All Megatrons'': Megatron decides it's time for the Uprising to get beastly.
* ''Cultural Appropriation:'' A rag-tag bunch of misfits (and one immortal psychopath) team up to stop a group of mighty robots making trouble for everyone, mankind included.
* ''Safe Spaces'': Cheetor and Preditron fight for their lives in the arena. But attempted murder is about to be the least of their problems.
* ''Derailment'': The big finale, as it's Resistance versus Builders versus everybody, as Galva Convoy's weapon is unleash.
* ''The Inexorable March'': A coda to the finale.