History YMMV / BeastWars

* GrowingTheBeard: Season 1 gradually grew higher in quality until the season finale where the series really took off. The stories became [[TrueArtIsAngsty darker and more arc-driven]], the animation quality got better, and the characters became more complex.

** Megatron crosses it when he [[spoiler:begin trying to change history, first by eradicating the ancestors of the human race, and then by killing Optimus Prime. Both acts condemned billions of lives across millions of years to be {{Retgone}} from existence.]]

* WhatTheHellCastingAgency: Garry Chalk's brief cameo as G1!Megatron. While it's true that Frank Welker wasn't available to reprise his role for the show, Garry's voice still sounds nothing like him. This is particularly jarring when compared to Doug Parker's spot-on impersonation of the late Chris Latta's Starscream.[[note]] The 'message' could have been a hoax pulled of by BW Megatron, but this is WMG territory.[[/note]].

* AmericansHateTingle: The second and third season flopped horribly when they were released in Japan as ''Beast Wars Metals'' due to a combination of the bad taste left by ''Anime/BeastWarsNeo'''s overcomplicated toyline and the GagDub ramping up its changes from the original now. Tellingly, Takara's equivalent of Hasbro's 10th anniversary line removed references to seasons two and three[[note]]Transmetal Rattrap was left out, Dinobot came with a DVD of "The Probe" instead of "Code of Hero", and the Transmutate build-a-figure was not included[[/note]].

* CantUnHearIt: Many characters usually have this honor, such as Creator/ScottMcNeil as Dinobot, Rattrap & Waspinator, Creator/GarryChalk as Optimus Primal, but perhaps the biggest case will have to be Creator/DavidKaye who is viewed as THE Predacon Megatron.

*** "The Low Road". Some found it to be an entertaining comedy episode while others have found its toilet humor to be tasteless. Either ways, the reception for this episode was not 100 percent positive.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: [[EnsembleDarkhorse/{{Transformers}} See here]]

* BrokenBase: Organic vs Transmetal beast forms. Some fans argue the [[MidSeasonUpgrade Mid-Season Upgrades]] took away from the show's core theme and/or simply [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks weren't as charming]] as the original character designs, in and out of beast mode; others prefer the Transmetals' more classically ''Transformers'' aesthetics and utilities.

* BrokenBase: There are a few individual episodes that have divided fans.
** "The Low Road". Some found it to be an entertaining comedy episode while others have found its toilet humor to be tasteless. Either ways, the reception for this episode was not 100 percent positive.
** "Transmutate". This episode has its share of fans who feel the story was dark, mature, and well-crafted while showing a different side of Rampage. Others, on the other hand, have felt that it was [[TooBleakStoppedCaring too anti-climactic, morbid, and depressing]], [[ToughActToFollow especially coming hot of the heels of the universally acclaimed Code of Hero]].
** "Optimal Situation". A decent action-packed Season 3 opener or an [[AntiClimax anti-climactic]] finish to "The Agenda" trilogy, and the beginning of the end where the show become more [[ExecutiveMeddling toy-oriented]]?
** "Go With the Flow". A comedy episode where the protohuman children play a big role. Some fans found it an enjoyable romp while others felt it was a pointless {{filler}} episode that took the place of "Dark Glass".
** The "Nemesis" two-parter. Opinions over the finale have also differed. You have fans who feel that it was a good finale where the stakes were high, the tone was epic, and the war became [[AnyoneCanDie more real than ever]]. On the other hand, there are other fans who felt the series finale went overboard in killing off more than half the cast. And considering a lot of those deceased characters had their fair share of fans, you can bet at least somebody's going to be angry at how their favorite character was brutally killed off.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Initial response to ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' was very negative, with many {{fan}}s [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks decrying the shift from robots that turn into vehicles and robotic animals to robots that turn into organic animals]], most infamously [[MemeticMutation Optimus becoming a monkey instead of a truck.]] It didn't help that it was preceded by ComicBook/TransformersGeneration2, which is considered by many to be a DorkAge. In the end, ''Beast Wars'' saved the franchise from dying out and set the standard for all future western ''Transformers'' shows.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: For some fans, the long-running Vok subplot turned into this after the first season. In the first season, there was always a sense of awe and mystery whenever the aliens and their influence over the planet were involved. Not to mention the Vok story gave Beast Wars some of its most epic moments, from the floating island down to their planet-buster in the season finale. Come season two, the aliens make their presence known again by [[spoiler: kidnapping Tigatron and Airazor]] and unleashing their Metalhunter ship, but beyond that, the Vok still don't show their faces and the audience doesn't really learn anything new about the aliens. In the third season, the Vok finally make themselves known and [[spoiler: send their emissary Tigerhawk to Earth to deal with Megatron and defeat all the Predacons]]. But afterwards, they [[spoiler: both kill and get killed by Tarantulas in an accidental MurderSuicide despite allegedly being cosmic beings strong enough to CurbStomp the entire Predacon team but yet can't [[ForgotAboutHisPowers stand up to Tarantulas' cyber-venom]]]]. So even though the Vok were implied to have created much of what the Maximals and Predacons encountered on earth(Stonehenge, the floating island, etc.), in addition to being the recurring villains of the show, some fans, to this day, consider the Vok subplot to be one story in Beast Wars which started out good but fizzled out towards the end and never lived up to its full potential.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: In the third season, the writers focused on Blackarachnia's redemption arc and while she was meant to be rooted for, there were several factors that worked against her and she didn't quite come off as a fully sympathetic character. For one, Blackarachnia complained how the Maximals didn't trust her but she had spent two seasons attacking the Maximals and unlike Dinobot, she had much more bad blood with them. Plus, she had been the one who had (unintentionally) led Megatron to the Ark in the first place in a quest to get the power of the Ark for herself, allowing Megatron a chance to try to assassinate Optimus Prime and create a timestorm so when she turned against Megatron out of self-preservation, she didn't build a strong foundation of trust with the Maximals to begin with. There was also the fact that she didn't act any differently under the Maximals than she did Megatron, secretly stealing equipment from the ship and the TMII driver Depth Charge had thrown into the lava to work her own agenda in secrecy. And despite some mistrust between her and the Maximals, they did make some attempts to give her a chance because in "Proving Grounds," Rattrap relented and allowed Silverbolt to go retrieve Blackarachnia without snitching on them, despite his dislike for her. At the end of the episode, Optimus tells Blackarachnia that the choice to be reprogrammed into a Maximal was her choice alone.
%%Later on in ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'', Blackarachnia would attack Rattrap and call him a traitor when he made a weapons deal with Megatron, despite being a former Predacon herself and having an opportunity to reach out to Rattrap and understand what drove him to such lengths. She also forcibly changes [[spoiler: Jetstorm]] back into Silverbolt despite expecting characters like Silverbolt and Optimus to give her the chance to make her own choices. Given all the things that have happened and will happen in the sequel series, Blackarachnia in the third season of Beast Wars can come off as less of a sympathetic [[AntiHero Anti-Heroine]] trying to find her place in life and more of a whiny, entitled hypocrite who's not willing to extend to others the same chances and opportunities based on free will and individual sovereignty that she expects to receive herself.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The Japanese DVD release includes the original english audio with subtitles as an option so that japanese fans who didn't like Yoshikazu Iwanami's Gag Dub can watch the original version with no problem.

** '''TRUKK NOT MUNKY!'''[[note]]The cry of fans spitting the dummy that the Transformers are recast with animal alt-modes, but particularly that Optimus Prime is an ape.[[/note]]

* CatharsisFactor: After spending the entire series being a downright sadistic SmugSnake, it is immensely satisfying seeing him reduced to a cowering mess when his second attempt to [[spoiler:wipe out the Transformers race]] backfire horribly and accidentally causing his own technology slowly electrocute him to death for all the vile crimes he did.

* SpecialEffectFailure: The early episodes [[TechnologyMarchesOn (obviously, due to technology limitations)]] look like crap, there's also several other moments which combine this with OffModel (such as Rattrap reverting to his old CG model in ''Code of Hero''). Plus there's seams on several of organic beast modes if you look closely.

* {{Narm}}: Working in the exceedingly cheesy names into character's introductions, as well as Optimus Primal's TitleDrop (seen as the page quote on the main page).
** Any serious moment where a character is in Beast Mode has the potential to be this. Rhinox is particularly bad about this especially in the first season, doing a lot of stuff that can look really goofy, Also being the tech guy he's seen carrying around a lot of devices in his hands, [[FridgeLogic his rhinoceros hands.]]
** A more specific example from an early season 2 episode has the [[MidSeasonUpgrade newly transmetal]] Megatron articulating how the Beast Wars have changed... while skating around the room on his new feet wheels as if his base was an evil roller rink. It's impossible to take seriously. To emphasize, he's a ''purple'' metallic T-Rex on skates, and with a pair of helicopter fans strapped to his back.
** The battle in the pilot has a moment when everyone is still in beast mode. Megatron, in his T-Rex mode, has charged at Optimus, but ended up with his head buried in a pile of rocks and his tail pointing up while Optimus is talking to it. He's trying to pull himself free, which is accompanied by rubber sounds:
--->'''Optimus:''' Surrender, Megatron! You're trapped!\\
'''Megatron:''' ''[while '''wiggling his butt''']'' No! You shall not defeat me!
** The Transmetal forms, seeing as they inverted the organic and mechanical composition of the characters, resulting in metallic beast modes but more organic-looking robot forms. It's most obvious with Optimus Primal's bronze abs and Cheetor's leopard pecs which look like they're glued to his otherwise boxy chest.
* NarmCharm: [[WorldOfHam Everyone is incredibly hammy]], yet somehow they manage to make it work ''perfectly''.
** When Optimus Primal returns from the dead, we're treated to the sight of an aerial chase between a blue chrome gorilla on a hoverboard and a purple chrome T-Rex with two VTOL fans strapped to his back. It's somehow in tone with the show.

* AssPull: [[spoiler: Megatron having a usable fragment of the Golden Disc he stole from Cybertron in ''The Agenda''. No pieces of that size were seen when Dinobot destroyed it.]]

* EvilIsCool: The ''Beast Wars'' incarnation of Megatron is held up as not only superior to his G1 namesake, but one of the best incarnations of Megatron in any ''Transformers'' media. Reasons include his charisma and competence, being a morally reprehensible bastard and proud of it, his awesome alt modes, and his vocal performance, ''[[VerbalTic yeees]]''.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Despite the toyline and therefore the show being ostensibly aimed somewhere around the 8-12-year-old boys slot, the show features clever writing, complex characterizations, and surprisingly mature takes on themes such as warfare and revenge, with a healthy dose of KilledOffForReal to match.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Initial response to ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' was very negative, with many fans [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks decrying the shift from robots that turn into vehicles and robotic animals to robots that turn into organic animals]], most infamously [[MemeticMutation Optimus becoming a monkey instead of a truck.]] It didn't help that it was preceded by ComicBook/TransformersGeneration2, which is considered by many to be a DorkAge. In the end, ''Beast Wars'' saved the franchise from dying out and set the standard for all future western ''Transformers'' shows.