History YMMV / BeastMachines

* CompleteMonster: [[Characters/BeastWarsMegatron Megatron]]. [[YMMV/BeastWars See this page for details.]]

** Thanks to the generally bad reception of ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'', this series is often seen in a much better light. It's hardly universal, of course, but still quite a feat considering the backlash it once received. This has grown over the decades, especially thanks to other media of dubious quality like the [[WebAnimation/TransformersPrimeWarsTrilogy machinima]] and [[WesternAnimation/TransformersWarForCybertronTrilogy netflix shows]] or some of the Bayverse films who make one realize that in hindsight, a show could be a lot worse. Nowadays the sentiment seems to be more that while it leaves a lot to desire as a sequel to ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', as a standalone show, it's actually very good, with surprisingly mature storytelling, and a balanced take on its environmental message in an era where shows could be very {{Anvilicious}}. The voice cast is excellent, and the CGI animation is years ahead of its time. Several of the characters and designs have gone on to be revisited in shows or as Third-Party transformers toys, particularly Strika who remains very popular as a female character who eschews the "sexy robot" aesthetic. Similarly elements of Blackarachnia's design would be revisited in future shows such as her ''WesternAnimation/TransformerAnimated'' counterpart (on which Marty Isenberg also worked) who shares this version's spider abdomen butt, and concealed multiple eyes in robot mode. It's by no means one of the pillars of the franchise but on many fan polls it tends to do surprisingly well, especially considering its reception at the time.

** Thanks to the generally bad reception of ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'', this series is often seen in a much better light. It's hardly universal, of course, but still quite a feat considering the backlash it once received.

* UnintentionalUncannyValley: The Maximal robot mode faces are lot more human-like than they were in the previous series, but still have robot-like features and have added some animal-like features too. The end result is facial designs that aren't quite human-like, but aren't quite animal-like either, and feel a little off as a result.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Nightscream. Back when the series was first airing, he was a flat out [[TheScrappy scrappy]], seen as an annoying CreatorsPet for being a {{wangst}}y teenager with an ability that comes in clutch too often, not helped by being one of the only two new Maximals in a cast of mainstays. As a result of CharacterPerceptionEvolution however, along with ''much'' more maligned characters in later years, Nightscream has managed to gain some fans for his more sympathetic reasoning behind his behavior, his charming relationship with the feral Noble, and managing to act as the rookie of the group without retreading Cheetor's character arc or being ''just'' a KidAppealCharacter.

* ReplacementScrappy: Downplayed since they're technically the same character and he's still well liked outside of the show but oddly enough, [[spoiler:Silverbolt]] became this after [[spoiler:Blackarahnia reformatted Jetstorm and restored him in Season 2. Whereas Jetstorm had been an entertaining LaughablyEvil villain, Silverbolt became a KnightInSourArmor rather than the pure, noble hero he had previously been. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking His rather ugly design didn't help]]]].

* CreatorsPet: Nightscream. He masters transforming mere ''moments'' after being reformatted (something even Optimus couldn't accomplish), and Cheetor actually ''defends'' him after he insults the memory of the Maximals' fallen teammates. Not to mention [[spoiler:it was his sonic scream that ended up keeping Megatron from total victory in the final part of "Sparkwar"]].

* TheScrappy: Nightscream was this when the series was originally airing. The fans have mellowed towards him in recent years, but he's still a somewhat disliked character.

* TakeThatScrappy: In "Survivor," Nightscream belittles the rest of the team for losing the Beast Wars. Rattrap responds by knocking him to the floor:
--> ''"You watch your mouth, junior! I've lost friends in that war."''

* VindicatedByHistory: Thanks to the generally bad reception of ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'', this series is often seen in a much better light. It's hardly universal, of course, but still quite a feat considering the backlash it once received.
** Similar to the series, Nightscream (who was a major Scrappy when the series first aired) has gained ''some'' fans in recent years, due to future characters being ''much'' less likeable. However, he's still a somewhat disliked character.

* FridgeBrilliance: Remember when Rattrap said, "Good thing Tankor was a friend! Imagine if he was recycled from a PREDACON!"? Technically, all of the original Vehicon Generals ''were''. To elaborate: [[spoiler:Rhinox, Silverbolt and Waspinator all served as Predacons at some point during the Beast Wars.]]

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler: The identities of some of the Vehicon generals. Thrust is Waspinator, Jetstorm is Silverbolt, and Tankor is Rhinox. Even people who haven't seen the series know it.]]

** Thrust and Jetstorm border on this at times, [[spoiler: especially Jetstorm due to Silverbolt being freed from the shell program resulting in his DeathOfPersonality.]]

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

* FanonDiscontinuity: Even people who generally like the show often don't like to consider it a sequel to ''Beast Wars''. The two are dramatically different in terms of writing and overall design, and the show's events as a whole are ''not'' kind to the ''Beast Wars'' cast--quite a few characters get killed off, and a number of others suffer horribly or become borderline unrecognizable.

* FridgeBrilliance: Remember when Rattrap said, "Good thing Tankor was a friend! Imagine if he was recycled from a PREDACON!"? Technically, all of the original Vehicon Generals ''were''. To elaborate: [[spoiler: Rhinox, Silverbolt and Waspinator all served as Predacons at some point during the Beast Wars.]]

** At what point [[spoiler:did Silverbolt really become aware that he had been reprogrammed into Jetstorm - and start enjoying the experience of being an evil monster? When Blackarachnia originally awakened Silverbolt's mind in Jetstorm's body his personality appeared to be more or less the same, but when she brought him back completely in season 2 he had clearly changed from NiceGuy KnightInShiningArmor to a guilt ridden loner (in the form of a samurai condor) who was understandably upset over his tenure as Jetstorm. If he didn't realize what he was doing until after the initial reawakening, was it really the Jetstorm personality refusing to be changed back, or was it Silverbolt speaking through Jetstorm?]]

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Due to limited use of specular and emissive maps unlike Beast Wars (meaning fewer shiny and glowy effects) explosions are represented by meshes with a solid, ''shaded'' texture. They also ''have shadows''.
** The SpeedStripes that appear during action scenes sometimes have gaps in them, through which ''the background can be seen''.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:

* CreatorsPet: Hightscream. He masters transforming mere ''moments'' after being reformatted (something even Optimus couldn't accomplish), and Cheetor actually ''defends'' him after he insults the memory of the Maximals' fallen teammates. Not to mention [[spoiler:it was his sonic scream that ended up keeping Megatron from total victory in the final part of "Sparkwar"]].

** In "Survivor", Cheetor physically reprimands Rattrap when the latter calls out Nightscream for insulting the memory of their fallen comrades. While Rattrap's attitude wasn't helping it still makes Cheetor look like he cares more about the new guy than their lost friends.

* ReplacementScrappy: Downplayed since they're technically the same character and he's still well liked outside of the show but oddly enough, Silverbolt became this after Blackarahnia reformatted Jetstorm and restored him in Season 2. Whereas Jetstorm had been an entertaining LaughablyEvil villain, Silverbolt became a KnightInSourArmor rather than the pure, noble hero he had previously been. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking His rather ugly design didn't help]].

* TearJerker: See [[Tearjerker/BeastMachines here]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', part of Blackarachnia's story arc was that she wanted to make her own choices through her own free will and wanted the Maximals to give her a wide berth to do so. In this series, 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 how in the previous show, she wanted to every chance and opportunity to make free choices of her own accord and be accepted by the Maximals as-is, Blackarachnia in this series can come off as being seriously entitled and hypocritical, wanting every second and third chance based on individual sovereignty and free will for herself but not being willing to give it to others.

** Some fans have noted that a lot of aspects from this show that people complain about (stronger continuity, darker storytelling, InNameOnly characters, etc.) would later be used to good effect by later ''Transformers'' series such as the Dreamwave and IDW comics, ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', and ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. One could consider this show an experimental first step before its ideas, themes, and methods were perfected by later incarnations of ''Transformers''.

* HarsherInHindsight: Hey, remember that ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' episode where Rhinox got brainwashed into becoming a Predacon and it was PlayedForLaughs? Well, it's taken very seriously here when he turns evil out of his own volition, after despairing in the face of an enslaved Cybertron, and manages to inflict quite a lot of damage before dying.

** Tankor [[spoiler:(Rhinox)]]. The writers intended him to have chosen evil of his own free will after having been twisted by his time under Megatron's control. A popular fan theory is that he ''wasn't'' evil -- his actions were caused by input from his awakened spark being filtered through a shell programme. Both interpretations fit what we see on the screen. (Given that, upon his death, [[spoiler:Rhinox]] seemed genuinely repentant, the Shell Program makes a lot of sense.)

** Is Megatron's personality shift, in particular his new hatred of organic life, simply sloppy writing, or is it residual influence from G1 Megatron's spark? (And even then, G1 Megatron was more apathetic towards organics than anything. On top of that, [=BW=] Megatron was already an unhinged individual especially towards the end the Beast Wars. It's possible this personality shift was also influenced by his madness.)

** Hasbro's own toy, released a few years later, was named "Megatron Megabolt", turning from the head into Megatron directly(this toy is also weirdly compatible with a G1 Fortress Maximus). A green recolor was released later named "Megabolt".

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Hey, remember that ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' episode where Rhinox got brainwashed into becoming a Predacon and it was PlayedForLaughs? Well, it's taken very seriously here when he turns evil out of his own volition, after despairing in the face of an enslaved Cybertron, and manages to inflict quite a lot of damage before dying.

* DorkAge: Often considered one for the Beast Era of ''Transformers'', due to a massive tone shift from {{Dramedy}} to angsty VillainWorld story. It used to be considered this for ''Transformers'' as a whole -- then ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'' came along.

** A ContestedSequel of a breakaway hit depicting the struggle between an all-encompassing robotic evil ([[HappyEndingOverride seemingly defeated in the original]]) attempting to [[AssimilationPlot remake the world in its own image]] and a band of rebels lead by a MessianicArchetype who sacrifices himself to take out the BigBad [[NearVillainVictory at the last moment]] and quite literally reformat the world into a sunny paradise. The heroes are helped along by a figure called The Oracle, the hero and the villain have deeply philosophical existentialism/nihilism clashes and the object of assimilation is called... wait for it, The Matrix. This must be ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' [[RecycledInSpace WITH ROBOTS!]], right? No, it came out three years before the Matrix sequels.