One of the most storied properties in pop culture, The Transformers has inspired a number of spin-offs and comic books throughout the years. One such series, “Transformers: Beast Wars,” has completely reimagined the bizarre Predacon known as “Tarantulas,” including his personality and narrative arc.
Tarantulas has always been characterized as a mad scientist who pursues Megatron and engages in cruel experiments. However, the Beast War comics have elevated his significance and made him one of Megatron’s most dangerous foes. Let us investigate his tale and observe the actions of this strange, disorderly spider Transformer!
Tarantulas in Beast Wars
One of the evil Predacons who opposed the “Maximals,” who were descended from the Autobots, was Tarantulas. Tarantulas was one of the few Predacons who possessed extra-dimensional roots that linked them to Cybertron, although the majority of Predacons were descendants of the Decepticons. It was even asserted that Tarantulas shared a direct connection with the “Unicron,” the “Chaos Bringer” out to obliterate the multiverse.
The Predacons were renowned for their brutality and tenacity in staking a claim to the cosmos that was rightfully theirs. In addition to serving in the Predacon Secret Police, “Lieutenant Tarantulas” was a founding member of the Megatron crew. While Megatron was unaware of Tarantulas’ true motivations, this Predacon served as a snitch and provided the ‘Tripredacus Council’ with insider knowledge.
One of the Predacon alliance’s governing councils, the Tripredacus Council convened in secrecy to plan the Predacons’ ascent to power. By traveling back in time to the Stone Age and destroying the “Ark” that brought the Autobots and Decepticons to Earth, Tarantulas, a direct agent of this Council, aimed to radically change the timeline of the Transformers.
This scheme was foiled when Megatron’s cruiser unintentionally crashed on an unknown planet, cutting off communication with Cybertron. Despite being unable to reach the Council, Tarantulas persisted in his covert operations and even assumed the role of Megatron’s “technical commander.”
Tarantulas manned the scanners that decided on the beast modes for the Transformers based on the local creatures in the vicinity. He chose the beast form of an ‘oversized spider’ and even participated in the first battle in the ‘Beast Wars.’ These wars broke out between the Maximals and the Predacons and were initially just a power struggle over territory and the fuel ‘Energon.’ Over time, these battles got out of hand and even changed the very nature of space and time.
In this first battle, Tarantulas fought in his beast form against the Maximals and even discovered a huge stash of Energon. However, he eventually had to succumb to the huge energy buildup caused by the energon, while the Maximals managed to escape. Finally, Megatron caused a chain reaction that caused the energon to explode, and this fight came to an end.
Later on, Tarantulas decided to set up an underground lair, where he began experimenting and creating new technology in secret. He even captured a young Maximal named ‘Cheetor’ by trapping it in a web in his lair. Tarantulas intended to feed on Cheetor, but the Maximal ‘Rattrap caved in his secret lair.’ Rattrap even blasted at Tarantulas during the battle of ‘Standing Stones’, and the Predacon later decided to accompany Megatron on an attack to the Maximal ship ‘Axalon’, when it was rumored that Optimus Primal had died. Optimus was the leader of the Maximals, and the Maximals managed to retrieve him with the help of an alien probe. After returning to a stable state, Optimus then lunged into an attack on Tarantulas and defeated him.
In the episode titled ‘Fallen Comrades,’ Tarantulas was left in charge of the Predacons by his superior ‘Terrorsaur.’ However, Tarantulas abandoned his position and decided to spy on Terrorsaur instead. He discovered that Terrorsaur had found a new power source in the form of a flying mountain with a ton of energon at its top.
However, Tarantulas was soon spotted by ‘Rattrap,’ and the two had a fight, which ended with Tarantulas falling off the mountain. He then discovered a crashed ‘stasis pod’ that could transport Transformers and even bring them back to life. He fought against the Maximals and ‘Dinobot’ over the stasis pod, and even had some help from Megatron and Scorponok. However, he was defeated by Dino-bot, who blasted Tarantulas into the distance with the use of some auto-guns.
Later, the Predacons managed to locate a stasis pod of their own and Tarantulas used it to create a deadly beast form known as ‘Blackarachnia.’ Though Megatron was suspicious of Tarantulas’ motives, he didn’t think too much of it and was glad to have a new powerful beast on his side. Tarantulas later followed Terrorsaur as he tried to take over the Maximals but was blasted by ‘Rattrap’ and had to limp his way back to the ship. Tarantulas was also attacked by the Maximal leader ‘Primal’ in their own spaceship, when Scorponok’s virus had caused Primal to go crazy. Primal cornered Tarantulas and blasted at him with a weapon that the spider had created himself.
Tarantulas had once invented the ‘transformation lock lens’ that shielded their ship from being detected by the Maximals. He even used this weapon to create chaos among the Maximals, but was finally defeated by Optimus Primal. The lens was even destroyed by the Maximals ‘Cheetor’ and ‘Tigatron,’ but it had already done its work, and their ship was undetected by the Maximal’s ‘temporal probe.’
Later, the Predacons launched an attack on the Maximal ship ‘Axalon,’ but their attack was unsuccessful due to the efforts of ‘Rhinox.’ Tarantulas later captured Rhinox and put him in a web under Megatron’s orders. Megatron wanted to convert Rhinox into a Predacon with the help of a ‘Transmuter’ device, and Rhinox later poisoned him and the Blackarachnia.
During the ‘Spider’s Game’ storyline, Tarantulas discovered a newly crashed stasis pod, but Megatron refused to let him go and investigate. Tarantulas decided to be more prepared for the next time such a thing happens, and he disabled both the Maximal ship ‘Axalon’ and Megatron’s ship ‘Darksyde’ in order to explore a newly discovered stasis pod.
However, Tarantulas was cornered by Blackarachnia, who managed to locate Tarantulas’ secret lair and insisted on coming along. Though Tarantulas had big plans with the stasis pod, he could not do much as the Maximal ‘Tigatron’ destroyed it. Tarantulas then returned to his pod and told Blackarachnia that their planet was doomed. Blackarachnia then realized that Tarantulas had a plan in place and that he was building an escape ship.
Tarantulas later faced ‘Rhinox’ on another occasion when they attacked the Maximal base. This time, Tarantulas infected Rhinox with an Energon discharge virus, but he was himself cornered by Dinobot during this attack. Dinobot and Rattrap then captured Tarantulas, but he managed to free himself by dropping a boulder on the two. Eventually, Dinobot tried to use Tarantulas’ body as a hostage, but Megatron managed to blast him away.
When the return of the aliens became a certainty, Tarantulas stole one of the ‘transwarp cells’ that can propel a spaceship through space, store weapons or even cross timelines. Megatron detected this theft and then sent Blackarachnia after Tarantulas. Both these spiders then had to team up to prevent the Maximal ‘Tigatron’ from escaping their ship, but ended up getting injured by a boulder that was aimed at them by Dinobot.
They later worked together to infiltrate the Maximal base and came across the knowledge that their planet’s second moon was actually a deadly weapon. Tarantulas remarks that this is the start of the end of their planet and starts building an escape ship. However, he was interrupted by ‘Inferno,’ who set fire to the spider. Blackarachnia came to Tarantulas’ rescue at the last minute, and established a link between their minds. Blackarachnia then got access to Tarantulas’ plans regarding the escape ship and all the information required to finish setting it up.
Later, a quantum surge caused the destruction of this second moon, and its impact knocked out all the Transformers in the universe. Tarantulas’ body was then upgraded to a Transmetal form, and he compelled Blackarachnia to drag his body back from the Maximal base while ignoring Megatron’s orders. He was then restored to life with Blackarachnia’s help, and Megatron then summoned him to the battlefield.
While Megatron and Tarantulas fought the Maximals, Blackarachnia dived into some secret files on Megatron’s computer and learned some important things about prehistoric Earth that she decided to keep to herself. Megatron and Tarantulas later questioned Blackarachnia, but she stated that she destroyed all the files and didn’t find anything significant. Megatron ended up getting frustrated and even smashed Tarantulas against a wall in a fit of anger.
Tarantulas then decided to build a new lair, and he was even assigned to check out a new energy source in a cave, along with Blackarachnia and Quickstrike. He decided that this cave would be perfect as his new lair and tried to disinterest the other Predacons in this mission. Blackarachnia was also focused on destroying the mental link she had established with Tarantulas, and she eventually succeeded in doing so. Some Maximals later attacked them, but Tarantulas succeeded in faking the destruction of this cave and then set up a new lair there.
He even installed his equipment and ended up detecting the presence of some more aliens. Tarantulas then set out to investigate, but he was forced to retreat after the Maximals outnumbered him there. Tarantulas returned back to Megatron and declared that he would no longer be working for him. However, he decided to help Megatron and the Predacons figure out the alien site.
He returned there along with Blackarachnia, who discovered that Tarantulas hated aliens through some remnant link between them. Tarantulas then ventured into the alien’s construct along with Megatron and Quickstrike, but was soon betrayed by Megatron who called off their alliance. Tarantulas then decided to help the Maximals attack the alien construct, which sabotaged Megatron’s plans and caused an explosion in the alien ship.
Tarantulas later planted a bug in Megatron’s chair, and obtained information about Blackarachnia being sent to find a new prototype. He decided to follow her and then interrogated her about the information she found on Megatron’s computer. However, Silverbolt appeared at the last minute and saved Blackarachnia from him. Tarantulas later got into trouble with Dinobot, who tried to extract information about Megatron’s plans. Tarantulas did not know much about this and, once again, ended up getting crushed under a boulder thrown by Dinobot.
The Tripredacus Council later detected a huge transwarp wavefront that can travel from prehistoric Earth to present day Cybertron. They then set the agent ‘Ravage’ to capture Megatron, and Tarantulas helped Ravage by taking down the Darksyde ship’s defense systems. Megatron then realized that Tarantulas had been working as a mole all along, while the spider just laughed in Megatron’s face. Tarantulas even gave up the location of some of Megatron’s Energon stashes to the Maximals, but he later went back to manning a transwarp cruiser for Megatron in an attack on the Maximal ship ‘Axalon.’ Eventually, Rattrap tossed some bombs at Tarantulas and blew him up.
After being blown to bits, Tarantulas was put back together by a bunch of ‘arachnoids’, and he later returned to working at the Predacon base under Megatron. Besides this, Tarantulas was also focused on a solo project and was trying to put back the original Decepticon spaceship known as ‘Nemesis.’ He had found it lying at the bottom of the ocean, and Tarantulas was attempting to install a Predacon console in the ship so that it could fly him back to Cybertron.
Tarantulas also worked on numerous missions for Megatron and assisted in the construction of cyber raptors, disruptor cannons, and other deadly weapons.
Once, Tarantulas joined forces with the Predacons to attack the Maximals when they had gotten their hands on Blackarachnia and were going to remove her shell programming. However, Tarantulas accidentally fired a missile that resulted in Blackarachnia’s death, and he thereby destroyed his own creation. Blackarachnia was the love interest of ‘Silverbolt’, who was then determined to kill the mad scientist Tarantulas. However, Silverbolt was thwarted by the Predacon ‘Rampage’, and Blackarachnia even transmaterialized and revived herself.
Finally, Tarantulas joined hands with the Predacons to ‘retake the Ark,’ even though he had intentions of destroying it. Tarantulas used his technology to manipulate Quickstrike into throwing Megatron into hot lava ,while he tried to overload the Ark’s engines. Megatron somehow survived the lava, and emerged from it in a new form. He then punished Tarantulas for his behavior, and the spider fled back to his lair.
Tarantulas later contemplated how the Tripredacus Council’s plans had failed, when the systems in his lair monitored the almost repaired ‘Nemesis.’ He even detected the aliens, who are revealed to be the ‘Vok,’ and learned that they had sent their super warrior ‘Tigerhawk’ to the Earth. Tarantulas first decided to let the Tigerhawk destroy the Predacons and then later captured the beast and disabled him.
He planned to draw out all the Vok’s influences and then reprogram Tigerhawk to serve him and destroy the Ark. Tarantulas even told Tigerhawk that he would survive the Ark’s destruction since he did not have any Autobot or Decepticon origins. He believed that destroying the Ark would even turn Cybertron into a powerful force that might one day even conquer the Vok aliens.
However, his plan backfired when he accidentally drew out the spirit of the actual Vok instead of just drawing out its influences. Tarantulas then tried to ward off this spirit by making religious signs, but the spirit caused explosions in the lab and destroyed a lot of lab equipment. Tarantulas’ body also exploded due to these explosions, and his lair was soon blown to bits. Cheetor later rescued Tigerhawk from the cave, while Tarantulas was presumed to be dead.
Megatron later sent some of his forces to look for the remnants of this lair and even revealed that Tarantulas was the ‘Unicron’s Spawn.’ He came across the ‘Nemesis’ ship at the ruins of Tarantulas’ lair and then once again began using his old spaceship.
Exploring the 2006 Beast Wars continuity
In the 2006 Beast War comics, some sources suggested that Tarantulas was born at the ‘Pit,’ and a glitch during his birth caused him to learn about the alien force that will manipulate the Predacons in the future. However, another source maintains that Tarantulas was one of the agents working for the ‘Tripredacus Council’ for ages. Since he was an essential member of the Council, Tarantulas developed the technology that formed the assassin ‘Predacus,’ which combined the bodies of Tarantulas and four more council members to form a deadly opponent.
Tarantulas used to work with the Council to strive for the future of Cybertron, and they intended to unite as a single ‘purer’ race of beings. With the threat of the Great War looming over their heads, Tarantulas learned that Optimus Prime and Galvatron had died in a confrontation. Many transformers within the army ranks were greatly concerned about this situation, and Tarantulas was sent back to the field to help deal with it.
While Tarantulas returned to the field, an exploration vessel accidentally uncovered the Council’s base. This accidentally changed the course of a transmatter bomb set up by the Council to reformat all of Cybertron. The Council members, consisting of Ram Horn, Cicadacon, Sea Clamp, and Ravage then decided to visit Tarantulas in the field and even confronted Predaking. Predaking was one of the Decepticons in the army ranks who was causing disruption, and the Council Members then took the form of ‘Predacus’ to defeat him.
Tarantulas then met with Megatron and convinced him that Predaking had killed himself out of shame of being involved with Galvatron. However, Megatron was not convinced, and eventually, Tarantulas sniped at him with a stun beam and handed him to the Autobots.
Tarantulas went to great lengths to attain peace and was later pardoned after the signing of the ‘Pax Cybertronia.’ While Tarantulas resided on Earth, he became quite obsessed with the ‘Vok’ force and was quite curious to learn more about it.
He had once even programmed the Predacons’ mobile fortress known as the ‘Arachnid’ and gave it his own personality. Arachnid then became a sentient being that had some of Tarantulas’ features, especially his tendency for cruelty.
What makes Tarantulas so peculiar?
Tarantulas was quite a peculiar being who had powerful ties with none other than Unicron himself. Though Tarantulas often got thwarted by his opponents, he never turned back or gave up on his cause and persisted in bringing glory to the Predacons. His main contribution to their cause was in the form of creating new technology and conducting an array of sadistic experiments in his secret lair.
He even had a reputation for being a torturous butcher and actually enjoyed seeing his victims suffer helplessly as he inflicted pain upon them. Not only did he like to watch his victims in pain, he even wanted to eat them and had elaborate plans on how he should cook their dead bodies. When the Predacons captured the Maximal ‘Nyx,’ Tarantulas daydreamed about ripping her corpse apart and then making a stew out of it in an Energon bath. He was an evil, twisted spider with very strange ways of dealing with his victims, and it was advisable for all Maximals to stay out of his way!
Conclusion
Besides playing an important role in the Beast War story arcs, Tarantulas has also been included in various Transformers video games. He has a widespread presence in the extended Transformer universe and has become one of Megatron’s most unfathomable adversaries. He always operates sneakily and is infamous for betraying others for his own good!