Cheetor

Cheetor is several fictional characters from various Transformers universes.

Beast Wars
Cheetor's original tech spec indicated he was a seasoned and confident warrior always in search of battle with the Predacons, seemingly in contrast to his youthful and impulsive portrayal in the original show. The tech spec released with his Tenth Anniversary Toy would be much more accurate to the show portrayal.

Cheetor is a speed freak and has a penchant for childishness. Everyone treats him like the rookie, which is appropriate, since he has been known to make brash decisions, like risking his life in an energon storm against Optimus' orders. Cheetor seems to have an affinity for Tigatron, as he is the only other with a feline beast mode, and Cheetor will often refer to him as "Big Cat", to which Tigatron would respond by calling him "Little Cat". An unusual trait of Cheetor's is his tendency to have somewhat-prophetic dreams from time to time, such as 'foretelling' Rhinox's words at the end of an episode, Tigatron and Airazor's return, Rattrap freeing him from a web, though where this talent comes from is unknown.

For the first half of the series, Cheetor idolizes Optimus Primal. He tries, with little success, to model himself after Optimus and gain his approval. He also commonly referred to Optimus as "Big Bot" (Optimus at one point calls Cheetor "little buddy"). He later begins to reject Optimus as a mentor after his second Transmetal change, which drove Cheetor to carve out his own identity within the group while still respecting Optimus as his leader; he also seemed to idolize Rhinox as well, willingly trusting Rhinox with his life to help Rhinox activate a new stasis pod. Cheetor had an unreciprocated love interest for Blackarachnia around the time of his second transformation. In pursuit of this, he conducted himself as he had in the beginning of the series with Optimus, by trying desperately to impress Blackarachnia and win her respect and admiration. He became jealous of Silverbolt for his relationship with Blackarachnia. His interest in Blackarachnia faded after she stated she was “sick of his stupid little crush”, although a later comment about how she was really something would seem to indicate that he still felt something for her. Cheetor's character was similar to that of a teenager in the early series, and that of a young adult in Beast Machines. He matures into one of the more competent and dependable Maximals outside of Optimus, becoming second-in-command and leading the team during Primal’s bouts of weakness, instability and over-reliance on the Oracle during the middle run of Beast Machines.

Beast Wars season 1
The Maximals and Predacons crashed on prehistoric Earth, where high energon levels threatened to destroy the crew unless they adopted organic alternate modes. Cheetor was given the form of a cheetah.

Cheetor served as one of Primal's most trusted warriors for season one, battling against the Predacons on many occasions. However, his brashness and impulsiveness often made him a liability as well. On one notable occasion (“The Web”) Cheetor lost a valuable communications device. Determined to redeem himself in Primal's eyes, Cheetor tried to spy on Megatron's new Megacannon, but was captured by Tarantulas and had to be rescued by Rattrap before he was eaten by the spider Predacon. On another occasion, he was goaded into proving his bravery against the Predacons by Dinobot, by planting a series of spy probes. A freak accident with a bolt of lightning meant he was teleported into the Predacon base. Despite being hunted down, Cheetor managed to evade the entire Predacon team and stop the Maximal plan to destroy the Predacon base, realising that an Energon seam ran below both bases and would destroy the  Axalon  as well if the Predacon ship was detonated. During this period of the Beast War other senses to fight after being blinded in an explosion, and reverted to savagery after being trapped in his beast mode due to the Predacons stealing a component from the Axalon.

Cheetor would also form close relationships with the other Maximals, particularly with the two new Maximal protoforms discovered during this time - Airazor and Tigatron. Cheetor looked up to and respected the wiser Transformer- who he affectionately referred to as "Big Cat", being addressed as "Little Cat" in return-, while he gave some of his circuitry to give life to Airazor, resulting in her taking on a few of Cheetor's personality traits and becoming like a sister to him. Cheetor even became friends with Dinobot, being the only Maximal to express actual enthusiasm when Dinobot returned to the team after their apparent victory over the Predacons (It is even implied that he voted for Dinobot to become the new leader after Optimus was briefly captured by an alien ship). Cheetor also had an unnoticed rivalry against Waspinator/Thrust that went up to the Beast Machines series where their rivalry was more focused.

Beast Wars season 2
After Primal's destruction in disabling the lunar alien weapon, the quantum surge of the Transwarp Wave from the destroyed Vok weapon altered Cheetor's structure into a transmetal form, along with Rattrap. After adjusting to his new flight rockets, Cheetor and Rattrap battled a newly Transmetal Megatron, only surviving due to Rhinox's intervention. Along with Dinobot they defended the Axalon against overwhelming odds, until they were saved by Optimus Primal's return.

Cheetor continued to serve as one of the Maximals, witnessing Tigatron and Airazor's capture by the Vok, helping to stop Megatron from returning to Cybertron with a Vok ship, helping to subdue Rampage during his initial appearance, and being present at Dinobot's passing. In the three-part episode "The Agenda", the Maximals teamed up with the former Decepticon Ravage to apprehend Megatron. Sent to locate an Energon cache, Primal and Cheetor were ambushed by Inferno and barely escaped. After Ravage switched sides, the Maximals entered a desperate race to stop Megatron from entering  The Ark  - but they were too late. Megatron shot the stasis-locked body of Optimus Prime in the head - causing a timestorm that threatened all of history.

Beast Wars season 3
The defection of Blackarachnia helped to repair the damage done by Megatron, and Prime's spark survived. However, the Maximals suffered a crippling blow when their base was destroyed by Rampage. The Maximals then moved into the volcano surrounding The Ark.

Cheetor continued to serve as a devoted Maximal soldier, being the first to spot Depth Charge's ship. Shot down by Rampage, he was rescued by the marine Maximal.

Later, Cheetor began exhibiting affections towards Blackarachnia, even going to the trouble of helping her escort the proto-human children home. This greatly displeased Silverbolt and lead to some short lived friction between the two, even though Blackarachnia didn't reciprocate Cheetor's feelings.

After almost inadvertently scrapping Optimus, Cheetor disobeyed orders to help Depth Charge stop Megatron using the Transmetal Driver. Shot into the active unit's overload, Cheetor slowly mutated into a feral Transmetal II werecat. Despite the need for repairs, Cheetor became somewhat fearful of the CR Chamber, as displayed in a dream sequence, mostly in fear that any attempts of repairing his structure with the underlying mutation may cause him to mutate further. Though he tried to suppress it, he transformed fully into his Transmetal II state in order to save Optimus from the Transmetal II clone of Dinobot, the two engaging in a ferocious struggle while in beast mode. Primal then helped him to gain control over his feral beast mode and Maximize at will. It is noticeable that Cheetor's voice became deeper after his change, and also became less willing to listen to Optimus, almost as though he was now an adult who no longer wished to be treated as a child, a state Rattrap referred to as "Cyber Puberty."

As Silverbolt and Cheetor continued to clash over their attraction to Blackarachnia, Blackarachnia did gain an attraction to Cheetor - or rather the powerful new Transmetal body he possessed, which would eventually see her gain one of her own. However, Blackarachnia would put a stop to his affections by declaring she was sick of it (and threatening to shoot him at in the process of this comment). Despite this, Cheetor still appeared to feel something for her, commenting that she was "something special" when mourning her apparent death. Cheetor also became a 'teacher' to the proto-human children he and Blackarachnia helped, as shown in the episode "Go With the Flow", teaching them how to fight Predacons and use basic tools.

After Megatron was captured, Cheetor returned with the other surviving Maximals to Cybertron on board the Autobot shuttle Omega Delta.

Note: Cheetor's Transmetal II body appears more mangled than the other augmented Transmetal transformers (Dinobot 2 and Blackarachnia) as a result of how he inherited the form. His land speed is greatly enhanced to the extent of Mach 2, and though it appears more delayed than the Dinobot clone's, he possesses the auto-regeneration ability that heals all damage sustained to his systems.

Beast Machines
After returning to Cybertron, Cheetor was one of the four Maximals to escape having their sparks extracted by Megatron's new Vehicon army, although he was initially trapped in his original beast mode. Reformatted by the Oracle into a techno-organic body, Cheetor's new weapons included enhanced super speed and a pair of sabers, which could be used to deflect incoming energy blasts, thrown as boomerangs, and attached at the hilt to form a glider.

Cheetor continued to mature and grow during the series, to the extent that he was even appointed second-in-command, Optimus recognizing that Cheetor's instincts were correct when the rest of the team made a bad decision. No longer the 'child' of the team, a role that fell to Nightscream, Cheetor was known to argue with Optimus when the team's original leader disagreed with his decisions, with Cheetor soon becoming the team's military leader while Optimus's link with the Oracle made him a spiritual figurehead. At the conclusion of the series, Cheetor apparently became leader of the Maximals, as well as becoming the new 'liaison' to the Oracle with Optimus's demise.

3H Enterprises
Cheetor was one of the stars of the 1997 Botcon Convention Comics, a story set near the end of season one of the Beast Wars television series.

In the Convention Comics plot, Inferno and Blackarachnia watched as the Predacon scientist Fractyl attempted to invent energon armor capable of protecting them from energon build up. Although seemingly successful, the armor was stolen by the Maximal thief Packrat. Blackarachinia and Fractyl realized the energon armor was flawed and could destroy the planet if it came in contact with large amounts of energon. Inferno pursued Packrat, but since Packrat didn't need to assume beast mode with the armor on, he got the upper hand in the fight with Inferno. Hearing the battle, Airazor, Cheetor and Rhinox joined Packrat. Fractyl convinced Rhinox that the armor was a threat to them all. Rhinox was able to talk Packrat into giving up the armor, which Fractyl aided them in doing. When Blackarachnia arrived with Megatron, Packrat suggested that Fractyl pretend to be attacking the Maximals, who fled. Megatron was impressed with Fractyl's new found battle prowess.

Cheetor appeared in the short lived Transformers: Universe comic book series in his technorganic body.

In the unreleased Transformers: Universe - The Wreckers #4 Cheetor appeared among the Cybertronian troops repelling the Quintesson invasion under the command of Snarl.

Shortly after the reformatting of Cybertron at the end at the end of Beast Machines, Cheetor was amongst those who welcomed back some of the heroes of the Great War (Roulette, Shadowstriker, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker) back to Cybertron. However, he was left helpless when they, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia were abducted by Unicron. After this Optimus Primal was resurrected by Primus as a response, and Cheetor once again served as his right hand man.

In 2005, a toy of Cheetor was released in the Transformers: Universe line which depicted Cheetor as an Autobot named "Night Slash Cheetor" (left). Presumably he would have changed to this form if the series could have continued. He did appear in this form in a flashback in the Transformers: Cybertron series, in a final battle with Unicron's forces.

Although 3H Enterprises losing the licence would forestall the conclusion to the Universe storyline, an explanation of sorts would be found in issue 8 of the Transformers Collectors Club magazine Cybertron/Robots in Disguise, where Optimus Prime told the tale of how Unicron's forces were defeated in one last battle by Optimus Primal's forces, including Cheetor, as Unicron disappeared due to the black hole opened in Transformers: Energon.

Fun Publications
Cheetor would appear in the BotCon Timelines tale Dawn of Futures Past, as a crewmech of the Axalon. Cheetor, Rattrap and Rhinox were members of the crew of the Maximal ship called the Axalon commanded by Optimus Primal, which chased the Predacon criminal Megatron on the stolen Predacon ship Darksyde through transwarp space after the theft of the Golden Disk artifact.

Although Universe ended at issue #3, the flashback of Optimus Prime in issue 8 of the Transformers Collectors Club magazine Cybertron/Robots in Disguise would reveal what happened. In the final battle between the forces of Optimus Primal and Unicron, the Chaos-Bringer had disappeared (due to the events of Transformers: Energon), with Primal's forces barely making it out. Cheetor was one of those seen escaping In this story. He was portrayed in his Universe Night Slash Cheetor form.

IDW Publishing
Cheetor had a biography printed in the Beast Wars Sourcebook by IDW Publishing.

Video games
Cheetor appears in the 1999 Gameboy Color video game Ketō Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Senshi Saikyō Ketteisen.

Cheetor appears as a character in the 1999 video game Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals.

Toys

 * Beast Wars Deluxe Cheetor (1996)
 * The original Cheetor toy was sold with a tech spec which said his function was Jungle Patrol. Cheetor had the largest number of variants in the early Beast Wars line, have one with both red and blue (feline) eyes, and in 1997, a third original version was released with bright green feline and robot eyes. (The feet and lower arms were painted gold.) Cheetor's figure was repainted for the characters of Tigatron and the Japanese-exclusive Shadow Panther.  (Tigatron would get a show-accurate repaint of himself when sold on the Japanese market.)  Cheetor received two post-Beast Wars (1999-present) recolorings; one in 1999 to promote Fox Kids' acquisition of the Beast Wars cartoon (most recognized for its dull yellow color and red spots), and another in 2006 to represent Beast Wars' official 10th Anniversary.  The 10th Anniversary features nearly show accurate colors (excluding its now blue lower arms and feet), and most resembles a black-spotted version of the Fox Kids Cheetor.
 * Cheetor was voted the 7th strangest Transformers Beast Wars figure by Topless Robots.


 * Beast Wars Deluxe Transmetal Cheetor (1998)
 * In 1998, Cheetor and other characters would be remade as Transmetals. Transmetal Cheetor came with a metallic feline form, partially coated in vacuum-metallized gold.  His robot form was made to appear more organic, with colors coming from his original cheetah form.  While Transmetal Cheetor would receive mold recoloring in 2000 when an all-red Fox Kids version was released, his entire mold was retooled to produce a show-accurate representation of the former Decepticon Ravage. The Ravage version of the figure was used to create BotCon 2001 exclusive Transmetal Tigatron.
 * This toy was later slightly remolded into Armada Cheetor, and then heavily remolded into Beast Wars Ravage and Botcon Tigatron.
 * There were plans to redeco this toy into BotCon Cataclysm, but the toy was never released.


 * Beast Wars Deluxe Transmetal II Cheetor (1998)
 * In late December 1998, Transmetal II Cheetor was released, while losing the third mode the toy featured a rocket fix atop the cheetah mode's back. Transmetal II Cheetor was repainted as Tripredacus Agent.


 * Beast Wars Deluxe Fox Kids Cheetor (1999)
 * A slight redeco of the original Cheetor toy.


 * Beast Wars Fox Kids Transmetal Cheetor (1999)
 * A red metallic redeco of the Transmetal Cheetor toy.


 * Beast Machines Cheetor (2000)
 * This toy was recolored black and silver as a Takara exclusive Lucky Draw toy.


 * Beast Machines McDonalds Cheetor (2000)
 * A Happy Meal pack in toy of Beast Machines Cheetor.


 * Beast Machines Supreme Cheetor (2000)
 * The largest toy in the Beast Machines line, Supreme Cheetor stands at 20" tall in robot mode and is roughly the size of a house cat in cheetah mode. Features moving head and jaw with the push of a button, light-up eyes and roaring sounds, as well as forearm missile launchers. Supreme Cheetor was heavily criticized for his overly simplistic transformation, lack of detail compared to other Cheetor toys, and loose parts that hinder poseability. As a result, he is one of a few Transformers toys that has not gone up in monetary value.
 * This figure was based on drawings by Hasbro designer Tim Bradley.


 * Beast Machines Deluxe Night Slash Cheetor (2001)
 * A Deluxe sized toy in black and gold stealth colors, featuring spring loaded swords that snapped down into his robot mode's hands. The mold went on to be repainted into Botcon CatSCAN.


 * Universe Deluxe Night Slash Cheetor (2005)
 * A recolor of Night Slash Cheetor into normal Cheetor yellow with circuitry patterns for spots.


 * Beast Wars Deluxe 10th Anniversary Cheetor (2006)
 * In 2005, the original Cheetor toy was one of the toys selected for the Beast Wars 10th Anniversary toyline. He was repainted in more show-accurate colors. He came packaged with one of the six pieces used to make the Transmutate toy. He was also packaged with a DVD with the Beast Wars episode Equal Measures on it.


 * Timelines Scout Cheetor (2006)
 * One of the Botcon 2006 exclusive figures is a repaint of Cybertron Clocker and Swerve called Cheetor. This figures is supposed to represent Cheetor before he was reformatted into his animal form. He turns into a race car.


 * Titanium 6 inch Cheetor (2007)
 * The upcoming Transformers: Titanium Cheetor is a 6 inch tall transforming model based on his Beast Machines form, and is highly show accurate, unlike the Beast Machines toys. Unlike other Maximal toys in the Titanium line, this Cheetor will be sold with a Maximal symbol base, not an Autobot one.


 * Transformers 3D Battle-Card Game Cheetor (2007)
 * Produced by Wizards of the Coast, wave 2 of their Transformers 3D Battle-Card Game included a Cheetor card. This Cheetor is based on his transmetal 2 appearance in Beast Wars.


 * Universe Deluxe Cheetor (2008)
 * A new Deluxe class mold based on his first beast form in the Beast Wars animated series.


 * Device Label Cheetus/Cheetor (2010)
 * A redeco of the Device Label Ravage figure that transforms into a 2GB USB flash drive.

Transformers: Armada
Cheetor appeared in the Transformers: Armada toy line, a Hasbro exclusive.

Dreamwave Productions
Armada Cheetor appeared as one of Unicron's Four Horsemen in the Transformers: Energon comic book series. His mind corrupted and his body enhanced by the Chaos-Bringer's power, Unicron and his servant sent him and his fellow Horsemen - Airazor Rhinox and Terrorsaur - to attack Cybertron. They devastated much of the planet, before being stopped by Optimus Prime (now in his Powerlinking Energon body) who drove off all four.

Cheetor also was set to appear in the unreleased issue 31 of the Transformers: Energon comic series.

Toys

 * Armada Cheetor with Cliffjumper (2003)
 * The transmetal Cheetor toy was recolored and released as an Autobot. He was partnered with the Mini-Con Cliffjumper.

Animated series
In Transformers Animated, a cheetah appears at the end of the episode "Predacons Rising", paying homage to Cheetor. With the cheetah are a gorilla, a rat and a rhinoceros - each one paying homage to Optimus Primal, Rattrap and Rhinox, respectively.

Fun Publications
Cheetor appears in the two page prequel comic Moving Violations along side Depth Charge,  Ransack, and Crumplezone. In the comic, Cheetor detains Ransack and Crumplezone for a moving violation, but causes extensive damage to the city in the process. As a result, Cheetor is demoted and reassigned to Iacon Central.

After the events of Transformers Animated the Stunticons set up a Stunt Convoy show in the city of Kaon and used it as cover to attempt to break Megatron out of his detention at Trypticon. Their efforts were thwarted thanks to the efforts of Cheetor, Optimus Prime and Sideswipe. The Stunticons were placed in detention with Megatron and an attempt to rescue them was made by the Decepticons Blot, Mindwipe, Oil Slick, Scalpel, Sky-Byte and Strika.

His tech spec appeared on a lithograph sold at Botcon 2011.

Toys

 * Timelines Deluxe Animated Transtech Cheetor (2011)
 * A Transformers Collectors Club exclusive redeco of Animated Deluxe Blurr in yellow with black cheetah spots and a different head sculpt. This toy was displayed in issue 39 of the Transformers Collectors Club Magazine