I’m curious to see who the ultimate fan favorite character is from the Beast Era... because I can only do 10 options for every poll, we’ll give each side from each series their own poll, and then take the top two from those and do a final one.
This is only for who you think has the best characterization, story arcs, design, and special abilities... not what your favorite figure is  

Alright, let the good times roll!

 

I’m Glad Dinobot was in the Maximal poll; I’d be way too torn if he wasn’t. That might be a more interesting though- after removing the obvious answers, who shines?
I just had to go with a Dinobot though. I adore them all but he resonated with me a lot as a kid and I can recall instances of drawing strength in solace from his character or being able to face fears just by channelling a bit of Dinobot who would never back down or cower. He could also admit when he was wrong and was willing to accept the consequences which is a quality I also believe he taught me. Pretty sure I learned how to be introspective from watching him as well.
So despite him not actually having that much screen time in the grand scheme of things, who he was, how he was and what he did were the most meaningful and impactful aspects of the show for me.

 

Dinobot for me as well. I just feel he had the most impact story arch. I think it hit me more than any other death in the transformers media. Even the death of Optimus didn’t resonate as hard for me... but I was more a comic fan and was forewarned about the movie. Where as I was pretty isolated when experiencing Beast Wars so it was all new and unspoiled.

 

Cheetor was my fav always. Although if Blackarachnia was added to the list then I'd vote for her though  

 

Silverbolt
Rhinox
Primal
In no particular order.

 

She’s on the Predacon poll  

Only reason I put them on the polls I did was for recognition, and so each side would have the same amount... plus, Dinobot II is included in the Predacon poll, but I personally prefer Blackarachnia as a Maximal.

 

Ahhh this is too difficult.

I picked Primal because I figured he'd be under-represented since he's the leader. He was such a chill guy and underwent significant change as the series went on, very out of the ordinary for leader types in TFs.

 

Dinobot is winning the poll so far, what a surprise.

 

Rattrap

 

Shhh, don’t manipulate potential voters  

 

I went with Rhinox but I genuinely love almost every character here.

 

I voted Depth Charge just because I have a personal bias towards aquatic transformers. There aren't too many of them.

Also you forgot Transmutate and Blackarachnia in the poll.

Transmutate: Maybe you left this one off intentionally because she was only in one episode and couldn't transform.

Blackarachnia: She did switch sides and join the Maximals in season 3 so I feel like at least her TM2 form should be counted as a Maximal.

Also Tigerhawk was technically both Tigatron and Airazor so I kinda feel like including him is a cheat where you can vote for two characters in one.

 

I think they were all distinct and enjoyable and memorable.

 

Dinobot for sure. Although I think a case can be made for many of them for sure.

 

Looking back, I liked Depth Charge the most and was disappointed that he didn't get more focus, but the Maximals had a lot of strong characters.

Dinobot and Rattrap were the all-stars of the team - their dynamic is something that the franchise never saw before, and honestly the good guy faction hasn't seen it since. Neither were your steretypical Autobot/Maximal, and yet the way they locked horns really added to the team dynamic.

Optimus may not have had the spotlight as much as someone like Dinobot, but he set the bar for Optimus depictions. He genuinely believed and embodied the traits that G1 Optimus did, but he wasn't put on a pedestal. He was human, for lack of a better word. If we're not doing an Animated-style rookie Optimus or a battle-hardened killing machine like Movieverse Optimus, then Optimus Primal is a good character to draw on.

Back to Depth Charge, I've got a weakness for vengeful, solo vigilante-type characters. Batman used to be my favorite superhero growing up, and the Punisher fills that role today. Depth Charge fills that role, of the person who suffered a horrific event in their past and decided to do something about it. They tend to be more driven than the average hero, more dedicated to the mission, with very little in the way of qualms of what society thinks of them. In an age of moral posturing and self-doubting ditherers, that's something you don't see too often. It helped that a lot of his appearances involved saving somebody's backside.

 

That's just prime

 

It's a tough question and a case could be made for any of them but my favorite of the team is Rattrap. That being said, Tigatron and Airrazor are very underrated characters IMO.

 

Depth charge hands down for me

 

I only went with the main characters... while Transmutate was important for her episode, she really didn’t have residual effect thereafter. It’s the same reason I didn’t include Ravage or the Tripredacus Council.
As for Blackarachnia, since the end result is to have the two winners from each poll gathered together into one mega poll, there’s really no need to have the same character across the board due to technicalities... plus, I’m only allowed 10 options. Although I prefer Blackarachnia as a Maximal, I think she’s undeniably more remembered as a Predacon, particularly because Beast Wars is more beloved than Beast Machines.
As for Tigerhawk and Dinobot II, I think they’re only related to their past selves in soul and name only... besides for their revelations, they were pretty much separate characters with their own arcs.

 

So then why aren't Dinobot, Silverbolt/Jetstorm, Waspinator/Thrust, and Rhinox/Tankor restricted to one poll as well?

Yeah and three of those options are the same two characters.  

Not really. Tigerhawk was shown and said to be Tigatron and Airazor's sparks fuzed together. His personally leaned more on the Tigatron side even having the same voice actor portraying him with the exact same voice Tigatron had. The Maximals treated him as an old friend returning, he even had Tigatron and Airazor's memories of them already. It's just a new body.

TM2 Dinobot was suppose to be a clone, essentially a new brainwashed version made to be loyal to Megatron… however after Rampage is killed you can clearly see him regaining memories and personality traits of the original Dinobot. Something that really should not have happened if he were a totally unique character since he wouldn't have existed to have any of those memories. He was essentially a mind wiped Dinobot in a new body but was actually the same Dinobot the entire time. As for having his own arc... he pretty much died exactly the same way that the original Dinobot did.