Rattrap (BW)


 * Rattrap is a Maximal from the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.



It's not so much that Rattrap is a coward... he just doesn't want to die. He's seen enough battles to know the score, so he's not afraid to tell his commanding officer to shove it if he's not fond of the odds. He prefers to sneak around unseen, in gutters or trenches or trash barges or what have you—whatever keeps him out of harm's way. He shouldn't be so worried. When he does encounter conflict, he deals with it masterfully with the arsenal of guns and bombs he keeps on himself at all times. He feels naked without them.

It's hard to like Rattrap, especially if you're his commanding officer. He's sarcastic, irreverent, and rude. Plus he smells (why he smells is a mystery). He's also not the most trusting or forgiving sort, so he's not the best choice to take on a diplomatic run. He'd sooner shoot a Predacon or Decepticon than talk to him. Rattrap would rather be exploring space other than blasting Predacons.


 * Japanese name: Rattle (ラットル, ra-tto-ru)
 * French-Canadian name: Rattrape (original toy), Rattrap (Transmetal)
 * Chinese name (Taiwan): Dà Hūi Shǔ (大灰鼠, "Big Grey Rat"... yep, really big.)
 * Italian name: Rattilus (original toy), Metal Rattilus (Transmetal)
 * Polish name: Szczurotron (loosely translates as "Rattron")
 * Spanish name: Ratatrampa
 * Portuguese name (Beast Wars): Rator
 * Portuguese name (Beast Machines): Ratoeira

Cartoon continuity
He was the best miner in the Vespa system.

Timelines: Dawn of Future's Past
While preparing for an exploration mission on board the Axalon, the Maximal who would later be called Rattrap and his young companion were stuck aboard a space station for weeks, running various errands before their mission could officially begin. After acquiring additional Energon for their trip, they returned to the Axalon where their captain, Optimus Primal, notified his crew they had to travel first to the Alpha Quadrant to rid themselves of some mysterious cargo.

In the middle of Rattrap's objections, the Axalon was contacted by the High Council. The Golden Disk, a historic Maximal artifact, had been stolen by a rogue group of Predacons led by a Predacon criminal who had dubbed himself Megatron. As the Axalon was the closest ship with the capabilities to take down the Predacons' stolen ship, Rattrap and his team were ordered to pursue.

However, before long, their ship was attacked by a mysterious ship (piloted by secret Predacon operatives Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, though unknown to them). After taking some damage, Rattrap was elated to see the Chromia 10, a second ship, arrive and help deter their unknown attackers. However, the Chromia 10 and its pilots were severely damaged in the scuffle before Rattrap was able to destroy the unknown Predacon ship with the Axalon ' s forward guns.

The battle over momentarily, Rattrap's ship was hailed by Megatron's, and the Predacon criminal introduced himself quickly to them before his ship opened fire on the Maximals. The Darksyde disappeared through a transwarp portal, and Rattrap and the Maximals followed.

Beast Wars

 * Voice actor: Scott McNeil (English), Kappei Yamaguchi (Japanese), Orlando Viggiani (Portuguese)

After following the Predacons through a transwarp portal and appearing above a mysterious planet, both ships were damaged in the ensuing space battle, and before both ships crashed into the planet's surface below, the stasis pods carrying the rest of Rattrap's crew were ejected into orbit.



The planet was rich with energon—so much so that prolonged exposure would short out their bodies. The Maximals and Predacons were forced to take organic forms from the local creatures; Rattrap took the form of a (very oversized) rat.

Rattrap was old friends with Rhinox, but was annoyed to be stuck on an unknown planet with a young, inexperienced captain. He continually second-guessed Optimus Primal's command decisions, which made him few friends. Rattrap especially disliked Primal's decision to allow the Predacon Dinobot to join their team, and he made sure to let everyone within earshot know about it.

Rattrap got a taste of his own medicine when Primal went semi-missing in action. Contacting the Maximal base, Primal named Rattrap the group commander in his absence. After a moment of initial indecision, Rattrap commanded capably in Primal's absence (even earning Dinobot's grudging respect). When Primal returned, he offered his compliments as well. Rattrap's response: "Eh, command's a pain in the tail, especially with this pack of hyenas. You can keep it!"



Over time, Rattrap grew to respect his commander grudgingly, with the earliest glimmers showing through when Primal and Rattrap infiltrated a flying mountain that was loaded with supercharged Energon. Primal bravely distracted a super-powered Terrorsaur while Rattrap planted explosives to destroy the mountain. Optimus then got them both off of the exploding mountain with a fearless beast-mode leap off the edge, which ended with them dangling in the treetops far below. Rattrap commented that Primal "did pretty good up there—but don't tell anyone I said so." This first compliment would grow over time, to the point that when Primal was lost in the explosion of the Planet Buster, Rattrap forgot all other concerns.

Rattrap had a number of other adventures during the early era of the Beast Wars: rescuing Cheetor from Tarantulas's lair, nearly getting slagged by a clone of Dinobot, and going undercover as a turncoat. He accompanied Primal to the alien-built Flying Island and provided a crucial distraction that allowed Tigatron to destroy it during the ensuing battle.



Rattrap distrusted Dinobot and insulted him at every turn. Dinobot wantonly returned in kind, constantly bickering with the "vermin". Dinobot and Rattrap's arguments ranged from being a minor irritation at times to causing serious chaos in the Maximal ranks at others. Rattrap's taunts caused a berserk Dinobot to damage the control module of the newly activated Sentinel defense system, which promptly drove the Maximals out of their own base. Under the circumstances, Rattrap's rarely seen sense of nobility and fair play came to the fore; recognizing the predicament as his own fault, he immediately volunteered to stay inside the base and deactivate Sentinel. His considerable skills at infiltration and demolition allowed him to reach the central computer core and order Sentinel to stand down, though very nearly at the cost of his own life.

A second costly incident resulted when Rattrap and Dinobot were ordered to clear rampant wild bean vines growing outside the Maximal base. A prank by Rattrap quickly turned into a brawl between the two. Their struggle continued even when the Predacons launched a sneak attack, requiring Rhinox to exit the base to provide covering fire for them. Tarantulas used the distraction to inject Rhinox with an energon discharge virus, which eventually wore down his systems to the point of near-deactivation. Primal ordered Rattrap and Dinobot to find Tarantulas's lair and retrieve an antidote, commenting: "They'll either learn to work together or they'll destroy each other...right now, I don't care which."

Despite their differences, the two nevertheless admitted to a grudging friendship.

Along with Cheetor, Rattrap's body was mutated into a Transmetal form by the residual energies of the destroyed alien superweapon (which he dubbed the Planet Buster.)

In keeping with the somewhat fluid Maximal command structure, it was Rhinox who later stepped up to assume command after Primal was destroyed along with the Planet Buster, but when Rhinox went offline to search for Primal's Spark, Rattrap took command (though, by that point, Dinobot and Cheetor were his only remaining troops.) He also took the chance to move his possessions into Primal's quarters, which Primal found none too pleasing when Rhinox restored him to life.

Rattrap's relationship with Dinobot was sorely tested when when Dinobot temporarily returned to the Predacon side. For one long moment, as Dinobot was faced with a test of Predacon loyalty at Megatron's behest, Rattrap truly believed that Dinobot was about to slag him. But Dinobot proved unable to kill his erstwhile teammate; he instead turned on Megatron and rejoined the Maximals.

Rattrap was initially glad to have Dinobot back, but would still be giving him grief about his betrayal some while later—not the usual flippant insults, either, but genuine barbs that cut Dinobot to the quick. Rattrap's words helped motivate Dinobot into what would ultimately be his heroic final sacrifice to save the future of the human race. Rattrap arrived at the battlefield along with the other Maximals to find Dinobot damaged beyond recovery. His reaction was perhaps the strongest of any of the team, visibly shocked at seeing Dinobot's near death body collapsed on the ground. The two shared final words of both insult and reconciliation, Rattrap gingerly holding Dinobot's hand as he died. As Dinobot's spark left his body, Rattrap was the first to stand and, with utter sincerity, salute the fallen hero.

After Dinobot's demise, his role as Rattrap's foil was filled to some extent by Silverbolt and later Depth Charge. Ironically, much of his conflict with Depth Charge had him berating the powerful renegade for refusing to be a team player with Primal's Maximals.



When Ravage arrived on prehistoric Earth with the ostensible mission of rescuing the time-lost Maximals, Rattrap was the first to greet him with harsh words and distrust. His fears and prejudices proved well-founded; Ravage betrayed the Maximals to join Megatron's side.

As Ravage's Transwarp cruiser attacked the Axalon, Rattrap used his wheeled beast mode to launch himself out of the base and onto Ravage's ship. Tearing his way through its hull, he tossed a pair of magnetic bombs right into the hands of the startled Tarantulas, who could do nothing but scream as they blew him to bits and destroyed the cruiser's engines. Rattrap bailed out as the Transwarp cruiser crashed its destructive way to earth, having pretty much single-handedly saved the Maximals and their base from destruction.

The next day, as the Maximals tried to infiltrate the Autobot vessel the Ark, Rattrap fired the shot that brought down the Ark ' s shields and—almost—gave the Maximals a chance to stop Megatron's last-ditch scheme to alter history.

When Blackarachnia turned against Megatron and assisted the Maximals in undoing the damage Megatron had wrought, Rattrap was not very sympathetic, nor was he particularly keen on Optimus's attempts at a peaceful resolution to a stand-off with Megatron inside the Ark.



As the Beast Wars dragged on and the Maximals relocated to defend their ancestors aboard the Ark, Rattrap continued to carry out important missions for the Maximal side. Most notably, he manned a "subaquatic stealth vessel" built by Blackarachnia and salvaged the Sentinel command module from the watery wreckage of the Axalon. The mission ended in failure, however, as Depth Charge's unintentional interference allowed the Predacons to seize the module. Later, when the Predacons captured the female proto-human Una to assist in constructing a massive energon disrupter cannon, Rattrap single-handedly rescued her.

When Megatron found the derelict Nemesis and used it to launch an attack on the Ark, Blackarachnia found that Rattrap's sword-tail made a perfect power conduit... once she snipped off the tip. OW.

As the victorious Maximals left Earth in a refitted Autobot shuttle, Rattrap was more than surprised to learn that old chopper face's clone was responsible for saving them, but very happy—they were going home, and they wouldn't have to see Megatron until after they got there, as he was strapped to the roof of their shuttle.

Rattrap should have known that nothing was ever that easy for them.

Pride and Prejudice
Rattrap was possessed of many talents. He was, in his own words, "the best [Energon] miner in the Vespa system", "a stealth fighter, a master marksman, and a demolition expert", not to mention "your basic galactic hero type."

Despite Rattrap's world-weary range of experience, he still retained some deep-seated prejudices. He was loudly vocal in his distrust and dislike of both Dinobot and, later, Blackarachnia, when those two Predacons joined the Maximal team: "The only thing worse than a stinkin' Pred is a stinkin' Decepticon." He was equally loud and unrestrained in his joy on occasions when the Predacons appeared to have been destroyed, even as the other Maximals took a more sober and cautious attitude.

Rattrap was not a bot of high culture; he spent a lot of his spare time playing video games, professed to prefer "watching things explode" over educational pursuits, and frequented the kind of establishment on Cybertron where "the servin' bots are walkin' around minus their torso plates." He had little remorse over flagrantly insulting those different from himself.

Beast Machines

 * Voice actor: Scott McNeil (English), Katsuhei Yamaguchi (Japanese), Alexandre Moreno (Portuguese)



After the Beast Wars ended, the Maximals finally made it back to Cybertron, only to be shot down, hunted and attacked by legions of mindless tank drone Transformers. The drones unleashed a virus on the Maximals, devolving them back into their organic beast forms and erasing any prior memory of the event. Rattrap was hiding in a monorail car when Primal stumbled upon him. Primal's newfound intuition soon reunited the pair with Cheetor and Blackarachnia. Primal then led them to the ancient Oracle computer, which reformatted them into new, techno-organic bodies, curing the virus. In his new form, Rattrap became a large green rat with a "toolkit" on his back, containing such things as flashlights and computer ports. However, the reformatting changed them so that transformation now required a new level of emotional mastery and control, rather than a simple command code. The four Maximals found themselves alone on Cybertron, struggling to understand their new forms while waging war against an army of nonsentient drones controlled by Megatron.

Rattrap's inherently selfish and practical-minded nature worked strongly against him in the new conflict. While his comrades began to learn the new disciplines required for techno-organic transformation, Rattrap badgered Primal to "just give us the command codes already." He struggled in vain to learn the technique for some while. Trapped in beast mode and unable to participate fully in the Maximals' battles, he often became a liability under fire, causing friction in the Maximal ranks. He eventually resorted to using a counter-virus—a transformation enhancer designed by Megatron—but it quickly caused his transform sequences to go berserk until it wore off.



Rattrap finally managed to transform properly when motivated by a selfless concern for his companions...and immediately discovered that not only did his robot mode lack ranged weaponry, but he'd also interfered in an ambush that the other Maximals were planning. Their angry rejections of him afterwards drove him to seek "noisemakers" from the one source left on Cybertron: Megatron himself! Outfitted with a massive armored suit, he nearly came to blows with his fellow Maximals over this "deal with the devil" until Primal arrived and talked him down.

In time, Rattrap learned to make the most of his limits, expanding his abilities with inventive techno-gadgetry and creative weapons such as plant-bombs that ensnared Vehicons in instant-growth vines. His skills at infiltration, hacking, and covert movement ("take the sewers") proved even more useful in the urbanized environs of Cybertron than they had during the Beast Wars.

When Botanica joined the Maximals, she and Rattrap argued fervently, suppressing an attraction that soon surfaced and blossomed into love. When the Maximals were trapped aboard the Grand Mal, the shields cut off Botanica's life-sustaining connection to Cybertron. To save her, Rattrap loaded her onto a lifebuoy and launched it through the ship's shields. The desperate action saved Botanica, but also allowed Megatron to learn the ship's shield harmonics, enabling the Vehicons to bring down the power-depleted vessel swiftly. Rattrap defended his actions to Cheetor and Primal: "I did what I had to do!"



Rattrap and Botanica fell while defending the techno-organic orchard that the Maximals had been nurturing beneath Cybertron's surface, and their sparks were collected along with the other Maximals' by Megatron's drones. When Primal's sacrifice triggered the reformatting of Cybertron, their sparks were freed and quickly returned to their bodies. As they witnessed the newly greened Cybertron and the restored population, Rattrap leapt joyfully into Botanica's arms. So he's a tree hugger. Deal with it.

Universe


Rattrap was among the Maximals gathered at Memorial Spaceport to greet the wayward Autobots Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Trailbreaker, Roulette and Shadow Striker back to Cybertron approximately one year after the reformatting of Cybertron. He welcomed Trailbreaker back in his own unique fashion (involving intoxicants, naturally). Seconds later, Rattrap bore witness as the five travelers were abducted by Unicron.

When Optimus Primal was restored to life and returned to Cybertron with the abductees, some of the Maximals voiced concerns that he might not be the same 'bot they once knew, but Rattrap vowed that this time, he was with Primal all the way.

Not long after, needing to blow off steam, Rattrap headed down to the Undercity. While firing off a blaster at nothing in particular, he was attacked on Cybertron by Blackarachnia, who had been abducted and corrupted by the Chaos Bringer. Rattrap noted that he'd never trusted Blackarachnia, and she replied that he was right not to do so. She was seconds away from delivering a killing strike, but Rattrap was saved by the recently resurrected Depth Charge. After the spider was driven off, Depth Charge started to leave. Rattrap pleaded with him that there was obviously something big afoot, but Depth Charge would not be swayed, taking his leave as the injured Rattrap passed out.

Beast Wars Metals manga


While Rattrap retained much of his sarcastic, obnoxious nature in the Japanese dub of the TV series, he was played quite a bit younger or more childishly irritating.

To piggyback on the popularity of the Pokemon phenomenon of the late '90s, or perhaps just to parody it, Rattrap's beast mode was redesigned to resemble Pikachu heavily for the Beast Wars Metals manga. While many characters received "humorous" redesigns for the manga, Rattrap's remains the most reviled.

Beast Wars

 * Rattrap (Basic, 1996/1997)
 * Japanese ID number: C-5
 * Accessories: 2-part pistol


 * Part of the first wave of Beast Wars product, Rattrap transforms from a large rat to robot mode with a spring-action, one-step transformation. His beast mode "shell" halves each hide a part of his handgun.


 * This mold was also used to make Packrat.


 * Rattle Vs Terrasaurer (Vs pack, 1997)
 * Japanese ID number: VS-5
 * Accessories: 2-part pistol


 * In Japan, Rattrap was available both separately and in a two-pack with the Predacon Terrorsaur. This set contained the pre-redecoed versions.


 * Rattle (Basic, 1997)
 * Japanese ID number: C-5
 * Accessories: 2-part pistol


 * In Japan, the initial releases of Rattrap were identical to the Hasbro version. At the very end of the Japanese Beast Wars line (early 1997), several toys were given altered decos to make them more show-like. For Rattrap, this mainly meant his robot-mode head got a humongous glob of shiny copper paint (that didn't really match his copper plastic in tone).


 * Rattrap (Deluxe Transmetal, 1998)
 * Accessories: Tail-whip




 * Part of the second wave of Deluxe Transmetals, Rattrap transforms from semi-organic robot to a robotic rat. He has a third "beast-vehicle" form, folding his hind feet up into the extending rear wheels, flipping up his front legs, and pulling out a pair of exhaust pipes.  (Eyuw, the smell!)  His beast-mode tail becomes a whip for robot mode.  Despite the show's portrayal, his hubcaps are not removable, nor does he have a handgun.  Transmetal Rattrap is one of several toys notable for being subject to severe chrome-flaking over time.


 * There is a minor variant to this toy: about midway through the production run, a small "catch" was added to the neck's swivel joint to lock his robot head in place in robot mode. This retooled version was then used for all subsequent releases of the toy.


 * Rattrap (Deluxe Transmetal, 1999)
 * Accessories: Tail-whip


 * The first store-exclusive Transformer in the Beast Wars line, Transmetal Rattrap was given a deep blue color scheme. He was only available as a Wal-Mart exclusive, even having the Wal-Mart logo emblazoned on the bubble as part of the design.


 * This toy was later retconned into a Transmetal form for Packrat.


 * Rattrap (Deluxe Transmetal, 2000)
 * Accessories: Tail-whip


 * As part of the second "Fox Kids" Transmetals series, this version of Rattrap was one of the last releases in the original retail Beast Wars line. The toy got a more primary red color scheme, with bright gray robot bits and deep blue chrome.


 * This toy was released in Japan as part of a JafCon convention exclusive set (without changes) along with the "Fox Kids" Transmetals versions of Airazor and Cheetor.

Beast Wars Metals

 * Metals Rattle (Deluxe, 1999)
 * Japanese ID number: C-43
 * Accessories: Tail-whip


 * For the Japanese Beast Wars Metals release of Transmetal Rattrap, the chrome was given a much more maroon tone and the tan changed into gray. Also, the "RATTRAP" tampograph on his beast-mode back was changed to "CYBERTRON" with the Maximal faction symbol.


 * Metals Rattle Special Version (Pack-in Deluxe, 1999)
 * Accessories: Tail-whip


 * The Deluxe Transmetal Rattrap toy was given a white and orange deco and packed in with a 500-piece Beast Wars Metals jigsaw puzzle from Central Hobby.

Beast Machines

 * Rattrap (Happy Meal, 2000)


 * Part of the Beast Machines McDonald's Happy Meal promotion, Rattrap transforms into a technorganic rat modeled more after the cartoon model than the toy. As such, his robot mode does not have normal legs, only extendable wheels. He is very suitable for the younger set, being made of softer plastic and having no removable parts.


 * Rattrap (Little Red Rooster meal, 2000)


 * The McDonald's Happy Meal Rattrap was also released in Australia through the Red Rooster restaurant rai—uh, chain. Like the other three pieces used, it came in four color schemes: the original colors (with opaques replacing the transparents), a reversed red-with-green, a deep blue with very light blue, and a light blue with deep blue.


 * These versions of the mould were retooled from the original, removing almost all arm articulation (and a step in the transformation), plugging up the light piping, and reducing the number of parts and plastic colours used by the toy. Oddly, even though Little Red Rooster Meal Rattrap no longer has light piping he has a red paint ap (on all 4 versions) on his back to simulate the red circle of transluscent plastic on the original's back.


 * Rattrap (Mega, 2001)
 * Accessories: Tail-whip


 * The last release in Beast Machines before that change to the "Battle for the Spark" packaging (reportedly, Rattrap was delayed for redesign purposes), Rattrap transforms into a large technorganic rat. In beast mode, turning his tail moves his head and ears.  In robot mode, he has a flip-down visor and moving jaw.  His robot legs can also fold up so he can use his wheels, which also have flip-out blades.  His beast tail becomes a hand-held whip.


 * This toy was later released as part of the Takara-exclusive Beast Wars Returns line, made available only at Japanese Toys "R" Us stores. So far, it appears that there are no notable differences between the Hasbro and Takara versions aside from packaging.

Beast Wars Returns

 * Rattle (Mega, 2005)
 * Japanese ID number: BR-03
 * Accessories: Tail-whip


 * The Mega toy was later released as part of the Takara-exclusive Beast Wars Returns line, made available only at Japanese Toys "R" Us stores. There are no notable difference between the Hasbro and Takara versions aside from packaging.

Beast Wars 10th Anniversary

 * Rattrap (10th Anniversary, 2006)


 * Part of the second wave of Beast Wars 10th Anniversary product, the original Transmetal Rattrap toy was given a slight deco modification, mainly a brighter gray plus a Maximal sigil on his chest. He came with the right arm to the "build-a-bot" Trans-Mutate, plus a DVD of the episode "A Better Mousetrap".

Timelines

 * Dawn of Future's Past (Multi-pack, 2006)


 * "Axalon Rattrap" is a redeco of Cybertron Ransack, transforming into a Cybertronic motorcycle. Plugging a Cyber Planet Key—or in this set's case, a Golden Disc Key—into the rear portion of his bike mode flips out a pair of non-firing guns.  This assembly detaches to form a hand-held blaster in robot mode.  It's also worth noting that this is the only version of the Cybertron Ransack mold to have the "correct" rear wheel assembly position.  He has his own "Golden Disc Key" to activate his gun.


 * Rattrap came in a boxed 5-pack with "Axalon" versions of Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rhinox and "Darksyde" Dinobot. This set was also made available as a bagged set in more limited numbers.


 * This mold was also the basis for non-toy character Quickslinger and the "Theft of the Golden Disc" video incarnation of Tarantulas.

Merchandise

 * Rattle (candy toy kit, 1997)


 * Part of a set of four Kabaya candy toys, this version of Rattrap, based on the original toy, is an unpainted and unassembled plastic kit that transforms (and partially re-assembles) from rat to robot mode, though much smaller (and cheaper) than the original toy. It is cast entirely in grayish-tan and pale yellow plastics, as are the other three toys in the set: Dinobot, Cheetor, and Terrorsaur.


 * Beast Wars magnet set (1997)


 * The original cast of ten from the Beast Wars cartoon was rendered in adorable super-deformed style for a set of magnets. Awwwww.

Robot Heroes

 * Rattrap vs. Megatron (2008)

Trivia



 * In an extremely strange precursor of things to come in Beast Machines, Mainframe's original concept for Rattrap during Beast Wars was to capitalize on the exposed "brain" of the toy and make Rattrap a deeply flawed character. Originally, Rattrap's scanning and transformation technology was to fail, leaving him basically half-formed, with an exposed brain, wiring, "veins", an asymetrical body, arms of uneven lengths, and malformed organic sections in robot mode.  On top of all that, he was hooked up to a "colostomy bag-like heating cable" to stress his need for life support.  Rattrap's overall story arc would have been, of course, about him accepting and overcoming his near-fatal flaws.  This approach was entirely nixed by the limits of CGI in rendering convincing organic innards at the time...and the fact that his model would have been massively far off from the actual toy probably also factored into it.  However, the idea of a defective Transformer was later revisited in season 2 with the introduction of Transmutate.


 * None the less, Ratrap was often portrayed as one of the most intelligent Maximals - with his knowledge of espionage, hacking and demolitions during Beast Wars cartoon. Following Rhinox's reprogramming as a Vehicon in Beast Machines, Rattrap took over as the resident brain of the team.


 * On Transmetal Wal-Mart Rattrap/Packrat: According to 3H, they were on the phone discussing exclusives with their at-the-time Hasbro contact, when he (the Hasbro guy) realized that the not-yet-released blue Wal-Mart Rattrap could have been named Packrat. However, it was a few days too late to make the change without a massive production delay.  Had he simply been looking at the right wall of his office a few days earlier, which had the Packrat/Fractyl box-set on it...


 * At one point in the series, Rattrap says, "What in the name of my great-aunt Arcee is going on!?" This is an in-joke referring to Susan Blu, who was not only voice director on Beast Wars, but the voice of Arcee in the Generation 1 cartoon series and Transmutate in Beast Wars cartoon.   He was originally going to say the line again when he saw Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia (and she was to reply, "Not your great-aunt Arcee!") in the early script of "Crossing the Rubicon", but the lines were cancelled.


 * In the jovial Japanese dub of Beast Wars, one of Rattrap's most notable "shticks" was that he would constantly break the fourth wall by "smelling" what the audience was eating. For instance, he would randomly announce "Smells like the Suzuki's are having curry".  The Japanese found this very amusing.  The rest of the world; not so much.


 * In Nemesis Part 2, Rattrap mentions he has almost completed the collection of Waspinator parts.


 * By splicing together footage for their promo, Toonami allowed Rattrap the distinct pleasure of shooting Jonny Quest and sending him plummeting to a gruesome demise.


 * Rattrap has the good fortune of being the character in Beast Wars who was shot down the least. Once was by Megatron in "The Probe", and the other time was by Quickstrike in "Tangled Web". And that's about it. Pretty sweet deal, all things considered.


 * Rattrap is the only character who at some point in Beast Wars pronounces Teletraan-I as it was properly pronounced in Transformers G1 (everyone else pronouncing it more similarly to Teletron-I).


 * Unlike the toy, Rattrap in Beast Machines doesn't convert his wheels to legs in robot mode.


 * Near the end of the episode "Code of Hero", while the flight-capable Maximals were doing an air show in Dinobot's honor, Rattrap and Rhinox are handling the controls for the "crematorium" for Dinobot's body - but, oddly enough, the Season 1 Rattrap can be seen at the controls with Rhinox. What probably happened is that the writers weren't going to make Rattrap a Transmetal to begin with, but decided that he would look a lot better as one and went with it.