Beast Wars Inferno

Robot Mode: As a robot Inferno is a dead ringer for his TV incarnation. Like most Beast Wars toys he is very posable and features pretty much everything you saw on TV, including the part where his behind opens up to reveal a rocket thruster with spinning propeller blades. He can store his gun in the ant head on his chest. The only drawback in this mode: Once he takes the gun out, the ant head becomes a little unstable. Apart from that, no complaints.

Beast Mode: Inferno becomes a fire ant. I'm not a hundred percent into this mode, because his robot arms and legs don't really fold away properly, giving the whole thing a somewhat constructed look. Still, it does look like a fire ant, so mission accomplished.

Remarks: "For the Royalty!" Inferno had some of the best lines in the entire TV show, including the distinction of being the only one who could get away with calling Megatron "My Queen!". A former Maximal reprogrammed into a Predacon psychopath with a little too much Ant in him, Inferno was definitely one of the most memoriable characters of Beast Wars.

The toy does a very good job of depicting this cool character. His gun doesn't look exactly like it did in the show, but everything else fits. Inferno is a mega-sized toy, bigger than many other Beast Wars figures, which also fits in with how he was shown on the screen.

To sum it up: "Burn, traitor! Buuuuurn!" if you don't buy this toy for your Beast Wars collection

Rating: B+

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And for a second opinion the review by guest reviewer Tobias H:

Prelude: Of all the Transformers who have crossed my path in my many years as a fan, Inferno might just have the most unusual character of them all. In a very strange and annoying way he’s utterly dedicated to getting each job he’s given done, even if it were to cost him his life. This overdeveloped sense of duty and his high skills and great strength as a warrior are the reason why Megatron tolerates the quirks of this super soldier among the Transformers. Inferno tends to address Megatron as “my Queen” or “the Royalty”, which kind of annoys the Predacon leader somewhat.

But these annoying habits are what makes Inferno so appealing and charming to me as a viewer. He is a very funny original among the Transformers. Inferno may not be the sharpest knife in the Predacon drawer, but he is a character who appeared in all three seasons, always good for a laugh and a good fight.

Robot Mode: Inferno is a figure of the Mega-class, which more or less corresponds with today’s Voyager-class. Meaning he is a good deal taller than most of his fellow Predacons. That’s not a problem, though. His size as a figure is pretty faithful to his size in the TV series.

Inferno is also very faithful to his animated version in other ways. He is highly detailed and very posable, just like most other figures of the Beast Wars line. Only his balance is slightly below the series’ very high standard, but the reason for that is simply the fact that he has a very big behind, which very much shifts his centre of mass to the rear. Despite that, though, it’s still possible to put Inferno in lots of dramatic poses.

Colour-wise Inferno is mostly a bright red. The figure also has some highlights in black and green, though, as well as a very TV-faithful grey head with Inferno’s typical manic grin. A few of his body parts are also made from semi-transparent red plastic, which enhances the chitin-like appearance of Inferno’s body. So absolutely no complaints on this front.

Unlike many other insect Transformers from the Beast Wars line Inferno doesn’t have to grapple with that group’s characteristic problem of where to put the many insect legs in robot mode. Two of Inferno’s insect legs change into his limbs in robot mode, while the additional pair of legs is safeoly stored on his back, where is doesn’t interfere with his looks at all.

The Predacons’ super soldier is equipped with two weapons. One of those is probably meant to be the flame thrower he uses in the series. The toy version of that weapon fires a missile, though, which is actually one of two removable insect leg elements. The resemblance to the flame thrower from the series isn’t exactly overwhelming, but you can guess what it’s supposed to be. His second weapon is a kind of grappling claw, which is made from the mandibles of his alternate mode. The interesting thing is that both weapons are fastened to his forearms, which really doesn’t look like Inferno’s holding them in his hands. Would it have been too much to ask to have a proper grip for the weapons?

Inferno also features a very special gimmick that was frequently seen in the series as well. His enormous rear end opens up like a flower and reveals a rocket hidden inside it. There is a little lever on the side which causes the ‘flower petals’ to spin around like a rotor. The first time I saw this gimmick in the TV series I had to laugh out loud. A Transformer who flies by way of a rocket fastened to his ass, that’s a very strange concept indeed. You get used to it pretty quickly, though, and once I got the toy version of Inferno I was really looking forward to seeing that gimmick brought to life.

All in all Inferno has a robot mode that is very faithful to his TV appearance and despite some minor faults he offers a lot of play value. I’m very much satisfied with this robot mode.

Alternate Mode: In beast mode Inferno transforms into a - compared to the robot mode - very large fire ant. Just like in robot mode his primary colour is red, but you can see the same black and green highlights here as well.

The legs of the ant are fully posable, which is very good on one hand, but on the other it does lead to a certain amount of instability for this insect. The body tends to drop down and rest on its belly. That’s not a major thing, though, as you barely notice it and with some repositioning of the middle pair of legs you can prevent it, too.

Apart from the legs you can also move the ant’s mandibles by way of a small lever on the head of the beast. The entire apparatus is put together from Inferno’s weapons, by the way, which are now part of the ant’s head.

There’s not much more I can write here. Inferno’s alternate mode looks pretty realistic and I can imagine that people who are scared of insects might just feel a chill or two when looking at it. So all I can really say here is this: A very well-done alternate mode.

Conclusion: I got Inferno courtesy of ebay seller thetoyaddict1, so thanks to him. Another thank you goes to my good friend Sonja J., who was there to receive the package for me.

So what can I say in closing about Inferno? The red elite soldier was one of my favourite characters in the Beast Wars TV series. His strange behaviour towards Megatron was always good for a laugh, while on the other hand he was also one of the best fighters the Predacons had in their midst. The toy manages to reflect all that.

Inferno is a great figure and I can whole-heartedly recommend him to everyone who liked Beast Wars even a tiny little bit. The figure conforms to the high Beast Wars standard in terms of detailing and posability and offers a whole lot of play value, too. So when you’re feeling sympathetic to giant fire ants with a penchant for monarchy, I can only recommend adding this figure to your collection. Sure, Inferno has a few minor faults, but those are easily disregarded.

Rating: Inferno is great, so he gets a B+ from me.