We've all probably seen what YTV has to say about Cheetor. We know he's a scout, we know his skills are as a pilot/driver (though personally I've never seen any evidence of that) and we know he's supposed to be half of the Beast Wars "father/son" relationship (have you ever noticed how often that theme crops up? It's ridiculous!) But what makes Cheetor an important part of the show? What makes him shrine-worthy?
I still remember the day I got up too early and had about 20 minutes to kill before I had to leave for school. I flopped down on the couch and began flipping through the channels when all of a sudden- what was that! Beast Wars: Transformers? I remember Transformers... I watched, spell bound, as the new generation of Transformers unfolded before me, what an awesome show! An Optimus telling one of his teammates to shut up? An enemy joining with the good guys? Where's that "record" button?!?!
So it was that Beast Wars became a morning ritual for me, and the more I watched it, the more I fell in love with the well-executed characters, gripping storylines, and fascinating animation. Particularly the characters.
We had Optimus, the inexperienced, yet natural-born leader, who somehow always manages to make the right decision.
We had Rhinox, the techno-geek who also happens to possess the biggest freakin' guns I've ever seen! I mean you get that guy ticked and it's Hasta La Vista, Baby!
Rattrap, the smartest mouth I've ever seen, and quite possibly the most experienced 'bot on the team.
Dinobot, a berserker ex-Predacon with a sense of honor that puts the Klingons to shame.
And then there was Cheetor. Obviously a cocky teenager whose only experience with war probably came from watching movies. And totally awesome!
Okay, yes he makes mistakes, and stupid ones at that (i.e. The Web, and Equal Measures, which should not have aired back to back, btw) But he learns from 'em, and comes out more mature because of it.
Optimus, Rattrap, Dinobot, Rhinox, Air Razor, and Tigatron are great characters, yes (well except for Air Razor and Tigatron- they're flat as pancakes) but the kids who watch BW can relate to Cheetor! He's as hyper and immature as we are!
Aside from being appealing to the younger audience, Cheetor has another value to the show, and one most people probably don't even think about. Characters, TV ones especially, need room to grow. When you have a character that is firmly established into one mold (as Rhinox and Optimus are) it eventually gets boring. Dinobot probably had the most room for growth by virtue of his situation, but Cheetor comes in at such a close second, it probably doesn't even matter. Cheetor's character can grow with the season, and change with it without seeming to go outside his "role."
He also often provides a great catlalyst for some amazing character interaction (i.e. everyone's impatience with his impulsiveness in "Equal Measures" and the friction between him, Optimus, and Rattrap in "The Web")
Heroes to look up to are all well and good, but younger audiences also like to see characters they can truly identify with (take Hot Rod for example) Optimus Prime was my hero as a child, but when the movie came out, I found my attention shifting to Hot Rod even before his importance to the story became evident. "Hey cool," I thought, "I didn't know there were Transformer teenagers!" Such made the character that much deeper and effective. So it is with Cheetor.
And the fact that he is really cute for a Transformer doesn't hurt either ;)
So there you have it. Cheetor: the youthful side of the Maximals, an awesome character who doesn't deserve the death HooksX and his lackeys seem to want for him.