Like the Battle Beasts line where Pirate Lion is the obvious number one Beast and leader of Planet Beast there is a, less known, Hierarchy among the Laser Beasts as well. In this post that order is explained based on the original Japanese document which was an insert that could be found in (some of) the Laser Beasts Box sets.
Underground Kingdom (TAKARA)
According to the story line that introduced the Laser Beasts in Japan these Beasts belonged to the Underground realm on Planet Beast. This Underground Kingdom was ruled is ruled by an Emperor, their leader. With that this Emperor of the Underground Kingdom is the opposite, or dark side, of what White Leo (Pirate Lion) is on Planet Beast being the leader of the good guys. The Battle Beasts VS Laser Beasts box set that was released in Japan already showed this conflict but it might also have been Takara´s answer to the fact that the connection to the Transformers line was abandoned earlier. With the division of the Battle Beasts into the two factions; Autobots vs Decepticons which was part of the release story for the Beastformers (Battle Beasts) in Japan.
Which made that the Laser Beasts, that´d been living Underground on Planet Beasts for years, became the new enemies of the Battle Beasts. They tried to escape the Underground, explaining the drills as part of their vehicles arsenal, and were more advanced Beasts resulting in Laser Guns instead of the good old weaponry of the Beasts that lived above them.
Shadow Warriors (HASBRO)
Outside of Japan this story of the Underground Kingdom and thus the Hierarchy was unknown, like the Planet Beast story line, because Hasbro decided to introduce the Laser Beasts (again) in their very own way. Because according to their story these new Beasts were called Shadow Warriors and they suddenly (?) arrived in the Jungle Habitat of the Battle Beasts to Battle for supreme rulership.
So even though there was a well thought out story line for the Battle Beasts AND Laser Beasts in Japan Hasbro clearly approached it differently resulting in the fact that for the US and EU market these new Beasts seemed to have come a bit out of nowhere coming with strange accessories. While from the Japanese perspective with the background story a lot more designs, like the drills and maybe the sleds (which might´ve been mine related vehicles(?)), do make sense. But this is something for later let´s return to the Hierarchy of the Laser Beasts.
Emperor of the Underground Kingdom
The number one Battle Beasts was also the leader of Planet Beast but from the Japanese perspective, the US influence from Hasbro, might´ve gone a bit to far to also use this theory for the Laser Beasts because in that case Blue Eagle would´ve been their leader… That´s not the case and from a certain perspective it would´ve made sense if Brown Lion had become their leader as opponent of White Leo but it was Tiger Burn who received the legendary title of; Emperor of the Underground Kingdom.
And with their intentions to rule over the whole of Planet Beast it´s clear the Laser Beasts came with a mission so there was a clear Hierarchy among them to defeat the Beastformers.
An impressive structure of one leader, the Emperor, and various other positions arose. Let´s take a look at this because it´s the structure found on the Japanese pamphlet;
What´s shown is clearly a pyramid kind of structure where the Emperor (Tiger Burn) is the Beast with the main importance and it´s accompanied by two Beasts Scope Cougar and Skull Grotess both having an important role as well. From Skull Grotess onward it is were the whole branching starts and seems to become a bit more complex. Looks like a well thought out structure, in order to defeat the Beastformers. But apart from the structure and the Beasts that most BB Collectors and fans do recognize for the majority that´s it because it´s all in Japanese.
Luckily years ago this pamphlet was already translated by a fellow collector resulting in the following translation of the Japanese pamphlet;
(IMPORTANT: The translation of the piece above is not 100% accurate as some title/position translations have been adjusted to make it more understandable. Hopefully in time there will be a 100% solid translation but until then this should be helpful to understand what´s going on).
Hierarchy Explanation
Tiger Burn (Emperor of the Underground Kingdom) is accompanied by it´s Special Advisor; Scope Cougar and it´s Attack Commander; Skull Grotess. Which makes that Skull Grotess, probably considered one of the most awesome/rare Laser Beasts, plays a crucial role in the war against the Beastformers as leader of all the Battle Divisions. There are 4 main leaders which operate directly under Skull Grotess as Captains/Commanders of their own Battalions knowing;
- Strong Hurricane,
as Special Unit Captain of the Shield Battler 6 (Special Forces) - Skybat
as Aviation Battalion Captain (Air Force) - Slag King
as Ground Battalion Captain (Ground Force) - Dino Gator
as Underground Battalion Captain (Underground Force)
The Underground Force division might be a bit remarkable but again with the background story of the Laser Beasts coming from the Underground Kingdom AND having Beasts within this Battalion who live underground or submerged it makes sense.
Within each Battalion as the translation shows there are Beasts with various specialties present in order to obtain information and to Battle on all terrains, Land, Water and Sky.
The Laser Beasts clearly came well prepared and with a solid strategy/structure to take over Planet Beast!
This was the Twelfth AND Final post (12/22/2019) for the ¨22 Project¨ dropping a new Post/Page/Update on the Beastformers Blog every 22nd of the Month in 2019. For some collectors this was probably old news but it could´ve explained a few things here and there with the newly obtained insights as the translation of the hierarchy had been around for years already. But as with most subjects it´s scattered information that was all over the place so hopefully it´s more easy to find and consult now with it being out here on the Beastformers Blog. To those who didn´t know about it it´s probably been an eye opener and it gave an already awesome toy line even more meaning.
To be honest there was actually a completely different subject, with much more impact, planned to be released here as the final post for this 22nd Marathon but due to some recent developments and the protection of some sources it´s better to hold off in order not to risk anything that could influence the outcome. Sorry for this vague description but sometimes in order to keep more awesomeness coming to the Beastformers Blog it´s needed to keep silent until the research is done… To be continued.
This year 12 new Posts, Pages or Updates have been released on the Beastformers Blog and The White Rabbit managed to make all those deadlines (almost always) in time. It´s been a struggle in some cases but in the end it´s enriched the already impressive source of information about the Battle Beasts line here on the Beastformers Blog even more. Did you enjoy it?
Depending on the results of the Poll The White Rabbit might consider to start a new marathon next year but that´ll be decided later. What is sure is that this was the last post of 2019 on the Beastformers Blog. Thanks for your continues support and checking back for new posts every 22nd of the month this year.
Enjoy the Beasts!
The Beastformers Team
Special thanks to White Leo for the translation of the Pamphlet, Bachamn for the upgrade of the original pamphlet for Littlerubberguys and all other fellow collectors who´ve been helping with some translation work or input in regards to this post.
Beastformers Blog 
Pingback: Renaming the Laser Beasts | Beastformers Blog