Night Owl

Night Owl is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

♪Workin' on some night moves...♪

He is the terror that flaps in the night. He is the soggy toothpick umbrella that's fallen into your drink. He is Night Owl (ナイトアウル Naito Auru), expert in nocturnal aerial combat. Though not a particularly strong fighter, he is a deadly one thanks to his tremendous speed and the element of surprise. His MVP Weapon, the Night Sabel (ナイトサーベル Naito Sāberu) blade, enhances his already keen vision with infrared light, letting him spot targets a hundred kilometers away. He then takes to the air, reaching speeds of 500 kilometers an hour, and strikes his unsuspecting foes with a volley of carefully-aimed micro-missiles from his chest armor. He works well with fellow perfectionist Junior Dragon, who distracts and confounds their target so Night Owl can swoop in and finish the job with style.

Following the war, the pair returned to their shared homeland of Agos, where Night Owl rules as King with Dragon as his subordinate Emperor. And true to his name, Night Owl is indeed a night owl, enjoying the quiet and solitude. He does his best thinking in the middle of the night, making plans and carefully plotting strategy. When he's feeling slightly more social, he tends to show up late at poolside bars, casually drinking at the counter while looking all suave and classy and aloof.

There is one area where his cool, collected demeanor fails him, and that's when it comes to his fellow bird-beasts. Frankly, he can't stand them. And that Devilbat guy. Yeah he's a flying mammal, but Night Owl really hates him.

Fiction

Legends comic

In 2038, the then-peaceful Beast was invaded by Galvatron II's Decepticons. Night Owl was part of the joint Beastformer-Laser Beast alliance that fought against the invaders. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 3

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

• Night Owl (Beastformer, 1987)

• ID number: 46
• Pack: F
• Accessories: Axe (usually)

Released in the third series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Night Owl is an anthropomorphic owl in blue robotic armor. The Battle Emblem on his chest reveals one of three symbols when warmed up; Fire, Water or Wood.

He usually comes with a copper axe weapon marked with the same ID number as on his back. However, Beastformers is notorious for toys coming with someone else's weapon; it's unclear if this was just originally poor QC, but in the sequel series, this semi-random weaponry was actually turned into a "gimmick".

He was only available in the "E Pack" assortment, and came in a green-grid generic "Destron Beastformer" box. He came with a bio card with a comic-style character image on a jungle backdrop, though there was a chance his bio card would instead be replaced with the rare "VS Holography Mirror" card featuring Green Chameles and Platinum Tiger.

Beastformers

• Night Owl (Beastformer, 1988)

• ID number: 46
• Accessories: "Night Sabel" MVP Weapon (usually)

Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Night Owl was given a straight re-release with new packaging and a new, more filled-out bio card with corrected coloring. This new card also gave his weapon, now branded an "MVP Weapon", the name "Night Sabel". Speaking of, once again he can come with someone else's weapon rather than his own.

He was sold in the second assortment of individually-packed Beastformers, with a peg-hole in the top flap, and a sticker on the bottom with his name and role on it. This series did not have any kind of "rare card" random pack-in promotion.

Late in the run, the "mood ring" styled rubsigns were replaced with new rubsigns that revealed full-color Fire/Wood/Water images on black backdrops. (These rubsign variants also happened at the same time in the Hasbro Battle Beast version of the line.)

Notes

• For years, Night Owl's name was rendered in English fan sources (including this one) as "Knight Owl", which is the name of the Hasbro Battle Beasts version of the character; "knight" and "night" are homophones and thus use the same katakana (ナイト naito). But while the bio-less Battle Beasts line went for the pun on the term "night owl", the Beastformers bio went with the very literal use of the same, thus we now render his name as "Night Owl".
• His 1987 poster-checklist art incorrectly shows him with a silver weapon. His 1988 release art corrects this mistake.
• His 1988 bio card also gives him the nickname "Night" (ナイト naito, obviously).

Foreign names

• English: Knight Owl