Baboon

Baboon is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"It always goes wrong when we come to the dessert. Always."

Deep in the jungles of Nirmud, you will find the wise Baboon (バブーン Babūn)... or, actually, you might not. Oh, he'll be there, you just might have a real hard time finding him, especially if you seek him out with ill intent. A practitioner and master of multiple martial arts and an expert in guerilla (ha ha) warfare, he moves silently through the dense foliage like a ninja, striking at foes when they least expect it, and he simply does not give up. He may also toy with his prey a bit, using the strange Bubble Ray projected by his MVP Weapon Babooner (バブーナー Babūnā) to temporarily inflate his target like a balloon (or giant blueberry), making it exceptionally difficult for them to do anything but kind of roll around helplessly.

If you're on his good side however, he is a font of knowledge of the history, folklore and customs of planet Beast. He's always more than happy to sit the younger beasts down and tell them stories of the ancient days. This wisdom serves him well in his role as the Emperor of Nirmud... though he serves as subordinate to Eagle Killer, who had fought on the opposite side of the Great War than Baboon. But he doesn't seem to let this interfere with their duties to their people.

Fiction

Beastformers comic

Baboon was among the Beastformers participating in the war with the Laser Beasts. During one battle, he bore witness to Rabbit Kid and Bombsheep arriving with their Hunters and saving the day. Beastformers VS Laser Beasts

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

• Baboon (Beastformer, 1987)

• ID number: 60
• Pack: F
• Accessories: Spear (usually)

Released in the third series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Baboon is an anthropomorphic mandrill (which was classified as a species of baboon in 1987, but is not anymore) in brown 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 gray spear 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 "F Pack" assortment, and came in a green-grid generic "Cybertron 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

• Baboon (Beastformer, 1988)

• ID number: 60
• Accessories: "Babooner" MVP Weapon (usually)

Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Baboon 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 "Babooner". Speaking of, once again he could come with someone else's weapon instead.

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.)

• Perfect 6-Piece Set (Box set, 1988)

• Accessories: "Babooner" MVP Weapon

Baboon was also part of the "Perfect 6-Piece Set" (パーフェクト6体セット Pāfekuto 6 Tai Setto, the English text on the packaging renders it as "Beastformer 6 Animals Set") multi-pack, unchanged from his original release.

Five of the six slots in this box set will always have the exclusive Crystal Killer Fish, plus the "common" Beastformers Baboon, Cobrander, Eagle Killer, and Shield Dragon. The sixth would be either Demonkey or Little Serow, both of whom were also only available in this set, meaning you'd need to buy two for a complete collection. Thankfully, a panel on the bottom-right corner of the box back tells the buyer which six figures are in that set, so at least it's not blind luck this time.

Notes

• His 1987 release art incorrectly colors his groin-armor yellow, which is what his chest armor should be colored. His 1988 art corrects this mistake.
• His 1988 bio card gives him the nickname "Babu" (バブ).

Foreign names

• English: Manic Mandrill