Baboon

Baboon is an Autobot-allied Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

One more "squashed banana" joke and you get skewered, bub.

Baboon (バブーン Babūn), nicknamed Bab (バブ Babu) for short, is one of the Autobot Beastformers fighting a war on the planet Beast. Born in the jungles of Nirmud, he is known for his unbeatable vigor that lets him overcome any hardship, as well as his knowledge of old folklore. He holds the rank of Emperor of Nirmud under King Eagle Killer, who has unfortunately joined the Decepticon side in the war, and the rank of Staff Officer for Mountains and Forests in the Autobot Beastformer forces. He's an expert at jungle warfare, having mastered the tactic of ambushing enemies then disappearing into the trees like a ninja, and wields the Babooner MVP Weapon that can make any object hit by its Bubble Ray inflate like a balloon.

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 arrivong with their Hunters and saving the day. Beastformers VS Laser Beasts

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

• Baboon (Beastformer, 1987)
  • Beast ID number: 60
  • Accessories: Spear

Part of 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 rubsign on his chest reveals one of three symbols; Fire, Water or Wood.

He came in a green-grid generic "Cybertron Beastformer" box, with a bio card with a line-art character image first used in Hasbro's Battle Beasts cast poster (rather than the painted images of the prior two series). Depending on the "Pack" he came in, there was a chance of his bio card being replaced with a rare "Secret Photo", "Bewitching Serpent Seal", or "VS Holography Mirror" card.

Beastformers

• Baboon (Beastformer, 1988)
  • Beast ID number: 60
  • Accessories: "Babooner" MVP Weapon

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" (バブーナー Babūnā).

He was sold in two similar-but-different styles of boxes. One wholly-generic version, sold in large display boxes like the Transformers releases, advertised the chance for the included bio card to instead be a rare holofoil card of White Leo with a "Burstsun" rubsign in a baggie taped to the back, so you could apply it to the Beastformer of your choice. The more common version has a slightly different box with a peg-hole in the top flap, and has a sticker on the bottom with his name and role on it.

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.... but he was not always actually in it.

One of the six slots in this box set will always have the exclusive Crystal Killer Fish, randomly taking the place of one of the six "normal" figures in the pack: Baboon, Cobrander, Demonkey, Eagle Killer, Little Serow, or Shield Dragon. Given that this set was the only way to obtain Demonkey and Little Serow in the entirety of Beastformers's run, having Crystal Killer Fish replace one of those two would be... frustrating. At least you could find Baboon individually.

Notes

Foreign names

• English: Manic Mandrill