Nightbird (ROTB)

The name or term "Nightbird" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Nightbird (disambiguation).

Nightbird is a Terrorcon from the Rise of the Beasts portion of the Movie continuity family.

Tonight, you will die, with HONOR!!!!!

Nightbird is a sword-wielding Terrorcon, known for her haughty demeanor towards less skilled opponents.

“	"I'm getting really tired of you humans."	”
—Nightbird,Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Fiction

Rise of the Beasts film

Spoiler warning: Plot details for Rise of the Beasts follow. Spoilers expire in 39 days

Voice actor: Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (English), Daniela Calò (Italian), Maëva Trioux (European French), Carolina Vera (German), Clodd Dias (Brazilian Portuguese), Andrea López (Latin American Spanish)

Nightbird landed in New York City in 1994 alongside Scourge and Battletrap to hunt for the Transwarp Key, under orders from their master, Unicron. She engaged the Autobot group of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Mirage and Arcee on Ellis Island, surprising Mirage with her ability to fly using rocket thrusters. The Autobots' lack of effective resistance disappointed her, having hoped they'd be more of a challenge. Her desire for a good fight was almost answered when Airazor arrived, but Scourge ordered their retreat, having gotten the Key and seeing no need to waste time in summoning Unicron. She was present when Scourge mentally communicated with Unicron, and watched when the latter started torturing him for only retrieving one half of the key.

Travelling to Peru, she and the other Terrorcons observed as the Autobots' human allies Noah Diaz and Elena Wallace attempted to locate the half of the key hidden underground. They gave chase to Mirage and Optimus up the mountain roads once the humans began fleeing from a Freezer, believing them to be in possession of they key half (in actuality, their search had been fruitless). In the chaos, Scourge fought Optimus, while Nightbird and Battletrap handled the other Autobots. She attempted to run Mirage of the road, but was knocked off the mountain by an avalanche triggered by Arcee and Wheeljack's confrontation with Battletrap. After Airazor destroyed the bridge between Optimus Prime and Scourge, breaking up the fight, Nightbird noted that the Autobots were fleeing, only for her leader to inform her they wouldn't get away so easily due the corruption he had inflicted upon Airazor.

She was present when Scourge activated the Transwarp Key, generating the structure to open a portal to summon Unicron. During the attack on the bridge by the combined forces of the Autobots and Maximals, she fought to keep them from the Key itself. At one point she swept Noah up and dragged him into the sky, but a hasty spear throw from Cheetor hit her and forced her to release her captive. She and a horde of Freezers had Noah cornered to the edge of a lava pool, however, preparing to move in for the kill... but that was when Bumblebee was airdropped in by Stratosphere after his resurrection, firing off a barrage of blasts her way from above that decimated the Freezers backing her up and allowed Noah to rejoin the battle. Angered, she flew straight up at the Autobot scout to attack him, but this proved to be her undoing. Latching onto her airborne form, Bumblebee used her as a robot shield to protect himself from Scourge's blasts; the other Terrorcon leader seemingly uncaring about his subordinate's own life. He then proceeded to rip one of her wings off and jam it into her spark mid-flight, and the resulting explosion reduced her to nothing more than a shower of broken parts, with her swords being the only remnants that remained intact. Rise of the Beasts

Toys

Buzzworthy Bumblebee

• Jungle Mission 3-pack: Cheetor, Nightbird, and Wheeljack (Multipack, 2023)
  • Accessories: Sword, two-part rake claw blade

Released as part of a Target-exclusive Buzzworthy Bumblebee Jungle Mission 3-pack, Nightbird is a Deluxe Class figure that converts to an unlicensed approximation of her Nissan GT-R R33 in 19 steps. She includes a sword and a small rake weapon that combine to form an asymmetrical spoiler for her vehicle mode. The rake weapon can be mounted to her wrists as a single claw or split into two smaller blades.

Nightbird comes packaged with Cheetor and Wheeljack.

The instructions have a slight error for transforming her into vehicle mode: it says that the panels on her waist are meant to be pushed in as opposed to be being pulled out like on the actual toys.

Rise of the Beasts

• Nightbird (Deluxe Class, 2023)
  • TakaraTomy name: Deluxe Class Nightbird
  • TakaraTomy ID number: BD-04
  • TakaraTomy release date: July 15, 2023
  • Accessories: Sword, two-part rake claw blade

The Nightbird from the Buzzworthy Bumblebee Jungle Mission 3-pack was also available individually at general retail in Rise of the Beasts packaging.

Sunder is gonna have a field day with this one.

• Nightbird (Flex Changers, 2023)
  • Japanese Name: Rolling Change Nightbird
  • TakaraTomy ID Number: BKC-02
  • TakaraTomy Release Date: April 15, 2023

Released as part of the "Flex Changers" line for the Rise of the Beasts toyline, this Nightbird transforms from vehicle to robot with the use of a flexible plastic band, which activates by flipping both sides of the car panels forward to initiate the transformation, with the front and rear hoods forming the remaining body.

Along with the rest of the Flex Changers, Nightbird was first revealed by TakaraTomy prior to being unveiled by Hasbro.

Notes

• Nightbird's alt-mode was first revealed via Steven Caple Jr.'s Instagram account on 6 October 2021, along with the other two senior Terrorcons, Battletrap and Scourge.
• Nightbird's promo art on her mainline release features a different control art than the one seen at the top of the page. It is more similar to a CG render, while also sporting the front end of an R34 GT-R instead of the R33 GT-R used in the control art and movie proper.
• Nightbird is one of the few Cybertronians in any of the films capable of flight in robot mode despite lacking an aerial vehicle mode.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Nightbird (ナイトバード Naitobādo)