Nightstrike

Nightstrike is a Decepticon from the Robots in Disguise portion of the Aligned continuity family.

I'm Man-Bat.

If you met Nightstrike, you might be impressed by how polite and mild-mannered he is. Of course, that's offset by his monstrous, bat-like visage. Less obvious than either of these things are his ability to use his sonic scream in order to stimulate the fear processing centers of his victims' brains, and his vampiric ability to drain them of their energon. He may tell you he's simply doing what he needs to survive, but Nightstrike will still readily drain the life out of whomever he ends up trapping in their own nightmares.

Fiction

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Voice actor: Tom Kenny (English), Yutaka Aoyama (Japanese), Luca Catanzaro (Italian), Christoph Banken (German)

The Dracula to Steeljaw's Wolfman.

Nightstrike was interred on the prison ship Alchemor, until it crashed and he was released from his stasis pod. Later, he would invade the Autobots' scrapyard, where he abducted one of Chop Shop's spiders, dragging them off to his cavernous layer. Though they quickly lost both his and his victim's signal, Bumblebee and his team did discover his location. However, he was able to capture them all in short order, including the Autobots' human ally, Denny Clay, who was both not affected by Nightstrike's powers and possessed no energon for Nightstrike to feed upon. Undeterred, Nightstrike plunged the rest of his captives into vivid hallucinations based on their worst fears while he prepared to feed.

Olly olly oxen free!

Denny managed to convince Nightstrike a rescue party was on its way, allowing his son Russell to free him while Nightstrike "prepared" for their arrival. However, the Decepticon returned in short order, causing both humans to run distractions while the other worked to free the Cybertronians. Ultimately, Nightstrike was defeated when the freed Autobots disabled their audio receptors, allowing Grimlock to dispatch him in short order. Even Robots Have Nightmares

Nightstrike's stasis pod was later taken back to Cybertron by Optimus Prime, Windblade and Ratchet. Decepticon Island (Part 2)

Games

Nestlé Arcade

Nestlé Arcade

Toys

Legacy

File:TF-Legacy-United-Nightstrike.jpg

• Star Raider Thundertron / Star Raider Nightstrike / Star Raider Calcitron (Multipack, 2024)

Legacy United Nightstrike is a redeco of Siege Ratbat, transforming into a "shield". This flattened box mode is theoretically compatible with Siege Soundwave, but in practice it is slightly too large to fit into his chest compartment without bending the clear plastic door. He can, however, attach to Soundwave and other figures as some sort of shield via 5 mm post. He can also use the two slots on Thundertron's right shoulder to perch on it, like how parrots are shown in pop-culture depictions of pirates. The alternate mode appears to be designed to look like a color-inverted Jolly Roger, which is hilarious.

He was only available packaged with Star Raider Thundertron and Star Raider Calcitron as part of the Walmart exclusive Star Raider Collection. Unlike most multi-packs, Nightstrike and his box-mates are packed in an upright Leader-sized window-box that's more akin to packaging for a single figure, rather than the usual more horizontal boxes used for multiple-figure sets.

This set went up on pre-order on Walmart's website July 19, even though the set was available at Asian retail before any official acknowledgement by Hasbro..

Merchandise

Tiny Titans

"Releasing Control Art Restriction Systems 3...2...1. Approval of situation A recognized; commencing the Cromwell Invocation. Ability restrictions lifted for limited use until the enemy has been rendered silent."

• Nightstrike (Tiny Titans, 2016)
  • Series: 6
  • Number: 7/12

Part of the sixth and final blind-bagged assortment of Tiny Titans, this small, soft-plastic figurine depicts Nightstrike in his not-seen-in-the-show robot mode.

He comes with a trading card with a scan-badge for the Robots in Disguise mobile game, which unlocks a random amount of Energon "currency" and a randomized bonus power-up item.

Notes

• Nightstrike was first seen briefly months before his episode's debut, in the first Transformers Adventure title sequence, using footage taken directly from "Even Robots Have Nightmares".
• Nightstrike's robot mode did not appear in the cartoon; the Tiny Titan was the first indication of a non-bat mode.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Nightstrike (ナイトストライク Naitosutoraiku)