Hellbat (G1)

Hellbat is a Decepticon from the Victory portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Member of the Ambitious Screwups Club.

Of all of Deathsaurus's warriors, Hellbat (ヘルバット Herubatto) is by far the most underhanded and maniacal. As a member of the elite Breastforce team, he thinks that he would be much better suited to lead the unit than his commanding officer, Leozack, and he goes to any lengths that he can to prove it to Deathsaurus. Hellbat is a highly accomplished spy, regularly obtaining information that none of his fellow Decepticons are able to, and formulating any number of plans and schemes in his never-ending quest to climb the greasy ladder. He is also a sneak of the highest order, constantly talking behind his teammates' backs and spreading rumors, but he's not sneaky enough to prevent his fellow Decepticons from knowing what he gets up to. It is perhaps not surprising, then, to learn that nobody likes Hellbat, and that they trust him even less than that. In fact, his teammates would all be quite happy to kick him out of the Breastforce, if not for his strangely skilled silver tongue. Hellbat is usually able to talk just about anyone around to his way of thinking just long enough. He would genuinely go to any length to keep his position in the Breastforce ranks, although he'll usually come off as just plain pathetic in the process.

In robot mode, Hellbat has one of the most useful special attacks among all the other Decepticons: with a chant of "Hypnotism, Sleep, Hibernation", he can project mesmerizing waves of sonic energy that weaken his opponents, leaving them open to his influence. His breastplate, Kōmoribreast, can detach and transform into either a bat-like robot mode, or the hand-held "Kōmori Cannon" blaster. Like his fellow Breastforce warriors, Hellbat is also armed with an electromagnetic nunchaku.

So it's a pity, then, that he's kind of a schmuck.

Hellbat can merge with his Breastforce teammates into Liokaiser, forming the left arm of the super robot.

Fiction

Victory cartoon

Voice actor: Yoku Shioya (Japanese)

Hellbat summoned by Leozack to join the Breastforce on Earth after they had already waged several battles against Star Saber's Autobots. Hellbat's first mission took him to the New Energy Resource Research and Development Laboratory in Japan, where he deployed his Kōmoribreast to download information from the lab's computers. Discovered by one of the scientist, Hellbat knocked out the Autobot and human troops that attacked him and fled. He soon met back up with the rest of the Breastforce, and was chastised for being unable to keep his actions a secret by Leozack, who then decided to simply steal the entire contents of the lab. In the battle that resulted, Hellbat faced off against Blacker, but the brawny Autobot overcame the Decepticon's hypnotic waves by stabbing himself in his own leg. The Decepticons were ultimately repelled by a brainwave-scrambler invented by Braver, and when Leozack was chewed out by Deathsaurus for the team's failure, Hellbat silently observed the whole affair, deciding that he would be a much better leader than Leozack was. The New Warrior - Hellbat

Oh come on, give me money for the roller coaster.

Hellbat immediately set about currying Deathsaurus's favour, gathering information on an energy shipment leaving from a spaceport in Nevada. Leozack was enraged when Hellbat went over his head with the information and took it directly to Deathsaurus, but Hellbat won him around by appealing to his own desire to see Deathsaurus dethroned, explaining that they could take the energy for themselves. To their credit, they were able to abscond with the energy, but when Star Saber appeared to chase them down, Hellbat was shot out of the sky and decided to let Leozack fend for himself while Hellbat made plans to blame the whole debacle on his commander. Attack the Shuttle Base!!

After joining in on the Breastforce's attempt to ransom Marine City with a neutron bomb, Tanker Hijack Operation Hellbat put another scheme of his own to work. While the Breastforce kept most of the Autobots busy in a battle over a fleet of oil tankers, Hellbat invaded the under-staffed Shuttle Base and tried to steal information from its computers. When he tripped an alarm, Hellbat simply snatched a random computer disk and tried to flee, but when his way was barred by Galaxy Shuttle, he kidnapped Jean Minakaze and Holi to ensure his safe getaway. The Autobots soon tracked him down to the temporary base he and the Dinoforce were using and rescued Holi and Jean, but Hellbat passed the buck, blaming Leozack and Gōryū for the bungled mission. Hellbat still had the computer disk to give to Deathsaurus, but unfortunately for him, it turned out that all he had stolen was Jean's homework. Rescue Jean!!

When Autobots Mach and Tackle discovered a Breastforce scheme to tap hydroelectric power in Canada, Hellbat didn't fare very well in the ensuing chase, and wound up being lured into the nearby forest and entangled in a cluster of trees. Mach and Tackle Soon after, Hellbat participated in the Decepticons' plan to captured spacecraft in the asteroid belt. A Fierce Battle!! The Asteroid

Schmucks.

A little later, the Breastforce departed Earth for planet Micro, intending to spring the sixth member of their team, Gaihawk, from the Satellite Penitentiary on the planet's moon, so that they could combined to form the giant robot, Liokaiser. Before that mission got underway, however, the enterprising Hellbat decided to launch a series of raids on several of Micro's major energy-gathering facilities. Hiring the mercenaries Black Shadow and Blue Bacchus to aid him, Hellbat soon found he had to triple their cut to keep them on the job when Star Saber turned up to stop them. Rather than risk fighting Star Saber, Hellbat decided to cut his losses and blow up the plasma energy plant they were stealing from, but a parting shot from Greatshot destroyed what little energy he had already been able to steal, leaving him unable to pay the furious mercenaries. Planet Micro - The Mysterious Warrior Upon returning to the Thunder Arrow after this mission, Hellbat was met with threats of violence by the rest of the Breastforce, who were not impressed with his sneaking around behind their backs. Hellbat calmed his teammates by claiming that the energy he had tried to steal would have been intended for the whole team's personal use. The argument settled, the team set about their original goal, and attacked the Satellite Penitentiary to free Gaihawk. While the rest of the team held off Star Saber and his Autobots, Hellbat ventured into the prison to locate Gaihawk, only to have the object of his search be the one to find him, right when he was in the middle of ruminating on what effect the addition of Gaihawk to the Breastforce would have on his standing. Over-compensating to cover up his scheming, Hellbat met Gaihawk with hugs and kisses, and helped him recharge his energy from the prison's main supply. A battle between Gaihawk and Greatshot subsequently erupted, which sent the prison up in flames, forcing Hellbat to transform to jet mode and join Leozack in carrying their non-flying comrades to safety. Rescue! Gaihawk

Oh, this'll bite me in the ass.

When Leozack did not invite Hellbat to the meeting to welcome Gaihawk back to the fold, he panicked, listened in on the conversation, and was horrified to discover that they were planning to kick him out of the team and replace him with an old comrade of Leozack's named Deathcobra, who was already on his way to the planet. Hellbat intercepted Deathcobra before he reached the Thunder Arrow, and petitioned him to simply leave, so that he could remain on the team. Deathcobra, however, was disgusted by Hellbat's cowardly request and swatted him out of the way, forcing Hellbat to draw his gun on him. Deathcobra dared Hellbat to pull the trigger, and to Hellbat's own surprise, he actually did, prompting a firefight between the two. Even as Hellbat squealed that it was an accident, he managed to unintentionally land a fatal shot on Deathcobra, killing him outright. Spotting the Autobot Micromaster Holi watching from a nearby ridge, Hellbat sped back to the Thunder Arrow and blamed Deathcobra's untimely end on him, then led the rest of the Breastforce in a "retaliatory" attack. In the battle that followed, Hellbat and the Breastforce combined into Liokaiser for the first time and actually defeated Star Saber. Unite! Liokaiser

We're wearing him down lads!

Not long after the Breastforce returned to Earth, Hellbat discovered the existence of the Schaeffer Energy plant in America, and the Breastforce led the charge in raiding it. Battle Up of Wrath!! After this, Hellbat let his own schemes and plans take a back seat for a while, and was content to simply participate in a series of missions without any of his typical backstabbing: drilling oil in Antarctica; Fight to the Death!! Antarctic Battle ambushing the Brainmasters in the desert; Crisis! Ambush in the Desert aiding Deathsaurus in laying a trap for Star Saber; A Deadly Battle and raiding energy from a solar power plant. Ginrai Dies!!

After this temporary bout of restraint, Hellbat started looking out for number one again when he had his Kōmoribreast sneak into the Shuttle Base on an information gathering mission, which led him to learn of the apparent death of God Ginrai. He took this report to Deathsaurus, and also informed his emperor of another discovery he had made: the existence of a large energy stockpile in America. He, Leozack and the Dinoforce proceeded to attack a tractor trailer delivering a load of energy to this stockpile, but were easily defeated by the reborn Ginrai, who had been recreated as Victory Leo. Fight!! Victory Leo When Victory Leo again roared into battle to thwart the Breastforce's attempt to pillage the Mount Asama geothermal energy plant, Hellbat was in no rush to confront the feral Autobot, but he didn't have any compunctions about chasing the helpless Jean Minakaze through the plant's corridors and locking him in the exploding building. Awaken! Victory Leo

When Leozack tried posing as Star Saber in order to infiltrate the Shuttle Base and steal information on the Autobot leader's ability to combine with Victory Leo, Hellbat helped complete the illusion by broadcasting a fake message to the Autobots, demanding that "Star Saber" bring the relevant computer disk to him or he would blow their base up with hidden bombs. A Mystery?! The Deception of the Base Bombs After the failure of that plan, Hellbat was next dispatched to a jungle planet somewhere in the depths of space to search for the metal-eating Dorya insects, which he had previously heard about while visiting Planet X. His hatred of the wilderness notwithstanding, Hellbat successfully retrieved the insects and brought them back to Earth and helped unleash them against the Autobots, but the scheme turned sour when the heroic robots discovered that intense cold could defeat the little metal-munchers. In the chaos that followed, Hellbat wound up spilling the insects all over himself, and ran off screaming. The Death-Bringing Space Insects!!

Hellbat's final plot was his grandest: he actually succeeded in locating the lost continent of Atlantis and its massive supply of energy, and took the information straight to Deathsaurus. This proved to be the last straw for Leozack, who gave Hellbat a ferocious beating, until Hellbat revealed what he had told Deathsaurus: raise the continent and use its energy to recharge Deathsaurus's Planet-Destroying Fortress. The Terror of the Giant Tidal Waves The plan succeeded, and with this Atlantean energy in their clutches, the Breastforce and Deathsaurus departed for space, heading right for the fortress. The Autobots pursued the villains, but were unable to stop them from bringing the fortress back online. The Wrath of the Resurrected Giant Fortress! To keep the Autobots busy while the fortress's main cannon charged, Deathsaurus dispatched the Breastforce—combined as Liokaiser—to battle them. In the course of the clash, Victory Leo was able to blast Liokaiser into the fortress's cannon barrel, which drained his energy dry. With his consciousness fading and his body unable to move, Liokaiser could only utter a fading scream for help as he drifted off into the depths of space. Showdown! The Fortress vs the Victory Unification

Victory comic

Hellbat debuted silently, standing behind Gaihawk as he informed Deathsaurus that Leozack had gone off on a solo mission, foolishly believing that he could conquer Earth on his own. Leozack Rumbles Violently!

Later, Hellbat and the other Breastforcers combined into Liokaiser to battle Star Saber on Energy Planet X. When the combiner warrior managed to seize Star Saber, his individual components began arguing over who would get right to destroy the Autobot leader; Hellbat believed he was the one who should be allowed to "switch them off". Star Saber exploited the opening to turn the battle around, and Liokaiser was defeated and escaped. The Star of Friendship, Jean and Star Saber! In their next battle with Star Saber, the Breastforce almost had him defeated thanks to the aid of Deathsaurus and Dinoking, but the tables were turned when Star Saber merged with new arrival Victory Leo, to form Victory Saber. The Strongest Partners, the Combination of Victory!

In their next battle, Liokaiser and Deathsaurus were defeated by the Autobots' "Five Stars of Victory" attack technique, and Liokaiser split back into Gaihawk and the rest of the Breastforce to flee back to Deathsaurus's "Space Stronghold". Shine! The Five Stars of Victory From the stronghold, the Decepticons began a final attack on Earth, bombarding the planet with meteors, but the Autobots succeeded in thwarting their scheme, despite a bit of attempted treachery courtesy of Leozack. At the battle's end, Deathsaurus revealed that the fortress was home to the Decepticon civilians, and that they had been fighting to keep them safe. Struck by this revelation, Star Saber decided that it was time for the Autobots and Decepticons to lay down their arms, and live in peace—the truest victory of all! Heroic! The Victory War

Timelines: Wings of Honor

Hellbat was part of Banzai-Tron's squad of Decepticons sent to Beta-Nine to retrieve some valuable cargo from the crashed Van De Graaff. Hellbat, Banzai and Gaihawk had the young Kup cornered, but Hellbat's hypnotism ability drew the impressionable young bot out. Lucky for the Autobot, a hungry aquatic monster decided to try and make a snack out of Hellbat, breaking the spell and distracting the other two Decepticons long enough for Kup to run for it. Wings of Honor

Of course, millions of years later, Kup's recollection of these events were a little... different.

Toys

Victory

I'm Batmammary.

• Hellbat (Breastforce, 1989)
  • Japanese ID number: D-331
  • Accessories: "Kōmoribreast" Breast Animal

Released only in Japan, Hellbat transforms into a dark blue and white Dassault Rafale fighter jet. He comes with his Breast Animal partner Kōmoribreast, who can attach to Hellbat's chest as armor or be used as the hand-held "Kōmori Cannon" weapon. Hellbat can combine with his fellow Breastforce members, forming the left arm of Liokaiser.

• More information on Hellbat at TFU.info

• Liokaiser (Multi-pack, 1989)
  • Japanese ID number: D-335
  • Accessories: "Kōmoribreast" Breast Animal

Hellbat was also available in a complete six-piece box set of the entire Breastforce team. All of the toys are identical to their individual releases. This release does not have bio/tech spec cards for the individuals, only the combined form.