Nightbeat (G1)

This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.

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

Nightbeat is an Autobot Headmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Nightbeat in: "The Mystery of the Jaunty Irish Jig!"

Nightbeat, a self-declared detective, loves mystery, suspense, and conspiracy. When Nightbeat is on the trail for clues, nothing else matters. This monomania has famously gotten him into trouble over his head more times than he can count, yet in the face of adversity, he remains cool, confident, and even irreverent. He has insulted creatures many times his size and committed huge faux-pas to uncover the truth. It is not so much that Nightbeat is brave, but more that, when the thrill of the hunt has him, he will not be denied.

Nightbeat has a Headmaster partner, Muzzle, whom he gets along amazingly well with. The two seem to have been of one mind even before they were binary bonded.

“	For me, it's all about the details. Look closely at something and it'll make sense. If it doesn't, look closer.	”
—Nightbeat, "Omega's Conundrum"

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

"Nightbeat, I thought 'Truth is revealed in the smallest detail' is what you always say."
"...Shut up, Siren."

Shortly after being made a Headmaster and joining Optimus Prime's crew on Earth, Nightbeat learned of a mysterious robot corpse which had seemingly washed up on the Californian shoreline. He decided to investigate, bringing along Siren to serve as his personal "Watson". At the scene of the crime, they found a pair of Transformers hovering over the body, and who quickly burned rubber once they spotted the Autobots. Sending Siren off to chase them down, Nightbeat pulled out the giant retractable magnifying glass in his sleeve and went to work collecting evidence from the body.

Finding a serial brand from a Decepticon prison on the body, and identifying a signature Decepticon cyclone cannon as the murder weapon, Nightbeat concluded that a lone, well-armed Decepticon was hunting down escaped Autobot prisoners. Siren returned at that moment, correcting Nightbeat's analysis by informing him the prisoners weren't escapees, but deliberately let loose as prey to be hunted down. His source? The surviving prisoner, Hosehead, and the lone, well-armed Decepticon named Thunderwing who was right on their tails. Thinking quickly, Nightbeat had his Nebulan partner Muzzle binary-bond with the dead Autobot in order to partially reactivate his motor functions. Caught off-guard by his prey supposedly coming back to life right in front of him, Thunderwing left himself wide open when Muzzle disengaged and Nightbeat blew up the Autobot's fuel core at close enough range to send Thunderwing packing into the waves to dose the flames. Hosehead then returned to the Ark with Nightbeat and Siren. The Big Shutdown! Rage!

Optimus Prime was confiding in Nightbeat his desire to find a way to restore the warriors who were destroyed during the Underbase Saga when they received a distress signal from the Earth's surface. Nightbeat assembled a combat team that included Landmine, Siren, Hosehead, Getaway, and himself, and under Optimus Prime's command, they rushed to Earth to help their fallen comrades. There they found the Deathbringer, who had come to cleanse the planet of life. Ironically, Deathbringer was powered by the energies of the Creation Matrix, the very thing Prime had desired earlier to restore his fallen warriors! And it had to be destroyed to save Earth! While the rest of the combat team were getting slaughtered by Deathbringer, Nightbeat pulled away and consulted via comlink Waverider on the Ark. Through Waverider's information digging, Nightbeat learned that Deathbringers were mechanoids designed to give death painlessly to the terminally ill. Though this particular Deathbringer's purpose had been twisted, Nightbeat devised a means to use its own programming against it. Nightbeat clued Optimus in on his plan, and the Deathbringer was told that its own body was diseased, and that it should destroy itself. It did, leaving Nightbeat and Prime a hollow victory with questions about the true essence of the Matrix. Deathbringer

Later, Thunderwing emerged from the ocean, intent on destroying Nightbeat, Hosehead, and Siren. To this end, he led his troops on a suicidal attack on the Ark, interrupting the Autobots' downtime in the process. As he helped repel the invaders, Nightbeat revealed to Siren that he had already begun suspecting that Thunderwing had survived their previous encounter. Despite his immense power, Thunderwing was no match for all of the Autobots aboard the Ark, and was soon repelled. Assault on the Ark!

But what does he think about waterboarding?

During the Matrix Quest, Nightbeat led Hosehead and Siren on a search of the planet Pz-Zazz for any sign of the Matrix. Pz-Zazz was on file as a vibrant, lush world; in reality it was a cesspool, festering with mob violence and untamed decadence. While questioning the wrong sort of people, the Autobots were caught in the middle of a crossfire between B'hgdad's men and Gutt's boys. One alien on the street fared worse than they did, passing on a mysterious bird statue to Siren before dying in his arms. Despite Nightbeat's keen interest in the clear film noir plot developing around them, Siren and Hosehead convinced him to put the bird aside and continue searching for the Matrix.

At the next bar they were canvassing, the Autobots were confronted by the delightful Miss Fatale. Fatale informed them of a legendary Font of Life which had once lit a nearby mountaintop. The sick and weak would pilgrimage to the mountain in order to touch a "sacred idol" and heal their wounds. She offered to lead them to the temple on the mountain in exchange for the bird, which she claimed was her property. Suspicious, Nightbeat sent Hosehead and Siren ahead to the mountain with Fatale while he retrieved the bird from where they had stashed it. Confronted by B'hgdad and his men, Nightbeat only managed to escape after chipping off a piece of the bird's outer enamel, revealing the radiant life-source within. Briefly considering keeping the bird as a replacement for the Matrix, to help heal all his comrades aboard the Ark, Nightbeat quickly rejected the idea and returned the bird to its rightful place on the mountain's altar, releasing waves of pure light and hope to revitalize Pz-Zazz and its people.

Then he got shot in the back. No good deed goes unpunished. Bird of Prey!

Thunderwing and his Mayhem Attack Squad had gotten wind of Autobot parties searching this one area of the galaxy, and his curiosity was piqued. Hooking Nightbeat and the others up to his torturous Mind Leech device, Thunderwing extracted all he needed to know about the Matrix Quest and the possible planets on the search list. Kings of the Wild Frontier. The Autobot trio remained captives on board the Decepticon ship until Thunderwing backhanded his minion Ruckus into some equipment. Deadly Obsession This caused a short circuit which, unknown to the Decepticons, freed Nightbeat and his team. Dark Creation Learning that Thunderwing had successfully found the Matrix in their absence and was planning to sneak aboard the Ark in a stolen Autobot shuttle, Nightbeat and pals stowed away on the shuttle in the hopes of disrupting the Decepticons' schemes somehow.

Stop writing our captions for us, Nightbeat.

The situation was worse than they thought. The Matrix was corrupted from a series of unstable hosts, and now had an evil sentience that had overwhelmed Thunderwing and made him a puppet to its will. With the combined forces of the Ark unable to best the Thunderwing / Matrix combo, Nightbeat devised a desperate plan. As Siren triggered the shuttle's self-destruct sequence, Nightbeat fired the ship's grappling harpoon straight through Thunderwing's chest and shut off the docking clamps, just as Hosehead turned off the artificial gravity in the hangar bay. The result was the shuttle being sucked out into the black void, taking Thunderwing and the Matrix along with it before exploding. Thunderwing was last seen hurtling through space, still harpooned to a piece of flaming debris. All Fall Down

And a second gunman! On the grassy knoll!

Optimus Prime next gave Nightbeat an investigational assignment to look into the disappearance and supposed death of Ratchet and Megatron in a massive explosion on Cybertron some months back. After reviewing witness statements and making a few leaps of deductive logic, Nightbeat reached the hypothesis that Ratchet may have been cast into a dimensional portal they knew had been active at the time of the explosion, and then been caught between space as the explosion destroyed the delicate portal mechanism. To test his theory, Nightbeat arranged for an inter-dimensional probe to search for and retrieve Ratchet's spark signature in unspace, assuming it was anywhere to be found. Eye of the Storm

It was. Nightbeat witnessed Ratchet materializing on the Ark, fused at a molecular level to Megatron in a horrific blending of two mechanoids, both in constant and indescribable agony. Kup was more than willing to put the grotesque fusion down, but Nightbeat begged him to stay his hand. Upon explaining how the Ratchet/Megatron fusion had come to appear on the ship, Nightbeat was berated by Kup, who asked him if he didn't think their friend was better off dead than in his current state. The discussion on the matter was cut short by the creature tackling the Autobots into a nearby wall and then scampering off to cause havoc throughout the Ark. Nightbeat and the others tracked it down to the engine room, where Kup told Optimus that his recent unpopular decisions risked turning the rest of his crew against him. Optimus turned to the others for confirmation on Kup's statement, and Nightbeat couldn't bring himself to look his leader in the eye. Finding his resolve, Optimus managed to subdue the creature, and Autobot medic Fixit took steps to separate the pair, who were then placed in stasis chambers. The Pri¢e of Life!

During the aftermath, Optimus Prime surrendered his forces, including Nightbeat, to Scorponok's Decepticons on Earth, hoping to use his desperate action to unite both factions against Unicron. This alliance was about to form when the entire Decepticon base imploded in on itself due to an attack from Shockwave's small team of rival Decepticon forces. Surrender! Nightbeat survived this initial strike, and along with Optimus Prime and the other Autobots, emerged and tried to keep the new Decepticon Civil War from spreading beyond the area. Optimus charged himself and Nightbeat with keeping Scorponok specifically out of Manhattan. ...All This and Civil War 2 However, when G.B. Blackrock's team of robot-fighting mutants, the Neo-Knights arrived, Nightbeat was the first to fall at the hands of the psychotic Circuit Breaker. As the fighting neared its end, and the alliance began to form again, Primus teleported the Earth-bound Transformers to Cybertron; Nightbeat's antenna was in contact with the Neo-Knight's helicopter, accidentally bringing them to Cybertron as well! Out of Time!

Once on Cybertron, Nightbeat, able to stand up again, watched as Primus spoke through Emirate Xaaron, telling "his children" of their origin and their charge to defeat Unicron. The Void! Once Unicron arrived, the alliance was put to the test, and Nightbeat was among several Autobots who utilized sky-sleds in their attacks on the Dark God. He was annoyed at both Siren's and Hot Rod's reckless abandon when they joined in on the attack, but all three managed to survive this cataclysmic battle. On the Edge of Extinction!

Nightbeat was seen nailing both an Autobot and Decepticon logo on the wall of their fragile alliance's headquarters Still Life! and joined the Autobots in their delayed evacuation of Cybertron. As they headed for Klo, he urged Prowl to cool down and save his bring-a-prick for the Decepticons. The Last Autobot? Unfortunately, the Decepticons were aware of the Autobots' surprise attack, and all but five Autobots were destroyed. Snapdragon kicked a head away from Nightbeat's remains. End of the Road!

It can be assumed that Nightbeat was revived along with the other casualties by the Last Autobot.

Another Time & Place

When the Decepticons took control of the Nucleon on Hydrus Four, Nightbeat joined a commando unit of Autobots to infiltrate their position. Their first obstacle was Fangry, but luck was on their side. The Decepticon tracker was looking to kill something, and bent waaaaay over the water trying to skewer a fish. Nightbeat just had to give him a tiny nudge, and Fangry fell over into the waiting arms of the Autobots hidden in the murky water. The rest of the surviving Decepticons were defeated in short order afterwards, bringing an end to the Cybertronian civil war. Another Time & Place

Transformers Comic-Magazin

Nightbeat was present when Powermaster Optimus Prime led the Autobots against the joint Decepticon leaders Shockwave and Megatron, who had tried to hijack the oil reserves of Alaska. Nightbeat was hit by a laser, causing him to transform into vehicle mode. The Autobots drove off the Decepticons, but not before Quickmix shot a minibot because he turned off his targeting computer. Optimus then sat his troops down and explained to them the differences between Autobots and Decepticons. Attack at Dawn

Recordings of the attack on Alaska, along with Optimus Prime reviewing Nightbeat's characteristics to Bumblebee, were used in a wayward simulation experienced by Goldbug. Memories of Bumblebee

Nightbeat was among the Autobots who fought to safeguard the nuclear arms at Nevada Alpha. Save Nevada Alpha

Marvel Generation 2 comic

Nightbeat worked on a computer console as Optimus Prime and Megatron observed some data on the Swarm. When Jhiaxus's Cybertronian army attacked the base, Nightbeat's console exploded, sending him flying across the room. Tales of Earth Part Six

He later appeared among the Autobot forces just long enough to sacrifice himself futilely against the Swarm, self-destructing alongside Dirge. Moments later, Megatron showed up with the rheanimum that could have saved him. A Rage in Heaven!

Classics

Classics continues from the Marvel US series, and does not include the UK stories or any subsequently published stories.

Detective by trade, but moonlights as a babysitter.

When the war ended with the Decepticons' defeat on Klo, Nightbeat initially accepted Grimlock's offer to search the galaxy for Bludgeon and his scattered troops. However, Nightbeat soon tired of this mission and left. He and his former binary bonded partner Muzzle were put back on track when Optimus hired them as his personal investigative agents, but they quickly found themselves stifled by military authority, and struck out on their own. Classics Muzzle profile They teamed up with Siren and his partner Quig, and afterwards picked up Lug from Nebulos Classics Lug profile The group was afterwards joined by a new human recruit, Minerva. Sludge and Slag became part of the gang when the two intoxicated Dinobots burst in on one of their sting operations. Classics Slag profile Together, they formed a detective agency and began scouring the galaxy for mysteries to solve. At Fight's End Cheap Shots

You'd lose the ears, too, if you hung out with Siren.

Nightbeat's crew once had to ~~set their ship down on the planet Azure for repairs~~ crash their ship into the only repair bay on Azure equipped to repair their ship, and they were stranded there for the interim. After a barroom brawl, Nightbeat found that he was a person of interest to a potential client, a sentient ship named Amory. Amory required the services of Nightbeat and his team in finding her pilot, Phyrion. However, the entire arrangement was a setup put together by the Decepticons Ruckus and Needlenose, who had assembled an alleged "new Mayhem Attack Squad" by promising payment to Octopunch and Stranglehold for their assistance. Ruckus wasn't very smart, however, and had brought his hostage with him. The Decepticons were brutalized and Phyrion was returned to Amory. Regretting her involvement, Amory paid the Autobots for her services, plus she chipped in for a new head for Nightbeat, as his was damaged during the battle.

Despite their short run-in with good luck, Nightbeat and his crew were still stranded on Azure without a working ship. In the meantime, surely someone was in need of a detective... Cheap Shots

Regeneration One

Regeneration One continues from the Marvel US series, and does not include the UK stories or any subsequently published stories.

"I'm afraid we're not going to get much help from the Batcomputer, Robin. It can't go back to prehistoric times."

When "Primus" set Hot Rod adrift in Zero Space he witnessed a series of events that could spell the end of Cybertron including Nightbeat and Optimus Prime battling the Dark Matrix-infected Deathbringer. Less Than Zero After becoming Rodimus Prime, he formed Nightbeat and Bumblebee into the "Zero Unit", a group tasked with finding the cause of the Zero Effect around.

Working out of Ops-Command HQ, the Zero Unit decided that out of the four disparate strands of the Zero Effect, their time would be best spent investigating the missing Senator Jhiaxus, realising that as a prominent Cybertronian he would most likely have had offworld dealings. They sent bulk pulsewaves to any mech civilisations that might have encountered him asking for information but received nothing back in reply until they launched a probe... and suddenly Jhiaxus's entire fleet materialised in the skies above Cybertron! The War to End All Wars, Part 1

Rodimus returned to the Presidium to consult with Nightbeat, Bumblebee and Perceptor. They cautioned against making any aggressive moves, instead advising the Autobot leader to meet with Jhiaxus at the Eugenesis Plaza where he could be covered by snipers nearby. The Zero Unit monitored the situation as Prime took the Cybertronian leader to Nova Point to continue their conversation in "private", moving in along with Jetfire the moment diplomacy went out of the window and Jhiaxus turned violent. Nightbeat directed First Aid to attend to the casualties while he, Blurr and Huffer dug out their leader. Appraising Prime of the situation, he noted that the Zero Unit had managed to capture a large amount of data during the Cybertronians' visit and had perhaps come up with a way to hurt them, convincing Rodimus to take the fight to the enemy. The War to End All Wars, Part 2

"To the Beat-Mobile!!"
"You mean your Chevy?"
"...Yes."

Along with Ultra Magnus, Kup, Hound and Bumblebee, Nightbeat landed at area 59, subdivision 17.4, branch 5: Z-9-#J-4 of the Hub Network and using telemetry from the probe they had launched and structural analysis of the Hub itself, he postulated that striking a key link of the superstructure—with the warhead yields synchronised with the local frequency harmonics—would cause a chain reaction, destroying the whole network. While the Autobot ships Lancer One and Lancer Two launched the warheads successfully, Jhiaxus had anticipated this entire strategy and taken steps to protect the Hub. He then sent his troops to retaliate against the invading Autobot forces, forcing Rodimus Prime to surrender. The War to End All Wars, Part 3

Locked up in the Corral and forced to watch their comrades being arbitrarily executed, Nightbeat and the rest of the Autobots were eventually freed when Rodimus Prime took advantage of the distraction afforded by the Starscream/Underbase and Shockwave/Ark hybrids. The War to End All Wars, Part 4

Upon their return to Cybertron they found that it was a ghost planet, populated by energy-draining shadow-leeches that Nightbeat quickly surmised were deadly to the touch after they sucked the lives out of Hosehead and Slingshot. As Rodimus Prime headed into Zero Space to confront the leeches' Dark Matrix master, the rest of the Autobots secured the Star Chamber where Nightbeat deduced that the situations unfolding on Earth and Nebulos were also part of the Dark Matrix's plan and dispatched teams of Autobots via space bridge to deal with them. The War to End All Wars, Part 5

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

*War Within* Nightbeat transforms into Roger Clemens.

One of the few remaining Autobots battling the Decepticons during the Age of Internment, Nightbeat was leader of a strike team consisting of Hosehead, Siren, Slapdash, Joyride, and Getaway. They were tasked with acquiring a member of the Aerospace Extermination Squadron for Perceptor to study and, hopefully, find some sort of defense against. Using Getaway as a decoy with the rest of the team hiding under a null-field cloak, they managed to lure three of them into a trap at Nova Cronum. The Age of Wrath Pt.2 After the first two drones were destroyed, the third simply shut itself down. As Nightbeat discussed the best course of action with Blaster, he approached it with an inhibitor claw - only for it to suddenly reactivate and slam Nightbeat against a wall, temporarily knocking him out of commission. Nightbeat revived shortly afterwards but was helpless to stop the rampaging drone, which was eventually put down by Getaway. The Age of Wrath Pt.3

The Age of Wrath ceased publication before the story could conclude. The following would have taken place in unpublished issues.

Nightbeat and Getaway brought the inert drone to Perceptor, who discovered upon analyzing it that it was powered by cyberstatic energy. The Age of Wrath Pt.4 When Optimus finally returned to Cybertron, Nightbeat and Perceptor brought him up to date with their current situation. Under his leadership, the Autobots were able to overthrow Megatron and thwart a Quintesson invasion. The Age of Wrath Pt.6

IDW 2005 continuity

Main article: Nightbeat (G1)/IDW 2005 continuity

Nightbeat of Yuss was amongst the first of the first wave of constructed cold Cybertronians brought online. He became obsessed with solving one of the "Big Three" mysteries, finding Luna 1, finding the Ark or determining the purpose of Rung's alternate mode.

Titans Return marketing material

An ancient Titan Master as well as a skilled detective, Nightbeat helped crew the massive Titan robots as they explored the universe near the dawn of time. His special spark gifts which he carried out to the friendly worlds they met and was able to share with any robot he joins with were enhanced tracking abilities. Upon returning in modern times he joined up with the Autobots. Titans Return Nightbeat online bio

Legends comic

Nightbeat was a human resident of the Legends World and that universe's version of Minerva. When Minerva appeared in the same world, Nightbeat figured that if they were the same person, she could become a Masterforce warrior too. Bonus Edition Vol. 42 She succeeded thanks to a pair of prototype Master-Braces provided by Rewind, who hired her services to solve the mysteries surrounding the Masterforce system. As part of their partnership, Rewind collected data on the subject by having her Master-Braces mass-produced, temporarily creating an army of Headmasters identical to her. Bonus Edition Vol. 28

When Autobot Axalon Trading Company began building a new Godbomber, Nightbeat believed it held a clue and used her similarity to Minerva to infiltrate their base and copy Godbomber's blueprints. Caught in the act, she revealed her true identity as well as the fact that she was working with Decepticons despite them only wanting to use Godbomber for evil. They stole Godbomber and finished construction thanks to Decepticon Tera-Kura Co., and when they learned it needed a Headmaster to function, she took the spot to test her Masterforce abilities. Impressed by the power Godbomber granted her, she tested herself further by taking on and easily defeating Super Ginrai before another Godbomber showed up, controlled by its own Headmaster. It combined with Ginrai into God Ginrai, who defeated Nightbeat and explained that Godbomber itself was a Master-Brace that connected humans and robots through Chōkon Power. Realizing that Master-Braces served to bridge organic and robotic life to create a new type of lifeform, Nightbeat declared the mystery solved and was delighted that Godbomber's technology could be used for the Trypticon project. Bonus Edition Vol. 42

Nightbeat continued helping the Decepticons with Trypticon, even charming Rhinox into lending a hand. She participated in the Decepticons' attack on Metroplex, controlling Full-Tilt's transtector for him while his head component sneaked in and stole Metroplex's transformation cog. Decepticon Civil War She was among the world's Masterforce warriors when they all joined forces to defeat Devil Z. Bonus Edition Vol. EX

Commercial appearances

Feel the beat of the rhythm of the Nightbeat.

While being driven by Muzzle on the surface of an unidentified planet (with Siren and Hosehead at his side), Nightbeat transformed into robot mode. Shortly thereafter, three Decepticon Headmasters burst through a wall, and Nightbeat engaged Horri-Bull in battle. Small Headmasters Commercial

Games

Transformers Legends

Early in the war, Nightbeat, Orion Pax, and Alpha Trion escorted the Decepticon prisoners Rack'n'Ruin towards a prisoner exchange. After encountering Slicers and fending them off, the group met with Bludgeon, only to be ambushed by the Decepticons. In the confusion, Alpha Trion was captured, only to be later rescued by the combined efforts of Nightbeat and Orion. Orion's Gambit

Nightbeat teamed up with Blaster and Prowl to investigate when a suspicious pattern emerged in a string of Decepticon victories. They eventually uncovered Soundwave's infiltration and sent the Decepticon and his tapes packing. Covert Operations

Nightbeat and Windblade were dispatched from the Lost Light to explore a distant planet. There they met a group of Decepticons, and joined forces with them to battle their mutual foes, the Ammonites. Though several Ammonite attacks were thwarted by the alliance, soon differing opinions caused infighting in the group. Eventually, both the Ammonites and the Decepticons were defeated, and the two Autobots returned to their spaceship. Into the Abyss

Transformers: Battle Tactics

His objective here is to find out what is the purpose of these battles.

Nightbeat participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was an Rare character that could be recruited by collecting 75 units of Cybermetal, 35 units of Transmetal, and 20 soldier cores. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Toys

Generation 1

Nightbeat with Muzzle (Headmaster, 1988)
- Accessories: "Muzzle" Headmaster driver, seat/helmet, "Plasma Blaster" rifle, right and left "Photon Pistols"

Nightbeat transforms into a blue and yellow Porsche 959. The roof is hinged and can be opened to reveal an interior that his Headmaster unit, Muzzle, can sit inside of. His head guns can be stored just above the headlights while his rifle can be plugged onto the roof.

In robot mode, like all Headmaster toys, Nightbeat has a flip-down panel on his chest which covers a spring-loaded mini-Tech-Spec-meter which gives readings for Speed, Strength and Intelligence. The tumblers are activated when Muzzle (or any other Headmaster unit) is plugged into his neck socket. Muzzle has Nightbeat's face plainly visible on his back because, as a smaller Headmaster toy, he lacks the flip down panel that covers the face, featured on larger Headmasters. As another consequence of being a smaller Headmaster, his chest cavity was apparently too small for 3 individual tumblers. As a result, all Headmaster heads inserted will display Nightbeat's pre-molded (and painted) Speed, Strength, and Intelligence readings (7, 5, 8) on one large sliding plate.

He shares a mold with the Japanese Super-God Masterforce Headmaster Junior, Minerva, who also got a mail-order exclusive version in Nightbeat's colors.

Timelines

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your...

Nightbeat (Deluxe, 2008)
- Accessories: Missile launcher, missile, radar

This redeco/retool of Energon Hot Shot is one of two 2008 Fun Publications Fan Club exclusives. The new head is based on the character model's head (by which we mean Siren's with some nods to the toy-Nightbeat's, see Notes below), but is missing its "ears" thanks to clearance and production timing issues. Nightbeat comes with a clear-plastic spring-loaded missile launcher. He can also form the top or bottom half of a combined robot with any other "Powerlinx"-style 2-bot combiner toy. Though the toy is compatible with the energon stars from its parent toyline, its spark crystal lacks the internal chroming characteristic of earlier uses of the mold.

Nightbeat was originally announced to be available by BotCon 2008 in April, but after multiple delays, preorders finally went up months later on August 27, 2008, with a release date of "within four weeks" of September 30, 2008.

The retooled version of this mold was used to create Shattered Glass Nightbeat at BotCon 2008's customization class.

Energon mold: Hot Shot

Hasbro:

Energon Hot Shot
Energon Hot Shot

Fun Publications:

Timelines Nightbeat
Nightbeat (Shattered Glass)

Takara:

Super Link Hotshot
Hotshot Fire

Generations

Thrilling 30

Why is he not a retool of Jazz? That's a mystery for *you* to find out.

Nightbeat (Deluxe, 2014)
- Series / Number: 02 / #020
- Accessories: 2 blasters

Part of the tenth wave of 2012-onwards Generations Deluxe Class toys, Thrilling 30 Nightbeat is a retool of Thrilling 30 Deluxe Class Bumblebee with a new head. He comes with two blasters which peg via 5mm post into his hands, forearms, and rear vehicle sides, and can also combine into a large weapon. The new head is designed to feature light-piping, but is painted over on both the front and back in red, thus rendering the gimmick useless. Some units have shins that are glued into place so that they no longer move laterally during transformation.

He comes packaged with a copy of "Finis Temporis: Dark Cybertron Chapter 9", in which Nightbeat appears in the background of a single panel.

Evidence indicates that a different sculpt was originally intended to be redecoed into Nightbeat for this release: In January 2014, Japanese online retailer Red Mercury listed preorders for the wave containing Nightbeat, Windblade, and Jhiaxus, making this the first official confirmation of Nightbeat and Jhiaxus. The images used for Nightbeat depicted a retool of 2010 Transformers Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz with a new head sculpt and spotlight accessories.^[1] In addition, the package art for the Nightbeat toy itself, i.e. the cover of the included IDW comic, also depicts him in the 2010 Jazz body,^[2] suggesting that the decision to use the Bumblebee sculpt instead was made at a very late point in the development process.

Nightbeat was redecoed into Generations Goshooter, and the mold was separately retooled into Timelines Carzap.

More information on Generations Nightbeat at TFU.info

Titans Return

Nightbeat in "The Mystery of the Disappearing Bodies!"

Nightbeat (Titan Master, 2016)
- Accessories: jet/drill-tank

Part of the first wave of individually-packed Generations Titans Return Titan Masters, Nightbeat transforms from robot to a head based on the original Nightbeat toy's. In this mode, Nightbeat can serve as the head of any Titans Return Deluxe, Voyager, or Leader Class figure. He also features ports in his feet that allow him to peg onto a wide variety of Titans Return figures. It's worth noting however his blue plastic matches the colored plastic used by Blurr.

Nightbeat is packaged with a small vehicle that can transform into three modes: a jet for Nightbeat to ride, a drill-tank formed by combining with Nightbeat, and a 5mm drill weapon for larger figures. His head has a tendency to get stuck, causing it to pop off at the neck when removing him. The shape of the tank's back end also makes inserting him as instructed somewhat awkward. A solution to both problems is to insert him into the slot with his head mode face pointing up, rotating the body, and then finally folding the legs in place.

As with most Titan Master vehicle accessories, care must be taken with the gun mode's handle: the handle fits tightly in many 5mm-compatible closed hands, and combined with the handle's lack of metal pin running through the joint, removing it by force causes the handle to pop out of the joint. Also, most of the units had a problem with the legs not folding down neatly in head mode due to the tolerance of the side panels on the legs.

Nightbeat was originally designed by Emiliano Santalucia as a new character, and sported an original head-mode design. Between the promotional render and the final product, the plastic color of Nightbeat's shins was changed from yellow to blue. His face is also a more orange-y yellow than the brighter yellow plastic, while his eyes are dark orange instead of blue.

His vehicle was redecoed as Moguru and packaged with Legends Chromedome. His head mode served as the model for Soundwave's head in several e-HOBBY comics. Nightbeat, along with Skytread, was also re-released as part of the fourth wave of Titan Masters alongside Shuffler and Repugnus. Nightbeat's main body was later retooled into Ghost Starscream.

More information on Titans Return Nightbeat at TFU.info

Titans Return mold: Nightbeat

Titan Master:

Hasbro: Titans Return Nightbeat

TakaraTomy: Legends LG28 Nightbeat
LG57 Ghost Starscream

Accessory:

Hasbro: Titans Return Nightbeat's partner drone

TakaraTomy: Legends LG32 Moguru

Kre-O

The Punch Kreon Micro-Changer is inexplicably named "Nightbeat" for reasons we cannot discern. See Punch's page for details.

Legends

Rewind & Nightbeat (2016-09-24)
- ID number: LG28

Legends Nightbeat (you're reading that right) is a redeco of the Titans Return figure; her head mode better resembles the head of the original 1988 Nightbeat toy, while the robot mode takes cues from both Nightbeat's head and Muzzle's body.