Devilbat
- Devilbat is a Beastformer from The Headmasters portion of the Generation 1 continuity family..
Devilbat (デビルバット Debirubatto), or Devi (デビ Debi) for short, is one of the many Beastformers who joined the insurgent army under Alligatron raised by Galvatron in order to aid his Decepticons in conquering the formerly-peaceful planet Beast. He's quick to act on what he thinks is a good idea, but also fickle and just as quickly loses interest in what he's doing. He's always putting in the effort to improve, though. His role in the Decepticon-allied Beastformer forces is an airmobile soldier, his special abilities are x-ray vision and night vision, and his Devil Waver MVP Weapon can emit mysterious waves that melt objects. Devilbat holds the rank of Emperor of Ringostan, the country on whose shores he was born, under King Beafox, and the two normally make a great nighttime strike team as Beafox is just as proficient at seeing in the dark. Shame he chose the opposite side in the war.
Fiction
The Headmasters cartoon
When the Decepticons conquered Beast, the Devilbats were some of the Beastformers who joined them, the only mammals to do so.
During an attack by the loyalist Beastformers on the Decepticon factory on Beast, many Devilbats took to the skies, attacking Beastformers like Hedgehogs and Battle Bears. The loyalists were driven away.
While Wheelie and Daniel tried to get into the factory to save the parents of a monkey Beastformer child, a Devilbat stood guard on the structure. When a Snakebomb spotted the two, two Devilbats gave chase, but they were ultimately captured by a Killer Fish.
When the Autobot Transformers attacked the factory, a Devilbat and a Snakebomb tried to attack Rodimus Prime, only to be pitifully tossed away. Galvatron arrived on the scene and accidentally shot the two, warning them to stay out of the way. The Decepticon Transformers were eventually chased away. Rebellion on Planet Beast
Beastformers catalogs/comic
When White Leo obtained the Burstsun power, Alligatron sent Devilbat to use his Scanner Eye on White Leo so that they could discern his weakness. Devilbat was able to get the leap on White Leo and produce a Secret Photo that revealed the secrets of Burstsun, but the Monsterbot Repugnus spotted the ambush and gave chase. In the pursuit, Devilbat dropped the Secret Photo into Beast's largest forest. Series 2 catalog
After the Decepticon Beasts were defeated in the fight for the Secret Photo, Alligatron sent Devilbat out to scout for a good place for an ambush, and the bat chose a bottomless swamp in the middle of the forest. Series 3 catalog
Following the end of the Beastformers' civil war, Devilbat fought in their war with the Laser Beasts. He bore witness when Rabbit Kid and Bombsheep arrived on the battlefield with the Hunters. Beastformers VS Laser Beasts
Legends comic
In 2038, the then-peaceful Beast was invaded by Galvatron II's Decepticons. Devilbat was part of the joint Beastformer-Laser Beast alliance that fought against the invaders. He cheerfully worked with fellow chiropteran Skybat. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 3
Toys
Transformers: Beastformers
- Devilbat (Beastformer, 1987)
- Beast ID number: 12
- Accessories: Poleaxe
- Part of the first series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Devilbat is an anthropomorphic bat in black robotic armor. His left arm ends in a hook. The rubsign on his left wing reveals one of three symbols; Fire, Water or Wood. Devilbat is the only Beastformer whose rubsign is not on his torso-front.
- He was re-released in the subsequent second and third series; while the toy proper was not changed, the packaging and packed-in bio card was. The Series 1 release comes in a generic purple-grid "Destron Beastformer" box, with a purple-grid bio card with a painted character image on the front, though there was a random chance of his card being replaced by the rare "Holography Mirror" card. Series 2 came in a green-grid generic "Destron Beastformer" box, with the bio card putting the painted image on a jungle backdrop. Series 3's box was unchanged, but the bio card replaced the painted image with a simpler line-art image, first used in Hasbro's Battle Beasts cast poster. In the green-box releases, 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.
- Devilbat (Gahsapon Beastformer, 1987)
- Beast ID number: 12
- Accessories: Weapon
- Many of the first-series Beastformers were also sold in gashapon capsule machines, Devilbat included. This version is identical to the regularly-released boxed version, including the randomized rubsign, except the gashapons appear to have randomized weapons (or just crummy quality control).
- There is also a rare all-white/cream version of Devilbat; these rare versions can vary in how white they actually are, and it's uncertain if that's how they started or if some have simply yellowed with age. These white versions tend to be very expensive on the secondary market.
Beastformers
- Devilbat (Beastformer, 1988)
- Beast ID number: 12
- Accessories: "Devil Waver" MVP Weapon
- Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Devilbat 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 "Devil Waver" (デビルウェーバー Debiru Wēbā).
- The initial early releases of this series had the chance for any Beastformer to have the rare Burstsun symbol; we'll probably never know if Devilbat was ever actually one of them. Later 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.)
- Devilbat (Gashapon/candy-toy Beastformer, 1988)
- Meiji ID number: 14
- Accessories: "Iron Axe" weapon
- A small, super-deformed, articulation-free version of Devilbat was produced by Meiji, and sold both as a gashapon capsule prize and as a candy toy with "chocoballs". The candy toy version came with a bio/data card with its own role-playing rules, using the old Transformers-era painted character art.
- This stumpy lil fellow could be found in red, blue or green plastic, representing the Fire, Water and Wood elements (even though he still had a rubsign). All of the Meji Beastformers comes with a different Beastformer's weapon attached to their shoulder (or in Devilbat's case, his wing) by a snippable sprue, common for inexpensive toys of that nature. Devilbat came with Koala Gray's "Iron Axe" weapon, while Grayox came with Devilbat's "Devil Waver".
Notes
- The Hasbro release of "Blitzkrieg Bat" was similarly (eventually) available with both styles of rubsign.
Foreign names
- English: Blitzkrieg Bat
