Hellbat


 * Hellbat is a Decepticon warrior.

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 "Saimin, suimin, tōmin, Hellbat!", he can project mesmerizing waves of sonic energy that weaken his opponents, leaving them open to his influence-or his teammates' attacks. His breastplate, Kōmoribreast, can detach and transform into either a bat-like robot mode (equipped with an energy-draining whip in its mouth), 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.

Sometimes he is known as Fellbat.

Victory cartoon
Hellbat was summoned by Leozack to join the Breastforce on Earth after they had already waged several battles against Star Saber's Autobots. For his first mission, Hellbat snuck into 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 ensued, 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.

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.

After joining in on the Breastforce's attempt to ransom Marine City with a neutron bomb, 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 Jan 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 Jan, but Hellbat passed the buck, blaming Leozack and Goryu 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 Jan's homework.

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. Soon after, Hellbat participated in the Decepticons' plan to captured spacecraft in the asteroid belt.

A little later, the Breastforce departed Earth for planet Micro, intending to spring the sixth member of their team, Guyhawk, from the Satellite Penitentiary on the planet's moon, so that they could combine 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. 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 Guyhawk. While the rest of the team held off Star Saber and his Autobots, Hellbat ventured into the prison to locate Guyhawk, 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 Guyhawk to the Breastforce would have on his standing. Over-compensating to cover up his scheming, Hellbat met Guyhawk with hugs and kisses, and helped him recharge his energy from the prison's main supply. A battle between Guyhawk 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.

When Leozack did not invite Hellbat to the meeting to welcome Guyhawk 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.

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. 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; ambushing the Brainmasters in the desert;  aiding Deathsaurus in laying a trap for Star Saber;  and raiding energy from a solar power plant.

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. 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 Jan Minakaze through the plant's corridors and locking him in the exploding building.

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. 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 Doriya 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.

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 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. 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.

Zone catalog
As part of Liokaiser, Hellbat was revived from death by some means. Lead by the reborn Dark Emperor Deathsaurus, Liokaiser joined several other powerful Decepticons in an assault on planet Zone. Attempting to steal their Energon Z, the Decepticons proved no match for the Micromasters and were driven away.

Victory manga
Hellbat debuted silently, standing behind Guyhawk as he informed Deathsaurus that Leozack had gone off on a solo mission, foolishly believing that he could conquer Earth on his own.

Hellbat and the rest of Breastforce dramatically charged into battle against Star Saber, outnumbering him 4-to-1. Star Saber mowed them all down with a single strike from his sword.

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. 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.

In their next battle, Liokaiser and Deathsaurus were defeated by the Autobots' "Five Stars of Victory" attack technique, and Liokaiser split back into Guyhawk and the rest of the Breastforce to flee back to Deathsaurus's "Space Stronghold". 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!

Wings Universe
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 Guyhawk 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.

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

IDW Generation 1 continuity
Acting as Gigatron's second-in-command, Hellbat was disillusioned by millions of years of unending war and came to the conclusion that destruction was the reason Cybertronians existed. Accepting this role in the universe with gusto, he began planning to fulfill his race's destiny by killing all other living beings. When Gigatron learned of a Stone Army laying dormant on a remote planet, Hellbat hid it from him in hopes of using it for his own purposes, secretly dissecting captive Autobots and Decepticons alike and using their parts to reactivate the stone soldiers.

Hellbat stood by Gigatron's side when Drift, Ratchet and Grit were brought before him, advising him against releasing Ratchet. He mercilessly mocked Grit for being found with the Autobots, calling him a traitor and an unworthy Decepticon; Grit took this as a deadly insult and headbutted him in the face. The captives' ensuing escape attempt was stopped by Gigatron, but Hellbat convinced him to let them live, intending to use their bodies to activate more of the Stone Army. He allowed Drift and Ratchet to find the army before sharing with them his philosophy and plans, only for his evil monologue to be interrupted by an attack by the vengeful Grit. In the battle that followed, a pressed Hellbat chose to make his move, activating his Stone Army soldiers and sending them to destroy Gigatron.

Gigatron teamed up with Drift and company and fought his way to Hellbat, who unleashed a gigantic stone soldier he'd prepared specifically to destroy his leader. He taunted Drift with Grit's apparent death and their own similarities, believing them both to be heartless killers, but his goading proved ineffective when Drift, touting his belief that people can change, ripped the Stone Army's control device off his arm. When Drift was distracted by Gigatron turning on him, however, Hellbat retrieved the device and used it to send all remaining soldiers after Gigatron, all while goading his leader to kill him. Gigatron waded through the stone soldiers and obligingly cut the deranged Decepticon in half as he stood motionless, welcoming death.

TransTech
Hellbat was one of many criminals being held prisoner within Axiom Nexus's offworlder maximum security prison.

Victory

 * 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


 * Liocaesar [sic] (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.

Generations

 * Liokaiser (Platinum Edition giftset, 2016)
 * Accessories: 2 pairs of Weapon/Combiner extremities (both white & dark gray), 2 Sword-rifles, 2 pairs of double-barreled guns (both white & dark gray), Ironbison's Tank cannon/gun, Drillhorn's Drill-gun, Ion Scythe


 * Released as part of the Platinum Edition Liokaiser giftset, Fellbat (like Killbison, renamed for obvious reasons) is a redeco/new head retool of Combiner Wars Skydive. As a Combiner Wars Deluxe limb he will be able to combine with any Voyager Class toys released as part of the same subline but is, of course, intended to be combined with his pack-in Destrons to form Liokaiser. His nominal placement is as the left arm.


 * More information on Platinum Edition Fellbat at TFU.info

Foreign names

 * Mandarin: Lán Piēn-Fú (Taiwan, 藍蝙蝠, "Blue Bat")
 * Russian: Netopyr' (Нетопырь, "Pipistrelle")