TRANSFORMERS: THE BASICS on RATBAT 

So Ratbat died during the Underbase Saga yet _wasn't_ offlined by a cosmically-empowered Starscream? Everything I know is a lie.

Megatron: I am a gladiator who becomes a gun! Shockwave: I am a scientist who becomes a gun! Scorponok: I am a gladiator who becomes a Scorpion covered with guns! Ratbat: I am an accountant who becomes a cassette! Absolute madbat.

Regular Ratbat: Spy, energy accountant, and/or corrupt politician Shattered Glass Ratbat: I am Vengeance, I am the Night, I am Batbot!!

"Vampiric Decepticon Accountant" Now THERE'S three words I'd never think to string together.

transformers is so wild sometimes its like hasbro: this is a purple bat us: yes this is a bat hasbro:the bat turns into a cassette us: i understand hasbro: the purple bat is a corrupt politician who manages energon stores and creates political unrest among his own people for his own needs while also being one of the most competant decepticon leaders- us: wh

I do enjoy the basics on characters who are obscure. An obscure toyline that might make a good basics is machine wars.

R- Rat A- Accountant T- Transformers B- Business A- Animal T- Tyrannical

SG Ratbat: the hero Cybertron deserves, but not the one it needs right now. Man, we need more Shattered Glass. It's such a wild universe

Marvel comics Decepticon leaders and their accomplishments: - Megatron: got really angry and yelled a lot, then got his ass beat by Shockwave. Eventually went mad and blew himself up, then came back, then went mad and blew himself up AGAIN. - Shockwave: successfully overthrows Megatron, then proceeds to spend way too many issues making unecessarily complicated plots that have no chance of working because he forgot that not everyone is a supergenius like him. Then gets overthrown by Ratbat after Ratbat (rightfully) points out how ineffective he is. Later gets defeated in an extremely anticlimatic way. Eventually returns a few years later, but after a brief squabble with Scorponok does nothing important. - Soundwave: extremely effective leader, but cowers whenever Megatron and Shockwave come back. - Starscream: never even got to be leader in this continuity, so resorted to offlining everyone with his Underbase powers instead. Also comes back later and does nothing important. - Scorponok: goes missing for millions of years, then comes back out of nowhere. Made leader by cowardly backstabbing Ratbat when he wasn't looking. Stays leader for most of the run only because he's big and strong. Eventually his troops stage a coup against him anyway when it becomes clear he's too much of a pansie. But hey, at least Optimus respected him. - Thunderwing: crazy guy who sent his troops on wild goose chases to find the Matrix. When he does find it, he goes nuts and shoots up his own troops before killing himself and the Matrix, indirectly dooming his entire race to Unicron. - Bludgeon: de facto leader only because he's the strongest guy left after the Unicron war. Leads the Decepticons to blow random things up for no reason, then gets his ass kicked for his troubles. In conclusion, Ratbat is BY FAR the best Decepticon leader in the Marvel comics series, if only because he was the only one who was actually smart and didn't do anything monumentally stupid at any point.(Well, except maybe for that car wash incident.) Praise Ratbat.

"I am the night. I am vengeance! I. Am. Batbot!"

"Until Optimus Prime went all Pete Townsend on him." That may be my new favorite description of a thing that happened in the Transformers franchise.

You thought it was Laserbeak or Ravage that would be the first of Soundwave’s casettes to be basic’d...but it was I, RATBAT! The first I heard of Ratbat was through a review of Carwash of Doom comic from Linkara of Atop the Fourth Wall. As he elaborated there (and when he does his Marvel TF retrospective next year), it was fascinating how characters like Ratbat could be expanded upon beyond what was seen in the cartoon.

8:18 That is officially the best Transformers related thing I have heard about since the Transformers legion of pets featuring a literal dog and Bob the insecticon.

Loved Ratbat’s debut in Transformers: The Movie as part of Operation: Interference. Loved his regular appearances in Season 3 that allowed Soundwave to still play a role in the cartoon. But I was absolutely amazed by how well Bob Budiansky used this guy. A Cassette Transformer becoming the most successful Decepticon leader of all time? Who’d a thunk it? It actually worked!

3:44 wow I thought it was a cosmically empowered starscream so much I literally said it aloud

Could you please do a viedo on another cassete ravage.

I honestly didn't expect a cassette mini-con to have a notable history, now I'm curious if Ravage, Laserbeak, Frenzy and Rumble have any history beyond the latter duo's name controversy.

Ravage basics please.

When I saw shattered glass ratbat i can only think of ratbat screaming "WHERE'S RACHEL"!

I didn't realise Animated essentially merged Ratbat and Mindwipe.

Ravage basics please.

Machine wars please.

Machine wars please.

Machine wars please.

Ratbat is a Great Character! So Underrated, the main universe could become since it´s purple, Like the Joker´s clothes, I guess that is why they made SG Ratbat to become batbot!

Diaclone and microchange basics please.

Basics on diaclone and microchange please.

Basics on diaclone and microchange please.

Basics on ravage please.

When I was a Child I thought his name was Rapbat, as a way of linking him to music somehow.

Basics on machine wars. Of course that might be more detail than many basics topics.

8:57. Anyone else want Wingthing to be portrayed as Ratbat's easy going, hippie-ish brother he's perpetually irritated with? :P

Basics on diaclone and microchange please.

SG Ratbat has same colours like Batman

Basics on ravage please.

When I was little my big brother would get the Marvel Comics, and it blew my mind that RatBat was Decepticon leader for a while. Great video as always, Chris. Always a joy to watch!

Ratbat’s death in IDW... shame he committed suicide. Atleast that’s what the news said.

2:00 "Helping his comrades battle the engery beast.." *helping* *LITERALLY GETS EATEN*

6:00 "Turning his corrupt boss, into *his* servant." "Dare I live the American dream?" - Homer Simpson

Shatterd glas Ratbat im JUSTICE IM THE NIGHT!

I always enjoyed the Marvel comic portrayal, and the IDW is pretty good.

Ratbat being an accountant makes additional sense since vampires are known for their ability to obsessively count something. I remember seeing people online meme vampires as accountants for that ability, but it seems Bob Budiansky was well ahead of us decades before.

This is enough to justify no sleep. Don’t judge me. What’s wrong with 3 am doughnuts to accompany watching this show?

8:25 move out of the way batman! We got the greatest bat here

Hey, I'm very early today! also, SG!Ratbat seems really cool!

Wait, WHAT!? Ratbat racked up more wins than SHOCKWAVE!? I thought Shockwave's whole gimmick was being the more effective Decepticon leader! I guess it goes to show that warriors and scientists are scary, but the scariest people will always be the bean-counters.

Lol I absolutely lost it when I comes to sg ratbot lol

Just gonna say it: Stop trying to update Soundwave, Blaster and their microcassettes! It does not matter that it's dated technology. That adds to the charm. The inherent interactivity of their alt-modes has no analog in modern media that works anywhere near as well as a tape player and cassettes. That pairing was so utterly perfect in size, function, design and symbiosis, and it translated perfectly to those Transformers. Kids will get that it's "old" technology, but the sheer playability and partnership of design will mean they won't care. They have the greatest active imaginations and will make it work because it's fun!

The Misadventures of Batbot and Lasorbin

Ratbat is easily my favorite cassette. As a bat myself I really appreciate this basic

Vampiric , Decepticon , Accountant; you repeat yourself thrice good sir

I'm always glad when talk about Shattered Glass, as it gives me inspiration to create my own shattered glass fanfic.

So RatBat was inspired by the executives of Hasbro.

Anyone else officially want Ratbat and Wingthing to be a dynamic duo now?

Looking at the original toy's ears makes me think that RID 2001 Megatron earflaps in Bat mode could have been a reference to Ratbat!

"Rumble frenzy, ravage ratbat, eject, operation, interference"

8:25 DEBIRUMAN!!!!! Devilman Yes I know he’s basically Batman

Chris McFeely mentions “The underbase”. Me: let me guess, “offlined by a cosmically powered Starscream”. Says that Scorponok killed him. Me: wait what?

4:52 - 5:08 You forgot to mention that he’s just a repaint of Transformers Cybertrons Sideways.

Always happy to see David Willis' work in a video.

We need to see Ratbat as the main antagonist of TF cartoon or movie or even a video game. Anything! I want to see this devious con get more spotlight.

Ratbat backwards is TabTar, and I don’t trust that

Boy, Ratbat sure is far more interesting than I ever imagined. :) Man, if only I explored the comics more. All I've ever stuck with is the cartoons, where he's just an animalistic minion. XD

Bob's Ratbat superior, every other Ratbat inferior.

It’s gotten to the point where I hit Like before even watching the video. The Basics is that good

Yes! Finally Ratbat gets the attention he deserves! What an underrated character.

So Ratbat is also Batman. God has truly blessed this series

Ratbat is a prime example of why I love Transformers. More than meets the eye was never truer as he is a character defined by many writers' imaginations running wild. He feels like kids playing a game of mad libs and I mean that in a good way. "He's a bat!" "He's a robot!" "He's a vampire?" "He's an accountant!" "He's a senator!"

If I had one of the cassette Transformers as a pet, I'd choose Ratbat.

now if only i could find the siege one, if only to reunite him with Soundwave

FINALLY so glad to see it he is my favorite soundwave cassette

I don't think there has ever been a character that variations across multiple Medias are as different as rat bats. It's pretty amazing actually. From him being al lowly non-speaking character in one medium to leader of the Decepticons and someone able to actually take on Fortress Maximus is a huge reimagining. That's pretty incredible. I wonder what made the comic book arthor decide to go this direction with this unlikely character.

Ratbat is underrated IMO. As for future Basics Videos, the ones I want to see are as follows: the Stunticons, Hot Rod(aka: Rodimus Prime), Sideways, Tidal Wave, Rattrap, Tigertron, Airrazor, and Terrorsaur.

Ratbat was definitely one of the Transformers characters I remember from the Marvel comics. I always found it odd that a cassette was so smart, articulate, etc. The art for him was scary for my little self back then too. Thanks for the fun flashbacks.

The thing I loved the most about Ratbat was that despite being small and weak he lead the most bloodthirtsy mob in the universe, in the original US comics, and I just loved that even someone so small could lead a group so powerful because he was ruthless. THAT'S meritocricy!

Great job as ever, Chris! Ratbat is officially the most successful Decep leader - well, in G1 at any rate - also, considering the huge stockpiles of unused fuel that are out there these days due to the lockdown, it's safe to say that Ratbat would be having a field day, mecha-fangs and all, yes...?).

"to update his form for the modern era" Turns him into a keytar ...

Senator Ratbat wasn't a giveaway?

Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, Ratbat. Eject. Eject. Operation: INTERFERENCE.

Basically soundwaves pet bat who is an accountant, spy and a cassette

So you're telling me that RatBat was a corrupt senator? That sounds a lot like Palpatine "I AM THE SENATE"

I feel like in some other alternate universe, Ratbat might have evolved into a non headmaster version of Mindwipe.

rw:one thing forsure Chris RATBAT can rly drive you "Batty"(sorry for the bad pun ,i just couldnt resist 3-)P)

"He transforms into a recon jet." Uh...I think you'll find that's actually a B-2 Stealth BOMBER? Yeah...

Ratbat sucked in the cartoon he did nothing he wasn't a fighter like laserbeak and buzzsaw and they was faster and sneakier How many times ratbat showed in the toons he was eaten by tornedron but showed up again the next episode Buy soundwave didn't matter in 86 no more Best thing happen to ratbat was that headmasters upgraded soundwave

I’m still waiting for The Basics on Laserbeak.

Chris: Vampiric Me: uh-huh Chris: Decepticon Me: Yes Chris: Accountant. *record scratch, freeze frame*

Can you do the basics on tracks?

Please next The Basics on Rack'n'Ruin, Silverbolt, Brawn and Runamuck sir. It must finally happened Mr. McFreely(So Sorry if I can't spell your name right, no offense). :) 😁

I had forgotten was a temporary Decepticon leader at one time. He was actually very effective.

Diaclone and microchange basics please.

Ratbat in canon: Cold, calculating, treacherous genius, a ruthless but efficient leader. Can easily hold his own in battle. Ratbat in fanfiction: Sweet soft baby uwu picked on by the other meanie cassettes. (I really appreciate both characterisations but it cracks me up because I've never seen any continuity which justifies portraying him the way his is in fanfiction. Everyone's entitled to their own headcanons on characterisation, though)!

Love Love LOVE me some Ratbat!! Another excellent video!!

I still like the fact that during Cold War!, Ratbat ended up getting his butt handed to him by Bomb-burst - _another_ bat-themed Decepticon who _also_ drinks the fuel of other Transformers.

Great stuff as always chris. Winding down is good. Optimus was a huge episode, so something a bit smaller in scale was perfect for this week. Can't wait to see whatever the next episode will be. Keep up the bottastic work.

I was never that familiar with Ratbat as I am now. Thank you for this informative spotlight video on the character.

I wonder if the whole "vampire" and "accountant" parts in conjunction were somehow commentary. Hmm.

i wish Prime's soundwave had different mini cons like Lazerbeak. make them all drones that look like lazerbeak before transforming

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I was shocked when I was reading the Marvel comics for the first time as an adult to find Ratbat of all people leading the Decepticons.