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!!

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

"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

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

"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.

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

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

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

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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!

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

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.

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

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

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

Machine wars please.

Ravage basics please.

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

Diaclone and microchange basics please.

Basics on diaclone and microchange please.

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

Basics on ravage please.

Could you please do a viedo on another cassete ravage.

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

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

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

Slick stuff! Characters like Rat Bat, Swindle and Getaway are the reasons we still show up for Transformers and always will. Thank You as always.

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

SG Ratbat has same colours like Batman

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

Shatterd glas Ratbat im JUSTICE IM THE NIGHT!

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!

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

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

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.

Thank you for shining the spotlight on Ratbat. And congratulations on reacing 100 episodes.

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

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.

Chris McFeely, You absolutely amaze me how are you keep coming up with backgrounds for every character. Enjoy your channel so much! Just asked myself yesterday, how the hell is he going to do a video just on RATBAT? And low and behold, another amazing video in disguise! You are awesome! Thank you

The Misadventures of Batbot and Lasorbin

Thank you for this series Chris. These have become my go to videos to watch after I get off of work on Saturdays.

You do such a great job on each of these videos! Keep up the great work!!

From the leader of the Autobots and by far the most popular Transfirmers. To a bat. Nice XD

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

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.

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

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

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

i love how all of Soundwave's Cassettes have had their own individual spotlight. Ravage in the beast wars cartoon. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw in Dawn of Future's Past comics. Frenzy and Rumble in United and prime toyline

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

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

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.

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

I really love the idea of making Ratbat a full-size Transformer in the beginning before become a bat.

Ratbat is like the Count Dracula of the Transformers, every time you believe he is done, he is back deadlier than ever

i like how he had racked up the most victories as leader in the comics. this makes me look forwards to the ravage episode as these animal cassettes are quite fascinating when they can speak!

Bro you deserve to take a break after that awesome 100th episode! I’ll patiently wait for Sixgun

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

Okay, the Pete Townsend comment was a nice touch. It kind of made me think of either Animated Optimus or Soundwave windmilling on Laserbeak in his guitar mode. And now I have the song Eminence Front stick in my head. Excuse me while I cue up The Who.

I'm akways learning on this channel about my favorite robots! Keep it up!

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

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

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

This was surprisingly a very informative episode. Most excellent job!

Cool stuff Chris thanks for that, Ratbat and the other cassettes were pretty cool at the time

I like how Laserbeak was the only cassette to be discontinued in 1986.

I’ve always wanted to own a toy of him. The g1 one always looked cool in the catalogue. The animated one only came with a repaint soundwave and the new one i haven’t seen anywhere

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

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

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!

Your videos are very thorough, and visually interesting. Great job.

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

This is dazzling info. As a kid I simply remembered Ratbat as Laser Beak's replacement for season 3 because he was a better match for the dark tone the series was heading towards

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

Here's a suggestion, Whirl. I always liked his design since I played with it at my cousin's house. also cyberverse whirl is just, I just love his charachter

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

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.

I may not be up for chores but I’ll damn sure be up for some basics

Great video! Thank you! Ratbat has got to be my favourite Cassetticon.

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

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.

I will always find it funny that this pipsqueak got to have Megatron’s job for a while.

8:19 the lightning bolt was nice touch

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

The first Transformers comic was one that explained that showed the Underbase in a flashback before Optimus destroyed it to protect it's power from Megatron, I never understood how a cassette was ordering all the decepticons around, including Soundwave.

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

You forgot to mention the Masterpiece version recolored in Marvel Comics color scheme which was a part of G.I. Joe/TF exclusive set from Collectors Club in 2016 :) I was looking for him for so long and finally I got him along with the transparent G2 Legends scale Megatron from this set. Much love from Poland!

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 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!"