ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON

FUNCTION: FUEL SCOUT
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS # 27

“The road is my dinner plate.”

Profile: Ratbat has no friends, only business partners. His sole allegiance
is to himself. The other Decepticons are aware of this, but cooperate with and
tolerate Ratbat because of his vital and unique talent for locating fuel resources.
So much do they value his services that they are willing to overlook his behavioral
extremes. Ratbat prefers to refuel himself by plunging his mecha-fangs into
the grime-free gas lines of brand-new cars; the better made the car, the better
its gas tastes to him. This usually destroys the cars. Although many of the
other Decepticons find this practice wasteful and disgusting, they are more
than willing to help Ratbat indulge in his horrible habit by procuring cars
for him. Besides, they know if Ratbat can’t satisfy his fuel lust in that way,
he might select one of them. And, given his importance, they are likely to let
him.

Abilities: In his bat mode, Ratbat’s wings act as chemical sensors that
enable him to locate and distinguish between fuels. They are able to detect
the slightest trace of a fuel – their sensitivity records molecular concentrations
as low as one part per quadrillion in the air. Within his mouth are retractable
mecha-fangs that can puncture all but the strongest materials. He uses them
to refuel himself. Micro-chemical processors within the fangs convert most fossil
and alcohol-based fuels into a form he can metabolize. As a bat, he can assume
the size of a normal bat with about a one-foot wingspan, or a larger version
with a ten-foot wingspan. In either size, he has a maximum speed of 65 mph and
a range of 200 miles. He is extremely maneuverable.

Weaknesses: Ratbat’s wings are his most vulnerable part. They offer
little resistance to artillery fire.