Nightbird (ROTB)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Nightbird" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Nightbird (disambiguation). |
- Nightbird is a Terrorcon from the Rise of the Beasts portion of the Movie continuity family.
A sword-wielding Terrorcon known for her haughty demeanor towards less skilled opponents, Nightbird is a deadly assassin not to be trifled with. A ninja-like ‘bot with frightening expertise in deactivating those who stand in her way, Nightbird may be more measured and less savage than her Terrorcon cohorts, but that doesn’t diminish her power or lethality in the slightest. Slinking through the darkness with her dual katanas hunting down her prey, or flying through cloud cover with her rocket thrusters raining down hellfire on her opponents, Nightbird will only settle for utter victory and the accomplishment of her goals – anything less isn’t worth her attention or focus.
| “ | Aw... don't be frightened, humans. This will all be over soon. | ” |
| —Nightbird, Rise of the Beasts | ||
Contents |
Fiction
Rise of the Beasts film
- Voice actor: Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (English), Ryōka Yuzuki (Japanese), Daniela Calò (Italian), Maëva Trioux (European French), Carolina Vera (German), Clodd Dias (Brazilian Portuguese), Andrea López (Latin American Spanish), Maribel Pomar (Spain Spanish)
Nightbird landed in New York City in 1994 alongside Scourge and Battletrap to hunt for the Transwarp Key, under orders from their master, Unicron. She engaged the Autobot group of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Mirage and Arcee on Ellis Island, surprising Mirage with her ability to fly using rocket thrusters. The Autobots' lack of effective resistance disappointed her, having hoped they'd be more of a challenge. Her desire for a good fight was almost answered when Airazor arrived, but Scourge ordered their retreat, having gotten the Key and seeing no need to waste time in summoning Unicron. She was present when Scourge mentally communicated with Unicron, and watched when the latter started torturing him for only retrieving one half of the key.
Travelling to Peru, she and the other Terrorcons observed as the Autobots' human allies Noah Díaz and Elena Wallace attempted to locate the half of the key hidden underground. They gave chase to Mirage and Optimus up the mountain roads once the humans began fleeing from Freezer, believing them to be in possession of they key half (in actuality, their search had been fruitless). In the chaos, Scourge fought Optimus, while Nightbird and Battletrap handled the other Autobots. She attempted to run Mirage off the road but was knocked out by an avalanche triggered by Arcee and Wheeljack's confrontation with Battletrap. After Airazor destroyed the bridge between Optimus Prime and Scourge, breaking up the fight, Nightbird noted that the Autobots were fleeing, only for her leader to inform her they wouldn't get away so easily due the corruption he had inflicted upon Airazor.
She was present when Scourge activated the Transwarp Key, generating the structure to open a portal to summon Unicron. During the attack on the bridge by the combined forces of the Autobots and Maximals, she fought to keep them from the Key itself. At one point she swept Noah up and dragged him into the sky, but a hasty spear throw from Cheetor hit her and forced her to release her captive. She and a horde of Sweeps had Noah cornered by the edge of a lava pool, preparing to move in for the kill... but that was when Bumblebee was airdropped in by Stratosphere after his resurrection, firing off a barrage of blasts her way from above that decimated the Sweeps backing her up and allowed Noah to rejoin the battle. Angered, she flew straight up at the Autobot scout to attack him, but this proved to be her undoing. Latching onto her airborne form, Bumblebee used her as a robot shield to protect himself from Scourge's blasts; the Terrorcon leader uncaring about his subordinate's own life. Bee then proceeded to rip one of her wings off and jam it into her spark mid-flight, and the resulting explosion reduced her to nothing more than a shower of broken parts, with her katanas being the only remnants that remained intact. Rise of the Beasts
Toys
Buzzworthy Bumblebee
- Cheetor / Nightbird / Wheeljack (Jungle Mission 3-pack, 2023)
- Accessories: Sword, two-part arm blade/claw
- Released as part of a Target-exclusive Buzzworthy Bumblebee "Jungle Mission 3-pack", Nightbird is a Deluxe Class figure that converts to an unlicensed approximation of her Nissan GT-R R33 in 19 steps. She includes a sword and a small claw weapon that combine to form an asymmetrical spoiler for her vehicle mode. The claw weapon can be mounted to either wrist. Though it can split into two pieces, the halved 5mm posts are not big enough to be used alone. The sword has undocumented storage on her robot back using tabs under the rear bumper kibble.
- The instructions have a slight error for transforming her into vehicle mode: it shows the panels on her hips being pushed in when they are supposed to be pulled out. Her renders also depict her arms being cast in black and gray plastics instead.
Rise of the Beasts
- Nightbird (Flex Changers, 2023)
- TakaraTomy name: Rolling Change Nightbird
- TakaraTomy ID number: BKC-02
- TakaraTomy release date: April 15, 2023
- Released in the first wave of Rise of the Beasts "Flex Changers", this Nightbird transforms from vehicle to robot with the use of a flexible plastic band, which activates by flipping both sides of the car panels forward to initiate the transformation, with the front and rear hoods forming the remaining body.
- Along with the rest of the Flex Changers, Nightbird was first revealed by TakaraTomy prior to being unveiled by Hasbro.
- Nightbird (Deluxe Class, 2023)
- TakaraTomy name: Deluxe Class Nightbird
- TakaraTomy ID number: BD-04
- TakaraTomy release date: July 15, 2023
- Accessories: Sword, two-part rake claw blade
- Outside of the United States and Canada, the Nightbird from the Buzzworthy Bumblebee Jungle Mission 3-pack (above) was available individually at general retail in Rise of the Beasts packaging.
Studio Series
- Nightbird (Deluxe Class, 2023)
- Movie: Rise of the Beasts
- Hasbro ID number: 104
- TakaraTomy ID number: SS-120
- TakaraTomy release date: February 24, 2024
- Accessories: Sword, "Attack at the Museum" Backdrop
- Known designers: Sam Smith (Hasbro)[1]
- Part of the final wave of Studio Series deluxes for 2023, Nightbird transforms into a licensed Nissan GT-R R33 in 21 steps and back, reusing much of the engineeering from her above mainline deluxe. She comes with a backdrop depicting the attack at the Ellis Island museum and one (shortened) sword, which can be stored on her back, on her hip skirts, or underneath the car mode. Despite coming with only one of her two swords, she does have storage slots for two. Unlike her other figures, this toy features the wings she had in the film, though they are quite small compared to her body. Her arm-mounted claws are molded on her forearms and are, once again, quite small.
- As she comes mistransformed in the box, Nightbird's instructions show how to arrange her back kibble, yet completely omits that the front grill of the car is meant to fold up and tab into the spoiler as seen in the digital render. The TakaraTomy release includes an additional instruction sheet which clarifies how to position her back kibble properly.[2].
- Nightbird's back kibble doesn't tab into her back very securely and can easily detach while handling. Her visor piece can be slightly misaligned.
- Hasbro first revealed Nightbird at their panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, on July 20. The stock images released afterwards hilariously show a damaged sample, with a cracked joint at the pin where her ankle tilts are, as well as a visible stress mark on the hinge of her foot.
Notes
- Nightbird's alternate mode was first revealed via Steven Caple Jr.'s Instagram account on 6 October 2021, along with the other two senior Terrorcons, Battletrap and Scourge.
- All of Nightbird's toys feature a different control art than the one seen at the top of the page. This concept CG render sports the front end of an R34 GT-R instead of the R33 GT-R used in the control art and movie proper, has a different waist design akin to the mainline toys, and a gray color scheme like the Flex Changer.
- Designer Furio Tedeschi gave Nightbird a beak-like visor on her head as a homage to the visors from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, as the characters are also ninjas with a bird theme.[3]
- The original Nightbird had a yellow shuriken marking on her waist. While it's difficult to spot, this Nightbird also has this same marking, above her central skirt armor. This can be seen in concept art, toys, and in the movie itself.
- One previs design of Nightbird's R-33 GT-R alt mode has a Hello Kitty keychain on its rear bumper.[4]
- In contrast to her previous counterparts, and perhaps a nod to her appearance in the Legends comics, this Nightbird has a retractable faceplate.
- Nightbird has yellow eyes that glow a red hue when seen through her purple visor.
- In the Japanese dub, Nightbird is played by Ryōka Yuzuki, the actress who dubbed Beast Wars Blackwidow and Animated Blackarachnia. In a promotional Tiktok video for the film starring Noah Diaz's dub actor Kento Nakajima, Nightbird even mimic's Blackarachnia's tshaaa— noise, as she flirts with Nakajima and asks to marry him.[5]
- In both the Czech dub and subs, as the Terrorcons emerge from the Hudson River and Scourge tells her to search the island, the suffix "-e" is added to her name, making it masculine. However since she has a female voice actor in the dub, this can be presumed to be an error by the translator, who had not realised that the name, only mentioned once here, belongs to her.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Nightbird (ナイトバード Naitobādo)
- Mandarin: Yèyīng (夜莺, "Nightingale")
- Hungarian: Éjmadár ("Nightbird")
References
- ↑ San Diego Comic-Con 2023 Generations panel recording at the "Memo's collection" YouTube channel
- ↑ Additional Takara instructions for SS Nightbird's back kibble
- ↑ "Thanks yeah when designing a take a lot from influences I grew up with and looks like you nailed a lot of them haha- yeah huge gatchaman fan as a kid we only got a few vhs episodes back in the day from Italy as was hard to get this stuff in south africa - and would watch over and over"—email from Furio Tedeschi posted, the TFWiki discord, 2023/08/31
- ↑ Previs design with Hello Kitty keychain
- ↑ Tiktok promo