batpedia dot com

an ongoing categorization and ranking of every video-game bat run by @batberryparfait it/its, wing/wings, she/her

[batpedia]

who are you? i'm parfait, the bat running this account! i use it/its, wing/wings, and she/her. my main account is @batberryparfait!

what's this account for? this account is an ongoing categorization and ranking of every single bat or bat-adjacent creature in video-game history!

every single bat or bat-adjacent creature? in all of video games? to the best of my ability, yes! obviously there'll always be an obscure MS-DOS or WonderSwan game i never heard of that has twelve pixels the game defines as a bat, but

what about movies? anime? cartoons? trading-card games? as of right now, i want to solely focus on video-games. i'll probably reach a point of branching off into other mediums, but i know games the best!

can i suggest my own bats? please do! see the "batbox" submission on my profile, and be sure to check the qualifying rules of what defines a bat below (^,..,^) you can also feel free to @ me on images of video-game bats wherever you may find them on tumblr!

below the cut is my personal criteria for what qualifies a bat for categorization and ranking on this account; feel free to give it a look before submitting your favorite bats!

what's the definition of "bat-adjacent"? the biggest piece of criteria for a bat to be included on this account is if you can look at it and go yeah that's a bat.

for example-- my profile picture depicts Noibat, from Pokemon. small, mammalian creature with defined wings and large ears that lives in caves; yeah that's a bat.

ultimately, defining a bat is difficult and mostly based on general criteria (mammalian wings? large ears? lives in nighttime/cave environments? associated with bats in general? defined as a bat in its game of origin?) and vibes.

also, variations of pre-ranked bats do also count. shiny versions of bat Pokemon, redesigns such as the pre- and post-snapshot Minecraft bat, and the many different bats in the Castlevania franchise are all wonderful little children of the night, and deserve to be categorized and ranked nonetheless.

squeak squeak :3

[batpedia]

Squeak rating for the Chiropteran Hoarder from Sunless Skies?

BAT: Chiropteran Hoarder

GAME OF ORIGIN: Sunless Skies, released 2019 on PC and 2021 on various platforms; RPG

CLASSIFICATION: detailed depiction of a fantastical, humanoid bat

RANKING: not sure if this is RELATED to the Curators from the previous ask, but regardless, this is a delightful bat design! a lot is conveyed in this relatively small piece; there's an "ugly-cute" element to its face, the somewhat wall-eyed and surprised-but-not-threatening expression. the cloak over its shoulders adds a lot of humanizing to its design, visibly letting it hunch in on itself and hold its wings up to its chest very adorably

VERDICT: 9/10 squeaks

thank you for the bat, anon! (^,..,^)

[batpedia]

how many squeaks for the curators from Sunless Skies?

BAT: Curators

GAME OF ORIGIN: Sunless Skies, released 2019 on PC and 2021 on various platforms; RPG

CLASSIFICATION: detailed depiction of a fantastical, humanoid bat

RANKING: with no knowledge of what this game or the "Curators" are (and only a cursory wiki exploration to answer it for me), i can tell you this much-- this is a scary-ass bat. the tattered wings and generally gloomy color palette gives it a dark and mysterious air, and the shape of the lower half almost calls to mind the imagery of a human in a cloak; evoking classic vampiric imagery in any scary bat design is a big plus. i do wish there were clearer images of it online so i could get a better grasp of what this even is, but that's partially what's so enticing about a design like this! not knowing much about what you're looking at is definitely scary

VERDICT: 8/10 squeaks

thank you for the bat, anon! (^,..,^)

[batpedia]

I know you were gonna do Morrigan anyway, but consider:

Lil bats.

BAT: Morrigan Aensland

GAME OF ORIGIN: Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, released 1994 to arcades

CLASSIFICATION: humanoid with bat-like characteristics; playable character

RANKING: perhaps the furthest possible extrapolation of what a "bat" is, most forms of Morrigan aren't really recognizably bats so much as they are bat-adjacent humanoid magical people, but what the hell she's pretty! for a person in the realm of a bat, Morrigan certainly sticks the landing on aesthetics. also she's really pretty.

VERDICT: 8/10 squeaks

[kimmycsotherblog]

No I mean there are also small bats on the sprite

[batpedia]

oh fuck uh

BAT: Morrigan Aensland's little bat friends

GAME OF ORIGIN: Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, released 1994 to arcades

CLASSIFICATION: cartoonish bats; non-interactive decor

RANKING: cuties :)

VERDICT: 9/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

I know you were gonna do Morrigan anyway, but consider:

Lil bats.

BAT: Morrigan Aensland

GAME OF ORIGIN: Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, released 1994 to arcades

CLASSIFICATION: humanoid with bat-like characteristics; playable character

RANKING: perhaps the furthest possible extrapolation of what a "bat" is, most forms of Morrigan aren't really recognizably bats so much as they are bat-adjacent humanoid magical people, but what the hell she's pretty! for a person in the realm of a bat, Morrigan certainly sticks the landing on aesthetics. also she's really pretty.

VERDICT: 8/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Bat (& variations)

GAME OF ORIGIN: Final Fantasy XIV, released 2013 on various platforms; live-service/MMORPG

CLASSIFICATION: simple, shape-based depiction of a standard, semi-realistic bat; hostile enemy, with variations that differ in look and behavior

RANKING: very solid bat. visually distinct while being incredibly simple, without losing out on key details such as ears and wing shape. eyes are very striking, create a very cute look for the creature as a whole. for a standard MMO enemy, a lot of love clearly went into designing this bat.

VERDICT: 7/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Lunala

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon Sun & Moon / Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon, released 2016 for the Nintendo 3DS; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION: fantastical depiction of bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: the most recent (as of november 2024, prior to the unveiling of any new Pokémon for the upcoming Legends Z/A and Generation 10 games) bat Pokémon, Lunala is absolutely stunningly beautiful. capturing the beauty and power of an night sky, while still very specifically being a bat, its simple silhouette allows the specific details of its design to shine; the thin connectors between the shifting "membrane" between its wings, the almost bladed edge of its outwer wings and lower appendage... she's so pretty

VERDICT: 9.5/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Noivern

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon X & Y / Pocket Monsters X & Y, released 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION: detailed depiction of a semi-realistic bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: one of the many Pokémon that follow the two-stage "cute baby => badass killer" path, Noivern is helped by its dedication to being a bat. the wings are an obvious element, but the general body shape and especially the under-arm bits of wing add a lot to make Noivern feel less like a generic kaiju or "monster", and more like specifically a bigass bat. the strange shape of its ears helps it to still retain "monstrous" elements, avoiding the Golbat pitfall of being such a bat that it doesn't really look fantastical at all.

VERDICT: 8.5/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Noibat

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon X & Y / Pocket Monsters X & Y, released 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION: detailed depiction of a semi-realistic bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: deliberately very different from all previous bat Pokémon, and the first to be designed wholly for a 3D environment, Noibat is plainly cute! top-heavy, with soft complimentary colors (have you noticed yet that there's not a single bat Pokémon WITHOUT a pink/purple hue on it??) and big eyes. not much to compliment or complain about, that's just a bat!

VERDICT: 7/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Swoobat

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon Black & White / Pocket Monsters Black & White, released 2011 / 2010 for the Nintendo DS; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION; semi-detailed based depiction of a cartoonish bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: i love swoobat like i love the way the sunrise crests the horizon and kisses the morning dew

VERDICT: 10/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Woobat

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon Black & White / Pocket Monsters Black & White, released 2011 / 2010 for the Nintendo DS; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION; simple, shape-based depiction of a cartoon anthropomorphic bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: Woobat is as simple as bats come-- quite literally a little puffball with wings. while it is clearly an expy of Zubat (as so many Unovan Pokémon are expies or reinterpretations of original-151 designs), it takes the "small bat with no eyes" design the opposite direction. being specifically based on fruit bats, and thus leaning into both the "heart-shaped nose" and furriness of those animals lends a lot to Woobat, despite its simplicity. if nothing else, you can make one of these with some glue, cardboard, and a cotton ball, so that's worth a lot.

VERDICT: 7.5/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Gliscor

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon Diamond & Pearl / Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl, released 2006 / 2007 for the Nintendo DS; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION; semi-detailed depiction of a cartoonish bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: Gliscor is an all-timer bat, helped immensely by its darker color palette compared to the very bright and cheery Gligar-- which is, no doubt, intentional. if Gligar is a mischievous little twerp that nips at your heels, Gliscor is a menace that steals your banking information. the wing shape in particular is ESPECIALLY strong, leaning further into the "bat/scorpion hybrid" aesthetic of Gligar by essentially giving a scorpion the shape of a bat and a cape. overall a very, very solid design!

VERDICT: 9/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Gligar

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon Gold & Silver / Pocket Monsters Gold & Silver, released 2000 / 1999 for the Game Boy Color; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION; semi-detailed depiction of a cartoonish, anthropomorphic bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: the Gligar line is easily the most "humanoid" of all bat Pokémon (please dear god Game Freak give me more bats), but does what many early-generation Pokémon did effectively by essentially being a combination of two real-world species; in Gligar's case, a bat and a scorpion. the wings' shape and connective points avoid making it look overly human, and the entire shape/structure of its face is very impish and adorable. also the tail is cool. idk i like Gligar a lot

VERDICT: 8/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Crobat

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon Gold & Silver / Pocket Monsters Gold & Silver, released 2000 / 1999 for the Game Boy Color; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION; simple depiction of a cartoonish bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: a beautiful baby. the inversion of the purple/blue and the switch from a vertical to horizontal pose makes Crobat feel both more batlike and, deliberately, more agile and "sharp" than either of its predecessors. it still moves away from Zubat's "ugly-cute" charm, replacing it with a sort of "grumpy cute"-- the second, smaller set of wings also keeps the design from feeling too directly derivative of Zubat itself. easily the peak of its evolutionary line.

VERDICT: 9/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Golbat

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon Red & Blue / Pocket Monsters Red & Green, released 1998 / 1996 for the Game Boy Color; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION; semi-detailed depiction of a cartoonish bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: despite not being especially different from Zubat in key ways, Golbat is (in my opinion) a downgrade in the ways it does differ. for one thing, the addition of eyes removes a major element of Zubat's "ugly-cute" charm, and beyond that it really doesn't meaningfully differentiate itself from standard cartoonish depictions of bats. the large mouth is just not enough to offset the rest of the design being plainly uncreative, and unexciting.

VERDICT: 5/10 squeaks

[batpedia]

BAT: Zubat

GAME OF ORIGIN: Pokémon Red & Blue / Pocket Monsters Red & Green, released 1998 / 1996 for the Game Boy Color; JRPG

CLASSIFICATION; simple depiction of a cartoonish bat; hostile enemy that can be tamed

RANKING: a classic! one of my favorite Pokémon from when i was growing up, and generally just a very strong bat. it's a design clearly made to be simple, recognizable, and unique, and it excels at all three! just in removing the eyes and making the legs incredibly thin, Zubat goes from "bog standard JRPG bat" to a really striking, "ugly-cute" design that's barely changed in almost 30 years.

VERDICT: 8.5/10 squeaks