#media bats

[rate-every-bat]

Today's bats: Woobat and Swoobat

The Pokémon franchise is very near and dear to me, being the second special interest I picked up as a kid. (Can you guess what my first one was? 🦇) This precious duo are Psychic/Flying type, and were first introduced in Pokémon Black and White.

Environmental Impact: There's a real ecological niche for these guys!! Pokédex entries reveal that, like many real-world bats, the Woobat family are cave-dwellers, echolocating to navigate and hunt for Bug-types. Unlike real bats, they're said to leave heart-shaped impressions with their distinctive noses on cave walls. They're beneficial to humans as well: a heart-mark from these guys will bring good luck, and hearing the echolocations of "courting males" will induce a good mood. I think IRL bats are equally able to impart good moods, but that might just be me. (Those echolocations can also reduce rock to rubble, though, so stick to mating season if you're going out Swoobat-watching.)

🦇🦇🦇/5

Beauty: I love when fictional bats map onto real species, and these two are an obvious send-up to the Heart-Nosed Bat. Bulbapedia also pointed out that Woobat resembles the Honduran White Bat, which I can see a little less strongly. I really love their toothy grins (shared by another dear favorite family, Munchlax/Snorlax). Their shiny forms are green and orange, which are just as darling as the standard-issue powder blue. Their signature move, Heart Stamp, is especially precious. Altogether, I have a real soft spot for these little guys' looks!!

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇/5

Power: As Pokémon go, their typing isn't bad. The Flying secondary type eliminates the typical Psychic weaknesses to Bug, while making them doubly (quadruply?) effective against Fighting. They still have a wide array of weaknesses, and their stats aren't much to write home about. However, the Pokémon games taught me that any Pokémon can be a great teammate if raised with love, so I'd say Woo and Swoo still pass.

🦇🦇🦇/5

Overall: Woobat/Swoobat always has a place on my team for it's looks and battiness alone. I'll take a heart-stamp any day of the week.

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇/5

(Today's sources: Bulbapedia, Bulbapedia)

[rate-every-bat]

Today's Bat: Giant Bat from Dungeon Meshi

My favorite manga is getting an anime adaptation, so let's flip open the Adventurer's Bible to get better acquainted with this monster.

Environmental Impact: As listed above, this carnivorous bat drinks the blood of it's prey. Falin explains the bats' dungeon niche, which is unique thanks to this world's reliance on mana: the bats' guano is broken down by slimes and converted to mana, which is then absorbed by all living creatures inside the dungeon. I love this series' world-building, and the bat as a source of magical fertilizer is just so special!

🦇🦇🦇🦇/5

Beauty: Despite their resemblance to Flying Foxes in their size, face shapes, and eyes, the chompers on these guys prove the Giant Bat a truly bloodthirsty beast. They're striking, and a little scary! I don't love encouraging fear of endangered pollinators by likening them to vampire bats (which still don't eat people), but they're effective as a dungeon monster!

🦇🦇/5

Power: The Giant Bat is noted for it's intelligence. The Adventurer's Bible details how they kill prey by dropping them from height. The body size of a Flying Fox applied to a predator is a 5/5 threat, and I wouldn't want to meet this guy in the dungeon!

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇/5

Overall: Thank you to Ryoko Kui for including such a special bat in her series! I can't wait to watch the bat in action... that is, until it gets eaten!

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇/5

(Today's sources: Dungeon Meshi, The Adventurer's Bible)

((PS: DO NOT eat flying foxes in real life!! They're frequently poached for bush meat, and they're well known vectors for Lyme disease.))

[rate-every-bat]

Today's Bat: Minecraft Bat

Minecraft is a classic game, and I've always liked that it included bats as a kind of set dressing. I wish they did a bit more, but that won't stop me from reviewing them!

Environmental Impact: These guys could not have less of an impact. They exist to squeal and make you jump when they fly out of a dark cavern without warning. They don't provide any experience or loot when they die, so they aren't of much use to a player. They get to hang around and look cute, and that's it. There are some bat companion mods out there: Companion Bats and Pet Bats were the ones I found with a quick search. Both these mods have bats eating Pumpkin Pie, so I'll say that they are solidly not part of the game's food web.

🦇/5

Beauty: Here's a first for the blog: Minecraft bats received a redesign in 2019, with Version 1.14. The original bat has a more Minecraft aesthetic, with a blocky head and stiff wings. I don't think you were ever meant to look at them too closely. The newer bat is both cuter and more realistically bat-like, with well-defined wing shape, a square nose pad, and nice big ears to echolocate with. It's not calling out to any specific species that I can discern, but it's a vast improvement over Bat 1.0.

EDIT: @cornbread-but-cringey pointed out an error here: The bat redesign was actually completed in 2023. I confused this for a texture update from 2019. Thank you for the correction!

🦇🦇🦇/5

Power: Sorry, Minecraft bats, but I can't seem to find much to write home about here. There's apparently a special type of bat called a Witches' Bat that explodes upon impact with the player... which I've learned happens once "SkyBlock-yearly" during the "Spooky Festival". I was entirely unaware of both the "SkyBlock-year" and the "Spooky Festival" until writing this post, and I'm amazed that there are still things about Minecraft I've never heard.

🦇🦇/5

Overall: Dear Microsoft: Your bats should produce guano, eat bugs, disperse seeds, roost in chimneys, and/or any other bat-like behaviors. I like them fine as passive mining buddies, but my heart yearns for more.

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇/5

(Today's sources: Minecraft Wiki, Minecraft Wiki)

[rate-every-bat]

Today's bats: Stardew Valley

Suprisingly, Stardew Valley has a variety of bats to review! You can house fruit bats in the cave on your farm, and fight several aggressive bat species in the mines.

Environmental Impact: The fruit bats on the farm are an important source of hard-to-acquire fruits in earlier game states. As for the mine bats, I'd imagine the variants on floors 31-39 are keeping the aggressive bug populations down, as well as forming guano deposits that the farmer could harvest for fertilizer (get on it, modders).

🦇🦇/5

Beauty: I love the variety of the sprites here, though I can't say they map easily onto real-life bat species. I particularly like the Dangerous Bat variant, they give me Mothman vibes.

🦇🦇🦇/5

Power: These bats can pack a punch. I'd love to know more about the biology of the Lava Bats, as they occupy a pretty hostile environment. Maybe the more dangerous variants are vampiric bats that attempt to feed on the farmer's blood, which is why they deal more damage? However, vampire bats in real life use cattle as their food sources, and don't bite humans unless provoked.

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇/5

Overall: It breaks my heart every time I have to raise a weapon against these beautiful creatures, but my community bundles would be forever barren without their hard work.

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇/5

(Today's sources: Stardew Valley Wiki, Stardew Valley Wiki)

[rate-every-bat]

EMERGENCY MENTION: Crobat from Pokemon Stadium 2

I'll fully cover Crobat another day, but I need you all to be aware of this thing:

Environmental Impact: Unknown , I'd imagine it scares its prey to death.

?/5

Beauty: A nightmare creature! The teeth are all wrong, and it's eyes are threatening to escape!!

🦇/5

Power: Scary ass face, I'll see it in my nightmares soon.

?/5

Overall: NO!!!!!!

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇/5