Golden Bat

1930 Kamishibai to post WW2:

The original Ogon Bat protecting Mari from a two-eyed Doctor Nazo.

When Ogon Bat was first made up way back in 1930 by writer Ichiro Suzuki. He looked totally different from his modern version. He had an 17th century attire and even had blond hair. Instead of sceptre he had Spanish rapier. (which contradicts the claims that Ogon Bat is an age old Atlantian protector) The rapier slowly evolved to an stick over a few stories and he also began to loose his hair and funky 17th century hat. Around WWII he survived as part of a few card games like Hanafuda cards for the Japanese soldiers and children at the time. But then he fell in to obscurity for a decade or two with only a few manga titles in effort for an revival.

1966 Live Action:

Ogon Bat in his silver screen revival

And in 1966 he got one. In this movie his appearance was tweaked for an final time in to the final modern form you can see in the Anime. He now only has a cape and his stick which was previously a rapier was now given an bulb on top making it a sceptre. In the live-action movie the secret organization of scientists didn't exactly plan to revive Ogon Bat when they first found him. At the start of the movie they where searching for a kind of ruby with the right size and frequency that would fit in a super laser in order to destroy the incoming planetoid Icarus that threatened the Earth. But they found the island because a scout crew of the organization was shot down in the middle of the ocean. Arriving on the island they found the missing crew all shot down and severely burned. Suddenly an Earthquake hit and Doctor Nazo's surfaces from the ocean. The crew quickly became target of the lasers which Doctor Nazo's drill ship shot on them. The Doctor sends his super powered henchmen out to kill them. They flee in to an ruin where they shoot a few of the henchmen. Where the now much smaller group take a moment of rest. They proceed further whilst shooting down some more henchmen. Till they come to a dead end. where Emily points out there is light coming from a wall, And after they removed the wall a coffin slides down from a ledge. Where they see that it hold hieroglyphs, it reads: *Ten thousand years from now... A crisis will surely fall on human beings. Remove the led of this coffin then and I...The Golden Bat shall awake from the sleep of then thousand years and fight for you. Put a drop of water on my chest.* Emily points out that the Mineral detector is reacting to the coffin. They decide to open the coffin and to their shock and amazement there is a golden skeletal being in it who is holding the necessary mineral that they need to finish the laser. After taking the ruby from the creepy figure. And then the Skeleton man starts moaning like its trying to laugh but can't. Suddenly they caught up by a few surviving henchmen. Who they defeat quickly, But Yamatone doesn't believe the place to be save any more so the yet again they try to find a way out. One of the guards finds a hole but he is quickly shot by a laser. They are quickly surrounded by several henchmen. Emily notices the Ogon Bat is still moaning. Emily grasps a bit of water from a stream next to the coffin and throws it on Ogon Bat. And as soon as she throws it on Ogon Bat a stone ornament on the coffin becomes an actual bat! Which then flies over Golden Bat who starts to glow and revive. As the bat finally makes his appearance the group turns to the henchmen who just now run in to the room and surround them. Ogon Bat stands between the henchmen and the crow on ever turn but the henchmen open fire and the crew make a stand. Ogon Bat stands laughing maniacally in the middle, unharmed by all the lasers. The henchmen stop firing because they are frightened by this. Ogon Bat fires his magical energy on the henchmen and beats on them with his baton. After quickly disposing of the henchmen he claims: * I am the Golden Bat. I have awaken from a then-thousand year sleep and shall now fight for you. i fight for Justice alone.* He tells Emily that becuase she save him, he is very grateful, and if they even need him she only need to call out to him and he will come. He then turns the little bat in to a broach which Emily will wear. He then tells them that they need to hurry and bring the stone to the laboratory. Yamatone mentions that they can't go outside because of Doctor Nazo's drill. He then flies outside Where he claims that he is Ogon Bat and the Nazo and his men need to get out of his sight before he'll smash them all. Doctor Nazo shoots lasers at Ogon Bat who flies directly to the ship and destroys the control tower. Doctor Nazo tells him that he is the ruler of the universe and that he change the course of the planet Icarus, He goes on how he won't allow the human race to exist in the universe and that he should be the only one who should exist in the universe. Nazo then takes his leave, and Ogon Bat tells the crew to leave the island since because he now is revived Atlantis will now sink back in to the ocean.

1967 Anime:

His first victory

A great frightening creature whom thousands of years ago served as a protector of a now lost civilization, who was laid to rest in long period of peace. After some time the civilization disappeared, there he laid for centuries till he was rediscovered by the archaeologist Professor Yamatone, his sons and the adopted orphan Mari who in a desperate attempt to survive the attack by Dr. Nazo`s henchmen and they`re giant mechanical hand revived Ogon Bat by throwing a bucket of water over him washing off the dust he collected over the centuries. As soon as he awoke he began fight the ''Hand'' and showed not only amazing super strength but also the power of flight and to shoot bolts of a unknown energy out of his staff he finally defeated the robot by grabbing a finger and spinning it around and letting them fly of in fear. Since this victory Mari seems to be able to call forth the skull faced hero by a telepathic link which will become the main plot device for getting the Golden Bat in the adventures he needs to be.

Golden Bat Millennium version:

Screecaps from the Trailer

Although this series never was aired for some unknown but stupid reason the disappointed fans of different adaptations of the original series did get to have a short look at the new series with the trailer that was left behind on the net. In this version Golden Bat not only has a new skinnier and more gruesome look (note that he also has vampire fangs in this version) but his powers also seems to be upgraded. He now has the ability to fly with wings instead of his regular Superman-styled flight and is also able to do some new energy attacks. We have only have seen one from the mouth. There is also a short moment where you can see a person that looks like the classic Golden bat trying to protect Mari but it doesn't seem to be him so all we can guess is that it was a Golden Bat wannabe in a off-coloured costume.

A Bat factor?:

The Bat & The Batman

Batman is widely accepted as the one who first used this cunning technique using his costume and his reputation to scare the villains he fights. But 9 years before Bruce even picked up his cape Golden Bat was already using it (though somewhat differently).First a gold bat would appear followed be a haunting laughter and the appearance of Ogon Bat`s ghostly golden skull. He was also feared because unlike most heroes that would follow him (and some before) he didn't care if the villains died or not, so a meeting with the bat would most definitely end in death.

Powers:
Due to his magical nature Golden Bat was the most powerful super hero even for a few years after Superman was introduced. Aside from his obvious immortality he had Superman's staple powers of flight and super strength and super speed. He could also make gusts of winds with his cape and could also use it to disguise himself. He had a degree of invulnerability being able to withstand bullets and lasers with ease. (even though this is true he still dodges them for some reason) He could also easily breath underwater and even speak (or rather laugh because that's all he does any way). In the final episode of the 1966 anime he also showed that he had X-ray vision. In most versions of this story he also seems to have a physic link with the girl whom resurrected him.

Golden Bat's Sceptre:

Golden Bat easily breaking a badly drawn moai with his sceptre to scare Doctor Nazo's men

A silver/gray wand or sceptre that Golden Bat uses for combat, It is not certain if his magical powers come from this sceptre or that its simply a conductor for his magic. But he does use it as an extension of his powers. He can easily slice things like steel with its sharp point and knock people down with the sides and top, Sometimes the blows are so powerful that he easily can break rocks with it. The Golden Bat usually uses it as a sword or bat. (in earlier images of the character it was even depicted as an Spanish rapier) As said before the wand is an conductor for his magic energy, with the energy he can power up the slices and blows with unbelievable results. But he can also shoot laser bolts from it with very accurate precision, he can even create small earthquakes with it. Even if its separated from its owner the staff can form trouble for the target as the Golden Bat can still seem to direct energy into it for some reason, most of the time the enemy gets end up fried. When the Golden Bat succeeds in directing his energy in to the enemy the results vary, sometimes they turn to stone and then crumble. Sometimes they just blow up or simply disappear, one time an enemy even melted. Though it is not certain if it is the same case with Ogon Bat himself it is shown that when breaking the sceptre of his arch nemesis and mirror image Kurayami Bat the wielder becomes weak and is essentially defeated, Though Ogon Bat broke Kurayami's sceptre several times he did came back time and time again.

Name:	Golden Bat
Name:	黄金バット
Romanji:	Ōgon Batto
Gender:	Male
Birthday:
1st manga book:
1st anime episode:	Golden Bat #1
1st anime movie:
Aliases	Ogon Bat Diavolik Phantoma Phantaman The Phanta Man Fantasmagórico Fanthomas Fantaman

Golden Bat

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