This is a list of fictional bats that appear in video games, film, television, animation, comics and literature. This list is subsidiary to the list of fictional animals.
Since bats are mammals, yet can fly, they are considered to be liminal beings in various traditions.[1] In many cultures, including in Europe, bats are associated with darkness, death, witchcraft, and malevolence.[2] Among Native Americans such as the Creek, Cherokee and Apache, the bat is identified as a trickster.[3] In Tanzania, a winged batlike creature known as Popobawa is believed to be a shapeshifting evil spirit that assaults and sodomises its victims.[4] In Aztec mythology, bats symbolised the land of the dead, destruction, and decay.[5][6][7] An East Nigerian tale tells that the bat developed its nocturnal habits after causing the death of his partner, the bush-rat, and now hides by day to avoid arrest.[8]
More positive depictions of bats exist in some cultures. In China, bats have been associated with happiness, joy and good fortune. Five bats are used to symbolise the "Five Blessings": longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue and peaceful death.[9] The bat is sacred in Tonga and is often considered the physical manifestation of a separable soul.[10] In the Zapotec civilisation of Mesoamerica, the bat god presided over corn and fertility.[11]
The Weird Sisters in Shakespeare's Macbeth used the fur of a bat in their brew.[12] In Western culture, the bat is often a symbol of the night and its foreboding nature. The bat is a primary animal associated with fictional characters of the night, both villainous vampires, such as Count Dracula and before him Varney the Vampire,[13] and heroes, such as the DC Comics character Batman.[14] Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing novels narrate the adventures of a young bat,[15] based on the silver-haired bat of North America.[16]
Animation edit
- Bartok, Rasputin's bat henchman from the musical Anastasia and a direct-to-video spinoff Bartok the Magnificent[17]
- Bat-Bat, superhero bat parody of Batman, from Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures[18]
- Batfink, a superhero bat with steel wings from the show, Batfink[19]
- Batty Koda, a fruit bat voiced by Robin Williams from FernGully: The Last Rainforest[20]
- Bertie the bat, a bat who helps his friends to save the environment in the namesake series narrated by Bernard Cribbins[21]
- Dingbat, The 3 Stooges pet in the first episode of The New Scooby Doo Movies
- Fidget, the peg-legged bat with a crippled wing, from The Great Mouse Detective[22]
- Foxglove, a pink bat from Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers[23]
- Fu-Fu, a bat in Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat
- Fangs, Lucy Loud's pet bat in The Loud House
- Sen, a bat in Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro
Puppetry edit
- Benny, a bat who appeared in Bear in the Big Blue House, recycled by Leah the Fruit Bat from Jim Henson's The Animal Show[24]
- Rosita, la Monstrua de las Cuevas, a fruit bat on Sesame Street[25][26]
- Elmo Bat, a bat variation of Elmo imagined by Dorothy in the Elmo's World episode Sleep
- Stupid Bat, Witchiepoo's dim-witted assistant, from H.R. Pufnstuf[27]
Comics and manga edit
- Bewitched, Bothered and Bemildred, three bats in Walt Kelly's Pogo[28]
- Yami-Maru, in Millennium Snow
- Billy Bat, the main character in the Billy Bat series
Anime edit
- Alan, bat from Aikatsu! 3
- Babbit, a bat-like from Kodocha
- Bolas, a anthromopic bat from Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts
- Chichon, in 801 T.T.S. Airbats[29]
- Common Vampire Bat, from Kemono Friends
- Desert Bat, in Blade of the Phantom Master[30]
- Koumori, from Working Buddies!
- Taigokumaru, a bat-like from Inuyasha
- Yasu, a bat from Don Dracula
Video games edit
Literature edit
- Shade, Marina, and Goth, from the Silverwing novels and animated adaptation[15]
- Stellaluna, a fruit bat in Janell Cannon's book of the same name.[31][32]
See also edit
- Vampires in popular culture, noting that vampires are often associated with a power to transform into bats
References edit
- ^ McCracken, G. F. (1993). "Folklore and the Origin of Bats". BATS Magazine. Bats in Folklore. 11 (4).
- ^ Chwalkowski, F. (2016). Symbols in Arts, Religion and Culture: The Soul of Nature. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 523. ISBN 978-1443857284.
- ^ Chwalkowski, Farrin (2016). Symbols in Arts, Religion and Culture: The Soul of Nature. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 523. ISBN 978-1443857284.
- ^ Saleh, A. (19 July 2001). "Sex-mad 'ghost' scares Zanzibaris". BBC News. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
- ^ "Aztec Symbols". Aztec-history.net. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ^ Read, K. A.; Gonzalez, J. J. (2000). Mesoamerican Mythology. Oxford University Press. pp. 132–134. ISBN 978-0195149098.
- ^ "Artists Inspired by Oaxaca Folklore Myths and Legends". Oaxacanwoodcarving.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ^ Arnott, K. (1962). African Myths and Legends. Oxford University Press. pp. 150–152.
- ^ "Chinese symbols" (PDF). British Museum. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ Grant, G. S. "Kingdom of Tonga: Safe Haven for Flying Foxes". Batcon.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ^ Cartwright, M. (28 October 2013). "Zapotec Civilization". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- ^ de Vries, A. (1976). Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery. Amsterdam: North-Holland. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-7204-8021-4.
- ^ Miller, Elizabeth (1998). "Bats, Vampires & Dracula". Newsletter of the Florida Bat Conservation Centre (Fall 1998). Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ Fleisher, M. L. (1976). The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Volume 1 Batman. Collier Books. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-02-080090-3.
- ^ a b "Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel". Kirkus Reviews. 1997. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- ^ Oppel, K. "The Characters: Shade". Kenneth Oppel. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
"Shade is based on a Silver-Haired Bat. I thought they were very dashing-looking creatures. I liked the fact this was a bat that lived in the same part of the world as me (eastern Canada). These are small creatures, with a wing span of a few inches. Their bodies are about the same size as mice. They're insectivores, which means they eat only insects." – K.O.
- ^ NAPSI (November 17, 1999). "No tall tail-bats are making a comeback in some areas". Fort Oglethorpe Press. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- ^ Paul Wells, Animation and America (2002), p. 84.
- ^ Markstein, Don. "Batfink". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ Ian Wojik-Andrews, Children's Films: History, Ideology, Pedagogy, Theory (2002), p. 132.
- ^ "Bertie the Bat - 1990 - Animation". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ^ Thomas S. Hischak, Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary (2011), p. 37.
- ^ Bill Cotter, The Wonderful World of Disney Television: A Complete History (1997), p. 566.
- ^ Scott Blakey, "Life lessons from Bear in the Big Blue House", South Florida Sun Sentinel (July 12, 2002), p. 35.
- ^ Keating, Shane (3 April 2021). "Rosita's Wings Are Back!". ToughPigs. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ David Borgenicht (1998). Sesame Street Unpaved. Hyperion Books. ISBN 0-7868-6460-5.
- ^ Timothy Burke and Kevin Burke, Saturday Morning Fever: Growing Up with Cartoon Culture (1998), p. 246: "Stupid Bat was—well, a big stupid bat".
- ^ James Eric Black, Walt Kelly and Pogo: The Art of the Political Swamp (2015), p. 149.
- ^ "Chichon". Anime-Planet. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ^ "Desert Bat". Anime-Planet. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- ^ Lodge, Sally (12 July 2018). "'Stellaluna' Celebrates 25 Years of Flight". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
- ^ Cannon, J. (2018). Stellaluna 25th Anniversary Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780547545301.