Natalus

Natalus is a Probat from the 2019 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Formerly just one of the many native Probat, Natalus was appointed head foreman of his planet's energon refinery, acting as a liaison between the inhabitants of Probat and the Transformers who brought his world under the aegis of Cybertron's Senate.

He seems to have let this power go to his head.

Fiction

2019 IDW continuity

When the Cybertronians arrived on the planet Probat, Natalus was appointed head foreman of the planet's newly constructed energon refinery. Like all Probat, he came to worship Bumblebee as the 'bot who had come to Probat as part of his mission to "uplift" the simple aliens. Wannabee, Part 1 Whether through deliberate outside interference or simple egotism, Natalus quickly grew drunk with power; proclaiming that the Transformers had announced that only he should be able to fly, all Probat over a certain age had their wings shredded and regularly trimmed to prevent them from flying, a bizarre rite of supplication to honor Natalus. Wannabee, Part 2

In time, Natalus tried to build a relationship with ambassador Deathsaurus, who showed up regularly to take Cybertron's cut of their regular energon quota but was otherwise disinterested in dealing with organics. Unhappy with this arrangement, Natalus began to deliberately funnel energon cubes to a secret stockpile—one for Probat and Probat alone.

During Deathsaurus's last trip to the planet, he brought Cliffjumper along to pose as "Bumblebee" as part of a coordinated public relations scheme, knowing that the naturally blind, sonar-using Probat would be unable to distinguish him from the real Bumblebee. Even Natalus fell for the ruse, and thanked Deathsaurus for bringing their hero back to their remote homeworld. At the energon refinery, however, negotiations quickly went south when Deathsaurus pressed Natalus for information regarding why their latest shipment of energon was below quota. As Natalus stammered excuses, Deathsaurus quickly discovered Natalus's private stash, hidden in a nearby wall; furious with his trading partner's arrogance and duplicity, Deathsaurus transformed into his beast mode and incinerated Natalus on the spot. Wannabee, Part 1 Deathsaurus would later use Natalus's charred skull as evidence that "Bumblebee" was a murderous imposter and responsible for killing the Probat's beloved foreman.

With Natalus gone and Cybertron's hold over the planet broken after Cliffjumper's defeat of Deathsaurus, the other Probat were free to reclaim their flying prowess and soon returned to a life in the skies. Wannabee, Part 2

Notes

• Natalus takes his name from the identically-named bat genus that encompasses various tropical bat species.