Bat Tamer (コウモリ使い?) is a demon bat tamer, he is known as Baldok in the English anime and the Bat Master in the English manga, who had taken up residence, along with his gang of giant fruit bats, in Genkai's haunted forest.
He is voiced by Shigeru Chiba in the Japanese version and by Bill Townsley in the English dub.
Description[]
Baldok is a humanoid-bat demon, capable of flight and speech, who was the leader of a gang of giant fruit bats in Genkai's haunted forest. He had white hair, grey fur, and red eyes. He was a very fast flyer, but according to Yusuke, was not as fast as Hiei. The manga on the other hand showed him with black hair and a black covered body with a tie and not as menacing in appearance as his anime counterpart giving him more of a resemblance to a vampire. Additionally his fighting style was never shown in the manga.
Story Synopsis[]
While traveling through Genkai's haunted forest as part of her third test, Yusuke accidentally came across the bat tamer, Baldok. Thanks to his previous battle with Hiei, Yusuke is able to follow the Baldok's speed and easily defeat him. It is unclear if he is slain or merely incapacitated, however a short clip in the anime clearly
shows the Baldok's limp, unconscious form, with both of his wings ripped and torn. In the manga however, the fight is never shown, and Yusuke brings the unconscious Bat Tamer covered in bumps and bruises with him to where Genkai is.
It was also because of this victory that Yusuke was able to pass the third test in the anime as an exception despite going over the time limit, while the manga shows that Yusuke barely made it on time. Either way, Baldok is never seen again in the continuity and Genkai was impressed with Yusuke's victory over him.
Trivia []
- In the anime, the aspect of this character is based on the character of DC Comics' Man-Bat.
- The Bat Tamer is the only character in the manga to be given a completely different appearance in the anime, due to looking more like a comical version of a Western vampire.