General Birdler

Aerial General Birdler (怪鳥将軍バーダラー, Kai tori shōgun bādarā^?), also known as Mysterious Bird General Birdler or Sky Battalion Commander Birdler (怪鳥将軍 バーダラー) is a fictional character, a supervillain and warrior from the anime and manga series Great Mazinger. He is commander of the Aerial Battle Beasts, one of the Seven Armies of the Mikene Empire. He resembles a demonic angel, with his true face on his chest.. In the Mazinkaiser OVA his head and neck appear more reptilian, but overall remains the same.

In his official character profile for the Mazinkaiser OVA, he is stated to be bullish and overconfident. According to his manga description, Birdler's lightning-fast speed and maneuverability make him a skilled fighter. It is also stated that Birdler has several abilities, as he can launch ultrasonic mouth waves and create shockwaves and tornadoes from his wings.

History

Like the other members of the Mikene Empire, General Birdler survived beneath the surface of the earth in the form of a hideous Warrior Beast. Possibly thousands of years old, he and the other Generals plotted their eventual return to the surface world they once ruled under the supreme command of the mighty Great General of Darkness.

Their chance came when an ambitious megalomaniac named Dr. Hell usurped their technology and created his Mechanical Beasts in order to conquer the world. At first content to let the upstart human do the dirty work for them (and very likely planning to overthrow him once he succeeded), the Generals quickly realized that the surface world was not completely helpless when Mazinger Z proved capable of repelling attack after attack. When Dr. Hell was finally vanquished by Mazinger, the Great General finally ordered a full scale attack.

General Birdler's Aerial Warrior Beasts were the primary air force of the vast Mikene Empire, and although many other warrior beasts from the six other Mikene armies were also capable of flight, Birdler and his troops were the fastest and most maneuverable Mikene soldiers in the realm of the sky.

General Birdler's last appearance is in episode 47, where in the end, he is attacked by Great Mazinger and the Great Booster while commanding the Demonika. Although it is not shown that he actually dies, it is possible that Birdler died shortly after the incident due to this episode being his last appearance in the series.

Other appearances

General Birdler also reappears in the Mazinkaiser OVA Deathmatch! Mazinkaiser VS the Great General of Darkness, although he is the first of the seven generals to be destroyed. He uses the Mikeros to attack Kouji before he can reach Mazinkaiser in Japan. He and the Mikeros appear from a massive storm cloud in order to confront Koji, and the diabolical avian orders his aerial army (consisting of Birdian, Obereus, Tollukan and Greydos) to destroy the plane Koji is riding in, but the beasts are destroyed by the Million Alpha, who is escorting Koji.

Frustrated by the Million Alpha's interference, Birdler decides to fight the mecha himself but, he is killed by a kamikaze attack from the Million Alpha .