In 1985, Bandai decided to add two extra monsters to the Devil Invaders range of aggressors from Machine Robo. The first of these was Gildis, a red crab-based monster.

Later that year, Tonka recoloured the toy to be primarily purple, and issued it as the Renegade Creepy. This version was released by Bandai in Europe, the toy now keeping its' American name (unlike the first three Devil Invaders in Europe) as the Japanese company tried to sync Robo Machine up with Gobots.

Back in America, a bright green version was also issued as a Mailaway exclusive in 1986, even garnering a dedicated TV commercial with a Vincent Price-style (maybe even actually by Victor Price for all I know) voice-over to big him up. However, it was the purple version that appeared in the character's one Challenge of the Gobots appearance, "Quest for New Earth", where he shared the origins of the other Devil Invader figures, being a creation of the Master Renegade.

Creepy has probably the most sane alt mode of the Devil Invader/Mutant Gobot (delete according to preference) figures. I mean, it's clearly based on a crab. A big purple robot death crab (complete with what seems to be a cockpit), but there's an actual name for what it looks a bit like and everything.

Obviously Bandai had to go a little insane in places, so he has wheels, and lasers on his claws. Boy, does this look like one mean crab. It's easily the most fun "monster" Gobot alt mode as you can actually do something with it - the arms move around nicely, and while the claws aren't robust enough to lift another Gobot, it's a laudable effort. The purple/black scheme works nicely - the original Gildis has always struck me as a little bland, while the Mailaway green one is just stupidly garish. Purple and black works nicely.

It's a shame the legs don't blend particularly well, but this is more a niggle, and the mandibles on his back add to a general feeling of nastiness.

The transformation is actually pretty close to that of the Transformer Scorponok, but oddly considering Creepy's about a fraction of the size, it's the Gobot that's more fun, and more complex. You can't go wrong with a rotating chest (well, Takara managed it with Armada Thrust, but then they endorse raping prepubescent girls and e-Hobby, so they can probably get anything wrong).

The resulting robot is possibly the most "normal" of the Devil Invader moulds - only really matched by Pincher. However, Creepy's just plain better. His limbs are thicker and better sculpted, and all the proportions are spot on. The head design is very good, suggesting to me a silent, deadly type (but suggesting to Hanna-Barbera another screeching, cackling goon... such is life as a Gobot fan). The pincers work nicely as hands. These also give a fair bit of articulation, though I suspect the plastic on them can wear down without proper care, and they can pop off as well. Add into that that his stocky legs allow the figure a decent amount of balance and you have a fairly poseable robot mode.

Also, Creepy is the inverse of Scorp - the figure not only looks great, but has a little character to him, and works best as a one-off Renegade as opposed to a cloned Devil Invader drone.