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Pretenders (Transformers)

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Pretenders is a subline within the Transformers toyline, introduced in 1988. The gimmick was that the Transformers were supposedly capable of disguising their robotic forms through the use of synthetic organic outer shells.

Contents

Pretender Toys

1988

Standard Pretenders

While the Autobots' outer shells all resemble human beings clad in armor, the Decepticons' shells are all in the form on monstrous animalistic creatures. The robot figure is contained entirely within the shell, invisible to the outsider observer, and after the shell splits apart it to release it, the shell can be recombined for a second figure. Although the first set of Pretenders was released early in 1988, a second set of 6, exclusive to America, were also sold. Metalhawk, named so because his inner robot was constructed partially of die-cast metal (a rarity in 1988), was only sold in Japan.

Pretender Beasts

The exterior shells of these figures were organic representations of the mechanised animals the interior robots transformed into, also equipped with armor and mounted weapons.

Pretender Vehicles

The interior robots of the Pretender Vehicles were contained within large armored-vehicle style shells. When the interior robot was removed, the shell could be reconfigured into a battle vehicle for them to pilot. The Pretender vehicles were exclusive to the American market.

1989

Standard Pretenders

Notably smaller than the previous year's standard Pretender size, this year also saw the shells break convention, with a monstrous Autobot in Longtooth, and a humanoid Decepticon in Strangehold. The shells each wield as a weapon or accessory a piece of the interior robot integral to their transformation.

Pretender Classics

Four classic characters, reimagined as Pretenders. All four have humanoid shells.

Mega Pretenders

The Mega Pretenders kicked the Pretender concept up a notch, giving both the interior robot and the shell the ability to transform and combine to form a larger vehicle.

Ultra Pretenders

Taking the Pretender concept to the extreme, the Ultra Pretenders featured two shells - a large exterior vehicle shell, which then contained a secondary humanoid shell (which could also transform), and within that, finally, the diminutive interior robot. Roadblock is a notable sufferer of "gold plastic syndrome"--gold plastic is known for deteriorating faster than other colors, and the inner robot is made mostly of this material, so it is hard to find a non-broken Roadblock.

Decepticon Monster Pretenders

These six figures were unique among the Pretenders - small robots with monster alternate modes, housed within shells made from soft rubber. Together, the six interior robots could combine into Monstructor.

With the American Transformers cartoon having come to a conclusion the previous year, it fell to Marvel Comics to provide the supporting fiction for Pretenders in the West.

Attempting to maximize his warriors' power of disguise and surprise, the Decepticon commander Scorponok conceived a method of merging "sythoplasm" - a synthetic organic substitute - with six of his warriors, creating the Decepticon Pretenders. A computerised version of Optimus Prime had spied on the process, however, allowing the Autobots to duplicate it in time to meet the Decepticon attack with their own Pretenders. But while the Autobots were well aware of the true nature of their opponents, the dim-witted Decepticons at first thought they were merely fighting particularly tall humans, giving the Autobots the element of surprise when they split from their shells and forced the Decepticons back. Subsequently, Decepticon Skullgrin underwent a brief stint as a movie star, using his shell to play the role of a monster, until he was attacked by Circuit Breaker.

When Starscream attained the power of the Underbase, the Pretenders were among the Transformers able to survive his onslaught due to their organic components. Seeking to bolster his forces, Scorponok contacted Carnivac, Catilla and Snarler - three Decepticons left on Earth after the reality-shredding Time Wars - and gifted them with Pretender shells in exchange for their attacking Fortress Maximus. Although they failed, they were allowed to keep their shells, and subsequently encountered Springer and the other Autobot Time Wars survivors. Catilla joined the Autobots outright, while Carnivac sided with them but remained a Decepticon in name, leaving Snarler disgusted and vowing to make them pay. Snarler assembled a new Mayhem Attack Squad - including the Pretenders Bludgeon, Strangehold and Octopunch - and attacked the "Survivors" in a battle that saw Bludgeon kill Catilla.

Not long after, Landmine and Cloudburst were sent on a mission to acquire new parts to repair the fallen Autobots, only to run afoul of the dealers of said parts, the robot-eating Mecannibals. Chosen by the Mecannibals to be their next meal, Cloudburst staid their consumption by convincing the Mecannibals to allow them to acquire an additional ingredient that would make them tastier to eat, retrieving it from the nearby planet of Femax. There, Cloudburst so impressed the female warrior chieftain that she sought to make him her mate, only to decapitate him in rage upon discovering that he was a robot within his shell. Landmine was able to placate her, and Cloudburst was repaired; as they left the planet, they discovered that the Decepticons Dreadwing and Darkwing had been responsible for the Mecannibals discovering their true nature, and were able to escape the monsters' clutches while they set off to make their robot-spotters their next meal.

Escaping the Mecannibals for a brief time, Dreadwing and Darking were sent on a mission by Megatron to recover Starscream's corpse. Megatron then captured Ratchet, teleporting him - and, accidentally, the deactivated bodies of Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee - to Cybertron, where he forced him to rebuild Starscream as a Pretender, who he then unleashed on the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth. Ratchet was able to use the discard prototype Pretender shells to revive Grimlock, Jazz and Bumbleebee, and defeated Megatron's plan. While Starscream got to grips with his new situation - feeling that the Decepticons considered him a walking joke, when in actuality, they were terrified of him - the Mayhem Attack Squad Pretenders were sent to attack Grimlock and co. on the orders of the Decepticons' new Cybertron commander, Thunderwing, a Pretender himself (no explanation is given for where Thunderwing acquired his Pretender shell, and he is never depicted without it).

When the quest to recover the Autobots' lost Creation Matrix began, Autobot Pretenders Longtooth, Pincher and Doubleheader tracked a lead to the planet of Pequod, discovering that the last of an extinct race of sea-mammals named the klud had been revived by Matrix energy. Longtooth was attacked by the creature, and then, his injuries addling his mind, set out to kill it in an Ahab-like quest, only to be stopped by his allies. The "Pretender Classics" then located the Matrix on a moon of the planet Cameroon, but Thunderwing stole it and was possessed by it, attacking the Autobots until he was defeated by being jettisoned into space.

Thunderwing later returned during Unicron's attack on Cybertron, but was destroyed by the Chaos-Bringer, allowing Optimus Prime to use the Matrix to save the day. Grimlock was appointed new Autobot leader, and lost his Pretender abilities when exposure to Nucleon robbed him of his transforming abilities. Bludgeon, meanwhile, became new Decepticon leader for several years, until Megatron returned and battled him, decapitating his outer shell and then destroying his interior robot.

Pretenders in Japan

Not all of the Pretender toys released in the West reached Japan, and several of those than did were either renamed or remoulded in some way.

1988

Additionally, one entirely new Autobot Pretender figure was created for this year - Metalhawk, so named for the large amount of die-cast metal in his interior robot, which transformed into a jet.

Also, this year saw the release of a recolored version of the original Fortress Maximus toy named Grand Maximus. His Headmaster component, Grand, was outfitted with a newly-created Pretender shell. Grand is a recolored version of Fortress Maximus's component, Cerebros.

In addition, Japan did not receive the following Pretenders:

1989

This year saw only Decepticon Pretenders released, all sufficiently colored differently from their American cousins.

The Japanese version of America's Pretender Monsters, these toys were colored in creams, blacks and greens, and were given entirely different shells in the images of cyborg dinosaurs. Their combined form is Dinoking. They included: The Crossformers are versions of America's Mega Pretenders that have names based on their base colors and shells that appear to be remolded variants of the American Mega Pretender shells. It is possible they may have been released earlier than the Mega Pretenders (1989) due to the fact that while both share the same decals as the American versions, the frames of each label matches the color of the place it sat on each Crossformer. (For example, while Thunderwing has lavender wings and Black Shadow has red ones, the edges of the labels are red.)

Super God Masterforce

The cancellation of the American Transformers cartoon series had not deterred Japan - in 1987, they produced their first exclusive Transformers series, Transformers: Headmasters, and did the same for 1988 with Transformers: Super-God Masterforce, starring the Pretenders.

Eight thousand years ago, a starship containing the Autobot Pretenders Metalhawk, Lander, Diver and Phoenix pursued the Decepticon Pretenders Blood, Dauros and Gilmer to neolithic-era Earth, where they crashed. Using their Pretender abilities, the Autobots adopted the form of humans - not using simple external shells like in the American fiction, but actually transforming the very structure of their bodies into an organic equivalent, shrinking down to normal human size to hide in plain sight among burgeoning humanity. The Decepticon Pretenders, on the other hand, adopted the forms of monstrous creatures, becoming feared as demons by early man. After many battles, the Autobots succeeded in defeating their enemies and sealing them away - Blood in the pyramids of Egypt, Gilmer in the ruins of Atlantis, and Dauros beneath the Nazca Lines in Peru - for thousands of years.

Liberated in the near future by the mysterious Decepticon god, Devil Z, the three Pretenders entered his service, and immediately began to draw the Autobot Pretenders out of hiding, before turning their attention to a series of plans to acquire energy and to disrupt one of the three Chokoon Powers on Earth. After a string of failures, Devil Z supplanted them with his more powerful Godmaster minions, and although they would often participate in minions, their standing was downgraded and their regularity of appearance on the battlefield diminished. Eventually, they generally only served to supply comic relief, and departed Earth with the other surviving Decepticons when Devil Z was destroyed.

Victory

 

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