Gods? Demons? The Pretenders
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| "Gods? Demons? The Pretenders" 神か? 悪魔か? プリテンダー
(Kami ka? Akuma ka? Pretender) | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Kodansha | ||||||||||||
| Published in | TV Magazine | ||||||||||||
| First published | March 1988 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | April 1988 | ||||||||||||
| Script | Masumi Kaneda | ||||||||||||
| Artist | Ban Magami | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | TV Magazine continuity | ||||||||||||
Now we introduce a whole new breed of human! Well, sort of.
Synopsis
[edit]Karin, a small, peaceful island in the Pacific Ocean, is threatened by a storm which destroys the thatch houses on the island. Three monstrous shadows suddenly show up behind the storm, leaving the people on the island to believe it is the sign that the devils are awakening.
An elder tries to persuade Prince Cab to evacuate with the other people, however, Cab refuses to evacuate and wants to fight the "devils".
Lightning then surges from the bat monster's eyes and hits the elder. Cab fights back by throwing a spear toward the shadows, but the spear is soon broken against them.
Suddenly, Shūta appears and tries to stop Cab's attempt at a second strike, but ends up getting punched in the face by Cab, who thinks he is interfering. While Cab declares his identity, the bat monster again fires lightning toward Cab from his eyes. Shūta successfully saves Cab and tells him to look up in the sky. A human in armor appears and changes into a Transformer. Upon seeing this, the elder says it is the legendary god of Karin. Shūta then identifies himself and tells Cab that he has brought Metalhawk to this island.
Metalhawk fires a beam from his forehead and blows the shadows away, revealing the three Decepticon Pretenders within (Blood, Dauros, and Gilmer). After a fight between Metalhawk and the Decepticon Pretenders, Metalhawk finishes them with his "Shining Arrow", forcing them to retreat.
In the end, the people on the island worship Metalhawk as their god, disregarding Hawk's explanation that he is a Transformer, not a god. Cab tells Shūta that he wants to become friends with Hawk and Shūta gladly replies that they are friends from now on.
Featured characters
[edit](Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
[edit]- In the first page of this issue, Pretenders are described as "another kind of human".
- According to Shūta's words, the Pretenders arrived on Earth in ancient times and were taken as gods or devils by humans, becoming the basis of some mythologies passed down until modern day.
- See also "The Great Turnabout of the Autobots"
- Special moves in this issue:
- Bloody Moon (Blood)
- Shining Arrow (Metalhawk)
