Sky High (Pretender)

This article is about the Autobot Pretender helicopter. For the Autobot Micromaster jet, see Sky High (Micromaster).

Sky High is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

BY THE POWWWERRRR OF IAAAAACOOOONNN! I HAVE THE POWWWWWERRRRR!

The great barbarian Sky High, titanic muscles straining under the effort of days in combat against the endless armies of orcs and trolls that guarded the castle of the Dark Lord Skullgrin, raises his massive scythe and swings it in a sweeping arc that shatters the dark gate to splinters. He turns in triumph and calls the party members behind him, "Come! Brave Landmine, sword-wielder. Wise Cloudburst, master of magic. Stoic Waverider, traveler of the depths. The keep of our enemy lies before us! The day has come at last! Let the Brotherhood of Primus enter here, and victory shall be ours!"

...and so the battle continues in the never-ending world of adventure that Sky High lives out in his imagination. Those who don't know the hulking, powerful Pretender (great barbarian hero, space adventurer, dashing spy—take your pick) assume that his quietness and spacey, erratic behavior result from his being all brawn and no brains. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sky High is as smart as he is strong, but to escape from the harsh reality of war, the imaginative Pretender (Warrior of Primus), an extreme introvert, has fashioned his own fantasy world of high adventure in his mind, where he is the great hero of an epic story. So involved and immersed is Sky High in his fantasy world that he works everything that happens around him into his imaginary adventures. Sky High blatantly and purposefully ignores reality in favor of his dreams. Thankfully, he is intelligent and imaginative enough that he usually has no problem working his actual situation and orders (quests) into his ongoing daydream.

Sky High, along with being very intelligent and imaginative, is also stronger, faster, and more durable than the average Transformer even without his Pretender shell (Battle Armor of the Hawk perhaps), which boosts his strength immensely (+5). In his shell, he swings a sonic scythe (elf-forged weapon) that breaks molecular bonds, has access to leg-mounted energy beams that can blind opponents (Spell of Blinding), and wears a utility belt with rocket boosters (Enchanted Belt of Flight) that enables him to fly. In robot mode, he wields a cerebro-scrambling stun gun (Wand of Confusion), which he can also use when he transforms (shape-changes) to helicopter mode (a hawk).

Fiction

The Transformers cartoon

Although Sky High never appears in an episode of The Transformers, he was verbally referenced in new live-action sequences created for the show's fifth season.

Sky High needed refueling, a task Optimus Prime asked Tommy Kennedy if he would like to help with. Season 5: TROOP, Part 2

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

Poor Sky High can't escape the block colored background.

Sky High was chosen along with five other Autobots from the Steelhaven's crew to undergo an augmentation procedure stolen from Scorponok by Optimus Prime. Sky High and his comrades were then transformed into the Autobot Pretenders and defended Ethan Zachary's building from an assault by their Decepticon counterparts. Pretender to the Throne!

Later, Sky High and the rest of Fortress Maximus's troops met up with the Autobots under the command of Grimlock. Following a disagreement over leadership of the Autobots, Blaster and Grimlock partook in ritual combat on Earth's moon to determine who was most worthy of being supreme commander. Sky High stood in audience for the duel, though he never got to see the end result, as the proceedings were interrupted by a Decepticon attack. Totaled!

Later, Sky High and Groundbreaker were on standby while Optimus Prime sent Cloudburst and Landmine on a mission. Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?

Regeneration One

Don't feel bad. A lot of people failed their will save versus Scorponok's "Dominate Transformer" spell-like ability.

In the aftermath of Scorponok's Gene Key fiasco, Sky High and the other Autobots of Cybertron struggled to reconnect with their true natures; Sky High in particular looked very upset while sitting among the trashed piles of books in a looted library. Destiny, Part One

Having regained his resolve, Sky High took part in the assault against Jhiaxus's forces at the Hub Network, forming part of the crew of Lancer Two alongside Jazz, Beachcomber, Skids, and Getaway. Unfortunately, Jhiaxus was prepared for the Autobots' plan to take out the Hub and Lancer Two was shot down almost immediately. The War to End All Wars, Part 3 Sky High was captured, locked up at the Corral, and later executed along with Brainstorm, Crosshairs, and Joyride when Rodimus Prime couldn't call off the Wreckers attacking the Hub. The War to End All Wars, Part 4

2005 IDW continuity

"I rolled a 23 on my perception check, which I've got 7 ranks in. What do I hear?"

On Cybertron, Sky High was operating as an aerial spotter for the Autobots during the Decepticon riots. He was crushed by the mighty Devastator. Before the Dawn He was later repaired and joined the crew of the Lost Light under the command of Megatron. Towards Peace

Toys

The Transformers

Not pictured: Imaginary robot tiger sidekick.

• Sky High (Pretender, 1988)

• Accessories: sonic scythe/rotor, stun gun, helmet, utility belt
• Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist), Richard Marcej (packaging)

Released in the fifth year of the original The Transformers toyline (fourth in European markets) as part of the second wave of Pretenders, Sky High transforms into a Cybertronic "jet helicopter". His rotor blades form his "sonic scythe" melee weapon for the outer shell, and can also attach to the back of the inner-robot. The rotor blades turn, but do not spin freely.

His Pretender shell is a red-headed, orange-eyed human in a space suit. In similar fashion to Sky High's fellow Autobot Pretenders Splashdown and Groundbreaker, the space suit chest plate features an animal-like design motif—in his case, it is a bird, with the beak in the center of his chest and yellow "eyes" on his shoulders.

No version of this mold or character was released in Japan.

• More information on Sky High at TFU.info

Notes

• Sky High's toy has one of the most contradictory Tech Spec/bio combos around. It describes him as a brick-dumb muscle-head, but then gives him an impressive Intelligence stat of 8 and a motto about "imagination unlocking the chains of reality." Dreamwave's More than Meets the Eye profile book did a fairly clever job of making that all actually work together by cooking up the expanded characterization above.
• Also in common with Splashdown and Groundbreaker, Sky High's toy was not pictured in the initial version of the 1988 toy catalog, instead being replaced by a "coming soon" silhouette.

Foreign names

• Italian: Rotor