Mega Pretender

Mega Pretenders are Transformers from the Generation 1 continuity family.

I have, like, five different modes! Hey, I know... why don't we not use me in fiction ever!

Inside one, there's the other - then they both transform and combine to form another!Mega/Ultra Pretenders commercial jingle

The Mega Pretenders take the Pretender concept a step further. Not only do their inner robots transform, but the outer shells do as well. Shell and robot can also form a combined vehicle mode for extra power.

The Mega Pretenders are:

• The Decepticon Thunderwing
• The Autobots Crossblades and Vroom

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

Yeah, he's actually got a little bitty robot in there. Isn't he just the cutest thing?

Eons ago, Thunderwing was an understudy of the demented Megadeath on Cybertron. He already had his transforming Pretender shell at the time. The Magnificent Six!

In the months before the coming of Unicron, Thunderwing rose to prominence in the Decepticon ranks, eventually becoming the leader of the Decepticon army. Assault on the Ark! He mostly remained ensconced within his Pretender shell, only leaving it when he needed to shake off the deadly and disorienting effects of fire-retardant foam. The Big Shutdown!

The toy doesn't include the ghostly demonic black head. It doesn't look quite this awesome, either.

The jet mode of Thunderwing shell was capable of interstellar travel, allowing him to fly from deep space to Cybertron. There, Thunderwing met his end from the explosive energies of Unicron. On the Edge of Extinction!

In a post-apocalyptic future, Crossblades was one of a handful of Autobot survivors on Earth. In an attack on the Decepticon Powerbase, inside his shell, he took out the enemy's shield generator, but when Laserbeak destroyed his shell's vehicle mode rotor assembly, he crashed and was destroyed. Rhythms of Darkness!

Commercial appearances

The Mega Pretenders shared a commercial spot with the Ultra Pretenders. The animation showed the robot forms of Vroom and Crossblades emerging from their humanoid-mode shells, with shells and robots both transforming to vehicle modes.

Toys

Generation 1

File:G1Vroom toy.jpg

Vroom.

• Mega Pretenders (1989)
  • Crossblades
  • Thunderwing
  • Vroom

The three Mega Pretender toys were sold boxed. Each has a transformable outer shell and a small transformable inner robot. The shell and robot can combine to form an enhanced vehicle mode, such as a sidecar for Vroom's motorcycle mode, or an extra-long nose for Thunderwing's jet form. Unlike the earlier Pretenders, the robot modes are not entirely encased by the shell, suggesting a function more based on armor and added strength rather than disguise.

Thunderwing and Crossblades were retooled for the Japanese market and released as the Crossformers.