Pretender Monster
- The Pretender Monsters are a Decepticon subgroup from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The very presence of the Pretender Monsters seems to suggest that all is not right with the world. These dystopian robots tend to show up in alternate futures and bizarre hidden corners of the universe, where they conceal their monstrous robot forms within even more monstrous outer shells. The team consists of:
They can combine to form Monstructor.
Fiction
Television commercials
In an unknown facility, the six Decepticons who would become the Pretender Monsters were each held over a vat of colored liquid by a mechanical claw. Pretender Starscream lowered the six into the vats, and when they were pulled back out, they possessed new monstrous Pretender shells - with "rubbery skin" - and charged forth!
Monstructor is not named in the commercial, but it's said that the Pretenders' inner robots formed a "monster Transformer".
Marvel Comics continuity
In a post-apocalyptic alternate future set in 2009, where Galvatron killed Rodimus Prime and devastated North America, the Pretender Monsters were led by to the remains of New York City. After Galvatron reminded them that they were all disposable cannon fodder to him, he ordered them to search Manhattan in an attempt to root out the last remaining vestiges of Autobot and human resistance. All they managed to find, however, was a human-made booby trap that buried Icepick under tons of debris.
Not long after, the team rejoined the other Decepticons to defend the Decepticon Powerbase against an Autobot attack. The battle's final outcome is unknown. Rhythms of Darkness!
DDP G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity
Some time prior to 1978, in the Himalayan Mountain region of Tibet, Bludgeon led the soon-to-be Pretender Monsters to meet with the underground kingdom of Cobra-La, seeking power and a ringside seat at the death of a planet. En route they were shot down and damaged by the Chinese Air Force, however, forcing Bludgeon to make a deal with Cobra-La: in exchange for defending Cobra-La's subterranean domain, Cobra-La provided them with life-supporting organic Pretender shells.
At the behest of Golobulus, the Pretender Monsters used their shells to slip past the sensors of the submerged Autobot ship Arc II, where they made quick work of Skids, Sideswipe and Prowl.
Later, when GI Joe sent an invasion force against Cobra-La, they merged into Monstructor to repel the invaders. Monstructor wreaked havoc on the Joes but was defeated when the laser squad blew up his head, leaving his component members in an unconscious heap. Black Horizon, Part 2.
IDW Comics
Long millenia ago, Monstructor was the first gestalt, constructed out of the individual Pretender Monsters. Created by Jhiaxus under the direction of Nova Prime, they were intended to be the ultimate fusion of mind and body: a vast amount of intellect combined with unparalleled strength. Unfortunately, the combined form instead turned out to be an unstoppable, rampaging monster. After Nova Prime departed Cybertron in the Ark, Omega Supreme locked the six away in a dimensionally-displaced prison to live out the rest of their horrid existence. Eventually they escaped; aboard a starship, they tracked down Omega Supreme's hidden asteroid base. They attacked the base as Monstructor, handily defeating Omega Supreme, but were defeated by Optimus Prime, using Omega's knowledge of Monstructor's built-in weakness. Despite Omega Supreme's protestations about the dangers of gestalt technology falling into Decepticon hands, Prime had the six taken into custody in an attempt to repair their shattered minds. Spotlight: Optimus Prime
Thus far in IDW's universe, Icepick et. al. are not actually Pretenders.
Toys
Generation 1
The Pretender Monsters were each sold separately in cardback packages. Each came with the inner robot, the outer shell, a shell backing plate, a small hand gun, and a Monstructor component.
The inner robots are tiny, standing only slightly taller than the Micromasters dominating the G1 toyline at the time. All six transform into stylized robotic monsters, though the transformations are likewise simplified to the point that it's difficult to tell exactly what some of them are supposed to be. Most of the robotic beast modes share some thematic similarities with the corresponding outer Pretender shell. Icepick and Scowl share a transformation scheme, as do Bristleback and Birdbrain.
Their outer shells are unique in several regards. Instead of splitting in half like most other Pretenders, the shells have a small backing plate that is removed to allow the inner robot to be inserted. This plate can also hold all of the accessories for each robot -- including the kibble for Monstructor. No other combiner team featured storage for all the accessories that came with them.
The monstrous outer shells are composed of a malleable rubbery substance. This material does not tend to age well, unfortunately, and there have been reports of Pretender Monster shells showing mold-like spotting or secreting an oily residue [1]. Gross!
