Pincher (G1)
- Pincher is an Autobot Pretender from the Generation 1 continuity family.
Pincher is what Wheeljack would be like if he spent a little too much time in the sun. A master of chemical cocktails, Pincher enjoys combining dangerous fluids of all kinds, whether it's a good idea or not. He can often be heard cackling to himself in his laboratory. A hard-working over-achiever, Pincher never knows when to quit, even when maybe he should. What he really needs is a good, honest hunchback to assist him, and keep him from blowing himself up with his own work.
- French-Canadian name: Étau
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Pincher is constantly teamed up with and commanding Longtooth & Doubleheader - a job that irks him whenever Longtooth goes on another mad and dangerous charge at the enemy. In December 1989, he was called in by Emirate Xaaron to join the mission to retrieve the lost Creation Matrix. Whose Lifeforce is it Anyway?
Pincher led the trio to the planet Gottlieb, where they found a reanimated creature called the Klud was attacking fishing boats. Suspecting the creature's miraculous return may have been caused by exposure to the Matrix, the Autobots went looking for it, only to have Longtooth get his leg bitten off by the Klud. The crippled Autobot went rogue after that, hunting down the Klud for vengeance like a modern-day Ahab. Pincher and Doubleheader were placed in the uneasy position of having to terminate their fellow Autobot, or allow him to murder a (relatively) innocent lifeform in cold blood. Matters became even more complicated when the Decepticon Mayhem Attack Squad jumped the Pretenders before they could reason with Longtooth. Pincher managed to break free during the attack and confront the addle-brained Longtooth with the vows he took as an Autobot to protect all life. In the end, they survived the Decepticon attack, and Pincher's speech succeeded in staying Longtooth's hand -- the Bionic Baby Beluga went free. Deadly Obsession
Marvel UK future timelines
When the Autobots fled Cybertron in 2009, Pincher was among the roughly 430 Autobots on-board a shuttle on its way to Earth. He and Doubleheader came across a dead guard in front of Engine Room Two, and on further investigation found that the systems had been severely sabotaged. The Void!
IDW Comics continuity
Pincher was stationed at a monitoring station aboard the Autobot Orbital Command Hub. Stormbringer issue 1 Later, he and Overdrive gawked at the legendary Blaster wandering through the Command Hub. Spotlight: Blaster
Toys
Generation 1
- Pincher (Pretender, 1989)
- Accessories: "stun rifle", "laser torch", helmet, stinger/backpack
- Pincher's inner robot transforms into the body of a scorpion, attaching to a legs-and-tail piece to complete the alt mode. His humanoid shell has a removable helmet, and can wear the scorpion tail and legs as a backpack. His small "laser torch" inner robot weapon can plug onto his back in scorpion mode.
