Scowl (G1)

Scowl is a Decepticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

I'm terrifying! No, really!!

There are many words that can be used to describe a Decepticon warrior, but "chibi" should NEVER, EVER be one. Imagine the horror of the terrible and mighty Scowl when he learned that not only didn't his fat, super deformed little werewolf alternate form scare anyone, but that it was considered actively "CUTE". shudder! Bristleback may hate his Pretender shell, but Scowl's was his salvation. Now suitably monstrous on the outside, he uses his powerful sonic screams and super-sensitive hearing to prove his bark is just as bad as his bite. His fellow Decepticons wish he'd take the shell off now and again, as it amplifies his already loud voice to an uncomfortable volume.

He can combine with his fellow Pretender Monsters to form Monstructor.

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

He's like a walking pile of teeth.

In an alternate future where the Decepticons had conquered much of Earth, Scowl and his fellow Pretender Monsters were led by Galvatron to the remains of New York City 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 later, he and the others rejoined the Decepticons to defend the Decepticon Powerbase against an Autobot attack. Rhythms of Darkness!

Transformers '84

In the early days of the war on Cybertron, Scowl was part of Straxus's forces assaulting an Autobot fort in Iacon's Border Regions. When Autobots led by Ultra Magnus arrived to defend the fort, Straxus ordered his troops to seize as many prisoners as they could and retreat. Secrets & Lies #2

G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers

These people, they go to sleep, they think everything's fine, everything's good... they wake up the next day and their mouth's on fire.

Scowl was among a group of Decepticons who made a deal with Cobra-La, receiving power-enhancing organic shells in exchange for defending Cobra-La's underground kingdom. During Cobra-La's scheme to summon Unicron to Earth, the Pretender Monsters were sent to attack a trio of Autobots aboard the submerged Arc II. Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2 Later, they combined into Monstructor to defend Cobra-La's kingdom against surface attack by G.I. Joe, but were defeated by the Laser Squad. Black Horizon, Part 2 of 2

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Spotlight: Optimus Prime

Millions of years ago, Scowl and five others volunteered for Jhiaxus to merge them into the first combiner, becoming known as the "Monstructor Six". Created 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, they were driven into insanity by the merging process and became monsters. Primus: All Good Things After Nova Prime departed Cybertron aboard the Ark, Omega Supreme locked them in a dimensionally-displaced prison to live out the rest of their horrid existence. Eventually, they escaped and tracked down and attacked Omega Supreme, but were defeated by Optimus Prime and split apart into their individual bodies. Despite Omega Supreme's protestations about the dangers of gestalt technology falling into Decepticon hands, Prime had them taken into custody in an attempt to repair their shattered minds. Spotlight: Optimus Prime

Scowl and his comrades were incarcerated at the Garrus-9 penitentiary where Jetfire attempted to carry out Optimus Prime's orders despite Fortress Maximus's misgivings about the whole endeavour. Thanks to a tipoff from the double-agent Dealer, Banzai-Tron's Decepticon Secret Service attacked the facility and absconded with the monsters. Spotlight: Arcee However, the Decepticons were later attacked in turn by the minions of Jhiaxus and Nova Prime (now Nemesis Prime), who took the gestalt Transformers for the purpose of making Monstructor a guardian of a Nega-Core, a device crucial to Nemesis Prime's grand plans. The Autobot Arcee and the Decepticon survivors struck a deal to capture Monstructor. Spotlight: Hardhead They engaged Monstructor on Rotan, but Arcee left mid-battle to confront Jhiaxus. Spotlight: Sideswipe

Falling back into the hands of the Decepticons, Scowl and the others came under the command of Bludgeon. While hunting down Hot Rod, they were confronted by Kup's elite Autobot team, and combined into Monstructor to do battle with them. After Monstructor was downed by a precise shot from Perceptor, his components fled the scene with Bludgeon. Lost & Found

Bludgeon later patched up Monstructor's weak spot and, after learning of Jhiaxus's capture, traveled to Arduria where he used Monstructor to distract the Autobots while personally freeing Jhiaxus. The plan worked and they retreated in their separate components to continue Jhiaxus's mission of finding Regenesis missiles for Shockwave. Syndromica (1) Ending up on Gorlam Prime in search of a dormant Titan, Scowl and the others lured the Autobots out by attacking Waspinator, then formed Monstructor to force Orion Pax's hand so that he'd reawaken the Titan. Homecoming The Monstructor Six then followed their masters to Cybertron as they reunited with Shockwave to enact his master plan. The Dead Are Not Enough The plan ultimately failed and Monstructor was defeated by Devastator and the Lost Light, but the Monstructor Six evaded captivity and remained at large. The World of Tomorrow

Years later, the Monstructor Six resurfaced as Bludgeon's minions once more, joining their master during Unicron's attack on Cybertron. Though they were able to combine and overpower Victorion during the battle in Cybertron's upper atmosphere, Our Finest when the battle moved to Earth, Monstructor was tag-teamed and destroyed by Victorion and Superion, killing Scowl and the other members of the team. Ceremony

Ask Vector Prime

Scowl was presumably present as part of Monstructor when the combiner became one of Bio Ranger Iga's Thirteen Great Demon Generals. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/27

Precursor World

Scowl was among Purple Wicked Convoy's collection of monsters. When Megatron Omega and the Blue Order's Straxus twins came to the Purple Planet in an attempt to take the power of the Purple Matrix, the monsters attacked them before their master decided to ally with the three instead. God Neptune comic 1

Commercial appearances

Scowl, Icepick, and Wildfly were granted Pretender shells by Starscream. After the process was complete, the three newly empowered Decepticons leaped forwards, ready to charge into battle. Pretender Monsters commercial

Toys

The Transformers

He'll eat you with his pink nuclear mouth.

• Scowl (Pretender Monster, 1989)
  • Team ID number: PM4
  • Accessories: dual-sonic disrupter gun, shell, shell back plate, Monstructor foot

Released in the penultimate year of the original The Transformers toyline, Pretender Monster Scowl is a Micromaster-sized robot that transforms into a bipedal kinda-werewolf-ish monster-thing. He can also form either leg of the team's combined mode Monstructor, though his nominal placement is as the left leg.

He comes with a rubbery Pretender shell of an upright, hunchbacked rocklike monster with a HUGE fanged mouth. The shell's solid-plastic back panel can also hold his pistol and the included Monstructor footplate. This shell, like all the Pretender Monster shells, has a nasty tendency to "sweat" an oily residue over time, plus it is possible for them to develop spotty miscoloration. While some water and a little bit of hand-soap should take care of the slime, there's not much to be done about the spots should they appear.

Scowl's inner robot monster mode head is very fragile and is pretty easy to snap off its hinge when trying to transform between modes.

The inner robot mold and combiner kibble were also used to make Doryu.

• More information on Scowl at TFU.info

Notes

Foreign names

• French: Boxus (Canada)
• Hungarian: Morcos ("Grouchy")
• Italian: Raptor