Finback

Finback is aDecepticonPretenderfrom theGeneration 1continuity family.

Finbackis the sickliest and crustiest ol' sailor you'll ever meet. Through pained gasps and wheezes, Finback will sputter out grand old tales of his adventures as a youth. Once, he'll tell you, he was a spry young Decepticon naval officer, before a failed raid on a chemical-polluted world left him with a metal-wasting disease. It's been eating away at him slowly ever since! OnlyPretendertechnology arrested the spread of the disease.

Cackling, he'll tell you he no longer fears death, and that his only remaining goal is to make the Autobots suffer as much as he has. His Pretender shell may help treat his disease, but every moment away from it is one moment closer to permanent shutdown.

Contents 1Fiction 1.1Marvel Comics continuity 1.1.1MarvelThe Transformerscomics 1.1.2Transformers Comic-Magazin 1.22005 IDW continuity 1.3Precursor World 2Toys 2.1The Transformers 3Notes 3.1Foreign names 4References

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

MarvelThe Transformerscomics

After commandeering a genetics research lab on Earth,Scorponokwas able to recreate and perfect the science of Pretender shells using synthoplasmic chambers constructed by him andVorath.Finback was one of six Decepticon volunteers transformed by the process into new Pretenders. After the process was completed, the Decepticons detected a digital eavesdropper. Finback and the other Pretenders were ordered to the source of the disturbance, the office buildings ofAlternate Reality, Inc.Here they met the newly-created Autobot Pretenders in battle, who were being led by a digital copy ofOptimus Prime.Prime's strategic prowess tipped the battle in the Autobots' favor, and the Decepticon Pretenders were forced to withdraw.Pretender to the Throne!

Soon, Scorponok's Decepticons met with the other group of Decepticons on Earth, led byRatbat.When it was discovered that Ratbat's Decepticons had withheld information about pursuing the legendary database, theUnderbase,Scorponok became enraged. Finback and the rest of Scorponok's troops were called out oftheir ship,and the two Decepticon factions fought bitterly.Cold War!This halted only when both sides realized they'd been duped byStarscream,who had pitted the factions against each other while leaving to take the Underbase for himself. But the Decepticons were distracted again when Autobots were detected nearby, and Finback and his teammates were ordered by Scorponok to "crush everysparkfrom their bodies. "This too was realized to have been a ruse by Starscream. After Starscream succeeded in absorbing part of the Underbase, Finback was part of an Autobot/Decepticon alliance who waited inTokyofor him. The Decepticon Pretenders and thePredaconsjumped Starscream once he arrived. The Predacons were destroyed easily, but Starscream grew frustrated when his attacks had little effect on the Pretenders. Ultimately, Starscream tossedGrimlockinto the crossfire and made his escape.Dark Star

In the aftermath, Scorponok took command of the surviving Decepticons and moved them toan underground basewithin aNew Jerseyswamp facingNew York City.The base would be powered by a massive machine that would convert energy intoenergon,and Scorponok ordered Finback andSubmarauderto lay a cable from the machine across the Hudson River into the city. After evading theMicromasterOff Road Patrol,the Decepticon Pretenders reached the other side of the river, whereIguanusordered Finback and Submarauder to guard the end of the cable. Unfortunately, Iguanus was damaged by lightning, ending their mission.King Con!

During the battle withUnicron,Finback was manning an artillery station on Cybertron. The power core overloaded when he pushed it to full power, though, and the resulting explosion apparently killed him andMisfire.On the Edge of Extinction!

Transformers Comic-Magazin

Funback^[1]was present when the Decepticons unleashed a robotic hell-beast known as 'King Con' on New York; however Optimus Prime rented a helicopter to fly a banner announcing huge raw oil deposit finds in the Rocky Mountains. After a short hesitation, the Decepticons retreated to pursue these findings.New York — A City Sinking in Terror

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance:Stormbringer#1

Finback was recruited byBludgeonover 20 years ago to bring back the bio-mechanical grafting process designed byThunderwing.Spotlight: SoundwaveUsingShockwave'sRegenesisprogram, they acquired enough rawOre-13from Earth to successfully revive Thunderwing as an awesomely powerful automaton, and begin constructing bio-mechanical carapaces for themselves. Unfortunately, an Autobot survey team stumbled across their activities onCybertron.Stormbringer #1He maliciously punishedJetfirewith his electro prod when the Autobot tried to escape.Stormbringer #2Finback was shot to pieces when theWreckersraided the facility and put a stop to Bludgeon's plans.Stormbringer #3

Finback survived the encounter and was taken toGarrus-9.AfterOverlordtook control of the prison, he freedShockwave,who selected certain Decepticons to take with him. Like the rest of Shockwave's companions, he was onThe List,and had been intended to be handed over to theDecepticon Justice Divisionin exchange for the former Senator being allowed to go free, a dealTarnrejected.The Ties That Bind

Precursor World

Finback, or a creature that looked like his Pretender shell, was part ofPurple Wicked Convoy's collection of monsters.God Neptune comic 1

Toys

The Transformers

• Finback(Pretender,1988)

• Accessories:"Jet-propelled, armor-piercingharpoongun ","metal-corroding stun rifle",belt
• Known designers:Masakatsu Saito(concept artist)

Released in the fifth year of the originalThe Transformerstoyline (fourth in European markets), Finback transforms into a stingray-shaped "high-speed hovercraft", with his robot arms rather obviously jutting out of the top of the vehicle. His large white "metal-corroding stun rifle" can be mounted on top.

Finback's outer Pretender shell is a, erm, weird walking fish monster thingy that is possibly some sort of sea creature–his head shows a small similarity to that of a sea turtle, or maybe a coelacanth. It has a clawed left arm that can hold his "harpoon gun" and a sort of flipper/blade right arm which can hold the inner robot's gun with a weird sideways post-hole.

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

• More information on Finback at TFU.info

Notes

• Splashdown'sMore than Meets the Eyeprofile states: "His upbeat attitude and lively speech make him a distorted mirror image of the Decepticons' Finback, whom Splashdown describes as a 'filthy pirate I wouldn't mind sending to the ocean floor permanently.'" Nowhere has Finback ever been described as having pirated anything, versus being a mere sailor or naval officer, so it's possible Splashdown's just being insulting. Or Finback's a pirate. Who knows.

Foreign names

• Japanese:Finback(フィンバックFinbakku)
• Italian:Razzak

References