Bristleback hates being a Pretender. He was forced into undergoing the process when he discovered, to his great dismay, that his steel skin was somehow inferior to other Transformers', corroding and rusting upon contact with Earth's atmosphere. Worse yet, his bulky and cumbersome Pretender shell has transformed him from a once-quick-footed fighter to one of the slowest movers in the Decepticon ranks. A ceaselessly foul-mouthed, bullying malcontent before these indignities.