Scowl is a Decepticon with the role of Sonic Saboteur. He belongs to the group called Monser Pretenders because he (as well as the other Monster Pretenders) disguises his robot form inside a shell resembling a non-robot monster. Without his shell Scowl is one of the six Monster Pretenders (along with Icepick, Birdbrain, Bristleback, Slog and Wildfly) that combine to form Monstructor, serving as one of his legs. His main reason for becoming a Pretender was that he felt that he didn't scare anyone with his appearance as it was. So Scowl encased himself in a frightening shell that has "steel-shattering, hypersonic, stereophonic implants" and "supersonic hearing capabilities" (according to his Tech Spec).

The Generation 1 Scowl was available in 1989.