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William Fowler

2012-05-13T09:32:15Z

80.42.247.107: /* Prime cartoon */

:''William Fowler is a [[human]] from the [[Transformers: Prime (franchise)| Prime]] portion of the [[Aligned continuity family]].''

[[Image:DarknessRising2-Fowler.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Someone buy him a longer tie.]]

Special Agent '''William "Bill" Fowler''' is the type of guy that [[Theodore Galloway]] ''wishes'' he could be. A former US Army Ranger, he's the tough-talking, robot-dissing designated liaison between the [[United States of America|United States government]] and the [[Autobot]]s, who's got the guts to face down [[Starscream (Prime)|the Decepticons]] himself. And he doesn't need any military escort! He can pilot his own damn helicopter! And his own damn jet plane!

Fowler is leery about trusting the Autobots to handle the [[Decepticon]]s by themselves and believes that [[Earth]] can handle its own mess, but for now, while he chews them out and slags them off, he's willing to let them have a chance.

{{bigquote|Pretty big bearings... for a human.|Bulkhead|"[[Darkness Rising, Part 2]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Prime'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Ernie Hudson]] (English), [[Kenji Nomura]] (Japanese)|[[Jin-uk Hong]] (Korean), [[Dario Oppido]] (Italian), [[Oliver Siebeck]] (German), [[Mario Filio]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Guilherme Lopes]] (Portuguese)}}

Fowler was once a member of the Army Rangers. {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime}}

Agent Fowler visited [[Autobot Outpost Omega One]] to chew the Autobots off over mass traffic accidents caused by [[Vehicon (Prime)|several]] [[Arcee (Prime)|odd]] [[Bumblebee (Prime)|vehicles]], and then demanded to know if this meant the Decepticons were back. When [[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]] confirmed this, Fowler stated it was time to "wake up" the [[Pentagon]]; he was notably ''un''impressed by Optimus's claim that only the Autobots could stop the Decepticons, clearly not believing it, but to avoid mass human casualties he agreed to give them a shot at sorting it out.

[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] angrily told Fowler that the Autobots knew how to use appropriate force, but when the agent was gone he noted with respect that Fowler had ''bearings''. Prime noted that Fowler's attitude was due to being afraid for his planet. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 2}}

[[Image:DarknessRising3-interrogateFowler.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"This is some nice steel. How about telling me who gave them to you?" "Yo mama."]]

Another explosion had Fowler returning to the Autobot base, but he found only Bulkhead there. When [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]]'s guitar gave away the presence of her and her two classmates, he announced he was going to take them into federal custody, but Bulkhead prevented him from phoning his superiors. He stormed out and took off in his helicopter, making a report by radio. Unfortunately, the transmission was intercepted by the Decepticons, who captured him and strung him up by chains. Fowler proved difficult to interrogate, so [[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]] got out an [[Energon prod]] to soften him up. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 3}}

Fowler was on the verge of breaking and telling Starscream where the Autobot base was, when weapons fire became audible outside the brig. Sensing rescue was near, he became awkward again, provoking Starscream into shocking him into unconsciousness. When he awoke, he was in a dazed, rambling state. The Autobots finally reached his location, only to become locked in a standoff with Starscream, until a random outburst from Fowler caused a distraction, and the Autobots chased Starscream off. Fowler rode back to base in Bulkhead, though his dazed state persisted and he became fixated on pie. Once they reached the base, he was given rudimentary medical attention. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 4}}

When the Autobots discovered that the Decepticons were using a radio telescope array in [[Texas]], Optimus suggested getting Fowler to put the installation on high alert, but Fowler was still too out of it to comply. He had recovered enough to cheer the Autobots on as they destroyed Megatron's [[space bridge]], and later thanked them for saving him from the Decepticons, and for saving the world, before he left the base. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 5}}

[[Image:Masters&Students-FowlerTopGun.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wronski Feint his ass!]]
Responding to reports of strange transmissions, Fowler warned other pilots away from the area as he sped there in a new top-secret jet. He came upon the scene of a battle between Optimus, Bumblebee and the Decepticon [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]], the latter of whom seized the opportunity to [[scanning|scan]] Fowler's jet. Fowler retaliated by firing on Skyquake, but the Decepticon launched a number of heat-seeking missiles that Fowler was forced to use evasive maneuvers to avoid. He later came to Bumblebee's aid, picking up the small Autobot who had just disabled Skyquake in mid-air and was plunging toward the ground as a result. {{storylink|Masters & Students}}

[[Image:Convoy-Fowlerimpatient.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Why didn't Optimus just turn it off?]]
While transporting the [[Dynamic Nuclear Generation System]] in his jet, Fowler was shot down by what he assumed was a Decepticon. He angrily contacted the Autobots for help in shifting the D.N.G.S. and it was loaded into Optimus's trailer to get transported across country. When the convoy was attacked, it turned out not to be the Decepticons after all, but a human organization known as [[MECH]]. A MECH goon climbed onto Optimus's back to try and unhitch the trailer, and Fowler climbed out to grab the guy, but was unable to get any answers before the man was knocked out of his hand by a passing tree branch. Fowler was then contacted by the MECH operative [[Silas]] who explained they were taking the D.N.G.S. The Autobots passed the device safely off to a train, but a short time later were confronted by Vehicons. Optimus apologetically informed Fowler they'd have to break cover to fight, before placing Fowler on a rock. After Silas informed Fowler by radio that he'd worked out the D.N.G.S. was on the train, Fowler tried to warn Optimus, who was promptly clocked by a tree trunk. Fowler had to hang out on the rock for the rest of the mission, but was able to observe Optimus saving the train from where he was. {{storylink|Convoy (episode)|Convoy}}

Fowler was away when the Autobots attempted to obtain his help in retrieving an [[Energon Harvester]] from a museum. His answer phone claimed he was an intensive training retreat, though Bulkhead was unconvinced and believed him to be lounging at a poolside cabana. They eventually managed to get through to him, and he helped them slip a replica of the Harvester into the museum to replace the original, and also to retrieve Miko, who'd been detained by the museum's [[museum security guard|security guard]]. {{storylink|Deus ex Machina}}

After the Decepticons broke into the [[Kauai Naval Observatory]] in [[Hawaii]], Fowler contacted the Autobots to ask if they'd encountered any Decepticons wearing hula skirts. He was able to tell them that the lens stolen by the Decepticons had a tracking device on it, leading the Autobots to find it in the [[Arctic]]. {{storylink|Out of His Head}}

Fowler was at the Autobot base when they learned that [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] had gone missing in the middle of a fight with Bulkhead. He relayed intel that MECH had been spotted on the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] where the fight had taken place. Optimus immediate took a team to mount a rescue, leaving Fowler at base with Bulkhead and Miko. Bulkhead suggested they watch a film, which Fowler was heartily in favor of, but he subsequently fell asleep while they were watching ''[[Dinolizard vs. Five-Headed Ape]]''. {{storylink|Operation: Breakdown}}

Jack called in Fowler to fend off Airachnid and MECH, and he easily forced Airachnid into retreat with some troops. However, Airachnid was able to scan Fowler's assault chopper, much to Fowler's annoyance that his vehicle had been used for a Decepticon's alternate mode again. When Airachnid and MECH fled, he wasn't surprised to hear MECH had vanished without a trace, and began briefing June Darby on the situation with the Cybertronians, only for Jack to convince him to drop it for tonight. {{storylink|Crisscross}}

Fowler reported on a number of high-tech component thefts by the Decepticons. When he informed the Autobots that the Decepticons were attacking a military laboratory, Optimus told him to have the base evacuated to avoid any loss of human life. {{storylink|One Shall Fall}}

The first thing he did when a number of earthquakes struck simultaneously around the world was call the Autobots and let them know. By the time he arrived at their base, [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]] had traced the tremors to the Earth's core, and they quickly realized that [[Unicron]], whom Optimus explained was a dark entity from Cybertron's past, was at the center of the planet. Fowler suggested sticking explosives down the hole Unicron originally crawled into, but Optimus believed Earth had formed around Unicron's slumbering form. Fowler stuck around as the Autobots investigated the tremors. {{Storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 1}}

The humans listened as the Autobots battled giant stone Unicrons, and as Megatron arrived to offer to help the Autobots defeat Unicron. Fowler wondered what would stop Megatron calling in an air strike once he knew where the Autobot base was, but Prime was confident that GroundBridging Megatron in would conceal their position sufficiently. The humans hid when Megatron turned up, but when Raf ran out to confront their foe, Fowler found himself having to drag away Miko after she started yelling at the Decepticon leader. The humans all watched the Autobots and Megatron step through the GroundBridge into Earth's core. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 2}}

[[Image:OneShallRise3-hug.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"I love this town!"]]
Frustrated at not being able to do anything, Fowler almost left the base to go get assistance from the Pentagon, but was distracted by Ratchet's tale of pre-Earth Optimus. When it turned out that Prime's team were all OK, Fowler was compelled to hug a startled June Darby. He and June were waiting at the GroundBridge with the kids, as the Autobots returned to report that Optimus had developed amnesia. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 3}}

Fowler wondered if they couldn't just locate Prime the same way the US government located Fowler, via a subcutaneous microchip, but was told Optimus's signal hadn't reappeared. Some time later, when the Decepticons attacked a military base, Fowler alerted the Autobots, but to his frustration they were unable to prevent human injuries or the theft of a power source. Later, it became apparent that in order to bring back Optimus, Jack would have to travel to Cybertron via the Decepticon space bridge. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 1}}

Fowler hooked Jack up with [[NASA]] to get him a space suit to wear on Cybertron. Not long after Jack and Arcee were sent, [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] called Space Bridge Control, demanding a status report. Because [[Bulkhead (Prime)|two]] [[Ratchet (Prime)|of]] the Autobots there had voices that the Decepticon would recognize, and [[Bumblebee (Prime)|the third]] was mute, the task fell to Agent Fowler to imitate the [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] stationed there and say that everything was okay, which went surprisingly well, even when he accidentally asked Breakdown how he was doing! {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 2}} He and the other humans monitored Jack's progress on Cybertron until the Autobots returned with their restored leader. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 3}}

[[Image:LooseCannons Wheeljack and Fowler.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Grr.]]
After obtaining the possible coordinates of the MECH base, Fowler attempted to alert Prime, only to find Bumblebee was the only one available to take his call. He later yelled at Ratchet as well. {{Storylink|Operation Bumblebee, Part 2}} Detecting two [[Transformer]]s fighting near [[Omaha]], Fowler alerted Prime to the situation with his usual subtlety. The Autobots helped newcomer [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] chase off [[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]], though Fowler's jet was scanned by the Decepticon in the process. Fowler followed them back to the Autobot base to yell at them some more. {{storylink|Loose Cannons}}

Driving out of a military base, Fowler found himself under attack by what appeared to be Optimus Prime. He was only saved from being killed by the arrival of Bumblebee and Bulkhead, the latter of whom caught his car. Back at the Autobot base, it was quickly established the real Prime wasn't behind the attack, and Fowler fielded calls from the military as the imposter attacked [[Alden Military Base]]. Once they established [[Nemesis Prime (Prime)|Nemesis Prime]] was controlled by MECH, Fowler took part in an assault on the MECH base and kept Silas busy while Optimus finished off their experiment. {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime}} Fowler was called to a debriefing by [[Bryce|General Bryce]] regarding recent Autobot activities. He did his best to explain what was going on, though he eventually had to resort to getting Optimus to speak to the general in person before his superior's worries were allayed. {{storylink|Grill}}

When Optimus decided to take advantage of the ''Nemesis'' crash to attack the ship, Fowler insisted on coming along. Though the attack ended in failure, they discovered that the warship had achieved sentience and was heading for North America. Fowler and the kids GroundBridged aboard to try and download the Iacon database, but when they discovered that the ship was heading for [[New York City]], Fowler tried to access navigation and was knocked out by the defenses. After disabling the ship's intelligence, the kids helped him back through the GroundBridge. {{storylink|Flying Mind}}

{{spoiler|Triangulation|May 19, 2012}}
He was still incoherent as the Autobots started heading out to try to recover four artifacts. {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}} After he recovered, Fowler helped Optimus by having a base in [[Antarctica]] evacuated {{storylink|Triangulation}} and was in the middle of some sort of crisis when he got a call from Miko and covered for the Autobots by deputizing [[Vogel]] over the phone. {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}}
{{--}}

===Titan Magazines ''Prime'' comics===
[[Image:Titan4.1 Fowler with scientists.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
After a bunch of alarms went off indicating that a nuclear warhead had just become live, Fowler scrambled with a team of scientists and government agents. They quickly arrived at the Autobot base, where Optimus asked how the missile had come to be left in the base. Fowler admitted it looked like a military failsafe in case the Autobots ever turned on the humans, and Prime firmly asked him to take the bomb with him when he left. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.1|The Safe and the Failsafe}}

Fowler was having a bad day—he was suffering from trapped wind, his car was under a snowdrift, his wife received a chicken instead of a turkey from the butcher, and the Decepticons had taken control of a [[Yamal|nuclear ship]] near [[Antarctica]]. Naturally, he took his problems to the Autobots. They could only help with the last one. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.3|Ice Breaker}} After the disappearance of [[Air Force One]], Fowler took the recovered black box to the Autobot base and played the ransom message on it to Optimus. To Fowler's relief, Optimus knew exactly where Starscream had taken the [[President of the United States|President]]. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.6|All the President's 'Bots!}}
{{--}}

===Commercial appearances===
Fowler had summoned the Autobots for a vague special mission. When Ratchet inquired as to backup for this mission, Fowler announced that [[Batman]] had agreed to join the mission. {{storylink|Commercial/Prime|Mission: Impossibly Awesome Marathon}}

==Notes==
[[Image:Convoy-Fowlerqueasy.jpg|thumb|250px|Half the time he's like this, and the other half he's a true badass.]]
*[[Michael Bell]] auditioning for "General Fowler" and [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]]<ref>http://voiceactors.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/transformers-gi-joe-hasbro-animated-cartoon/</ref> was the first piece of news the fandom received about ''Prime'', even before the title was revealed. Apparently Fowler transitioned from "General" to "Agent" at some point after that in production.
* Which agency Fowler's a Special Agent ''for'' isn't stated; since he specifically refers to the Pentagon as who he'd talk to and [[Crisscross|later]] calls his work "the agency", he's presumably with the Department of Defense's [[wikipedia:Defense Intelligence Agency|Defense Intelligence Agency]].
* The Autobots refer to him as their liaison with "the outside world", though he appears to just represent the United States.
* Fowler must have one ''awesome'' rank if he can decide on his own whether or not the Pentagon is to go on full alert!
* Agent Fowler spouts his own brand of colorful idioms infused with references to Americana when he is surprised or in a tight spot, including:
**"Well I'll be a bald eagle!" in "[[Masters & Students]]".
**"Sure thing buddy, right after you eat my star-spangled shorts." in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 3]]".
**"What in Uncle Sam's beard?" in "Darkness Rising, Part 3".
**"I don't care if Abraham Lincoln is back!" in "[[Loose Cannons]]".
**"Sweet Lady Liberty!" in "[[Flying Mind]]".
* When asked about Fowler's mouth and eyebrows "not animating right", panelists at [[BotCon 2011]] responded that he's "usually hungover".
* His vehicles have been [[scanning|scanned]] by the Decepticons three times now. He's beginning to get tired of it.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''William Fowler''' (ウィリアム・ファウラー ''Wiriamu Faurā'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, William}}
[[Category: Fiction-only characters]]
[[Category: Pilots]]
[[Category: Prime humans]]
[[Category: United States military]]

William Fowler

2012-05-13T09:31:22Z

80.42.247.107: /* Prime cartoon */

:''William Fowler is a [[human]] from the [[Transformers: Prime (franchise)| Prime]] portion of the [[Aligned continuity family]].''

[[Image:DarknessRising2-Fowler.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Someone buy him a longer tie.]]

Special Agent '''William "Bill" Fowler''' is the type of guy that [[Theodore Galloway]] ''wishes'' he could be. A former US Army Ranger, he's the tough-talking, robot-dissing designated liaison between the [[United States of America|United States government]] and the [[Autobot]]s, who's got the guts to face down [[Starscream (Prime)|the Decepticons]] himself. And he doesn't need any military escort! He can pilot his own damn helicopter! And his own damn jet plane!

Fowler is leery about trusting the Autobots to handle the [[Decepticon]]s by themselves and believes that [[Earth]] can handle its own mess, but for now, while he chews them out and slags them off, he's willing to let them have a chance.

{{bigquote|Pretty big bearings... for a human.|Bulkhead|"[[Darkness Rising, Part 2]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Prime'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Ernie Hudson]] (English), [[Kenji Nomura]] (Japanese)|[[Jin-uk Hong]] (Korean), [[Dario Oppido]] (Italian), [[Oliver Siebeck]] (German), [[Mario Filio]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Guilherme Lopes]] (Portuguese)}}

Fowler was once a member of the Army Rangers. {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime}}

Agent Fowler visited [[Autobot Outpost Omega One]] to chew the Autobots off over mass traffic accidents caused by [[Vehicon (Prime)|several]] [[Arcee (Prime)|odd]] [[Bumblebee (Prime)|vehicles]], and then demanded to know if this meant the Decepticons were back. When [[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]] confirmed this, Fowler stated it was time to "wake up" the [[Pentagon]]; he was notably ''un''impressed by Optimus's claim that only the Autobots could stop the Decepticons, clearly not believing it, but to avoid mass human casualties he agreed to give them a shot at sorting it out.

[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] angrily told Fowler that the Autobots knew how to use appropriate force, but when the agent was gone he noted with respect that Fowler had ''bearings''. Prime noted that Fowler's attitude was due to being afraid for his planet. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 2}}

[[Image:DarknessRising3-interrogateFowler.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"This is some nice steel. How about telling me who gave them to you?" "Yo mama."]]

Another explosion had Fowler returning to the Autobot base, but he found only Bulkhead there. When [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]]'s guitar gave away the presence of her and her two classmates, he announced he was going to take them into federal custody, but Bulkhead prevented him from phoning his superiors. He stormed out and took off in his helicopter, making a report by radio. Unfortunately, the transmission was intercepted by the Decepticons, who captured him and strung him up by chains. Fowler proved difficult to interrogate, so [[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]] got out an [[Energon prod]] to soften him up. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 3}}

Fowler was on the verge of breaking and telling Starscream where the Autobot base was, when weapons fire became audible outside the brig. Sensing rescue was near, he became awkward again, provoking Starscream into shocking him into unconsciousness. When he awoke, he was in a dazed, rambling state. The Autobots finally reached his location, only to become locked in a standoff with Starscream, until a random outburst from Fowler caused a distraction, and the Autobots chased Starscream off. Fowler rode back to base in Bulkhead, though his dazed state persisted and he became fixated on pie. Once they reached the base, he was given rudimentary medical attention. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 4}}

When the Autobots discovered that the Decepticons were using a radio telescope array in [[Texas]], Optimus suggested getting Fowler to put the installation on high alert, but Fowler was still too out of it to comply. He had recovered enough to cheer the Autobots on as they destroyed Megatron's [[space bridge]], and later thanked them for saving him from the Decepticons, and for saving the world, before he left the base. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 5}}

[[Image:Masters&Students-FowlerTopGun.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wronski Feint his ass!]]
Responding to reports of strange transmissions, Fowler warned other pilots away from the area as he sped there in a new top-secret jet. He came upon the scene of a battle between Optimus, Bumblebee and the Decepticon [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]], the latter of whom seized the opportunity to [[scanning|scan]] Fowler's jet. Fowler retaliated by firing on Skyquake, but the Decepticon launched a number of heat-seeking missiles that Fowler was forced to use evasive maneuvers to avoid. He later came to Bumblebee's aid, picking up the small Autobot who had just disabled Skyquake in mid-air and was plunging toward the ground as a result. {{storylink|Masters & Students}}

[[Image:Convoy-Fowlerimpatient.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Why didn't Optimus just turn it off?]]
While transporting the [[Dynamic Nuclear Generation System]] in his jet, Fowler was shot down by what he assumed was a Decepticon. He angrily contacted the Autobots for help in shifting the D.N.G.S. and it was loaded into Optimus's trailer to get transported across country. When the convoy was attacked, it turned out not to be the Decepticons after all, but a human organization known as [[MECH]]. A MECH goon climbed onto Optimus's back to try and unhitch the trailer, and Fowler climbed out to grab the guy, but was unable to get any answers before the man was knocked out of his hand by a passing tree branch. Fowler was then contacted by the MECH operative [[Silas]] who explained they were taking the D.N.G.S. The Autobots passed the device safely off to a train, but a short time later were confronted by Vehicons. Optimus apologetically informed Fowler they'd have to break cover to fight, before placing Fowler on a rock. After Silas informed Fowler by radio that he'd worked out the D.N.G.S. was on the train, Fowler tried to warn Optimus, who was promptly clocked by a tree trunk. Fowler had to hang out on the rock for the rest of the mission, but was able to observe Optimus saving the train from where he was. {{storylink|Convoy (episode)|Convoy}}

Fowler was away when the Autobots attempted to obtain his help in retrieving an [[Energon Harvester]] from a museum. His answer phone claimed he was an intensive training retreat, though Bulkhead was unconvinced and believed him to be lounging at a poolside cabana. They eventually managed to get through to him, and he helped them slip a replica of the Harvester into the museum to replace the original, and also to retrieve Miko, who'd been detained by the museum's [[museum security guard|security guard]]. {{storylink|Deus ex Machina}}

After the Decepticons broke into the [[Kauai Naval Observatory]] in [[Hawaii]], Fowler contacted the Autobots to ask if they'd encountered any Decepticons wearing hula skirts. He was able to tell them that the lens stolen by the Decepticons had a tracking device on it, leading the Autobots to find it in the [[Arctic]]. {{storylink|Out of His Head}}

Fowler was at the Autobot base when they learned that [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] had gone missing in the middle of a fight with Bulkhead. He relayed intel that MECH had been spotted on the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] where the fight had taken place. Optimus immediate took a team to mount a rescue, leaving Fowler at base with Bulkhead and Miko. Bulkhead suggested they watch a film, which Fowler was heartily in favor of, but he subsequently fell asleep while they were watching ''[[Dinolizard vs. Five-Headed Ape]]''. {{storylink|Operation: Breakdown}}

Jack called in Fowler to fend off Airachnid and MECH, and he easily forced Airachnid into retreat with some troops. However, Airachnid was able to scan Fowler's assault chopper, much to Fowler's annoyance that his vehicle had been used for a Decepticon's alternate mode again. When Airachnid and MECH fled, he wasn't surprised to hear MECH had vanished without a trace, and began briefing June Darby on the situation with the Cybertronians, only for Jack to convince him to drop it for tonight. {{storylink|Crisscross}}

Fowler reported on a number of high-tech component thefts by the Decepticons. When he informed the Autobots that the Decepticons were attacking a military laboratory, Optimus told him to have the base evacuated to avoid any loss of human life. {{storylink|One Shall Fall}}

The first thing he did when a number of earthquakes struck simultaneously around the world was call the Autobots and let them know. By the time he arrived at their base, [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]] had traced the tremors to the Earth's core, and they quickly realized that [[Unicron]], whom Optimus explained was a dark entity from Cybertron's past, was at the center of the planet. Fowler suggested sticking explosives down the hole Unicron originally crawled into, but Optimus believed Earth had formed around Unicron's slumbering form. Fowler stuck around as the Autobots investigated the tremors. {{Storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 1}}

The humans listened as the Autobots battled giant stone Unicrons, and as Megatron arrived to offer to help the Autobots defeat Unicron. Fowler wondered what would stop Megatron calling in an air strike once he knew where the Autobot base was, but Prime was confident that GroundBridging Megatron in would conceal their position sufficiently. The humans hid when Megatron turned up, but when Raf ran out to confront their foe, Fowler found himself having to drag away Miko after she started yelling at the Decepticon leader. The humans all watched the Autobots and Megatron step through the GroundBridge into Earth's core. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 2}}

[[Image:OneShallRise3-hug.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"I love this town!"]]
Frustrated at not being able to do anything, Fowler almost left the base to go get assistance from the Pentagon, but was distracted by Ratchet's tale of pre-Earth Optimus. When it turned out that Prime's team were all OK, Fowler was compelled to hug a startled June Darby. He and June were waiting at the GroundBridge with the kids, as the Autobots returned to report that Optimus had developed amnesia. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 3}}

Fowler wondered if they couldn't just locate Prime the same way the US government located Fowler, via a subcutaneous microchip, but was told Optimus's signal hadn't reappeared. Some time later, when the Decepticons attacked a military base, Fowler alerted the Autobots, but to his frustration they were unable to prevent human injuries or the theft of a power source. Later, it became apparent that in order to bring back Optimus, Jack would have to travel to Cybertron via the Decepticon space bridge. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 1}}

Fowler hooked Jack up with [[NASA]] to get him a space suit to wear on Cybertron. Not long after Jack and Arcee were sent, [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] called Space Bridge Control, demanding a status report. Because [[Bulkhead (Prime)|two]] [[Ratchet (Prime)|of]] the Autobots there had voices that the Decepticon would recognize, and [[Bumblebee (Prime)|the third]] was mute, the task fell to Agent Fowler to imitate the [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] stationed there and say that everything was okay, which went surprisingly well, even when he accidentally asked Breakdown how he was doing! {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 2}} He and the other humans monitored Jack's progress on Cybertron until the Autobots returned with their restored leader. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 3}}

[[Image:LooseCannons Wheeljack and Fowler.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Grr.]]
After obtaining the possible coordinates of the MECH base, Fowler attempted to alert Prime, only to find Bumblebee was the only one available to take his call. He later yelled at Ratchet as well. {{Storylink|Operation Bumblebee, Part 2}} Detecting two [[Transformer]]s fighting near [[Omaha]], Fowler alerted Prime to the situation with his usual subtlety. The Autobots helped newcomer [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] chase off [[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]], though Fowler's jet was scanned by the Decepticon in the process. Fowler followed them back to the Autobot base to yell at them some more. {{storylink|Loose Cannons}}

Driving out of a military base, Fowler found himself under attack by what appeared to be Optimus Prime. He was only saved from being killed by the arrival of Bumblebee and Bulkhead, the latter of whom caught his car. Back at the Autobot base, it was quickly established the real Prime wasn't behind the attack, and Fowler fielded calls from the military as the imposter attacked [[Alden Military Base]]. Once they established [[Nemesis Prime (Prime)|Nemesis Prime]] was controlled by MECH, Fowler took part in an assault on the MECH base and kept Silas busy while Optimus finished off their experiment. {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime}} Fowler was called to a debriefing by [[Bryce|General Bryce]] regarding recent Autobot activities. He did his best to explain what was going on, though he eventually had to resort to getting Optimus to speak to the general in person before his superior's worries were allayed. {{storylink|Grill}}

When Optimus decided to take advantage of the ''Nemesis'' crash to attack the ship, Fowler insisted on coming along. Though the attack ended in failure, they discovered that the warship had achieved sentience and was heading for North America. Fowler and the kids GroundBridged aboard to try and download the Iacon database, but when they discovered that the ship was heading for [[New York City]], Fowler tried to access navigation and was knocked out by the defenses. After disabling the ship's intelligence, the kids helped him back through the GroundBridge. {{storylink|Flying Mind}}

{{spoiler|Triangulation|May 19, 2012}}
He was still incoherent as the Autobots started heading out to try to recover four artifacts. {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}} After he recovered, Fowler helped Optimus by having a base in [[Antarctica]] evacuated. {{storylink|Triangulation}} and was in the middle of some sort of crisis, he got a call from Miko and covered for the Autobots by deputizing [[Vogel]] over the phone. {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}}
{{--}}

===Titan Magazines ''Prime'' comics===
[[Image:Titan4.1 Fowler with scientists.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
After a bunch of alarms went off indicating that a nuclear warhead had just become live, Fowler scrambled with a team of scientists and government agents. They quickly arrived at the Autobot base, where Optimus asked how the missile had come to be left in the base. Fowler admitted it looked like a military failsafe in case the Autobots ever turned on the humans, and Prime firmly asked him to take the bomb with him when he left. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.1|The Safe and the Failsafe}}

Fowler was having a bad day—he was suffering from trapped wind, his car was under a snowdrift, his wife received a chicken instead of a turkey from the butcher, and the Decepticons had taken control of a [[Yamal|nuclear ship]] near [[Antarctica]]. Naturally, he took his problems to the Autobots. They could only help with the last one. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.3|Ice Breaker}} After the disappearance of [[Air Force One]], Fowler took the recovered black box to the Autobot base and played the ransom message on it to Optimus. To Fowler's relief, Optimus knew exactly where Starscream had taken the [[President of the United States|President]]. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.6|All the President's 'Bots!}}
{{--}}

===Commercial appearances===
Fowler had summoned the Autobots for a vague special mission. When Ratchet inquired as to backup for this mission, Fowler announced that [[Batman]] had agreed to join the mission. {{storylink|Commercial/Prime|Mission: Impossibly Awesome Marathon}}

==Notes==
[[Image:Convoy-Fowlerqueasy.jpg|thumb|250px|Half the time he's like this, and the other half he's a true badass.]]
*[[Michael Bell]] auditioning for "General Fowler" and [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]]<ref>http://voiceactors.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/transformers-gi-joe-hasbro-animated-cartoon/</ref> was the first piece of news the fandom received about ''Prime'', even before the title was revealed. Apparently Fowler transitioned from "General" to "Agent" at some point after that in production.
* Which agency Fowler's a Special Agent ''for'' isn't stated; since he specifically refers to the Pentagon as who he'd talk to and [[Crisscross|later]] calls his work "the agency", he's presumably with the Department of Defense's [[wikipedia:Defense Intelligence Agency|Defense Intelligence Agency]].
* The Autobots refer to him as their liaison with "the outside world", though he appears to just represent the United States.
* Fowler must have one ''awesome'' rank if he can decide on his own whether or not the Pentagon is to go on full alert!
* Agent Fowler spouts his own brand of colorful idioms infused with references to Americana when he is surprised or in a tight spot, including:
**"Well I'll be a bald eagle!" in "[[Masters & Students]]".
**"Sure thing buddy, right after you eat my star-spangled shorts." in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 3]]".
**"What in Uncle Sam's beard?" in "Darkness Rising, Part 3".
**"I don't care if Abraham Lincoln is back!" in "[[Loose Cannons]]".
**"Sweet Lady Liberty!" in "[[Flying Mind]]".
* When asked about Fowler's mouth and eyebrows "not animating right", panelists at [[BotCon 2011]] responded that he's "usually hungover".
* His vehicles have been [[scanning|scanned]] by the Decepticons three times now. He's beginning to get tired of it.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''William Fowler''' (ウィリアム・ファウラー ''Wiriamu Faurā'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, William}}
[[Category: Fiction-only characters]]
[[Category: Pilots]]
[[Category: Prime humans]]
[[Category: United States military]]

William Fowler

2012-05-13T09:31:03Z

80.42.247.107: /* Prime cartoon */

:''William Fowler is a [[human]] from the [[Transformers: Prime (franchise)| Prime]] portion of the [[Aligned continuity family]].''

[[Image:DarknessRising2-Fowler.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Someone buy him a longer tie.]]

Special Agent '''William "Bill" Fowler''' is the type of guy that [[Theodore Galloway]] ''wishes'' he could be. A former US Army Ranger, he's the tough-talking, robot-dissing designated liaison between the [[United States of America|United States government]] and the [[Autobot]]s, who's got the guts to face down [[Starscream (Prime)|the Decepticons]] himself. And he doesn't need any military escort! He can pilot his own damn helicopter! And his own damn jet plane!

Fowler is leery about trusting the Autobots to handle the [[Decepticon]]s by themselves and believes that [[Earth]] can handle its own mess, but for now, while he chews them out and slags them off, he's willing to let them have a chance.

{{bigquote|Pretty big bearings... for a human.|Bulkhead|"[[Darkness Rising, Part 2]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Prime'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Ernie Hudson]] (English), [[Kenji Nomura]] (Japanese)|[[Jin-uk Hong]] (Korean), [[Dario Oppido]] (Italian), [[Oliver Siebeck]] (German), [[Mario Filio]] (Latin American Spanish), [[Guilherme Lopes]] (Portuguese)}}

Fowler was once a member of the Army Rangers. {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime}}

Agent Fowler visited [[Autobot Outpost Omega One]] to chew the Autobots off over mass traffic accidents caused by [[Vehicon (Prime)|several]] [[Arcee (Prime)|odd]] [[Bumblebee (Prime)|vehicles]], and then demanded to know if this meant the Decepticons were back. When [[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]] confirmed this, Fowler stated it was time to "wake up" the [[Pentagon]]; he was notably ''un''impressed by Optimus's claim that only the Autobots could stop the Decepticons, clearly not believing it, but to avoid mass human casualties he agreed to give them a shot at sorting it out.

[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] angrily told Fowler that the Autobots knew how to use appropriate force, but when the agent was gone he noted with respect that Fowler had ''bearings''. Prime noted that Fowler's attitude was due to being afraid for his planet. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 2}}

[[Image:DarknessRising3-interrogateFowler.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"This is some nice steel. How about telling me who gave them to you?" "Yo mama."]]

Another explosion had Fowler returning to the Autobot base, but he found only Bulkhead there. When [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]]'s guitar gave away the presence of her and her two classmates, he announced he was going to take them into federal custody, but Bulkhead prevented him from phoning his superiors. He stormed out and took off in his helicopter, making a report by radio. Unfortunately, the transmission was intercepted by the Decepticons, who captured him and strung him up by chains. Fowler proved difficult to interrogate, so [[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]] got out an [[Energon prod]] to soften him up. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 3}}

Fowler was on the verge of breaking and telling Starscream where the Autobot base was, when weapons fire became audible outside the brig. Sensing rescue was near, he became awkward again, provoking Starscream into shocking him into unconsciousness. When he awoke, he was in a dazed, rambling state. The Autobots finally reached his location, only to become locked in a standoff with Starscream, until a random outburst from Fowler caused a distraction, and the Autobots chased Starscream off. Fowler rode back to base in Bulkhead, though his dazed state persisted and he became fixated on pie. Once they reached the base, he was given rudimentary medical attention. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 4}}

When the Autobots discovered that the Decepticons were using a radio telescope array in [[Texas]], Optimus suggested getting Fowler to put the installation on high alert, but Fowler was still too out of it to comply. He had recovered enough to cheer the Autobots on as they destroyed Megatron's [[space bridge]], and later thanked them for saving him from the Decepticons, and for saving the world, before he left the base. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 5}}

[[Image:Masters&Students-FowlerTopGun.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wronski Feint his ass!]]
Responding to reports of strange transmissions, Fowler warned other pilots away from the area as he sped there in a new top-secret jet. He came upon the scene of a battle between Optimus, Bumblebee and the Decepticon [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]], the latter of whom seized the opportunity to [[scanning|scan]] Fowler's jet. Fowler retaliated by firing on Skyquake, but the Decepticon launched a number of heat-seeking missiles that Fowler was forced to use evasive maneuvers to avoid. He later came to Bumblebee's aid, picking up the small Autobot who had just disabled Skyquake in mid-air and was plunging toward the ground as a result. {{storylink|Masters & Students}}

[[Image:Convoy-Fowlerimpatient.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Why didn't Optimus just turn it off?]]
While transporting the [[Dynamic Nuclear Generation System]] in his jet, Fowler was shot down by what he assumed was a Decepticon. He angrily contacted the Autobots for help in shifting the D.N.G.S. and it was loaded into Optimus's trailer to get transported across country. When the convoy was attacked, it turned out not to be the Decepticons after all, but a human organization known as [[MECH]]. A MECH goon climbed onto Optimus's back to try and unhitch the trailer, and Fowler climbed out to grab the guy, but was unable to get any answers before the man was knocked out of his hand by a passing tree branch. Fowler was then contacted by the MECH operative [[Silas]] who explained they were taking the D.N.G.S. The Autobots passed the device safely off to a train, but a short time later were confronted by Vehicons. Optimus apologetically informed Fowler they'd have to break cover to fight, before placing Fowler on a rock. After Silas informed Fowler by radio that he'd worked out the D.N.G.S. was on the train, Fowler tried to warn Optimus, who was promptly clocked by a tree trunk. Fowler had to hang out on the rock for the rest of the mission, but was able to observe Optimus saving the train from where he was. {{storylink|Convoy (episode)|Convoy}}

Fowler was away when the Autobots attempted to obtain his help in retrieving an [[Energon Harvester]] from a museum. His answer phone claimed he was an intensive training retreat, though Bulkhead was unconvinced and believed him to be lounging at a poolside cabana. They eventually managed to get through to him, and he helped them slip a replica of the Harvester into the museum to replace the original, and also to retrieve Miko, who'd been detained by the museum's [[museum security guard|security guard]]. {{storylink|Deus ex Machina}}

After the Decepticons broke into the [[Kauai Naval Observatory]] in [[Hawaii]], Fowler contacted the Autobots to ask if they'd encountered any Decepticons wearing hula skirts. He was able to tell them that the lens stolen by the Decepticons had a tracking device on it, leading the Autobots to find it in the [[Arctic]]. {{storylink|Out of His Head}}

Fowler was at the Autobot base when they learned that [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] had gone missing in the middle of a fight with Bulkhead. He relayed intel that MECH had been spotted on the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] where the fight had taken place. Optimus immediate took a team to mount a rescue, leaving Fowler at base with Bulkhead and Miko. Bulkhead suggested they watch a film, which Fowler was heartily in favor of, but he subsequently fell asleep while they were watching ''[[Dinolizard vs. Five-Headed Ape]]''. {{storylink|Operation: Breakdown}}

Jack called in Fowler to fend off Airachnid and MECH, and he easily forced Airachnid into retreat with some troops. However, Airachnid was able to scan Fowler's assault chopper, much to Fowler's annoyance that his vehicle had been used for a Decepticon's alternate mode again. When Airachnid and MECH fled, he wasn't surprised to hear MECH had vanished without a trace, and began briefing June Darby on the situation with the Cybertronians, only for Jack to convince him to drop it for tonight. {{storylink|Crisscross}}

Fowler reported on a number of high-tech component thefts by the Decepticons. When he informed the Autobots that the Decepticons were attacking a military laboratory, Optimus told him to have the base evacuated to avoid any loss of human life. {{storylink|One Shall Fall}}

The first thing he did when a number of earthquakes struck simultaneously around the world was call the Autobots and let them know. By the time he arrived at their base, [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]] had traced the tremors to the Earth's core, and they quickly realized that [[Unicron]], whom Optimus explained was a dark entity from Cybertron's past, was at the center of the planet. Fowler suggested sticking explosives down the hole Unicron originally crawled into, but Optimus believed Earth had formed around Unicron's slumbering form. Fowler stuck around as the Autobots investigated the tremors. {{Storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 1}}

The humans listened as the Autobots battled giant stone Unicrons, and as Megatron arrived to offer to help the Autobots defeat Unicron. Fowler wondered what would stop Megatron calling in an air strike once he knew where the Autobot base was, but Prime was confident that GroundBridging Megatron in would conceal their position sufficiently. The humans hid when Megatron turned up, but when Raf ran out to confront their foe, Fowler found himself having to drag away Miko after she started yelling at the Decepticon leader. The humans all watched the Autobots and Megatron step through the GroundBridge into Earth's core. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 2}}

[[Image:OneShallRise3-hug.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"I love this town!"]]
Frustrated at not being able to do anything, Fowler almost left the base to go get assistance from the Pentagon, but was distracted by Ratchet's tale of pre-Earth Optimus. When it turned out that Prime's team were all OK, Fowler was compelled to hug a startled June Darby. He and June were waiting at the GroundBridge with the kids, as the Autobots returned to report that Optimus had developed amnesia. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 3}}

Fowler wondered if they couldn't just locate Prime the same way the US government located Fowler, via a subcutaneous microchip, but was told Optimus's signal hadn't reappeared. Some time later, when the Decepticons attacked a military base, Fowler alerted the Autobots, but to his frustration they were unable to prevent human injuries or the theft of a power source. Later, it became apparent that in order to bring back Optimus, Jack would have to travel to Cybertron via the Decepticon space bridge. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 1}}

Fowler hooked Jack up with [[NASA]] to get him a space suit to wear on Cybertron. Not long after Jack and Arcee were sent, [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] called Space Bridge Control, demanding a status report. Because [[Bulkhead (Prime)|two]] [[Ratchet (Prime)|of]] the Autobots there had voices that the Decepticon would recognize, and [[Bumblebee (Prime)|the third]] was mute, the task fell to Agent Fowler to imitate the [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] stationed there and say that everything was okay, which went surprisingly well, even when he accidentally asked Breakdown how he was doing! {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 2}} He and the other humans monitored Jack's progress on Cybertron until the Autobots returned with their restored leader. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 3}}

[[Image:LooseCannons Wheeljack and Fowler.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Grr.]]
After obtaining the possible coordinates of the MECH base, Fowler attempted to alert Prime, only to find Bumblebee was the only one available to take his call. He later yelled at Ratchet as well. {{Storylink|Operation Bumblebee, Part 2}} Detecting two [[Transformer]]s fighting near [[Omaha]], Fowler alerted Prime to the situation with his usual subtlety. The Autobots helped newcomer [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] chase off [[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]], though Fowler's jet was scanned by the Decepticon in the process. Fowler followed them back to the Autobot base to yell at them some more. {{storylink|Loose Cannons}}

Driving out of a military base, Fowler found himself under attack by what appeared to be Optimus Prime. He was only saved from being killed by the arrival of Bumblebee and Bulkhead, the latter of whom caught his car. Back at the Autobot base, it was quickly established the real Prime wasn't behind the attack, and Fowler fielded calls from the military as the imposter attacked [[Alden Military Base]]. Once they established [[Nemesis Prime (Prime)|Nemesis Prime]] was controlled by MECH, Fowler took part in an assault on the MECH base and kept Silas busy while Optimus finished off their experiment. {{storylink|Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime}} Fowler was called to a debriefing by [[Bryce|General Bryce]] regarding recent Autobot activities. He did his best to explain what was going on, though he eventually had to resort to getting Optimus to speak to the general in person before his superior's worries were allayed. {{storylink|Grill}}

When Optimus decided to take advantage of the ''Nemesis'' crash to attack the ship, Fowler insisted on coming along. Though the attack ended in failure, they discovered that the warship had achieved sentience and was heading for North America. Fowler and the kids GroundBridged aboard to try and download the Iacon database, but when they discovered that the ship was heading for [[New York City]], Fowler tried to access navigation and was knocked out by the defenses. After disabling the ship's intelligence, the kids helped him back through the GroundBridge. {{storylink|Flying Mind}}

{{spoiler|Triangulation|May 19, 2012}}
He was still incoherent as the Autobots started heading out to try to recover four artifacts. {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}}

After he recovered, Fowler helped Optimus by having a base in [[Antarctica]] evacuated. {{storylink|Triangulation}} and was in the middle of some sort of crisis, he got a call from Miko and covered for the Autobots by deputizing [[Vogel]] over the phone. {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}}
{{--}}

===Titan Magazines ''Prime'' comics===
[[Image:Titan4.1 Fowler with scientists.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
After a bunch of alarms went off indicating that a nuclear warhead had just become live, Fowler scrambled with a team of scientists and government agents. They quickly arrived at the Autobot base, where Optimus asked how the missile had come to be left in the base. Fowler admitted it looked like a military failsafe in case the Autobots ever turned on the humans, and Prime firmly asked him to take the bomb with him when he left. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.1|The Safe and the Failsafe}}

Fowler was having a bad day—he was suffering from trapped wind, his car was under a snowdrift, his wife received a chicken instead of a turkey from the butcher, and the Decepticons had taken control of a [[Yamal|nuclear ship]] near [[Antarctica]]. Naturally, he took his problems to the Autobots. They could only help with the last one. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.3|Ice Breaker}} After the disappearance of [[Air Force One]], Fowler took the recovered black box to the Autobot base and played the ransom message on it to Optimus. To Fowler's relief, Optimus knew exactly where Starscream had taken the [[President of the United States|President]]. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 4.6|All the President's 'Bots!}}
{{--}}

===Commercial appearances===
Fowler had summoned the Autobots for a vague special mission. When Ratchet inquired as to backup for this mission, Fowler announced that [[Batman]] had agreed to join the mission. {{storylink|Commercial/Prime|Mission: Impossibly Awesome Marathon}}

==Notes==
[[Image:Convoy-Fowlerqueasy.jpg|thumb|250px|Half the time he's like this, and the other half he's a true badass.]]
*[[Michael Bell]] auditioning for "General Fowler" and [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]]<ref>http://voiceactors.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/transformers-gi-joe-hasbro-animated-cartoon/</ref> was the first piece of news the fandom received about ''Prime'', even before the title was revealed. Apparently Fowler transitioned from "General" to "Agent" at some point after that in production.
* Which agency Fowler's a Special Agent ''for'' isn't stated; since he specifically refers to the Pentagon as who he'd talk to and [[Crisscross|later]] calls his work "the agency", he's presumably with the Department of Defense's [[wikipedia:Defense Intelligence Agency|Defense Intelligence Agency]].
* The Autobots refer to him as their liaison with "the outside world", though he appears to just represent the United States.
* Fowler must have one ''awesome'' rank if he can decide on his own whether or not the Pentagon is to go on full alert!
* Agent Fowler spouts his own brand of colorful idioms infused with references to Americana when he is surprised or in a tight spot, including:
**"Well I'll be a bald eagle!" in "[[Masters & Students]]".
**"Sure thing buddy, right after you eat my star-spangled shorts." in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 3]]".
**"What in Uncle Sam's beard?" in "Darkness Rising, Part 3".
**"I don't care if Abraham Lincoln is back!" in "[[Loose Cannons]]".
**"Sweet Lady Liberty!" in "[[Flying Mind]]".
* When asked about Fowler's mouth and eyebrows "not animating right", panelists at [[BotCon 2011]] responded that he's "usually hungover".
* His vehicles have been [[scanning|scanned]] by the Decepticons three times now. He's beginning to get tired of it.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''William Fowler''' (ウィリアム・ファウラー ''Wiriamu Faurā'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, William}}
[[Category: Fiction-only characters]]
[[Category: Pilots]]
[[Category: Prime humans]]
[[Category: United States military]]

Triangulation

2012-05-13T09:28:32Z

80.42.247.107: /* Continuity notes */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 39
|prev=Tunnel Vision
|next=Triage
|image=
|caption=
|title="Triangulation"
|airdate=[[May 12]], [[2012]]
|written by=[[David McDermott]]
|directed by=[[Todd Waterman]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''Optimus Prime hunts for relics in Antarctica and finds himself caught between shifting alliances.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]] notes that the second relic is in [[Antarctica]], and [[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]] volunteers to head there. In the ''[[Harbinger]]'', [[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]] is about to operate on himself to insert his new [[transformation cog|T-cog]] when the ship's computer picks up the fact that the [[Decepticon]]s are dispatching teams to four locations. At the [[Autobot Outpost Omega One|Autobot base]], [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] departs through the [[GroundBridge]]. [[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]] announces he's heading for the Antarctic, and announces that [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]] will need backup on his mission—[[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]].

Starscream uses a GroundBridge remote control to head to the Antarctic on a hoversled. He's quickly spotted by Dreadwing and some [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicons]] who knock him off his sled. Starscream at first mistakes Dreadwing for Skyquake, and soon has some cuffs slapped on him. The group trudges through the snow to where the relic is located, to find it has already been dug out of the ice and is gone. The Vehicons start searching and find vehicle tracks. They're approached by Optimus, who demands the return of the relic, and the standoff quickly turns into a firefight. After Prime takes out two of the Vehicons and scores a hit on Dreadwing, the Decepticon starts breaking out heavier weapons, and proves to be formidable with a sword. They take a dive off a cliff, following which Optimus brings the ice crashing down, burying Dreadwing. With Starscream's help, Optimus takes care of the remaining two Vehicons, and demands Starscream lead him to the relic.

Optimus and Starscream take a long walk through the ice and snow until they finally reach a human base. Optimus radios home and gets [[William Fowler|Agent Fowler]] to evacuate the human base so he can safely retrieve the relic. Meanwhile, Dreadwing breaks free of the ice and heads out to find Prime. With the base clear, Optimus and Starscream venture inside to find the relic still frozen in a chunk of ice. They're interrupted by Dreadwing. While Optimus and Dreadwing fight, Starscream sets about liberating the relic, which turns out to be the [[Apex Armor (Prime)|Apex Armor]]. Outside, Dreadwing has Optimus on the ropes and is about to strike when Starscream, now wearing the armor, crashes out of the building.

Both Dreadwing and Optimus attack the rogue Decepticon, but he swats them aside, repeatedly. Optimus suggests to Dreadwing that they will need to cooperate to defeat Starscream. While Dreadwing flies around, Optimus slaps a bomb onto Starscream, but the Apex Armor proves invulnerable even to that. Optimus realizes that Starscream still has a vulnerability—his lack of flight. While Optimus keeps Starscream's attention once more, Dreadwing plants explosives on the ground, and just as Starscream works out that the pair are up to something, the bombs detonate. Starscream disappears into a hole blasted in the ice. With no relic left to claim, Dreadwing and Optimus go their separate ways, though Dreadwing swears to terminate Optimus next time.

At the bottom of the ocean below, Starscream walks along, still protected by the Apex Armor.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (5)
* [[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]] (6)
* [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]] (8)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Soundwave (Prime)|Soundwave]] (2)
*[[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]] (3)
*[[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]] (4)
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicons]] (10)

|c3=
* [[Raf Esquivel]] (7)
* [[William Fowler]] (9)
|}}

==Quotes==

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===

===Continuity errors===

===Continuity notes===
* This episode happens concurrently with the previous episode and, presumably, with the following two.
* Starscream is preparing to install a new [[T-cog]] into himself at the beginning of the episode, which he scavenged from his traitorous [[Starscream clone (Prime)|clone]] after killing him in "[[Armada (episode)|Armada]]".
* Starscream refers to [[Orion Pax, Part 2 | helping Orion Pax regain his memory and giving]] [[Crossfire | information]] to the Autobots.
* Starscream mistakes Dreadwing for [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]], whom he saw die in "[[Masters & Students]]", then attempted to revive in "[[Shadowzone (episode)|Shadowzone]]".
* Starscream enjoyed [[Darkness Rising, Part 1|killing Cliffjumper]] and claims he will reunite Dreadwing with his "beloved twin".
* Dreadwing is still mad at Optimus for Skyquake's demise.
* Optimus refers to how he offered Skyquake a chance of redemption, as well as expressing remorse for the Decepticon's demise from "Masters & Students".

===Transformers references===
* The Apex Armor is a reference to the [[Apex Armor (G1)|item of the same name]] from Generation 1, first introduced with the ''[[Commemorative Series]]'' reissue of the [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#ApexArmorPrime|Powermaster Optimus Prime]] toy and later appearing in the [[IDW Publishing|IDW]] comics.

===Real-world references===
* People actually do put flags around archaeological sites in desolate wastelands, in order to find them again.

===Trivia===
* This is the first episode in which [[Arcee (Prime)|Arcee]] does not make an appearance.
* Starscream's priorities must be pretty messed up if he wants to wait until '''after''' he's confronted the Decepticons to install his T-cog and regain his weaponry and ability to transform.
* Dreadwing reveals that he has a sword. Whilst a sword has been shown to be included with his toy, this is the first time he has ever used it in-series.
* The Apex Armor is black, silver, and gold—a direct indication that it was created by Solus Prime, one of the Thirteen.
* Either Dreadwing really knows how to handle a blade, or he was just showing off.
* The Apex Armor was established in ''[[Exiles]]'' as a relic of Solus Prime; however, Starscream calls it armor of "Decepticon origin". Maybe he isn't all that knowledgeable on the Thirteen?

{{epstub}}
[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Death

2012-05-12T16:36:26Z

80.42.247.107: /* Weaponsfire */

{{disambig2|the end of life|the Horseman of Unicron|Airazor (Armada)}}

[[Image:Battleofautobotcity.jpg|right|300px|thumb|And lo, the children did weep.]]

''Transformers'' is a children's franchise, but at its core, it's a story of war. This means that the '''death''' of major and minor characters sometimes figures into the fiction.

Given the ambiguous nature of [[Transformer]] physiology, there is very little consistency regarding what is fatal to a Transformer, even within a single storyline. Damage that one Transformer might shrug off can prove fatal to another, or even to the same character in a different story. Sometimes just a laser blast or two will do the trick. Other times, characters survive being melted, crushed into cubes, and even utterly disintegrated. It does not take a terribly cynical viewer to conclude that the threshold of survival is generally determined by the needs of the plot.

The out-of-universe reasons for a character's death can vary from plot development to the arrival of [[To sell toys|new toys]]. Conveniently enough for writers who are beholden to the whims of a toy company, the majority of Transformers characters are machines, which means that death isn't necessarily permanent. Across the various universes, characters that appear to have been killed have been known to pop up alive again at a later date, or go through some sort of resurrection.

{{quote|"How can you all be so cold and unfeeling? He died a hero!" "Don't you even have mechanical hearts?" "The humans don't understand! Our form of life is vastly different from theirs!"|[[Spider-Man]], [[Sparkplug Witwicky]], and [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]|"[[Prisoner of War!]]"|noquote=true}}

==In-fiction causes of death==
[[Image:DEATH.jpg|left|thumb|400px|[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] is just as puzzled as the rest of us.]]

There is little consistency in what can kill a Transformer. Sometimes it takes just a shot. Other times, even totally annihilating a Transformer's body still doesn't do the trick. Even the most basic method of killing, which is to destroy or otherwise cause the loss of a Transformer's [[spark]], varies quite a bit in its details from story to story, character to character, and series to series.
{{--}}
===Weaponsfire===
{{bigquote|This was almost too easy, Starscream!|[[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] (like the fandom) is surprised to find how easily Autobots die, ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''}}

[[Image:Tftm1986a.jpg|right|200px|thumb|We're here aboard the Autobot shuttle, where we've secretly replaced Brawn's hyper-dense metal armor plating with styrene plastic. Let's see if anyone can tell the difference.]]

[[Image:TFTM UltraMagnus dies.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Prepare for your death today. Yer gonna die!!]]

[[Image:Magnusdeath.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Ow! Hey! Cut it out, guys! That hurts!]]

[[Image:Blades1.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Sorry, [[Outpost B-67 exo-structuring party|nameless guy]], your generic nature means you will never be miraculously resurrected.]]

Like humans, Transformers can be killed by damage caused by energy, projectile, and chemical weapons. Just how many shots it takes is widely variable, however.
* In the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]]:
** Many casualties of the [[Battle of Autobot City]] (and its run-up), including [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]], and [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], were victims of energy weapons. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}} This was quite a change from the cartoon's M.O., wherein the same characters routinely got shot and blasted all the time and shrugged it off, or at worst spent some time in the repair bay. Brawn and Prowl both went down after ''one shot'', though Prowl's death indicates that acid was involved in his shot wound.
** [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] subsequently "dies" after being shot a few times by the [[Sweep]]s, exploding into pieces. He is soon revived by the [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]], however. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}
** In the Japanese continuity, Ultra Magnus dies ''again'', for real this time, after [[Sixshot]] shoots him a few times. {{storylink|Ultra Magnus Dies!!}}
* In the [[Marvel Comics continuity|Marvel comics]]:
** [[Impactor]] was cut down by a single head shot from [[Macabre]]. {{storylink|Target: 2006}}
** Most deaths in the ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Generation 2]]'' book occurred from energy weapons, such as [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]], {{storylink|Devices and Desires! (Marvel)|Devices and Desires!}} as well as numerous generics. {{storylink|War Without End!}} Quite a few victims exploded spectacularly after being shot, including [[Tantrum]], {{storylink|The Gathering Darkness}} [[Runamuck (G1)|Runamuck]], [[Quake (G1)|Quake]], {{storylink|New Dawn}} and [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]]. {{storylink|Escalation!}}
* In the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' cartoon:
** [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] dies after incurring severe damage from numerous [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] weapons. {{storylink|Code of Hero}} The apparent cause of his demise is his refusal to enter protective [[stasis lock]], as other characters have survived similar or worse levels of damage.
** [[Tigerhawk]] is disintegrated by the main cannon of the starship ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]''. The same cannon subsequently blasts [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] and [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]], apparently killing them, though their "death" may be permanent simply because there was nobody around to put them back together. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 2}}
* ''Armada'' cartoon: [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] dies holding back the [[Hydra Cannon]], the damage causing him to [[:Image:Sshot-arm-39-4.jpg|crumble to dust]]. {{storylink|Crisis}}
* [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]] G1 comics: [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] is killed by an assassin's blast. {{storylink|The Age of Wrath}} He got better. {{storylink|Prime Directive issue 3|Prime Directive #3}}
* [[Movie continuity]]:
**[[Brawl (Movie)|Brawl]] and [[Blackout (Movie)|Blackout]] both died from weapons fire. {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}}
**A crapload of [[Protoform]]s were shot down by [[NEST]] soldiers. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
**[[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] and [[Elita-One (Movie)|Elita-One]] may have been killed by the [[Buffalo MPV Decepticon]], but the movie is pretty vague. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}} [[Rising Storm|or not]].
** [[Crowbar |Crowbar]] was shot in the face by Ironhide. {{storylink|Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon}}
**[[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]] was shot in the back by [[Sentinel Prime (ROTF)|Sentinel]]'s Cosmic Rust Blaster.
**[[Wheeljack (Movie)|Que]] was killed by a Decepticon protoform.
** All the [[Appliancebot]]s were killed by [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]].
* "[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass]]": [[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]] gets his face blown off/in by [[Cyclonus (SG)|Cyclonus]]. {{storylink|Reunification: Part 4}}
{{--}}
* [[Transformers: Universe (comic)|Universe]]: [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] was shot and killed by [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] during the final battle of the [[Universe War]].
* Many goons during the [[Transformers: War for Cybertron (franchise)| War for Cybertron]] died from being shot. {{storylink|Transformers: War for Cybertron (games)|War for Cybertron}}

===Big explosions===
{{bigquote|They're going to blow us all to pieces! [[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]]'s booby-trapped - packed with enough explosives to level this whole mountain!|[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], "[[The Wrath of Grimlock!]]"}}

Transformers characters often assume that explosions are more lethal than they really are; characters survive explosions all the time. An explosion's messy nature makes a good "out" for a writer to fake a character's death. {{storylink|The Wrath of Grimlock!}} {{storylink|Gone but Not Forgotten!}} {{storylink|The Agenda (Part 2)}} Nevertheless, a few characters have been permanently killed by explosions. (This list omits characters who exploded from within, like Ultra Magnus up above.)
* In the Marvel comics:
** [[Straxus (G1)|Straxus]] was the victim of an interdimensionally triggered explosion that destroyed his body. (In UK continuity, he survived as a raggedy, bodiless head.) {{storylink|The Bridge to Nowhere!}}
** In an alternate future, a wounded [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] died in the fiery explosion of a crashing shuttlecraft. {{storylink|The Legacy of Unicron!}}
** [[Finback]] was presumably killed in the explosion of a huge gun battery. [[Misfire]] tried to warn him off, and may have been killed in the same explosion. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}
** [[Roadbuster (G1)|Roadbuster]] was killed when a prototype [[pathblaster]] exploded in his face. {{storylink|Time Wars}}
* ''Beast Wars'' cartoon:
** [[Optimus Primal]] was blown to bits — terminally so — by the [[transwarp]] explosion that destroyed the [[Planet Buster]]. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}
** [[Depth Charge (BW)|Depth Charge]] was killed by the explosion that resulted from [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]]'s death (either his exploding spark, or the exploding energon shard that pierced it.) {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
* Several of the [[Beast Era]] [[Wrecker]]s ([[Sonar (BW)|Sonar]], [[Spittor (BW)|Spittor]], the [[Deployer (BM)|Deployers]]) were destroyed when part of their ship exploded with them in it. {{storylink|Betrayal}}
* Energon: [[Bruticus Maximus (Energon)|Bruticus Maximus]] was killed when Storm Jet caused a massive explosion that engulfed them both.
* ''Prime'': [[Makeshift (Prime)|Makeshift]] and the surrounding [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s were blown up by a grenade attached by the Autobots. Both the Vehicons and Makeshift were killed in the blast. (According to an interview at [[BotCon 2011]] with the ''Prime'' show runners, Makeshift was deemed too overpowered to be a regular in the show, so they killed him off at the end of the episode.) {{storylink|Con Job}}
*IDW Continuity: [[Bomb-Burst (G1)|Bomb-Burst]] and [[Skullgrin]] were killed when Springer blew them up with a grenade. {{storylink|Stormbringer issue 3}}
* ''Movie Continuty'': [[Crankcase (DOTM)|Crankcase]] blew up when Ironhide kicked him into a gas station. {{storylink|Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)}}

===Impact trauma===
Falling off a cliff or mountainside or tall building is usually just as fatal to Transformers as it is to, say... Wile E. Coyote. Only on rare occasion does it result in death:
* ''[[Transformers: Classics|Classics]]'' continuity: [[Hacksaw]] met his end by falling from a huge communications tower. {{storylink|The New World}}
* IDW G1 continuity: [[Doubledealer]] was shot, fell off a mountain and smashed to bits on impact. {{storylink|Spotlight: Doubledealer}}
* Movie continuity:
**[[Devastator (ROTF)|Devastator]] fell off the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]] after losing his balance when his arm was shot off, and he shattered to pieces as he tumbled down. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
** [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] was smashed to pieces and killed by being flung into a freeway column. {{storylink|Movie Adaptation issue 4|Movie Adaptation Issue Number Four}}
** [[Hatchet]] met his end when [[Mirage (Movie)|Dino]] sent him in crashing into a car.
* The [[Beast (G1)|Beast]] fell off a cliff and shattered. {{storylink|The Beast Within Part 2, Consequences}} At least, we hope that's where and how it ended.
* ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)| Prime]]'': [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]] crash-landed after [[Bumblebee (Prime)|Bumblebee]] punched out vital components in his alternate mode, reducing his body to a partially transformed scrapheap.

===Crushing===
[[Image:Edgeofextinction-hardheadbombburst.jpg|thumb|right|175px|DO NOT WANT]]

Quite a few characters have been crushed into deactivation:
* In the Marvel comics:
** [[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] was smashed between [[Unicron]]'s palms, while [[Bomb-Burst (G1)|Bomb-Burst]] and [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] met a similar fate when they were stepped on by Unicron. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}
** [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] is apparently killed when a very large building collapses on top of him. {{storylink|Escalation!}}
* [[Unicron Trilogy]] cartoons:
** [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]] is killed when caught between two folding sections of Unicron's external armor. {{storylink|Union}}
** [[Shockblast]] is crushed by Unicron's hand on [[Blizzard Planet]]. {{storylink|The Power of Unicron}}
** His brother [[Six Shot]] meets a similar fate, crushed under the heel of a super-sized Galvatron. {{storylink|Galvatron Terror}}
* IDW continuity:
** [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] was crushed when Megatron caused an avalanche to fall on him.
** [[Ruckus (G1)|Ruckus]], [[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]], and [[Skullcruncher]] were all crushed by [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]].
** [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] was killed when a group of police set fire to a building and let it collapse on him, crushing him.
* Movie continuity:
** [[Dispensor]] was crushed under [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]]'s foot.

===Melting===
[[Image:BW Scorponok Terrorsaur deaths.jpg|right|175px|thumb|Even having a new toy couldn't save Terrorsaur!]]

[[Image:Fallout title.jpg|right|175px|thumb|Primal's diet had gone horribly wrong.]]

They're made of metal; therefore, with enough heat or sufficiently acidic material, they can melt. This is one of the more fool-proof methods of killing a Transformer; few if any have survived it.
* In the G1 cartoon:
** An acid vat would apparently have been enough to destroy Optimus Prime. {{storylink|The Search for Alpha Trion}}
** Another acid vat was used to disintegrate living victims of Unicron. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}
* In the Marvel comics:
** Victims of the Deception [[smelting pool]]s on Cybertron were reduced by intense heat into their base metals, including [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]]. {{storylink|The Smelting Pool!}}
** It is possible that an acid bath from (naturally) [[Blot (G1)|Blot]] offlined [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] [[Makin' Tracks!|(for a while anyway)]]. {{storylink|Dark Star}}
** [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] was partially melted by Unicron's flame-breath and subsequently died. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}
** The [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]] used some kind of acid to rather messily eradicate some of their Decepticon ancestors, including [[Stranglehold]]. {{storylink|New Dawn}}
* In the Beast Era cartoons:
** [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] and [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] were apparently melted to death after tumbling into a lava pit within the [[Darksyde|Predacon base]]. {{storylink|Aftermath}}
** Optimus Primal's body was seemingly melted into the floor after his climactic face-off with [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]. Considering how many god-like forces were unleashed and conflicting during the battle, his demise may be due to more than simple temperature-induced melting. {{storylink|Fallout}}

===Incineration===
{{bigquote|I saw the end! They died in a cosmic funeral pyre!|[[Shawn Berger]], "[[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2]]"}}

[[Image:Armada 52 - Prime hangon to Galvatron.jpg|right|175px|thumb|Galvatron died to save everyone and came back ''twice''—you lose, [[Jesus]]!]]

Plasma, energy fields, and stellar atmospheres can all utterly destroy a Transformer's body. Like being melted, being reduced to one's component molecules would seem to be a surefire way of getting killed, but quite a few characters seem able to survive the process as ghosts and/or disembodied sparks:
* Generation 1 cartoon: [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]]'s spectacular death at the hands of [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] might be categorized as incineration. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}
* Quite a few characters met this fate in the Unicron Trilogy, but all survived it in some fashion:
** [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]]'s spark persisted within his burnt-out body when he was dropped into the exploding Unicron. {{storylink|Mortal Combat}} {{storylink|Megatron Resurrected}}
** [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]]'s body was obliterated by an expanding energon grid, but his spark survived the process and was placed in a new body. {{storylink|Go for Unicron!}}
** [[Inferno (Energon)|Inferno]] was destroyed when he threw himself into a star, but his spark was salvaged by the Autobots and, again, placed in a new body. {{storylink|Farewell Inferno}}
** And finally, Megatron (Galvatron, whatever) threw himself into Primus's new energon sun to prevent Unicron from possessing him, killing himself yet again. {{storylink|The Sun}} This death was so inconsequential that his subsequent resurrection wasn't even explained! {{storylink|Fallen (episode)|Fallen}}

===Consumption===
{{bigquote|...If we don't find the Matrix, some bad guy's gonna ''eat'' us! Right?|Longtooth, "[[Deadly Obsession]]"}}

[[Image:Wreckers Mutants.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The shocking death of the barely-seen guys with hardly any lines!]]
[[Image:Rocky mecannibal bartender marvel uk 240.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Cannibalism is hilarious, kids!]]

Quite a few critters in the multiverse are equipped to devour giant robots. Being eaten (and, presumably, digested) generally proves fatal:
* In the G1 cartoon:
** Various life forms were routinely devoured by the [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]]s on Quintessa. This included [[Kranix]], a mechanical life form, though not a Transformer. [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] and [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] would have suffered this fate as well, but fought their way free. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}
** Quite a few Transformers found their way into Unicron's gullet, though many survived the experience. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}
* In the Marvel comic:
** The [[Mecannibal]]s ate robots routinely, including quite a few Transformers during their sojourn on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. {{storylink|All the Familiar Faces!}} {{storylink|Out to Lunch!}} There is some indication that they could actually reconstitute their victims from their "recycled" parts, though this is never explicitly shown. {{storylink|Recipe for Disaster!}}
** Unicron skewered [[Brainstorm]] and ate him. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}
** The subsurface-dwelling [[demon]]s devoured [[Runabout (G1)|Runabout]]. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}
** The Swarm "devoured" innumerable Cybertronians and a handful of older-generation Transformers as well, though this was through a molecular process almost akin to incineration. {{storylink|Swarm (issue)|Swarm}} {{storylink|Total War!}} {{storylink|A Rage in Heaven!}}
* The Sharkticons killed two of the [[Mutant (BW)|Mutants]] by gobbling them up. Or ripping them apart. Or both. We don't really know. {{storylink|Betrayal}}
* [[Flanker]] was eaten up and killed by the [[Insecticon (G1)|"Deluxe" Insecticons]].

===Disassembly===

[[Image:Jazz DyingAction.jpg|right|200px|thumb|"HERE'S what I think of your resemblance to your G1 counterpart!"]]

Taking a Transformer apart into its component parts can occasionally kill them:
* Marvel comics:
**[[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] met this fate in an alternate future, when Swoop used a machine to pull him apart into his component pieces. {{storylink|Another Time & Place}}
**A future version of Ultra Magnus may have been killed when a group of Decepticons mobbed him and ripped him up. {{storylink|Time Wars}}
* Movie continuity:
**Being ripped in half by [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] killed [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]]. {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}}
**[[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]] was killed when Bumblebee ripped his spine out, tearing him apart. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
**A Decepticon pilot was ripped to pieces by the Wreckers.
* IDW comic continuity: [[Pyro]] was torn apart and killed while making a final stand against a mass of generic Decepticons. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|Last Stand of the Wreckers #5}}
* ''Prime'' cartoon:
** When fighting [[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]]'s zombie army, [[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]] recommended dissection to [[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus]] to "cut" them down to size. How this is more effective then just blasting the living slag out of them is still up for debate. {{storylink|Darkness Rising, Part 4}}
** [[Airachnid]] managed to offline [[Breakdown (Prime)|Breakdown]] by tearing him limb from limb, leaving only a pile of mutilated body parts in her wake. {{storylink|Crossfire}}

===Decapitation===
{{main|Decapitation}}

[[Image:Cyclonus death.jpg|thumb|right|150px| "CHUK!" is good, but I could really go for a "Shakkooosh" right about now.]]

Sometimes cutting a Transformer's head off is fatal. Sometimes!
* In the Marvel comics:
** The Megatron clone killed Cyclonus by ripping his head off. {{storylink|Dry Run!}}
** Several of the Wreckers were killed by having their heads ripped or blasted off, including Twin Twist and Topspin, respectively. {{storylink|Time Wars}}
** [[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]] had his head cut off by a propeller fired by [[Leadfoot (G2)|Leadfoot]], presumably (given the ''Generation 2'' book's emphasis on body count) killing him. {{storylink|A Rage in Heaven!}}
* In the movie continuity:
** Characters frequently die by decapitation of some form: [[Bonecrusher (Movie)|Bonecrusher]], {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}} and [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
** Decapitation was an inconvenience for [[Frenzy (Movie)|Frenzy]] the first time. The second time, when the blow actually destroyed most of his head, was fatal.
** [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]], [[Laserbeak (DOTM)|Laserbeak]], [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]], and [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] are decapitated in the third movie. [[Wheeljack (Movie)|Que]]'s and [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]]'s heads fell off when they died, possibly to add finality to their demises. {{storylink|Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon}}
** [[Scorponok (Movie)|Scorponok]]'s head was crushed by [[Jetfire (ROTF)|Jetfire]]'s ''bare fist''.
* IDW comic continuity:
** The heads of [[Springarm]] and [[Wheelarch]] are removed and then mockingly put on display to creep out [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Orion Pax]].

===Bifurcation===
[[Image:VictoryUKAnnual.JPG|thumb|right|150px| Ahhhh, there we go...]]

{{bigquote|I have no desire to be carved up into Auto-sushi.|Tracks, "[[Make Tracks]]"}}

Getting chopped in half is pretty graphic for a kids' story, even one about robots, so it doesn't happen very often.
* Marvel comics: In a dream sequence, [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] slices [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] in half, killing him. {{storylink|Victory!}}
* Japanese G1 cartoon: [[Predaking]] gets sliced in half by Dai Atlas. The strike dissects what appears to be an organic brain in his head. {{storylink|Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!}}
* ''Beast Wars Metals'': Terrorsaur was killed by being sliced in half by Primal's mace. {{storylink|Raise the Curtain for Beast Wars Metals!!}}
* Movie continuity: [[Sideways (ROTF)|Sideways]] dies when [[Sideswipe (Movie)|Sideswipe]] slices his car mode in two. [[Jetfire (ROTF)|Jetfire]] slices [[Mixmaster (ROTF)|Mixmaster]] in half at the chest but Mixmaster survived this. Getting his skull stomped off, not so much. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
* War For Cybertron: In the opening, a Decepticon goon was chopped in half by Optimus Prime.

===Destruction of brain===
{{bigquote|Next strike in the neural cluster, yes? Weakest spot on ''all'' Transformers...|[[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]], "[[Fire on High!]]"}}

In the early days of the franchise, a Transformer's life force was sometimes understood to be entirely contained within their [[brain module]], most prominently in the Marvel comics. Destroying the brain would kill the Transformer. This premise was eventually passed over in favor of the more esoteric concept of [[spark]]s.
* In the Marvel comics:
** In an alternate future, [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] is blasted by [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]], who kills him by extracting and crushing his brain module. {{storylink|The Legacy of Unicron!}}
** The [[Throttlebot]]s ''avoid'' death by having their brain modules removed from their bodies shortly before their bodies are destroyed (by crushing). {{storylink|Toy Soldiers!}}
* Movie continuity:
** Optimus prime kills Sentinel Prime by shooting Sentinel in the head with Megatron's shotgun. {{storylink|Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon}}
* IDW Generation 1 continuity:
** Impactor killed [[Snare]] by crushing his brain module. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 4}}

===Destruction of spark===
{{bigquote|RAW energon! Right through your twisted spark!|Depth Charge to Rampage, "[[Nemesis Part 1]]"}}

[[Image:Skyfallwontbethereforit.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And then he hung Skyfall from his ceiling.]]

Getting stabbed right through the spark is almost always fatal:
* In ''Beast Wars'': The supposedly immortal Rampage was killed when Depth Charge pierced his spark with an energon blade. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}
* ''[[Transcendent Technomorph|TransTech]]'': [[Skyfall (Cybertron)|Skyfall]] died when [[Alpha Trion (SG)|Alpha Trion]] rammed his sword right through his chest. {{storylink|Transcendent: Part 6}}
*Energon: [[Constructicon Maximus]] was killed when [[Storm Jet (Energon)|Storm Jet]] impaled and crushed his spark.
* ''Cybertron'': [[Megatron (Armada)#Cybertron cartoon|Galvatron]] died after being impaled with [[Rhisling]] by [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]]. {{storylink|Unfinished}}
* Movie continuity: Optimus Prime died when Megatron stabbed him through the chest with his death-lock pincer, followed by a blast from his fusion cannon through the spark chamber. [[The Fallen]] also met his end when Optimus punched through his chest and crushed his spark. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
* ''Beast Machines'' continuity: [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] - already reduced to a spark within the matrix - ceased to be when Megatron annihilated his spark from existence. {{storylink|Singularity Ablyss}}
* [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|Titan's Movie comics]]: Transformers have forcefields shielding their sparks, which can be externalized to protect bodywork. Jazz loved doing this, leaving him far more vulnerable to death by destruction of spark than he would otherwise be. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 6|Lost in Space 4: Jazz}}

===Loss of spark===
{{bigquote|Warning. Further expenditure will result in permanent loss of spark. Stasis lock ''must'' commence.|[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]]'s internal computer, "[[Code of Hero]]"}}

[[Image:Jetstorm_with_extractor.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Lost, stolen, whatever...]]

Sometimes sparks can survive outside of a body; sometimes they cannot. In the Beast Era, there is some indication that a spark left outside a body will soon begin to return to the Matrix/AllSpark/another dimension.
* When Dinobot expires after his final battle, his Spark is seen exiting his body. The implication is that a sufficiently damaged body can no longer hold a spark within this dimension. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}
* ''Beast Machines'' subsequently showed living sparks existing outside of bodies on a regular basis. The sparkless bodies were simply considered shells, rather than "dead", due to the fact that the sparks were forcibly removed with a [[spark extractor]].
* ''Animated'' cartoon: Prowl dies when he intentionally relinquishes his own spark. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}
* Movie continuity: Jetfire rips out his own spark chamber to give Optimus a fighting chance. The Fallen also meets the similar fate, Optimus punching through his spark chamber and crushing his spark. Ouch. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}

===Energy overload===
{{bigquote|We may need energon for power, but this is too much of a good thing.|[[Optimus Primal]], "[[Beast Wars (Part 1)]]"}}

[[Image:TFAnimated transformandrollout DEATH.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Death — the Optimus version of a power nap.]]
[[Image:Underbaseallmine.jpg|thumb|right|200px|He's got an Underbase in his underpants.]]

The average [[human]] needs a lot of [[water]] to survive. But too much water results in [[wikipedia:Water intoxication|a horrible death]]. Similarly, Transformers need energy to survive, but too much of it can be a very bad thing. Sometimes it's just plain old energy; other times it some special god-like force that does them in.
* In the Marvel comics:
** An [[Underbase]]-empowered Starscream slaughtered dozens of Transformers with energy blasts, {{storylink|Dark Star}} which reportedly burned out millions of their [[microchip]]s. {{storylink|Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?}} Some Transformers were seen to recover from these attacks, either via conventional repairs {{storylink|All the Familiar Faces!}} or through the power of [[nucleon]]. {{storylink|The Void! (US)}}
** Starscream himself was killed when he absorbed all the energies of the Underbase. {{storylink|Dark Star}}
** [[Landmine (G1)|Landmine]] was apparently killed when struck by a blast of energy from the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]], though the physical effect was more like being hit by an especially powerful laser blast. {{storylink|All Fall Down|All Fall Down (issue)}}
* ''Super-God Masterforce'' cartoon: [[Sixknight]] died from an overcharge of BlackZarak's Devil Power. {{storylink|Malevolent and Inhuman! The True Form of Devil Z}}
* IDW G1 continuity: [[Runabout (G1)|Runabout]] dies when one of the [[Reaper]]s zaps him full of energy, causing him to explode from within. {{storylink|Devastation issue 6}}
* Movie continuity: [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] was killed when [[Sam Witwicky]] shoved the [[AllSpark]] into his chest. {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}} [[Evac (Ride)|Evac]] did the same thing with the Allspark shard with Megatron {{storylink|Transformers: The Ride}}
* ''Transformers Animated'' cartoon: [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] got caught in an explosion of [[AllSpark]] energy that may have been sufficient to kill him, although he also fell off a very tall building immediately afterwards (Starscream was caught in the same explosion and survived, but was knocked offline for an unspecified period.)

===Energy depletion===
On rare occasion, Transformers can simply run out of energy completely and expire.
* Marvel comics: the ancient [[Overlord (rank)|Overlord]] died from a lack of energy. {{storylink|State Games}}
* Movie continuity: [[Jetfire (ROTF)|Jetfire]] explains that a lack of energon causes the Transformer equivalent of aging, such as rusting joints, mental confusion, and pieces falling apart, followed by an indefinite period of stasis that can only be reversed by an infusion of Allspark energy. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
* [[Vector Prime|Vector Prime]] dies after he helps the crew to time travel. {{storylink|Guardian (episode)|Guardian}}

===Suicide===
Sometimes a Transformer kills himself for some reason.
* Marvel comics
** Dirge and Nightbeat, rather than be eaten by the Swarm, self destructed.
* ''Beast Wars''
** Transformers can deliberately override the stasis lock protocols, even if this will result in death. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}
** In the final battles, Depth Charge allowed himself to be blown up killing Rampage and Rampage let Depth Charge kill him {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}. [[Dinobot II]] let himself go down with the ''Nemesis''. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 2}}
* ''Energon'': Galvatron, Starscream, and [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Mirage]] threw themselves into a sun and vaporized themselves. [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Snow Cat]] and Demolishor may have also done this.
* ''Revenge of the Fallen'': Jetfire ripped out his entire spark housing for Optimus Prime to have enough power to kill The Fallen.

==Non-fatal deactivation==
{{quote|"You mean he's still alive?!" "No! But neither is he what you would term 'dead'!"|[[Spider-Man]] and [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], "[[Prisoner of War!]]"|noquote=true}}

[[Image:Zombiesbackfromthedead.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Braiiiiiin mooooodulllllles....]]

For almost every single cause of death listed above, there's been one or more Transformers who have survived it, sometimes without so much as a period of unconsciousness.

In particular, "deactivation" is the Transformers equivalent of being in a coma. Numerous Transformers are seen to enter this state and eventually recover, such as the Autobots deactivated by Shockwave, {{storylink|The Last Stand}} who later were repaired. However, the line between death and deactivation is a blurry one. Sometimes the two words are used interchangeably, even in reference to characters who are later revived. Most of Starscream's Underbase victims were described as deactivated, and were sometimes lamented as "dead" while at other times were shown undergoing repairs. {{storylink|Back from the Dead}} {{storylink|Gone but Not Forgotten!}} {{storylink|The Gathering Storm}}

"[[Stasis lock]]" would eventually give a more concrete name to the state of deactivation. The inert Transformers on the crashed Ark were retconned as being in stasis lock. Various ''Beast Wars'' characters would go into stasis lock to maintain their spark when their body had sustained too much damage from weaponsfire or energon absorption. ''Animated'' showed a crew of Autobots voluntarily entering protective stasis lock in anticipation of a crash landing.

Some of the quasi-fatal things which can cause a Transformer to "deactivate" include:

===Impact trauma===
Smashing into something usually knocks out a Transformer, but almost never actually kills them:
* The crew of the original [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] is deactivated when the ship crashes on Earth and lies inert for 4 million years {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 1}} {{storylink|The Transformers (issue)}}
** ''Dark of the Moon'' also has the Ark crash onto the moon and offline the crew.
* Marvel comics: [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] falls to his "death", but is patched together and talking again in short order. {{storylink|Prisoner of War!}}

===Decapitation===
[[Image:Sentinelprimeanimatedhumiliated.jpg|thumb|200px|In the movie continuity, this would've been fatal. In ''Animated'', it's just embarrassing.]]

{{bigquote|Anyone who can lop your head off in one blow is alright by me!|[[Landmine (G1)|Landmine]] jokes about [[Cloudburst]]'s near-death experience, "[[Recipe for Disaster!]]"}}

Like we said before, decapitation is sometimes fatal... and other times it isn't.
* Marvel comic:
** Optimus Prime was able to survive as just a head when Shockwave separated it from his body in an effort to get the Creation Matrix. {{storylink|The New Order}}
**[[Cloudburst]] was abruptly decapitated by sword, but was just fine after some repairs. {{storylink|Recipe for Disaster!}}
* G1 cartoon: Optimus Prime was disassembled into his component parts, but functioned just fine as nothing more than a head once [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] connected a few wires. {{storylink|City of Steel}}
* ''Beast Wars'' cartoon: [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] survives having his head blasted or otherwise knocked off multiple times, {{storylink|Spider's Game}} {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}} {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)}} {{storylink|Code of Hero}} and even put it back on himself one time. He even accidentally swapped heads with Megatron once. Megatron was not amused. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}} And let's not even get started on how many times [[Waspinator |Waspinator]] has lost his head.
* IDW G1 continuity: [[Runamuck (G1)|Runamuck]] was just fine when one of the Reapers whacked his head off. (He didn't fare so well when another Reaper crushed his head with a boulder, however.) {{storylink|Devastation issue 6}}
* ''Animated'' cartoon: Decapitated victims of the ''Animated'' [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] rarely show any ill effects other than not having a body anymore. {{storylink|Headmaster (episode)|Headmaster}} {{storylink|The Return of the Headmaster}} {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part II}}
* Movie Continuity: Frenzy survived his first decapitation by [[Mikaela Banes]].

===Dismemberment===
Transformers get ripped to pieces all the time, and recover from it:
* Marvel comic: Scorponok tears [[Tantrum]] to pieces. [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] slices [[Horri-Bull]] in half at the waist. Both are seen alive later on. {{storylink|Cold War!}}
* Last Stand of the Wreckers: [[Guzzle (G1)|Guzzle]] is torn in half by [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] and is easily repaired.

===Spark removal===
{{bigquote|His spark can't exist outside a living body!|[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]], "[[Optimal Situation]]"}}

A Transformer's spark—their "soul", their living essence—can be removed from their body, or the body can be destroyed around them
* The destruction of Starscream's body, and his subsequent survival as a ghost, was eventually retconned to be his Spark enduring without a physical form. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}} {{storylink|Starscream's Ghost}} {{storylink|Possession}}
* ''Beast Wars'' cartoon: Tigatron and Airazor's sparks spent quite some time wandering around behind Tigerhawk, before combining and entering his body. {{storylink|Other Victories}}
* In the ''Beast Machines'' cartoon:
** Megatron de-sparked most of Cybertron's population and stored their sparks in a big barrel. Most were restored to bodies eventually. {{storylink|Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future}}
** Blackarachnia's spark wandered around bodiless for a time. {{storylink|Revelations Part III: Apocalypse}}
** Megatron himself, his spark in a depolarized state, wandered the surface of Cybertron without a body for a time. {{storylink|Spark of Darkness}}

The treatment of bodiless sparks in ''Beast Machines'' is seen by some fans as contradicting the canon established by ''Beast Wars'', particularly the quote above.

===Limbo===
Sometimes Transformers get shunted out of creation as we know it, and into various alternate, sub- and non-dimensions.
* Marvel comics:
** The [[trans-time dimensional portal]] crosses [[unspace]], "a bit of dimensional nothingness" where Ratchet and Megatron vanished and were believed dead. {{storylink|The Gathering Storm}}
** Transformers mass-displaced by time travel wind up in a formless dimension known as [[Limbo]].
* IDW comics: Megatron severely damaged Optimus Prime in battle and planned on finishing him off by crushing his [[Laser core|spark core]]. Optimus Prime feigned death by downloading his "consciousness" into his [[Combat Deck (G1)|trailer section]], causing his [[Brain Center|robot mode]] to appear dead. In the time it took for Prime's consciousness to transfer to his trailer, he briefly entered [[infraspace|limbo]], the transitional infraspace between life and death. {{storylink|The Transformers: Escalation|Escalation}}
*Generation 1 cartoon:
**Come on, we all know what REALLY happened to the likes of Seaspray and Tracks.

==Resuscitation==
Robots are machines. They can be switched off, taken apart, blown to bits, and put back together. Ergo, in many continuities and cases, "death" is not nearly as permanent a condition as it is for us fragile fleshy types.

===Reconstruction===
[[Image:PeoplePower-reprogrammed.jpg|thumb|right|250px| ]]

{{bigquote|I've done it! Optimus Prime lives!|A random Quintesson, "[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1]]"}}

* Generation 1 cartoon: Optimus Prime was simply ''repaired'' back to life by a Quintesson. Some fixing of this and that, a burst of power, and boom, suddenly he was alive again. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1}}
* Marvel comics: Optimus Prime's mind was encoded on a disk. After a new [[Powermaster]] body was constructed for him, the disk's contents were loaded into it, and Optimus Prime lived again. (One wonders why they couldn't make as many Optimus Primes as they pleased.) {{storylink|People Power!}}

===Spark transfer===
Transferring a Transformer's spark into a new body constitutes a form of resurrection, particularly if the Transformer's previous body was destroyed.
* ''Beast Wars'' cartoon: Optimus Primal was restored to life when Rhinox managed to recall his spark from the Matrix, a special circumstance only enabled by a temporary window into transwarp space. {{storylink|Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)}}
* "Beast Machines" various Vehicon generals were brought to life by placing other Transformer's sparks into them.
* ''Armada'' Smokescreen was shot through the chest at point blank range by the Requiem Blaster {{storylink|Sacrifice}} but his spark survived and was put into a new body. {{storylink|Regeneration}}
* ''Energon'' cartoon: Inferno and Demolishor both had their bodies ''atomized''; however, their sparks both survived, and were placed into new bodies. (The upshot of all of this is that it's nigh-impossible to kill a Unicron Trilogy Transformer, unless they do it themselves.) {{storylink|Go for Unicron!}} {{storylink|Farewell Inferno}}
* ''Animated'' cartoon: The spark of a dying [[Yoketron (Animated)|Yoketron]] was placed into a new protoform body by [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]; however, Yoketron consciously chose to let his life end, and expired anyway. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}

==="Magical" substances===
* Marvel comics: The miraculous healing properties of Nucleon brought many Autobots back to life, as well as a few Decepticons. {{storylink|The Void! (US)|The Void!}}
* ''Energon'' cartoon: Megatron was revived by the all-encompassing power of energon, as was Unicron. {{storylink|Megatron Resurrected}}

===Primus and Primus-related powers===
{{bigquote|Where the Last Autobot is concerned, even death, it would appear, is an abstract concept!|Optimus Prime explains his latest revival, "[[End of the Road! (US)|End of the Road!]]"}}

Anything tied to the primordial life-force of the Transformers' god Primus tends to be a cure-all for death. This includes Primus himself, his various power-wielding avatars and servants, and the assorted Matrixes and Allsparks, all of which can deliver an infusion of the essence of life itself. In some continuities, this is parsed as a Transformer's spark being brought back out of the Allspark dimension.

[[Image:RageInHeaven-HeroPrime.jpg|thumb|right|150px|]]

* In the Marvel comics:
** The [[Last Autobot]] was granted the power of recreation by Primus, which he used to raise numerous fallen Autobots from the battlefield. {{storylink|End of the Road! (US)}}
** Optimus Prime was eager to find the lost Creation Matrix, stating that it would be able to restore many deactivated warriors to life. {{storylink|Bird of Prey!}}
** Optimus Prime was restored to life by the [[Swarm (G2)|Swarm]] after it had ingested the energies and knowledge of the Matrix. {{storylink|A Rage in Heaven!}}
* In the movie continuity:
** The Allspark is shown repeatedly to be capable of restoring just about anything. Frenzy gets a whole new body from its power, Bumblebee temporarily gets his voice back, {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}} and Megatron is restored to life by merely a fragment of it. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
** Optimus Prime was restored to life by the Matrix of Leadership, an Allspark-related talisman. {{storylink|Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
** Sentinel Prime is revived after crash landing on the moon by the Matrix of Leadership courtesy of Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon}}
* Sam Witwicky was brought back alive by the Primes, a creation of [[Primus]].
* ''Beast Machines'' cartoon: [[Optimus Primal]]'s body was destroyed, but the AllSpark granted him the choice of uniting with it or being reborn. He chose the latter, and ''poof'', just walked right out of the Oracle bubble in a brand new version of his previous body. {{storylink|Fallout}}
* ''Armada'' cartoon: [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] was brought back to life by the power of the [[Mini-Con]]s after his body was disintegrated. {{storylink|Miracle}}
* "[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Shattered Glass]]": [[Skyfall (Cybertron)|Skyfall]] was resurrected when he and his gestaltmates were combined together and reborn by Primus into [[Nexus Prime]]. {{storylink|Reunification: Part 5}} Nexus Prime then brought [[Megatron (SG)|Megatron]] back from the other side of the Allspark and infused him with some of Primus's power to become Galvatron. {{storylink|Reunification: Part 6}}

===Zombies===
* Dude, [[zombie]]s!

==Immortality==
===Immortal sparks===
Certain sparks have mutant qualities that allow them to, potentially, exist forever.
* Starscream survived his death at the hands of Galvatron; this was later explained as him having a "mutant indestructible spark". {{storylink|Starscream's Ghost}} {{storylink|Possession}} {{storylink|Bad Spark}}
* [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] was created as an attempt to duplicate Starscream's immortal spark. {{storylink|Bad Spark}} He was eventually killed by [[Depth Charge (BW)|Depth Charge]], so the attempt may be seen as unsuccessful. {{storylink|Nemesis Part 1}}

===Other===
* [[Multiversal singularity|Multiversal singularities]] such as [[Unicron]] and [[The Fallen]] can be killed off in one dimension, only to still be alive and well in another (or many others), due to the varying properties of different dimensions (reverse-time dimensions, for example, are key to revival of the singularities).
* ''Animated'' [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] could not be killed so long as he retained his Allspark fragment embedded in his forehead.
* Denizens of the [[Dead Universe]] could essentially regenerate themselves out of nothing, no matter how much damage was inflicted on them. This ability appears to no longer apply, post-[[Expansion]], except when in direct proximity to the Dead Universe.
* Thunderwing's Pretender shell seemed to make him nearly invincible. At the very least, he was able to withstand incredible amounts of salvo and not even flinch.
* [[Waspinator]] can never completely die no matter what for some reason. It's probably because if he died, the universe wouldn't be able to inflict pain on him anymore.

==Out-of-fiction causes of character death==
===Drama / character culmination===
[[Image:LastStandoftheWreckers5- Ironfistaneurism.jpg|thumb|200px|right|I told you I was ill.]]
At its best, character death can be a moving plot development, the fruition of an ongoing character arc.
* [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] spent much of [[Simon Furman]]'s Marvel US run conflicted and doubting himself, and under the weight of his pre-Headmaster self's reputation. He finally got past this and took the fight to Unicron, dying in the process, his last words asking Optimus if he'd done good. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}
* Suspecting that they would have to remove a character from the show, the writers of ''Beast Wars'' began planning for Dinobot's death several episodes ahead of time. Thus, when it came, it was the outcome of the character's own choices, flaws, and history, and played a crucial role in the show's plot. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}
* Sunstreaker's death in ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron]]'' is intended to follow a similar style of arc... only it's missing the whole choices, flaws and history thing. Oh well!
* Optimus Primal's death(s) in ''Beast Machines'' are likewise the outcome of his own choices and character. {{storylink|End of the Line}} {{storylink| Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future}} His death in ''Beast Wars'', by contrast, was more a moment of dramatic pathos — knowingly walking into danger, his enemy got the better of him. {{storylink|Other Voices, Part 2}}
* [[Ironfist (G1)|Ironfist]]'s death in ''[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'' is his main plot arc, quietly built up in the background since the first issue.

===Consequences of war===
[[Image:Bulkhead Eradicon Darkness Rising 3.jpg|thumb|right|200px|His special large intestine! There's only one like it!]]
It's hard to take a war story seriously when nobody actually dies. The reality of war can be more readily portrayed when characters die. [[Generic]]s are particularly handy for this, allowing death to be shown while not removing primary characters (retail toys!) from the story. The results can range from high drama and pathos to numbingly pointless body counts.
* Impactor's death was used to drive home the threat of the Decepticons as well as the risks taken by the Autobots and their commanders. {{storylink|Target: 2006}}
* The ''Generation 2'' book featured several deaths which drove home the realities of war. Most notably, Red Alert's destruction served to make Grimlock acutely aware of just how badly he'd screwed up. {{storylink|Devices and Desires! (Marvel)|Devices and Desires!}}
* Pretty much every death in ''[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'' comes under this.
* [[Cliffjumper (Prime)|Cliffjumper]], [[Tailgate (Prime)|Tailgate]], [[Skyquake (Prime)|Skyquake]] and [[Makeshift (Prime)|Makeshift]] are all killed in their first ''Prime'' episodes, due to just plain bad luck in the first three cases and because of a deliberate Autobot killing in Makeshift's. The [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicons]] are presented as sentient ''and'' as being killed by Autobots in large numbers.

===Increased threat===
An enemy that kills is an enemy to be taken seriously. Thus a writer will frequently throw in some preliminary deaths to point out how seriously the bad guy should be treated.
* The generic who dies at the beginning of "[[City of Fear!]]" serves to show the zombies as a true life-threatening menace.
* Likewise for Runabout's death at the hands of the demons ; {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}} knowing they can devour a Transformer makes the reader more concerned about the Dinobots' subsequent fate. {{storylink|Still Life!}}
* In "[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]", [[Overlord (Masterforce)|Overlord]] makes corpses in practically every scene he's in!
* Cliffjumper in ''Prime'' was set up as a main character and then killed in five minutes, immediately putting the ''Prime'' Decepticons forward as a major threat.

===Cast thinning===
Transformers stories are notorious for acquiring gigantic casts as they roll on; Generation 1 was particularly notorious for this because of its longevity. A simple way to make things more manageable was simply to kill off large numbers of characters in battle. Examples are rife in the fiction, especially the Marvel comics.

* In the Marvel comics:
** The "[[Time Wars]]" storyline got rid of the [[Wrecker]]s and quite a few Decepticons as well.
** The [[Underbase Saga]] even more explicitly cleared out dozens of characters, leaving perhaps 2 dozen characters from each faction in the story.
** The battle with Unicron in "[[On the Edge of Extinction!]]" likewise got rid of a lot of older characters, leaving the story free to concentrate on more of a core cast (and associated newer toy characters.)
* [[Betrayal|Wreckers #2]] dealt with its oversized cast by killing off scads of characters right up front.

===Clear space for new toys===
{{main|To sell toys}}

[[Image:Newyorkunderbase.jpg|thumb|200px|right|(They also cease to appear on store shelves.)]]

Some fiction has an inherently limited capacity for characters. ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Machines'' are by far the most prominent examples; their CGI animation made character animation expensive and necessitated removing an old character before a new one could be brought in. But any medium can be susceptible to this toy-driven phenomena.
* The numerous casualties of "[[The Transformers: The Movie]]" were fairly explicitly removed from the story to make way for a wave of new toy/characters.
* Terrorsaur and Scorponok had to be removed — quickly — to make room for the two upcoming Fuzor characters, hence their sudden, blink-and-you-miss-it death in "[[Aftermath]]".
* Airazor and Tigatron were removed for similar reasons. When their plot was finally resolved, it was, surprise, via [[Tigerhawk|a new toy]]!

{{-}}

==Fleshling death==
In general, ''Transformers'' fiction is pretty squeamish about showing the deaths of Earth's organic creatures. But it's a war, and sometimes it does happen. The out-of-universe reasons generally fall into three categories: Consequences of War, Emotional Pathos, and BLOOD IZ KEWL.

The various cartoons tend to show organic death the least, as they are most clearly aimed at, and easily accessible by, children. Comics tend to be less reluctant to show the impact of the Transformers' war on innocent lives, though the death rate varies by series. Latter-day Generation 1 books especially revel in high body counts, because squishing stupid humans is killer and awesome and radical and hardcore. Even the occasional [[Satellite of Doom|children's storybook]] has been known to off mass quantities of the dumb fleshies.

===Animal death===
[[Image:MurderedPuppy02.jpg|right|150px|thumb|One dead dog]]

[[Image:Sparkwar3 Dead noble.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Two dead dogs]]

Cute little animals are almost always killed off for reasons of Emotional Pathos:
* A little girl's pet puppy named [[Pis]] barked at [[Wilder]] and was kicked so hard he died. {{storylink|Rage!! Little Devils with No Need for Rules}}
* The [[Murdered puppy]] was shot down by the Decepticons after running away from Megatron's experiments. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 8|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #8}}
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] reminded [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] that [[The Fallen]] once shot down a ship full of [[Antilian bumble-puppy|Antilian bumble-puppies]]. (Decepticons have a thing for killing puppies.)
* The dog-like [[Noble]] was shot at by [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] because of his hatred for organics {{storylink|Sparkwar Pt. III: The Siege}} and was later mourned by his "owner", [[Nightscream (BM)|Nightscream]]. {{storylink|Spark of Darkness}}
* A stray shot from [[Tigatron]] accidentally caused an avalanche which killed his friend [[Snowstalker]]. {{storylink|Law of the Jungle}}
* "[[Law of the Jungle]]" also portrays the deaths of four different forest animals (a bug is eaten by a frog, which is eaten by a snake, which is taken off to be eaten by a bird. Later, an orange tiger kills an antelope). This is a rare "Consequences of War" example.
* [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] also once ate an eagle, {{storylink|Power Surge}} while [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] ate a cute little rat, {{storylink|Victory (episode)|Victory}} and nearly ate an antelope as well. {{storylink|Code of Hero}}
* In order to save [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]], [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] had to fight a [[saber-toothed cat|saber-toothed tiger]] off a cliff, killing it. {{Storylink|Bad Spark}}
* [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] used [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel]]'s shield to knock a spikey rock onto a giant spider effectively killing it. She later used [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]]' axe to kill some new born baby spiders. {{Storylink|Along Came a Spider}}
* Human villain [[Trophy White]] had a grisly display of stuffed and mounted animal heads. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.10|Bring Me the Head of Optimus Prime}}
* A vulture was shot when [[Laserbeak (DOTM)|Laserbeak]] landed on Africa.

{{-}}

===Human death===
[[Image:Razorclawshootsahuman.jpg|right|thumb|150px|This didn't happen much.]]

* Marvel US: The [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|original Marvel book]] ignored or glossed over human casualties, which were rarely if ever shown; the panel at right, from [[Toy Soldiers!|US #37]], shows a ''very'' unusual instance of a human dying right in front of us. One of the few human(oid)s to die on-panel was [[Galen]], killed off to make way for [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]]. ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Generation 2]]'' was much more explicit about human death, as Bludgeon and later [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] attacked Earth for the purpose of inflicting casualties.
* Marvel UK: The UK-original stories were much less reluctant to show human death; within the first year or so, humans had died in Autobot-induced car wrecks and at the hands of mind-controlled Autobots.
* In every US-aired cartoon series, humans essentially ''never'' die. Even ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]]'', which features the city of [[Detroit]] getting smashed by robot battles virtually every week, never once mentions humans getting killed.
** In [[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|''Transformers: Prime'']], when [[MECH|human terrorists]] are featured they will often die. Piloted or driven vehicles explode and enemies are implied to be crushed.
** A human was shown slumped against a wall, a victim of Soundwave, though it wasn't clear whether he was dead or merely unconscious.
** When Nemesis Prime attacks the base. It is shown that he has probably killed soldiers.
* Contemporary toyline-based comics (''[[Transformers: Armada (Dreamwave)|Armada]]'', ''[[Transformers: Energon (comic)|Energon]]'') seem to follow a similar policy, avoiding mention of human death — even when human cities are being directly attacked, as in "[[Multiplicity, Pt. 2]]".
* Japanese cartoons, by contrast, don't seem to mind showing human deaths (or [[Pis|dog deaths]], for that matter).
* The [[Dreamwave Generation One continuity|Dreamwave G1 comics]] really thought it was totally awesome and cool and radical to kill off those stupid humans. Thus, they start off with Megatron smushing some stupid humans. More smushing and killing and blowing up follows. DIE, dumb stubbies, DIE!
* [[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW comics]] managed to avoid this for a long time, showing human death only when it was particularly integral to the plot... then ''[[The Transformers: All Hail Megatron|All Hail Megatron]]'' came down the pike. DIE, stupid fleshies, DIE!
* The live-action [[movie continuity]] implies a great deal of human death. ''Revenge'' mentions a body count of over 9,000 (don't even ''think'' about it), and massive damage is done during the battle of [[Mission City]], though little of it is shown on screen. And of course, the first film begins with Blackout wiping out an entire military base. A handful of humans are killed directly on-screen, most notably [[Patrick Donnelly|Donnelly]]. Then of course we get to Dark of the Moon, which has Decepticons laying siege to [[Chicago]], killing most of its citizens, including several being shot and exploding and disintegrating into just skulls ''directly in front of the camera''. Then of course we get to [[Laserbeak (DOTM)|Laserbeak]], whose job it is to assassinate civilians, even if it means befriending their children to do it. Twisted.
** [[Dylan Gould]] was killed when he was shoved into [[Sentinel Prime (ROTF)|Sentinel Prime's]] space bridge generator, but given he was a villain it's not so much of a concern.
** [[Sam Witwicky]] was killed by Megatron but brought back to life by the Primes.
* The alternate timeline arc in Titan's Movie comic featured big wars on Earth and lots of destruction, clearly ''insinuating'' human death while not being explicit. The exceptions were in [[Transformers Comic issue 10|issue 10]], where [[NATO]] is said to be suffering losses of 11,506 and the [[France|Palais Bourbon]] is blown up when people are still clearly inside. [[Sam Witwicky]], meanwhile, was stated to have died.
[[Image:Convoy-kablooie.jpg|right|thumb|150px|They'll, uh, be okay, maybe.]]
* Titan quite blatantly stated that the [[Free Men]] had caused great loss of life at an air base, a rare example of humans killing humans. In the same story, [[Robert Epps]] opened fire on militia men, which kinda implies he was killing them. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.10|Bring Me the Head of Optimus Prime}} Similarly, [[Wheelie (ROTF)|Wheelie]] of all people was seen zapping humans at close range during a Decepticon attack; with no "oh it was a stun beam" handwave and the 'Cons not pulling punches, it sure seems like he's murdered 'em! {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.6|Outlaw Blues}}
* In ''[[Transformers: Kiss Players (franchise)|Kiss Players]]'', several [[Kiss Player]]s were seen being devoured by Legions.
{{-}}

==Characters who die a lot==
* [[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|Optimus Prime]]
* [[Dirge (G1)]] — the unlucky guy who gets [[:Image:Dirge DeathSerpentor.jpg|killed]] [[:Image:Dirge DeathSwarm.jpg|off]] [[:Image:Dirge DeathTimelines.jpg|in]] [[:Image:Dirge DeathUnicron.jpg|many]] [[:Image:Dirge DeathArmada.jpg|continuities]]
* [[Quake (G1)|Quake]] — the unlucky guy who gets killed over and over in the same continuity, but doesn't seem to mind.
* [[Waspinator]] — the unlucky guy from ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'' who gets sliced, diced, and fricasseed every other episode only to be fully functional in time to get [[Slag (slang)|slagged]] ''again''. But he never actually dies.
* [[Cy-Kill (disambiguation)|Cy-Kill]], a Go-Bots character transferred to many Transformers comics just to be killed off violently. For no other reason than the lolz of ending his toyline, his universe, and finally his life... repeatedly.
* [[Sentinel Prime (G1)]] — the unlucky [[Prime (rank)|Prime]] [[:Image:Sentinel prime lou.jpg|who]] [[:Image:Sentinel prime dw.jpg|must]] [[Megatron Origin issue 4|die]].
* [[Starscream (Animated)]] — the unlucky guy that constantly gets killed, decapitated, or maimed by others, only to be brought back to life, thanks to a fragment of the [[AllSpark]] embedded in his forehead.

==See also==
* [[Transformer funerary practices]]
* [[To sell toys]]

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Transformer anatomy]]