Editing Death

[[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!"<br>
"Don't you even have mechanical hearts?"<br>
"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!]]"}}

==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===
[[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, 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 <I>one shot</I>.
** [[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]]s, however. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}
** Ultra Magnus dies ''again'', for real this time, after [[Sixshot]] shoots him a few times. {{storylink|The Death of Ultra Magnus!!}}

* 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 ''[[Generation 2 (Marvel Comics)|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)]] {{storylink|New Dawn}}, and [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]]{{storylink|Escalation!}}.

* In the ''[[Beast Wars (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|Crisis}} 

* [[Dreamwave]] G1 comics: [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] is killed by an assassin's blast. {{storylink|The Age of Wrath issue 1}}

* [[Movie continuity]]: [[Brawl (Movie)|Brawl]] and [[Blackout (Movie)|Blackout]] both died from weapons fire. {{storylink|Transformers (2007)}}

===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!}}  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.  {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}

* ''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]] 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]]s) were destroyed when part of their ship exploded with them in it.   {{storylink|Betrayal}}

===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:
* Timelines: [[Hacksaw]] met his end by falling from a huge communications tower. {{storylink|The New World}}

===Crushing===
[[Image:Edgeofextinction-hardheadbombburst.jpg|thumb|right|175px|DO NOT WANT]]
[[Image:TFAni TransWarped LongArm Cliffjumper Cube.jpg|thumb|right|175px|Before time began, there was... THE CUBE.]]

Quite a few characters have been crushed into deactivation:

* In the Marvel comics: 
** [[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]], [[Bomb-Burst]], and [[Hardhead (G1)|Hardhead]] all met this fate during the great battle with [[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 (Energon)|Shockblast]] is crushed by Unicron's hand on [[Blizzard Planet]].   {{storylink|The Power}}
** His brother [[Six Shot]] meets a similar fate, crushed under the heel of a super-sized Galvatron.   {{storylink|Galvatron Terror}}

* ''Animated'' cartoon: [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] is (possibly) killed by a garbage compactor-like crushing device.  (An "out" by writer [[Derrick Wyatt]] was intended to show his still-pulsing spark within his cubified remains, but this did not make it into the show, leaving his fate ambiguous at best.) {{storylink|TransWarped}}

===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!}}
** [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] was partially melted by Unicron's flame-breath and subsequently died.  {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}
** The [[Cybertronian Empire]] 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.  This death was so inconsequential that his subsequent resurrection wasn't even explained!  {{storylink|The Sun}}


===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]]. {{storylink|On the Edge of Extinction!}}
** The Swarm "devoured" innumerable Cybertronian troopers 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)|Mutant]]s by gobbling them up. Or ripping hem apart.  Or both.  We don't really know. {{storylink|Betrayal}}


===Disassembly===
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 and Place}}
* Movie continuity: Being ripped in half killed [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]]. {{storylink|Transformers (2007)}}


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

[[Image:Cyclonus death.jpg|thumb|right|150px| ]]

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}}

* In the movie continuity:
** Characters frequently die by decapitation of some form: [[Bonecrusher (Movie)|Bonecrusher]], {{storylink|Transformers (2007)}} [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]], and [[The Fallen]]. {{storylink|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 only removed ''most'' of his head rather than all of it, was fatal.


===Vivisection===
[[Image:VictoryUKAnnual.JPG|thumb|right|150px|]]

{{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 (G1)|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!}}
* Movie continuity: [[Sideways (ROTF)|Sideways]] dies when [[Sideswipe (ROTF)|Sideswipe]] slices his car mode in two. {{storylink|Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}


===Destruction of brain===
{{bigquote|Next strike in the neural cluster, yes?  Weakest spot on ''all'' Transformers...|[[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]], 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 Solders!}}


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

[[Image:Skyfallwontbethereforit.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]

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}}
* Timelines: [[Skyfall (Cybertron)|Skyfall]] died when [[Alpha Trion (Shattered Glass)|Alpha Trion]] rammed his sword right through his chest. {{storylink|Transcendent: Part 6}}
* Movie continuity: Optimus Prime died from a stab wound through the chest.  {{storylink|Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen}}
* In ''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}}


===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]]"}}

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/All Spark/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".
* ''Animated'' cartoon: Prowl dies when he intentionally relinquishes his own spark. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}


===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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 microchips. {{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 (issue)}}

* ''Masterforce'' cartoon: [[Sixknight]] died from an overcharge of BlackZarak's Devil Power. {{storylink|Malevolent and Inhuman! The True Form of Devil Z}}
* Movie continuity: [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] was killed when [[Sam Witwicky]] shoved the [[All Spark]] into his chest.
* ''Animated'' cartoon: [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] got caught in an explosion of [[AllSpark (Animated)|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}}

==Limbo==
IDW comics: Megatron severely damaged Optimus Prime in battle and planned on finishing him off by crushing his [[spark core]]. Optimus Prime feigned death by downloading his "consciousness" into his [[Combat Deck|trailer section]]. His [[Brain Center|robot mode]] then appeared dead to Megatron so he never actually went through the trouble of actually crushing Prime's spark core. In the time it took for Prime's consciousness to transfer to his trailer, he briefly entered [[limbo]], the transitional infraspace between life and death. {{storylink|Escalation (IDW)|Escalation}}

==Non-fatal deactivation==
[[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 are 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 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)}}
* Marvel comics: [[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:  [[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.  
* ''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}}

===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!}}

===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.

* In the ''Beast Machines'' cartoon:
** Megatron de-sparked most of Cybertron's population and stored their sparks in a big barrel.  Most or all 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.

==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| ]]

{{quote|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)}}
* ''Energon'' cartoon: Inferno and Demolishor both had their bodies ''atomized''; however, their sparks both survived, and were placed into new bodies. (The upshot is that it's nigh-impossible to kill a Unicron Trilogy Transformer.)  {{storylink|Go for Unicron!}} {{storylink|Farewell Inferno}}
* ''Animated'' cartoon: The spark of a dying [[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)}}
* ''Energon'' cartoon: Megatron was revived by the all-encompassing power of energon, as was Unicron. {{storylink|Megatron Resurrected}}


===Primus and Primus-related powers===
{{quote|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, {{storylink|Transformers (2007)}} and Megatron is restored to life by merely a fragment of it. {{storylink|Revenge of the Fallen (film)}}
** Optimus Prime was restored to life by the Matrix of Leadership, an Allspark-related talisman. 
* ''Beast Machines'' cartoon: [[Optimus Primal]]'s body was destroyed, but the All Spark 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|Miracle}}


===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]], so the attempt may be seen as unsuccessful.  

===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).
* ''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.

==Out-of-fiction causes of character death==
===Drama / character culmination===
At its best, character death can be a moving plot development, the fruition of an ongoing character arc.
* 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.
* Sunstreaker's death in ''[[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.  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.

===Consequences of war===
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.
* 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.
* 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.

===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; knowing they can devour a Transformer makes the reader more concerned about the Dinobots' subsequent fate.

===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}}

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 necessiated 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]]! 

==Human death==
Generally, ''Transformers'' fiction is relatively squeamish about showing the deaths of human beings.  This holds the truest for the various cartoons, which 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 humanity, though the death rate varies by series.  Latter-day Generation 1 books especially revel in high body counts, because BLOOD IZ KEWL.  Even the occasional children's storybook has been known to off mass quantities of humans.

* Marvel US: The [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|original Marvel book]] ignored or glossed over human casualties, which were rarely if ever shown.  One of the few human(oid)s to die on-panel was [[Galen]], killed off to make way for [[Spike Witwicky (G1)||Spike]].  ''[[Generation 2 (Marvel Comics)|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.
* Contemporary toyline-based comics (''[[Armada (Dreamwave comic)|Armada]]'', ''[[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.
* 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 ''[[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, 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]].

==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 (BW)|Waspinator]] — the unlucky guy from ''[[Beast Wars (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''.
* [[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]].

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

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