Death

In-fiction causes of death

There is little consistency in what can kill a Transformer. 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

Like humans, Transformers can be killed by damage caused by energy, projectile, and chemical weapons.

• Most of the casualties of the Battle of Autobot City (and its run-up), including Prowl, Brawn, Ratchet, Ironhide, were victims of energy weapons.

• Most deaths in the Generation 2 comic occurred from energy weapons, including Red Alert, Smokescreen, Runabout, and Quake.

• Dinobot dies after incurring severe damage from numerous Predacon weapons in "Code of Hero".

• Tigerhawk is disintegrated by the main cannon of the starship Nemesis in "Nemesis Part 2". The same cannon subsequently blasts Inferno and Quickstrike, apparently killing them, though their "death" may be permanent simply because there was nobody around to put them back together.

Vivisection

Getting chopped in half is pretty graphic for a kids' story, even one about robots, so it doesn't happen very often.

• In a dream sequence, Grimlock slices Megatron in half, killing him.
• Predaking gets sliced in half by Star Victory Zone Leo Saber Sword Guy Dude.  ???????????
• Sideways dies when Sideswipe slices his car mode in two in Revenge of the Fallen.

Destruction of brain

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 sparks.

• In an alternate future, Shockwave is blasted by Death's Head, who kills him by extracting and crushing his brain module.
• The Throttlebots avoid death by having their brain modules removed from their bodies shortly before a planned execution.

Big explosions

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. Nevertheless, a few characters have been permanently killed by explosions:

• Straxus was the victim of an interdimensionally triggered explosion that destroyed his body. (In UK continuity, he survived as a raggedy, bodiless head.)
• Depth Charge was killed by the explosion that resulted from Rampage's death (either his exploding spark, or the exploding energon shard that pierced it.)
• Several of the Beast Era Wreckers (Sonar, Spittor, the Deployers) were destroyed when part of their ship exploded with them in it.

Consumption

Quite a few critters in the multiverse are equipped to devour giant robots. Being eaten (and, presumably, digeted) generally proves fatal:

• Various life forms were routinely devoured by the Sharkticons on Quintessa. This included Kranix, a mechanical life form, though not a Transformer. Kup and Hot Rod might have suffered this fate as well, but fought their way free.
• The Mechanibals ate quite a few Transformers during their sojourn on Cybertron. There is some indication that they could actually reconstitute their victims from their "recycled" parts, though this is never explicitly shown.
• The Sharkticons killed two of the Mutants.
• Unicron skewered Brainstorm and ate him. Quite a few other Transformers found their way into Unicron's gullet, though their exact cause of death was generally something more specific.

• Melted (smelting pool, Unicron stomach)
• Incinerated (A. Megs, E. Inferno, Demolishor)
• Disassembled (Bludgeon)
• Falls (Gears, ?)
• Crushed (Inferno G2, Arm. Thrust, Shockblast, Six Shot)
• Decapitation (Cyclonus, Time Wars, Movie)
• Stabbed in the Spark (Movie Prime, Skyfall)

Out-of-fiction causes

• Drama / character development / culmination (Dinobot)
• Consequences of war (generics, G2 comic, Impactor)
• Increase sense of threat (disposables UK - City of Fear)
• Thin out cast (Wreckers / Underbase / TFTM)
• Clear space for new toys (BW S1 / Underbase)

Not quite dead

• Stasis lock / deactivated (Ark crew / early Marvel Autobots / BW / Animated)
• Decapitation (Cloudburst, City of Steel, BW Inferno, Animated-Headmaster)
• Dismembered (Cold War!)
• De-Sparking (BM / Starscream / BM Megs)

Resuscitation

• Rebuilt (cartoon G1 Prime)
• Spark placed in new body (Primal, E. Inferno, Demolishor)
• Restored by Primus/Allspark/magic (Movie Prime, BM Primal)
• Power of Primus (Last Autobot)
• Power of Energon (E. Megs)
• Nucleon (numerous Marvel)
• Matrix (implied but never seen - marvel)
• AllSpark fragment (Movie Megs, Animated Prime)
• Zombies

Immortality

• Multiversal singuarities (Unicron, others?)
• Immortal sparks (Starscream, Rampage)
• Allspark-empowered (Animated Starscream)
• Dead Universe (Galvatron, etc.)