Death is a huge part of the Transformers franchise. Ever since the hallowed early days of the 1986 animated movie, fans have become all too uncomfortably accustomed to their favourite robo-characters being offed in extremely brutal ways, and it’s frequently no different today.
Particularly unique to Transformers is the proliferation of ‘corpse toys’ – actual physical representations of the characters meeting their end as depicted in media but now recreated as a plaything for children. Imagine.
There have been a surprising number of these over the years, and it’s not set to change any time soon, especially with leaked images of an upcoming Studio Series take on Prowl’s big-screen demise having just dropped.
Whether you think this kind of thing is dead good or it leaves you just a bit cold is personal preference, but I’m sure most of us can agree it’s rather bizarre! Either way, here are some more examples that could be resurrected (in a sense) for potential new toys, as well as some that already exist.
#15 – POTENTIAL: BRAWN
Brawn being the very first ‘bot to meet the big one in the 1986 movie likely also means that for many of us, he was the first Transformers-related death we ever witnessed (although the Marvel comic already had a track record for this kind of thing by this point). With a new Studio Series figure of the character only just unveiled on the latest Hasbro Pulse Fanstream, could there be a follow-up with the requisite fatal shot wound?
#14 – ALREADY EXISTS: “ALTERNATE UNIVERSE” OPTIMUS PRIME
The most infamous modern example of an existing ‘corpse toy’ is surely this War For Cybertron fella, as the Earthrise mould was given a sombre monotone makeover and re-released as “Alternate Universe” Optimus Prime. Y’know, the alternate universe where he merely looks a bit worse for wear and definitely hasn’t already carked it. Strong Weekend at Bernie’s vibes from this one.
#12-13 – POTENTIAL: IRONHIDE & RATCHET
If you’re going to re-do Earthrise Prowl with a distinct ‘near death’ aesthetic, why not his original pack-in comrade Ironhide, alongside mould-mate, Ratchet? The medic could rock the ‘riddled with bullet holes’ vibe, whilst Ironhide’s final moments would surely only bring it closer to the G1 toy design in many ways.
#11 – ALREADY EXISTS: “SLEEP MODE” CONVOY
Long before the more recent mainline effort, Masterpiece MP-4S Convoy walked so that Alternate Universe Optimus Prime could run. Although, in reality, they’re probably both better off lying down. Yes, this high-end take on the Autobot leader’s final moments is just as inexplicable in many regards, not least because it shows a pattern of the powers that be having to get creative with describing toys that are essentially just the rotting remains of your childhood hero (he’s napping!). Props to this take for having a lovely (and often missed) deep dark red finish, though, implying that there are still mere milliseconds of life left in the old sod yet.
#9-10 – POTENTIAL: WINDCHARGER & WHEELJACK
If you feel sorry for Prowl and the rest of the shuttle gang from the 1986 movie, spare a thought for Windcharger and Wheeljack, who don’t even get a death scene. Instead, they crop up pre-shuffled, horrifying an entire generation of fans and leaving us all to wonder what became of them forevermore (the purveying theory being that Wheeljack attempted to debut his latest ‘successful’ experiment).
#8 – ALREADY EXISTS: GHOST STARSCREAM
I suppose this technically isn’t a dead body as such. Still, Starscream’s ghost has inspired a surprising number of toys over the years, including the original 2001 reissue of the G1 design, a 2009 Generations version and the 2010 Masterpiece MP-3 effort seen here (and more besides). Worth it just to pose them with Transformers Collaborative Ectotron on a shelf.
#7 – POTENTIAL: ULTRA MAGNUS
Poor, poor Ultra Magnus. The big lug did his best, but he spends his time in the 1986 movie dropping the Matrix after only just being put in charge, rather infamously not being able to deal with it now, and then being blown up in heinous fashion. Oh, and to add insult to injury, the Autobots have a party whilst he’s lying there in bits, and then, when he is resurrected, the Junkions put his legs on backwards. Awks!
#6 – ALREADY EXISTS: UNICRON
By far the largest and most expensive entry on this list, the crowdfunded WFC Unicron made every attempt to represent as much of the 1986 film as possible, all the way down to having a removable head complete with a battle-damaged look. Given he does return for a brief stint in the corresponding cartoon’s subsequent season, perhaps it’s not quite accurate to say he’s bit the dust just yet but still, it’s a floating disembodied head all the same. I’m counting it.
#5 – POTENTIAL: DARK AWAKENING OPTIMUS PRIME
So many dead– sorry, *sleeping* toys of the character and yet none of them have the guts to tackle this childhood-ruining moment from the ’80s cartoon’s third season. Optimus Prime will return, kids, and in doing so, he’ll be slowly torn apart before having half his face blown off. As gruesome as it is, there’s no denying it would be an extremely memorable homage in toy form.
#4 – ALREADY EXISTS: MPM JAZZ
An honourable mention of sorts, given the inspiration hails from the live-action films instead of G1 (and if we’re going that route, we could be here all day!). Yet it would have been remiss for me not to include this Masterpiece Movie effort which boasts the unparalleled ability to split the toy in two and recreate Jazz’s death from the 2007 film. It involves a little sticky-out spine accessory and everything. TakaraTomy even posed it like this for their promotional photography! No notes.
#3 – POTENTIAL: POWDER STARSCREAM
Sure, you have ghost Starscream, but what about this, eh? EH? Why not a desaturated crumbly take on the franchise’s most famous Seeker? Or better yet, go the whole hog and serve it up as a pile of dust. Or would that be bad comedy?
#2 – ALREADY EXISTS: SPARKLESS
Yes, this recent WFC Siege effort is a real thing, and yep, it’s essentially a robot zombie. This macabre repaint of Barricade represents the ‘Sparkless’, a reanimated corpse of a fallen Cybertronian. Come and get it, kids!
#1 – POTENTIAL: MARVEL GALVATRON
The Transformers (Marvel UK) #205, artwork credit: Sullivan
OK, I had to. It would have been possible to make several lists referencing various moments from the Marvel comic, but if you’re going to have just one, why not make it the bit where Galvatron is stripped (quite literally) down to his bare skeleton by a whirling time vortex and then promptly dispatched on his way? As undoubtedly horrible as it is, you must admit it could be quite a unique toy concept, right? RIGHT?!
So that’s our list! Did we… miss any?
TTFN
WHAT HAVE TRANSFORMERS DONE FOR ME?
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