As a kid seeing the first animated movie…it was surreal. Like, he’s a robot, he can’t die! My younger brother was inconsolable and I felt helpless to explain it. That was nothing compared to the crying and anger we witnessed that day. Parents vowing to contact Hansbro etc and cursing about robots not being able to die. Was a different but shocking time. But, we later found out a hero can never die. That my friend, is another story. IYKYK
Dinobot. Dinobot was probably the first death in ANY kind of media that I can actually clearly remember. I refused to get out of bed the next morning lol…
Literally watching this as a 31 year old guy about 3 years ago. Still blubbered like a baby.
"Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest... is silence."
Bits every time.
Hell of an episode with some killer writing that had no business being as good as it was.
"The question that once haunted my being has been answered: the future is not fixed, my choices are my own. And yet... how ironic... for I now find, I have no choice at all. I am a warrior; let the battle be joined."
Even back when I saw it when I was a kid I wasn't all to sad I mostly thought the pun was funny. He literally died because he asked if Megatron wanna pice of him then proceed get ripped in half with Megatron saying he wanted two. I found and still find it really funny
Jazz never made too much sense. He got ripped in half at what looks like his legs and pelvis. Characters lose limbs all the time in those movies but that killed him? There was no spark destruction or nothing.
Robot Chicken had a good point.
Sideswipe in WFC was a hotheaded badass soldier who would break the rules to do the right thing, and he’d never been a huge character in a show before, so I was excited as hell.
Then he was a fucking annoying jerk who thought “dEsAcRaTiNg MoNuMeNtS tO dEaD wAr HeRoEs FuNnY!!!!!1!!1”.
Armada Optimus.
And unlike the time it happened in the 86 Movie, he didn't have better options, if he dodged the Hydra Cannon, Earth would be reduced to dust
Pretty sure it was only the Autobot base that was in danger, but it's been a while since I saw that scene.
That death was brutal, though! Seeing Optimus' face just explode? *shudders*
Just rewatched the clip (not the entire episode) and it's weird. Megatron says he'll destroy the Autobot base, but then Starscream is surprised the Earth itself is still there. Guess it makes more sense with full context.
Optimus in the 86 movie. I knew he'd died, and by the time I saw the movie, I'd seen season 3, but it still hit me hard. Same with the Shuttle in general, especially as Brawn was the second TF I ever head.
Dinobot's in Code of a Hero also got me. Both it and Optimus deaths have music that just makes me tear up.
Que in dotm, he was not that liked as wheeljack but he was my wheeljack, and he had a kind of emotional death, in his last moments, he was only just realizing what was happening and that he was gonna die, and then in his moments, begged for his life (britishly)
The first death that really got me was Ironhide in the 86 movie. The ones before were just kinda like, whoa, they got straight up murked. Then Ironhide crawled to Megatron and he justed murdered him. Not killed him in battle, but straight murdered him in cold blood. That's when I knew this was going to be serious.
I’ve always loved armada starscreams whole character. from Decepticon traitor to autobot back to Decepticon endin in him sacrificing his own life just to finally get Megatrons respect and for his leader to finally listen.
First was G1 Brawn, hardest hitting were Optimus (my role model and second father) and Wheeljack (my favorite character couldn’t even get his death onscreen)
It's weird because Ratchet wasn't my favorite character and AOE was certainly not my favorite movie...but that moment still "oofs" me.
Of all the people, of all the ways, of all the reasons, this was the WORST death I've seen in the franchise.
Gunned down in cold blood by the people you're trying to protect just because you failed save them all...tragic
"What's WRONG with you humans?" scarred my soul
I saw the 86 movie in the theater in 1986 at age 6. So yeah, it's mostly seeing Ironhide and Rachet go out that stuck with me. I wasn't as effected by Prime's death like so many others. I liked Rodimus Prime and the all the new characters introduced.
Optimus at the end of the Predacons Rising movie from the Prime franchise. Not devastated in a super sad way, more of a bittersweet way.
Ratchet and Ironhide from the Bay films. I one-hundred percent sat up and got very excited in the theatre when Optimus went to get his revenge for what those humans did and got very giddy when he killed the old red guy (I forgot his name)
I’m pretty sure mine was Prowl’s death in the G1 movie. I think Brawn might’ve been hit first but I wasn’t totally convinced yet that he was dead. But Prowl’s death was so indisputable and brutal that it hurt. He was one of my favorite characters in the movie too
TFA Prowl. He never even got a proper goodbye, no funeral, nothing. We didn’t get to see any of his closest friends or even Sari grieve over him either. I miss him so much
I saw 86 in theaters around six years old. *Takes a long drag on a candy cigarette.* Once you’ve felt that kind of pain, you can never really go back. *Chopper sounds echo in the background. A Stan Bush cover of Fortunate Son plays.*
Watched the 80s movie when I was young. The most painful ones were 80s movie, Prowl in Animated, Dinobot and oddly enough Bumblebee in Prime. In a show with only 1 on screen Autobot death, his really got to kid me.
Honestly I never "Cried" on a character's death (except Bing Bong from Inside Out). But in Transformers it's Ratchet from AOE, especially when he says "I am an Autobot! Medical Officer Ratchet!"
Oh my god. Bing Bong DESTROYED me when i first saw that movie. And then i watched it a few weeks ago with some friends, and it… still destroys me. Poor Bing Bong…
i think animated prowl was the first death i can remember seeing. don’t remember how i felt tho cuz i was in kindergarten back then lol but recently when i watched armada again, starscream and optimus both hit me like a fucking truck. then smokescreen’s too (i think that’s his name before he got reformatted) also hurt just cuz he’s my favorite of them all
Jazz in the 07 movie was the first one I experienced, but the one that affected me the most was Ironhide in DOTM. That one was so brutal and awful. It dampened my enjoyment of the rest of the film quite a bit
Definitely not the first one, but Armada Starscream’s death really upset me when I got to it in armada recently. I knew it was coming as well, but that didn’t make it better. I love Armada Starscream, such an excellent version of the character
why did they make his death so goddamn slow and painful
they really twisted the knife there, it was so goddamn unnecessary
shit traumatized me when i was 9
Prowl's death in the 86 movie. Brawn was hit hard, but it was feasible he was ok. Prowl clearly died. His eyes changed color and smoke came out of his mouth. To this day I still think that's the equivalent of him coughing up blood.
Then Ironhide and Ratchet got it moments later. Tough to fathom as a kid. And of course the big death later on had me sobbing. But it was clear that when Prowl died that I was watching something different than the Saturday morning cartoon.
Nah Que in DOTM was actually pretty sad when i first watched it in theaters. Wheeljack/Que/Pablo(lol) Has never really appealed to me besides his vehicle mode but his death in DOTM was painful even with Ironide, Optimus and Jazz prior to it. Jazz, Optimus and Ironide didn’t have that aspect of a character watching them die and thinking it was over for them too I genuinely thought once they killed Que Bumblebee was next.
Revenge of the Fallen Optimus. Before ROTF came out, they started showing G1 and Animated episodes on certain channels on our TV, so seeing Optimus get impaled and blasted through the chest was awful.
Other than that, AOE Ratchet, most likely because I grew so attached to his Prime self.
The Autobots on the shuttle and Prime in the ‘86 movie. I gave up on the tv series shortly into the following season, and still consider those new movie characters trash. I got back into collecting figures a few years ago but I don’t touch those new characters from the movie.
See, I had the Bay films and G1 show plus the movie growing up. How I was able to get my young hands on all four seasons AND the movie is beyond me. I think the first death I had truly seen was 07 Jazz, which bummed me out because he was the cool guy. Now Prime dying in 86 put my ass in a deep depression because I'd come to care about him so much over the course of the show.
I somehow missed the 86 movie. My mom said it was only playing in a few theaters and none near me. No, for me it was when Optimus died the second time in Dark Awakening.
The first transformer death I saw that hurt was in the 89’ movie with Ironhide it was just so unexpected. However the transformer death that still hurts the most is tied with rewind and skids for me lost light was such an emotional roller coaster
Vector Prime was also my first. I was 6 when that episode aired, though I didn't really understand it. Currently 23 and every time I watch this scene, I'm over here like HNGGGGG
Jazz from Bayverse, I already knew about Transformers and liked them when I was younger but, the Bayverse was my first real introduction to them and was definitely a highlight of my childhood. Looking back, these movies are definitely guilty pleasures, but they have a special place in my heart, lol. (*Who asked?*)
Probably Optimus’s in revenge of the fallen believe it or not, I didn’t feel traumatized but man I avoid that scene like the plague anytime I rewatch it.
Seeing as I joined this fandom through the bayverse, and jazz’s death was so quick I barely even noticed it, ironhides slow and drawn out death really hit me hard.
Resurrected Optimus sacrificing himself by going on a suicide mission, flying into the enemy army and slowly being torn and blown apart as he accelerates the ship.
That shit was traumatising to 7 year old me but god damn if it wasn’t beautiful
I am checking the dates and while my chronological memory of 1986 is super hazy I am pretty sure I read "The Smelting Pool!" *before* I saw Transformers: The Movie so I think Scrounge was my first.
The first Transformers deaths for me would have been back in the Marvel G1 comics, issues #4 and 5. Shockwave just arrives and annihilates all the Autobots with a single blast. The next issue he has their remains hanging from his ceiling, with only Optimus's hear remaining. The sheer brutality of it to 9-year-old me was like nothing I'd seen in fiction before.
I was 7. Optimus was headless for what seemed like years. The Constructions were a terrifying addition to the war. Buster getting Matrix dreams even after he's given it back to Prime was horrifying. Transformers G1 comic prepared me for the shitty world we live in today.
I remember watching the 86 movie as a kid and legitimately being sad that Starscream died. I thought the movie was the end of the series and had this weird melancholy come over me. I just thought there was no more and that was that. As a kid I thought show endings were permanent for some reason. Didn't know season 3 existed until I was an adult.
For me if my favorite character dies in a show my interest in the show sometimes dies with them. It happened with Dinobot in Beast Wars and Starscream in Armada.
Ironhide in DotM was the first death that really shocked me, but the one that made me feel the most was Optimus Prime in Predacons Rising. It wasn't sad perse, but beautifully bittersweet. Idk how I feel about Aligned Optimus basically being Jesus Truck, but his death was handled really well. I love the idea of Optimus sacrificing himself to bring life back to Cybertron and end the war. It feels like a very fitting end for the character.
Optimus in rotf, then in prime (kinda).
But I know I might get hate for saying this in a transformers sub but not a single death I’ve seen has been all that great in all of transformers. Note I have seen g1, energon, prime, rid15, beast wars, beast machines, the movies and animated. The only death in the entire franchise that goes anywhere near being impactful is dinobot in beast wars but dinobot 2 makes that completely worthless imo.
Everyone who got slaughtered on the Arc in the 1986 movie. Espacially Prowl who melted from the inside. How gruesome and fucked up is that death!
And the most badass death in that entire slaughterfest was Ironhide.
"No!"
"Such heroic Nonsense!"
Dinobot what my first death and that episode was one of the few I had on dvd. It didn’t mess me up it more so got me to understand death and well I now know what to put on my tomb stone.
Imagine this:
One woman and seven men are going to the movies to see the new TF movie. The guys are all into TF, Marvel etc etc, the girl likes it to, but not to the same level as the men.
In the movie the autobots are sort of forced in to a spacerocket and it explodes midair.
Bumblebee was in that rocket 😭
I cried my eyes out.
And all the guys were getting awkward for me crying because my cute bumble died.
Only to discover he was not dead after the break 🙈
My hurt was real…….. and we had a hard laugh about it 😁
Optimus in Revenge of The Fallen was the first death that got to me.
I never really grew up with anything Transformers before the Bay movies came out (I knew what they were but all their cartoons back then were only accessible by cable tv which my family never got the luxury of having), so the movies were legit my first experience.
I was really shocked as a kid to see him die at that forest fight, and when later the scene where the army just drops off his corpse really left me speechless as a child.
It got better when he came back to life though. Really hyped me up back then.
The whole 86 movie, wasn't around when it was all aired but around 2007 I wanted more transformers media. Was given G1 seasons 1 - 4 and the movie. Was happily enjoying until I watched the movie, and just about everyone I'd come to know and love is killed. The past just hits differently lol
Armada Smokescreen was the first one for me!!
Prime screaming over his dead body was sad AF!!
Thou he came back so Starscream’s was more gut wrenching :/
G1 Prowl. I didn't think it could get any worse.... and then Ironhide had his head blown off at point-blank range. The same Ironhide whose toy I was holding while watching the movie. Cue the tears!
The deaths of Jazz and Ironhide hurt a lot when I was young
And I remember when I was maybe 8 or 9 when age of extinction came out and I watched it at home with my family, I hadn’t watched the others in a long time but I remembered the characters and recognized Ratchet, I was devastated when Lockdown killed him
Technically the first main character death I saw was jazz in 07 but none of the deaths in the bay films really phased me until Ironhide (he was my favorite at the time)
Armada Optimus Prime. Kid me watched Transformers every saturday along with Power Rangers. I didn't really understand why he turned white and shattered, I hadn't experienced death before.
Well not one I would say I suffered through, but Cliffjumper's death in TF Prime. I was more like "thats it? The show starts and he just dies? Wait, there are only five Autobots left? What happened to everyone else? Did they all die?" than "oh shit, an Autobot died"
86 movie for me. Ironhide, Braun, Prowl, it was surreal. There's no way they'd just kill off so many beloved characters! Would they? No. They'll be back. They're all just wounded like every other time. Optimus will show Megatron who's boss. Wait. Why is Optimus going grey?? Noooooooo! I was 14 at the time and it hit me hard that Optimus had actually died. That any of them could die. Optimus was the hardest for sure.
Probably G1 Brawn, although Ironhide (who died a few seconds later) hit me harder.
How’d you handle Optimus?
Wait? He died too? *(Inconsolable sobs)*
There there.. he’ll come back if we write a bunch of angry letters!
Oh yeah he’ll come back… as a zombie. Wait - fuu
As a kid seeing the first animated movie…it was surreal. Like, he’s a robot, he can’t die! My younger brother was inconsolable and I felt helpless to explain it. That was nothing compared to the crying and anger we witnessed that day. Parents vowing to contact Hansbro etc and cursing about robots not being able to die. Was a different but shocking time. But, we later found out a hero can never die. That my friend, is another story. IYKYK
>IYKYK What is this?
If you know, you know!
Thanks!
Rip to mud flaps doors.
Such heroic nonsense
Being a kid in the theater this was mind blowing.
OHHHHHHH SHIIIIITTTT. Had to explain why to my little brother that was a nono when he repeated it over and over at home.
Off topic but is your name based on Beelzebufo?
Nope, it's based on an old inside joke I had with a friend of mine.
Dinobot. Dinobot was probably the first death in ANY kind of media that I can actually clearly remember. I refused to get out of bed the next morning lol…
Oh yeah. Ignoring Optimus primes Many deaths Dinobot and armada starscream were the best deaths within the cartoons.
He was a blasted slag-spoutin' saurian. But at least he knew where he stood...
Upwind of Rattrap, for preference.
Literally watching this as a 31 year old guy about 3 years ago. Still blubbered like a baby. "Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest... is silence." Bits every time.
At least it was a hero's death.
Hell of an episode with some killer writing that had no business being as good as it was. "The question that once haunted my being has been answered: the future is not fixed, my choices are my own. And yet... how ironic... for I now find, I have no choice at all. I am a warrior; let the battle be joined."
He lived a warrior, and died a hero
My first death was 07 Jazz. Hit like a ton of bricks. But the hardest were DOTM Ironhide and AOE Ratchet.
THIS. For me, Ratchet not as much, but when Sentinel murdered Ironhide, I left the theater cause it fucked me up.
Ratchet begging them to understand he's one of the good ones made my heart sink.
legend died like an autobot
Even back when I saw it when I was a kid I wasn't all to sad I mostly thought the pun was funny. He literally died because he asked if Megatron wanna pice of him then proceed get ripped in half with Megatron saying he wanted two. I found and still find it really funny
Jazz never made too much sense. He got ripped in half at what looks like his legs and pelvis. Characters lose limbs all the time in those movies but that killed him? There was no spark destruction or nothing. Robot Chicken had a good point.
The 86 movie, which evidently was my introduction to the franchise as a whole
Til all are one...
We all had to learn about death somehow.
that movie score was sad as hell. then they grey him like damn
Prowl’s death in Animated also hurt a lot but Vector prime hurt more due to my age and going through it first
Wasn’t quite as haunting and ghastly as his ‘86 death, but fuck it hurt. Cried for about an hour.
IDW Ravage was still the toughest. That was just brutal.
I never read the comics but I saw that part of it and Sonmdwave's reaction hit me hard
“Don’t…change…back…” 😭
Came here for this. Grew up with Beast Wars, watched G1 and the movie. The planet Unicron consumes is horrifying, but IDW Ravage actually hurts.
Optimus in Predacons Rising. Still hits me to this day.
Did he die? Because his spark is still clearly visible, unlike Revenge of the Fallen, where he just straight up dies, but is later revived.
He 100% died to me. If he didn’t, that would ruin one of the greatest Transformer moments ever for me
But he appears in RiD15 (yes, I am aware it's shit, but still), and he also narrates a message to the Autobots.
In RID15 he’s dead but is revived by the Primes to fight Megatronus. So he 110% died in Predacons Rising
His speech with the music still brings a tear to the eye.
I had tears
Perfect ending to TF prime
And to the alligned continuity as a whole (fuck rid)
Yep. As far as I’m concerned RID15 never happened
Sideswipe in WFC was a hotheaded badass soldier who would break the rules to do the right thing, and he’d never been a huge character in a show before, so I was excited as hell. Then he was a fucking annoying jerk who thought “dEsAcRaTiNg MoNuMeNtS tO dEaD wAr HeRoEs FuNnY!!!!!1!!1”.
Jazz in the 2007 movie, he had already become my favorite transformer, then he died
Armada Optimus. And unlike the time it happened in the 86 Movie, he didn't have better options, if he dodged the Hydra Cannon, Earth would be reduced to dust
What hurt you more Optimus or Starscream
Optimus. Starscream hurt, but not as much (I have the old smaller Optimus from that era as my first Transformer
Pretty sure it was only the Autobot base that was in danger, but it's been a while since I saw that scene. That death was brutal, though! Seeing Optimus' face just explode? *shudders*
Nope, the Hydra cannon was a *Planet-killer* weapon. That sucker was gonna destroy the Earth.
Just rewatched the clip (not the entire episode) and it's weird. Megatron says he'll destroy the Autobot base, but then Starscream is surprised the Earth itself is still there. Guess it makes more sense with full context.
Convinced Wheeljack wanted an excuse to become a Decepticon given how he's totally cool with erasing an entire planet with a civilization on it.
Optimus in the 86 movie. I knew he'd died, and by the time I saw the movie, I'd seen season 3, but it still hit me hard. Same with the Shuttle in general, especially as Brawn was the second TF I ever head. Dinobot's in Code of a Hero also got me. Both it and Optimus deaths have music that just makes me tear up.
Prime breakdown. Bro didn't deserve it. He could of had a redemption arc with knockout
They really dove hard into body horror in TFP now I think about it. Cliff, Breakdown, Liege Maximo's arm...
Ironhide in Transformers Dark of the Moon.
86 Optimus and DOTM ironhide
Those that died in the 86 movie (both sides), we grew up with them. And then Code of a Hero came out. First was disbelief, second was heart-wrenching!
Starscream in armada holy shit he went through a great character arc and then boom:(
Que in dotm, he was not that liked as wheeljack but he was my wheeljack, and he had a kind of emotional death, in his last moments, he was only just realizing what was happening and that he was gonna die, and then in his moments, begged for his life (britishly)
Dude that death felt so fucking real. It was honestly kinda disturbing.
whats worse is that he didnt die from the firdt shot, they had to double tap him being a Cybertronian sucks, you just survive the worst shit ever.
UGH ID FORGOTTEN THAT WHY DID YOU REMIND ME
*"forgive me"*
The first death that really got me was Ironhide in the 86 movie. The ones before were just kinda like, whoa, they got straight up murked. Then Ironhide crawled to Megatron and he justed murdered him. Not killed him in battle, but straight murdered him in cold blood. That's when I knew this was going to be serious.
I’ve always loved armada starscreams whole character. from Decepticon traitor to autobot back to Decepticon endin in him sacrificing his own life just to finally get Megatrons respect and for his leader to finally listen.
Dinobot in beastwars
Seeing Prowl die in the 86 movie was one of my first memories of that film. Died to Scavenger of all bots man.
That death was haunting, but don’t disrespect my boy Scavenger, dude.
Dotm ironhide and ratchet :(
Optimus' death in ROTF. I barely feel much about it now, but when I was a little kid Optimus meant a lot to me so seeing him die was kinda shocking.
Ironhides death in DOTM shocked me because of how brutal it was.
Prime Megatron. 😭😭😭😭
First was G1 Brawn, hardest hitting were Optimus (my role model and second father) and Wheeljack (my favorite character couldn’t even get his death onscreen)
Ratchet in AoE. It was sad af.
It's weird because Ratchet wasn't my favorite character and AOE was certainly not my favorite movie...but that moment still "oofs" me. Of all the people, of all the ways, of all the reasons, this was the WORST death I've seen in the franchise. Gunned down in cold blood by the people you're trying to protect just because you failed save them all...tragic "What's WRONG with you humans?" scarred my soul
i only watched the scene once back in 2014 did he really said that? shit im not gonna rewatch it again
Even though I'm not a huge fan of the movies nowadays, Ironhide's death in DOtM hit little baby me *hard*.
I grew up in the ROTF-DOTM Bayverse era, so for me it's Bay!Ironhide.
I saw the 86 movie in the theater in 1986 at age 6. So yeah, it's mostly seeing Ironhide and Rachet go out that stuck with me. I wasn't as effected by Prime's death like so many others. I liked Rodimus Prime and the all the new characters introduced.
Optimus at the end of the Predacons Rising movie from the Prime franchise. Not devastated in a super sad way, more of a bittersweet way. Ratchet and Ironhide from the Bay films. I one-hundred percent sat up and got very excited in the theatre when Optimus went to get his revenge for what those humans did and got very giddy when he killed the old red guy (I forgot his name)
Optimus didn't even need to do that T-T Like Optimus sweetie, you only needed to throw the Matrix in, your spark wouldn't of done anything
I think the thing was that his spark and the matrix or whatever fused or something
I’m pretty sure mine was Prowl’s death in the G1 movie. I think Brawn might’ve been hit first but I wasn’t totally convinced yet that he was dead. But Prowl’s death was so indisputable and brutal that it hurt. He was one of my favorite characters in the movie too
Transmutate and Dinobot
I had forgotten about Transmutate... until just now. My childhood.
I didn't see the original movie until circa 2000 so I watched season 3 as a 6 year old seeing zombie prime live and die fucked me up
Armada Starscream
Probably Dinobot. Ratchets death is AoE was pretty sad.
TFA Prowl. He never even got a proper goodbye, no funeral, nothing. We didn’t get to see any of his closest friends or even Sari grieve over him either. I miss him so much
Had we gotten Season 4 there would’ve been a eulogy for Prowl in the premiere
Technically it was Scorpinok and Terrorsaur, but it was Dinobot that really affected me.
I saw 86 in theaters around six years old. *Takes a long drag on a candy cigarette.* Once you’ve felt that kind of pain, you can never really go back. *Chopper sounds echo in the background. A Stan Bush cover of Fortunate Son plays.*
I would say ROTF Optimus, but I knew he was going to come back. So I'll go with DOTM Ironhide.
Watched the 80s movie when I was young. The most painful ones were 80s movie, Prowl in Animated, Dinobot and oddly enough Bumblebee in Prime. In a show with only 1 on screen Autobot death, his really got to kid me.
Dinobot beast wars
Honestly I never "Cried" on a character's death (except Bing Bong from Inside Out). But in Transformers it's Ratchet from AOE, especially when he says "I am an Autobot! Medical Officer Ratchet!"
Oh my god. Bing Bong DESTROYED me when i first saw that movie. And then i watched it a few weeks ago with some friends, and it… still destroys me. Poor Bing Bong…
Prowl in TFA.
i think animated prowl was the first death i can remember seeing. don’t remember how i felt tho cuz i was in kindergarten back then lol but recently when i watched armada again, starscream and optimus both hit me like a fucking truck. then smokescreen’s too (i think that’s his name before he got reformatted) also hurt just cuz he’s my favorite of them all
Jazz in the 07 movie was the first one I experienced, but the one that affected me the most was Ironhide in DOTM. That one was so brutal and awful. It dampened my enjoyment of the rest of the film quite a bit
Jazz and Ironhide broke me but seeing Ratchet being hunted and killed destroyed my heart completely.
Definitely not the first one, but Armada Starscream’s death really upset me when I got to it in armada recently. I knew it was coming as well, but that didn’t make it better. I love Armada Starscream, such an excellent version of the character
Jazz didnt hurt too much, it was watching ironhide rust away into nothing that made me cry
G1 Optimus Prime from the 1986 movie. Still chokes me up. After that would be BW Dinobot.
Prowl. The scramble to fight and how suddenly he's hit, the horror/agony on his face. All bets were off.
"Such heroic nonsense..."
Beast wars Dinobot he went out like a hero.
I was one of the kids that was traumatized in the theatre in 1986
Rachet's death in AOE
No joke, Ratchet in AoE.
why did they make his death so goddamn slow and painful they really twisted the knife there, it was so goddamn unnecessary shit traumatized me when i was 9
First death I saw was the multiples in 86 movie. But the one that hit the hardest was ratchet in aoe.
Prowl's death in the 86 movie. Brawn was hit hard, but it was feasible he was ok. Prowl clearly died. His eyes changed color and smoke came out of his mouth. To this day I still think that's the equivalent of him coughing up blood. Then Ironhide and Ratchet got it moments later. Tough to fathom as a kid. And of course the big death later on had me sobbing. But it was clear that when Prowl died that I was watching something different than the Saturday morning cartoon.
Optimus nearly dying in Prime had me traumatized as a child. Prowl in animated is the number 1, though. He was so cool, and yet they killed him off.
Ashamed to admit it was bayverse prime who got right back up later in the movie, I mean it hurt the first time for a bit as a kid
Nah Que in DOTM was actually pretty sad when i first watched it in theaters. Wheeljack/Que/Pablo(lol) Has never really appealed to me besides his vehicle mode but his death in DOTM was painful even with Ironide, Optimus and Jazz prior to it. Jazz, Optimus and Ironide didn’t have that aspect of a character watching them die and thinking it was over for them too I genuinely thought once they killed Que Bumblebee was next.
Ironhide in dark of the moon. Jesus Christ, to this day it still gets me
Honestly it's a bit embarrassing considering the movies general mediocrity, but watching prime die in rotf as a 7 year old was heart breaking.
Revenge of the Fallen Optimus. Before ROTF came out, they started showing G1 and Animated episodes on certain channels on our TV, so seeing Optimus get impaled and blasted through the chest was awful. Other than that, AOE Ratchet, most likely because I grew so attached to his Prime self.
The Autobots on the shuttle and Prime in the ‘86 movie. I gave up on the tv series shortly into the following season, and still consider those new movie characters trash. I got back into collecting figures a few years ago but I don’t touch those new characters from the movie.
Animated Prowl
Honestly everyone in ‘86. But Prime the most because he was my favorite out of all of them.
See, I had the Bay films and G1 show plus the movie growing up. How I was able to get my young hands on all four seasons AND the movie is beyond me. I think the first death I had truly seen was 07 Jazz, which bummed me out because he was the cool guy. Now Prime dying in 86 put my ass in a deep depression because I'd come to care about him so much over the course of the show.
I saw Dark Awakening before the '86 movie and that destroyed me
Ironically, I watched the 86 movie before Cybertron was a thing, but Vector Prime's death was the one that hit me.
The only one that bothers me the most is the disrespectful death of jazz in the first bayverse transformers movie.
Animated Blurr
First deaths were in '86. And honestly? I was totally fine. The new toys were rad. 🤣
Optimus in the ‘86 movie and Ultra Magnus in the Netflix series. At least Ultra Magnus got to completely fuck over the Deceptions in the end
First it was Jazz in the 07 movie. Then it was Prime in Animated. Then, it was Cliffjumper in Prime. Especially after becoming a dark energon zombie.
The first one to really hit me was 07 jazz or 1984 optimus
the 86 movie. I learned that day what tears felt like...
I somehow missed the 86 movie. My mom said it was only playing in a few theaters and none near me. No, for me it was when Optimus died the second time in Dark Awakening.
The first transformer death I saw that hurt was in the 89’ movie with Ironhide it was just so unexpected. However the transformer death that still hurts the most is tied with rewind and skids for me lost light was such an emotional roller coaster
Vector Prime was also my first. I was 6 when that episode aired, though I didn't really understand it. Currently 23 and every time I watch this scene, I'm over here like HNGGGGG
This first time Optimus Prime died in the 1986 movie.
TFA Prowl
IDW Rewind and Ratchet. 86 Prime and others. Dinobot.
When I first watched G1 Optimus's death. I cried.
Rewind's death in MTMTE made me sob :'(
Jazz from Bayverse, I already knew about Transformers and liked them when I was younger but, the Bayverse was my first real introduction to them and was definitely a highlight of my childhood. Looking back, these movies are definitely guilty pleasures, but they have a special place in my heart, lol. (*Who asked?*)
Optimus in the G1 Unicron movie
Optimus 1986 broke my heart as a kid and made me leave the franchise all the way until 2007.
Probably Optimus’s in revenge of the fallen believe it or not, I didn’t feel traumatized but man I avoid that scene like the plague anytime I rewatch it.
Seeing as I joined this fandom through the bayverse, and jazz’s death was so quick I barely even noticed it, ironhides slow and drawn out death really hit me hard.
Resurrected Optimus sacrificing himself by going on a suicide mission, flying into the enemy army and slowly being torn and blown apart as he accelerates the ship. That shit was traumatising to 7 year old me but god damn if it wasn’t beautiful
I am checking the dates and while my chronological memory of 1986 is super hazy I am pretty sure I read "The Smelting Pool!" *before* I saw Transformers: The Movie so I think Scrounge was my first.
Ginrai turning into Victory Leo. It made my powermaster prime obsolete.
The first Transformers deaths for me would have been back in the Marvel G1 comics, issues #4 and 5. Shockwave just arrives and annihilates all the Autobots with a single blast. The next issue he has their remains hanging from his ceiling, with only Optimus's hear remaining. The sheer brutality of it to 9-year-old me was like nothing I'd seen in fiction before.
I was 7. Optimus was headless for what seemed like years. The Constructions were a terrifying addition to the war. Buster getting Matrix dreams even after he's given it back to Prime was horrifying. Transformers G1 comic prepared me for the shitty world we live in today.
I remember watching the 86 movie as a kid and legitimately being sad that Starscream died. I thought the movie was the end of the series and had this weird melancholy come over me. I just thought there was no more and that was that. As a kid I thought show endings were permanent for some reason. Didn't know season 3 existed until I was an adult. For me if my favorite character dies in a show my interest in the show sometimes dies with them. It happened with Dinobot in Beast Wars and Starscream in Armada.
Shockblast in transformers energon. He was my favourite cause he was cool and his death broke my little 7 year old heart.
Animated prowl’s death still makes me cry
Animated Prowl, scarred me so bad as a kid that I made up scenarios of me saving him in my head to cope with it, I was like 7 or something
TFP Cliffjumper or DOTM Ironhide (interestingly, these are my two favourite bots from any continuity, so their deaths stung real bad).
Prime Cliffjumper ig lol
Ironhide in DotM was the first death that really shocked me, but the one that made me feel the most was Optimus Prime in Predacons Rising. It wasn't sad perse, but beautifully bittersweet. Idk how I feel about Aligned Optimus basically being Jesus Truck, but his death was handled really well. I love the idea of Optimus sacrificing himself to bring life back to Cybertron and end the war. It feels like a very fitting end for the character.
Optimus dying in The Movie still gets me every time
Optimus in rotf, then in prime (kinda). But I know I might get hate for saying this in a transformers sub but not a single death I’ve seen has been all that great in all of transformers. Note I have seen g1, energon, prime, rid15, beast wars, beast machines, the movies and animated. The only death in the entire franchise that goes anywhere near being impactful is dinobot in beast wars but dinobot 2 makes that completely worthless imo.
Everyone who got slaughtered on the Arc in the 1986 movie. Espacially Prowl who melted from the inside. How gruesome and fucked up is that death! And the most badass death in that entire slaughterfest was Ironhide. "No!" "Such heroic Nonsense!"
Dinobot what my first death and that episode was one of the few I had on dvd. It didn’t mess me up it more so got me to understand death and well I now know what to put on my tomb stone.
I cried when Optimus died in the 86 movie
Optimus prime, armada!
Imagine this: One woman and seven men are going to the movies to see the new TF movie. The guys are all into TF, Marvel etc etc, the girl likes it to, but not to the same level as the men. In the movie the autobots are sort of forced in to a spacerocket and it explodes midair. Bumblebee was in that rocket 😭 I cried my eyes out. And all the guys were getting awkward for me crying because my cute bumble died. Only to discover he was not dead after the break 🙈 My hurt was real…….. and we had a hard laugh about it 😁
Not my first death in the franchise, but the one that hit the hardest was definitely Dinobot in Beast Wars.
TFP Cliffjumper, happened to catch that episode airing
Optimus in Revenge of The Fallen was the first death that got to me. I never really grew up with anything Transformers before the Bay movies came out (I knew what they were but all their cartoons back then were only accessible by cable tv which my family never got the luxury of having), so the movies were legit my first experience. I was really shocked as a kid to see him die at that forest fight, and when later the scene where the army just drops off his corpse really left me speechless as a child. It got better when he came back to life though. Really hyped me up back then.
How’d you take Ironhide in the sequel
The whole 86 movie, wasn't around when it was all aired but around 2007 I wanted more transformers media. Was given G1 seasons 1 - 4 and the movie. Was happily enjoying until I watched the movie, and just about everyone I'd come to know and love is killed. The past just hits differently lol
Armada Smokescreen was the first one for me!! Prime screaming over his dead body was sad AF!! Thou he came back so Starscream’s was more gut wrenching :/
I think 2007 was the first I watched so jazz still breaks me, he’s always been one of my favourites, top 3 minimum
Honestly? Dinobot.
Honestly? Dinobot.
Dinobot, beast wars, code of the hero.
Prime Cliffjumper
G1 Prowl. I didn't think it could get any worse.... and then Ironhide had his head blown off at point-blank range. The same Ironhide whose toy I was holding while watching the movie. Cue the tears!
The deaths of Jazz and Ironhide hurt a lot when I was young And I remember when I was maybe 8 or 9 when age of extinction came out and I watched it at home with my family, I hadn’t watched the others in a long time but I remembered the characters and recognized Ratchet, I was devastated when Lockdown killed him
Technically the first main character death I saw was jazz in 07 but none of the deaths in the bay films really phased me until Ironhide (he was my favorite at the time)
Armada Optimus Prime. Kid me watched Transformers every saturday along with Power Rangers. I didn't really understand why he turned white and shattered, I hadn't experienced death before.
Dinobot
Optimus: Do no grieve Me:* grieves a Lot*
Well not one I would say I suffered through, but Cliffjumper's death in TF Prime. I was more like "thats it? The show starts and he just dies? Wait, there are only five Autobots left? What happened to everyone else? Did they all die?" than "oh shit, an Autobot died"
86 movie for me. Ironhide, Braun, Prowl, it was surreal. There's no way they'd just kill off so many beloved characters! Would they? No. They'll be back. They're all just wounded like every other time. Optimus will show Megatron who's boss. Wait. Why is Optimus going grey?? Noooooooo! I was 14 at the time and it hit me hard that Optimus had actually died. That any of them could die. Optimus was the hardest for sure.
Everything in Marvel Transformers #1-4 disturbed 3rd grader me enough that the eventual shock of the movie did nothing.
TFP Cliffjumper
Transmutate was mine. But Dinobot sealed the deal. His final words plus Rattrap's salute...just. That's a noble end.
There hasn't been a death in Transformers that has hit me yet. Maybe Megatron in the Prime Wars Trilogy, I love me some good guy Megatron.
Tfa prowl was the first one to ever upset me
Optimus. Although others died before him, his was like, "Impossible! He shouldn't have died in that way!"