Why 'Kill Off' Older Characters?

[Shockprowl]

I've no problem with the franchise moving on, creating room, whatever you want to call it- for New Characters.

Faced, as we are, by The Doctor's stark precognition that The Transformers franchise will invaginate itstelf up it's own arse sometime soon with it's constant regurgitation of the same old cast, that concept is at the very fore of My Mind.

However, it's occured to me, that whilst Transformers media has always had to make room for newer characters, the way it's gone about it has been... harsh.

WHY DO OLDER CHARACTERS HAVE TO DIE? Or at the very best become 'Non-Functional' for looooong periods of narative?

Take the '84ers. All 'Injured-Off' in time for the '85ers. Why? Why not have them side by side? Focus could still have easily been directed to the new characters, without having to blow the older characters to pieces and have them bricked up in Ratchet's med-bay. Move forward, to the CURSED Transformers: The Movie. Yes, CURSED! Because it killed OPTIMUS PRIME... Are you really telling me, that The Transformers couldn't incorporate new characters without killing off the old ones?!?! DO THEY THINK US SO INFLEXIBLE?!?! (how often they underestimate us children...) There didn't have to be 'THE NEW LEADERS', there didn't have to be this this this VAST sweeping aside of characters that us children had grown to love, JUST to make space for new ones. Push the older characters back, into the background a bit more, we'd/I'd understand. Or have them interact with the newer characters... Maybe that takes better story telling...


So is that it? Was it lazy storytelling...?


Hmmmmm?

[Baron B of Triple B]

Regarding the Movie, the Toys That Made Us documentary gave the impression that all they seemed to think they were doing was launching a new toy line and were clearing the 'shelves' of the old ones. It was a cartoon to introduce the characters relating to those toys.

[Pinwig]

I don't think it's lazy storytelling, more that keeping every character going would have just been too many to manage in the page count. Also that Hasbro wouldn't see value in promoting toys that weren't in shops to buy.

[Andy Turnbull]

Also, your premise is flawed. You are focusing on the cartoon. The comic had Soundwave around from the start right to the end. Likewise, Ratchet had a pretty lengthy innings as well.

Andy

[Shockprowl]

Two characters, Boss. Two. What about THE REST...?

[Shockprowl]

I'm not saying every character had to have a Star of The Week ever week or anything, I'm just saying they didn't have to be 'INJURED' and disappear once their usefulness had passed. Doesn't that strike anyone else as... as a shame?

[Shockprowl]

AND ACTUALLY (now I realise it) THE COMIC IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!!! THEY'RE THE BIGGEST OFFENDER!!!

[The Huff]

It was a bold move. In other cartoons/comics (He Man, GI Joe etc) the old characters/toys were just off somewhere else. I liked the way that Transformers were killed off as time went on as it showed that in war people died. It was also a good reflection of real life as people aren't around forever and new people will always take their place.

What I didn't understand in the comics (US mainly) was why every new character/toy had to come to Earth all the time. Why feature them in a story on Cybertron and leave them there?

[Shockprowl]

Errrr..... woaw..... mmmm.... interesting point, Hufferlover.



.................



Gaddamn it. I.... Bloody hell, Hufflover, you.... you've ruined everything....

[The Huff]

Sorry - too depressing?

[Shockprowl]

Stop making sense and ruining my argument!

[primenova]

Didn't they kill Kup off because they knew Nick needed him for his last Wreckers comic, but once dead Nick can't use him.

[Pinwig]

Well that's not a very nice thing to do.

[The Doctor]

Oct 18, 2018 11:21:11 GMT primenova said:

Didn't they kill Kup off because they knew Nick needed him for his last Wreckers comic, but once dead Nick can't use him.

Source?

-Ralph

[primenova]

Nick mentioned that he was working on the last Wreckers comic then he got told "oh, we've just killed Kup" It was going to be a Kup lead story. Can Nick confirm that or was it just an early draft

[primenova]

The writer didn't want to kill Kup

Search IDW Kup -

"Kup's death in Transformers vs. Visionaries was an editorial choice requested by the publisher. Author Magdalene Visaggio was upset at having to kill him off, being one of her favorite Autobots, but she tried to give him "the best sendoff [she] could." [3]

[Benn]

Yeah, but they didn't do it to spite Nick.

[primenova]

But TFvV writer didn't want to kill him so all writers would have been told Kup is in the series but not that he is getting killed off.