Aggressive depigmentation
From Transformers Wiki
Aggressive depigmentationrefers to the loss of colour that occurs in theliving metalof aCybertronianafter suffering traumatic damage orlosingone'sspark.When this happens, the natural colour of a Transformer will fade, leaving the body various shades of grey.
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Fiction
Generation 1 continuity family
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
The Transformerscartoon
When taking a shot directly through his chest fromScavenger,Prowl's mouth erupted in a fiery plume of smoke, and his body turned grey before hitting the floor of the shuttle. After he succumbed to his wounds sustained during theBattle of Autobot City,Optimus Prime's body turned black and grey. WhenGalvatronkilledStarscreamfor his treachery, the Air Commander's entire body turned black, then crumbled to ashes.The Transformers: The Movie
Japanese cartoon continuity
The Headmasterscartoon
After perishing from a mutual kill,SoundwaveandBlaster's bodies both decolourized. What was left of Soundwave's exploded remains turned white, while Blaster turned the bog-standard grey.The Mystery of Planet Master
When he died again, this time sacrificing himself to resetVector Sigma,Optimus' body turned grey in Rodimus's arms.Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime
Victorycartoon
In the final fight betweenVictory LeoandLiokaiserin front of Deathsaurus'Planet-Destroying Fortress,the Decepticon combiner was blasted into the fortress's main cannon, which drained him of all his energy, turning it grey and sending it flying off into the depths of space.Showdown! The Fortress vs the Victory Unification
DreamwaveGeneration Onecontinuity
WhenGrimlocktook several shots forUltra Magnus,his corpse began to desaturate within seconds of his death.The Age of Wrath
After being shot in the back byShockwave,Ultra Magnus died in Optimus's arms, the colour immediately fading from his body, only for it to return when Magnus sprang back to life a few minutes later.Countdown to Extinction
DreamwaveArmadacomic
An Optimus Prime froma doomed Cybertronwas sent to another universe byUnicronas a perverse calling card. When found and brought to Autobase Earth, his colours had faded almost entirely before he died.Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4
2005 IDW continuity
Aggressive depigmentation set in almost instantly after a spark expired.Rage, RageSardinesWhile not all Cybertronians displayed the condition upon death,The Gloamingthose that experiencedmagic's necrotic symptoms fell victim to aggressive depigmentation in moments.Ghost in the MachineSchismaticIn certain cases of fatal damage, Cybertronians could display aggressive depigmentation before their spark expired.The Frail GazeIn some cases, the recently deceased only experienced a desaturation of their colours, rather than turning grey.HeavyThe Return of the King
DuringWorld War II,Centurionslew "Shockwave",the latter's corpse turning grey upon his demise.Strange Visitors
After the initialExpansion,Nemesis Prime's body turned grey upon his essence returning to theDead Universe.Black PlanetTopspin's body underwent aggressive depigmentation after he voluntarily sacrificed his spark to unlockAequitas.Last Stand of the Wreckers #4
ANAILprotester who transformed himself to death demonstrated both aggressive depigmentation andrigor morphis.How to Say Goodbye and Mean ItWhen fatally wounded by an infestation ofpersonality ticks,a dyingThunderclashwas drained of colour and also succumbed torigor morphisuntil the ticks were defeated, restoring his health and palette.The Frail Gaze
After an accident had resulted in theLost Lightquantum duplicating itself, theRodimusof one of the ships lost his life when he defeated thesparkeater,his body turning dark grey upon his demise.The Road Not Taken
When Ravage was killed in a fight betweenShockwaveandSoundwave,the colour immediately began to fade from his corpse, only to restore itself when the properties ofOre-14they were surrounded by brought him back to life.Soundwaves
Skids's body lost its colours upon his demise.Rage, Rage
While travelling back to theLost LightaboardSkip,Ratchetinexplicably succumbed to aggressive depigmentation despite being alive.SardinesIt was later revealed however that, as part of their master plan, theOmega Guardianswere slowly teleporting Ratchet to make it seem as though he was dying.The Unremembering
Upon being exposed to the corrosive effects ofPrysmosianmagic,CenturionGhost in the MachineandKupdepigmented after death, whileBreakdown's arm experienced similar effects immediately after coming into contact with magical energy.SchismaticWheeljack's analysis of magic however allowed him to devise a counter-frequency that returned Breakdown's arm to normal. Temporarily at least.Desperate Measures
After being at ground zero in an explosion,Alpha Trionperished, his corpse succumbing to aggressive depigmentation.Another Mine
WhenScorponokhad been slain by theGrand Architect,Farsicknesshis corpse experienced a notable, though not total, desaturation of its colours.The Return of the King
In a confrontation between theColonist SoldiersandG.I. Joe,Gimletthoughtlessly crushedMainframe'sVAMP,killing the operator. In an equally thoughtless response,Slugcleaved theEukarianin half, his corpse instantly turning grey.Time Will Rust
Beast Wars: Uprising
When he was shot dead by the otherdimensional cyborgVamp,Overshoot's body quickly turned grey.Cultural Appropriation
On the final day of the Buzzclaw Memorial Games,Preditronnoted fellow unwilling combatantTorque,who was suffering from an unknown ailment, was already beginning to show signs of colour-fade before he was even dead.Safe Spaces
2019 IDW continuity
TheTitanswho had goneimmersantto makeup theCybertronian Mountainswere all various shades of grey.The World In Your Eyes Part OneAwakeningsWe Are Not Meant To Be Darkness
WhenRubblediscoveredBrainstorm's corpse, the scientist's body had visibly desaturated.The World In Your Eyes Part OneWhen Rubble passed not long afterwards, his own body lost its colours.The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part One
Sentinel Prime's body began to quickly desaturate when he died,Primelater losing all of its colours when he was laid to rest.Awakenings
Several desaturated Cybertronian body parts were visible whenUltra Magnusdiscovered a splice-thief den onKworia.When Magnus later found a still living Cybertronian in the process of being vivisected, the unfortunate mechanoid's body had already turned grey.Storm Horizon Part 1
WhenCircuitdied, his body instantly lost all of its colours.Tread & Circuits Part 4
Transformers vs. The Terminator
Following the Decepticons reactivating in1984,they turned their weapons against the stasis-locked Autobots in theArk,executing them. When theT-800andSarah Connorarrived, the bodies of several Autobots had turned grey.Enemy of My Enemy Part Two
War for Cybertron Trilogycartoon
When in theDead Universe,Optimus Prime was shown a potential future bySky Lynxwhere he had died, Prime's corpse being a solid grey.Earthrise episode 5
2021Beast Warscomic
WhenTerrorsaurkilledRazorbeast,a furiousSkoldavenged her friend by ripping out the flyer's spark, his corpse quickly turning monochrome.Maximals Strike Back, Part 2
WhenMegatronlater slewPolar Claw,the polar bear's body notably desaturated.Children of the Vok
Transformers: Animatedcartoon
Yoketron's body turned grey when he was slain by his treacherous pupilLockdown.Prowlattempted to revive him by placing Yoketron's spark in a blankprotoform,but the ancient Autobot refused to sacrifice an unborn life to save himself, and died permanently, his new body turning grey instantly.Five Servos of Doom
Optimus's body turned grey when he temporarily died (for a grand total of seventy-five seconds).Transform and Roll Out
Starscream's body did not turn grey when he was first killed byMegatron,Megatron Rising - Part 2or in any of his subsequent deaths,Mission Accomplisheduntil his absolutely final death, when theAllSparkfragment keeping him alive was removed from his head.Endgame, Part II
When he sacrificed himself to restore the AllSpark, Prowl's body went grey.Endgame, Part II
Cyberversecartoon
WhenStarscreammerged with theAllSpark,his first act was to drain thesparksof hisSeekerloyalists, their bodies quickly turning grey.I Am The Allspark
By the time ofTarn's power play,Iaconus' corpse had turned grey.The Perfect Decepticon
IDWShattered Glasscontinuity
The bodies of several Senators turned grey duringUltra Magnus' attack on theSenate.Shattered Glass II #1
Onefilm
WhenOrion Paxfell down a chasm after being shot byD-16,his dying body turned grey. His fall went all the way down to theCoreofCybertron.The spirits of theThirteenmet Orion asAlpha Triontold him that his noble sacrifice has madePrimusdeem him worthy of theMatrix of Leadership.Orion was rebuilt, revived, and returned toIacon Cityas Optimus Prime.
When Megatron toreSentinel Primein half, his body turned grey as he died. He wasnotrevived.Transformers One
Toys
Masterpiece
- Convoy Sleep Mode(2010)
- ID number:MP-4S
- Accessories:Trailer/Combat Deck, ion Blaster, Autobot Matrix of Leadership, gun mode Megatron, Megatron's scope, stock and silencer, energon-axe
- Released by TakaraTomy as part of theirWelcome to Transformers 2010anniversary line honoring the "future era" of the original cartoon (which was set in 2010 in Japanese continuity, you see!), this exceptionally morbid re-release of theMasterpieceConvoy figure recolours the Autobot leader in
blacks and greysverylow-saturated reds and blues, representinghis dead bodyfromThe Transformers: The Movie—but don't worry, kids, it's actually a "sleep mode", according to the figure's name! Limited to 2010 pieces in Japan (see what they did there?), it comes with all its customary accessories, including the Perfect Edition trailer, redecoed where appropriate: the trailer itself has become translucent, its energon-axe is now transparent grey, and Megatron, in another movie homage, is rendered in translucent purple, evoking the scene depicting his transformation intoGalvatron.The figure was also released in other parts of Asia as a limited edition of 2010 as well, combined with the Japanese edition for 4020 total. The Japanese version denotes "Serial Number in Japan: ####/2010" on its bio card with the number out of 2010, while the Asian version denotes "C1 - ####/2010" with the number out of 2010 on its bio card.
- This version of Convoy depictsHot RodandUltra Magnuson its communicators.
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War for Cybertron: Earthrise
- Alternate Universe Optimus Prime(Leader Class, 2020)
- TakaraTomy ID number:ER EX-17
- TakaraTomy release date:February 20,2021
- Accessories:Ion Blaster,shield/ramp, trailer/Combat Deck,artillery robot,Matrix of Leadership
- "Alternate Universe Optimus Prime" is a greyscaled redeco ofWar for Cybertron: EarthriseOptimus Prime with a new head that evokes the battle damage and his death inThe Transformers: The Movie.The Matrix of Leadership is the same as the mass retail Leader, though the Ion Blaster is painted completely silver and his rear calves are painted. Another change is the number of lugnuts on the wheels of the trailer. The normal retail version has 10 lug nuts per wheel, whilst this release has none. He is packaged in aSelects-styled box that depicts Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, andArceegrieving during his death scene reflected on a window of his damaged truck mode.
- There are reported issues where the left chest piece is unable to tab in fully due to a deformed pin, leaving a small uneven gap visible in robot mode.
- This is the onlyEarthrisetoy to lack an ID number and map piece and isn't part of the Galactic Odyssey Collection. Coincidentally, Hasbro ID number WFC-E28 is never used in the toyline within its range of E1 to E41, lending to the possibility that WFC-E28 was intended to be his.
- Alternate Universe Optimus Prime was supposed to release as an exclusive for Amazon Prime Day 2020, though the day was pushed back several months, making the toy release much earlier. The figure first saw release in some Malaysian hobby shopsbeforeit was fully revealed on Hasbro's June 26Fan First Fridaystream. The figure was later released in Japan as aTakaraTomy Mallexclusive as part of the 7th wave of TakaraTomySelectstoys.
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Merchandise
The Loyal Subjects
- 8 "Dead Optimus Prime(2013)
Super Cyborg
- Optimus Prime (Dead)(2018)
- Accessories:Ion blaster, torso plate
- This dark grey version was exclusive toNew York Comic Con2018.
ReAction
- Fallen Leader Optimus Prime(2021)
- Accessories:Ion Blaster
- Released in the fourth wave ofReAction,this all-grey version of Optimus features a new torso tooling with open chest panels revealing a (non-removable) Matrix of Leadership.
- This is the first ofthreedifferent figures of the same concept to be sold under the name "Fallen Leader Optimus Prime"; the other two (below) areTargetexclusives.
- This figure was initially solicited to retailers as "Dead Optimus Prime" before the slightly gentler name change... but "Dead Optimus Prime" is still what the figure is labeled on the cardback checklist as of wave 6.
- Fallen Leader Optimus Prime(2022)
- Accessories:Ion Blaster
- This Target-exclusive version of the "Fallen Leader" concept is just the normal Optimus figure with the closed-up chest done in the greys of the initial "Fallen Leader" figure. Exciting! And clearance fodder!
- This figure was released alongside the "Chrome Commander Megatron"figure.
ULTIMATES!
- Optimus Prime (Fallen Leader)(2023)
- Accessories:2 fists, 2 open hands, 2 Matrix-grip hands, trigger-grip right hand, Matrix of Leadership, ion blaster
- This retool and redeco ofULTIMATES!Optimus Prime is the latest of several representations of his dead body from "The Transformers: The Movie,"now with a greyscale paint scheme, a heavily damaged left torso section, and cracks all over him (and on his rifle too for good measure). They also seem to have improved the elbow articulation.
- Preorders opened in June 2022, with the expectation that of figures shipping the following May. As of September 2023,BigBadToyStoresays that it is estimated to arrive February 2024.
- King Starscream (Fallen)(2023)
- Accessories:2 arm cannons, smirking alternate head, disintegrating alternate head, closed fists (L & R), gripping hands (L & R), "expressive" hands (L & R), crown
- In a change from the sizable squadron of "Coronation" Starscreams offered over the years, "King Starscream (Fallen)" represents the character as he looks when killed byGalvatron.His body is grey and cracked, his cape torn, one set of hands meant to powerlessly grasp at the air, and one of his alternate heads is screaming and partially crumbled.
- Preorders were open untilJanuary 13,2023, with the toys purportedly shipping the following Fall.
Trivia
- Aggressive depigmentation is, of course, a fancy name for the long tradition of Transformers turning grey upon death, with the term first being given in the2018comic issueTransformers: Lost Light#13.
