I think i know why protform transformers are easy to kill. If you think of the first to movies, some Decepticons had alternate modes of earth vehicles. As you know they vehicles they choose were built with armor and made for that type of stuff. For instance lets say, Brawl, he was a tank. Maybe that armor proteceted him from all those bullets and bombs. Also look at Blackout and bonecrusher. They were military vehicles. So that means they were equipped with all the armor they needed to take the damage with ease. Now the protoform have none of this extra armor so they're easier to destroy. Think about it. It does make some sense.

 

Except some of the background dudes had alt modes and they died pretty easily too (Devcon, all the robots Prime slaughtered before he killed Shockwave, the Dreads). Cannon fodder gonna be cannon fodder.

 

Yeah but look at how many hits Devcon took. It took all three Wreckers firepower to take him down plus other added fire. Oh and of curse it would be easy for Optimus to kill any cannon fodder con. I mean he is the most powerful Autobot

 

They're all pretty vulnerable regardless of whether they have a disguised alt mode or not, whether Decepticon or Autobot. Most one or two-hit kills are up close in case you guys didn't notice.

 

Its kinda stupid how they are are giant metal fighting robots, but can take down a human on their own. Plus they are advanced intelligent robots. If they were so smart they could avoid these problems.

 

I seriously doubt the amount of armor you have depends on what alt mode you adopt. My belief is that even if you adopt an alt mode, your endurance remains that which you possessed when you were a protoform.

 

But Protoforms are the bare bones of a TF. They're not a Cybertronian form, rather the "skeleton" of a TF.

 

They lacked the invincible armor of being indispensible to the story. Once you've done all you're written to do though... poor Q.

 

Exactly

 

I don't know, the alternative just opens up the door to LOTS of absurd silliness.

So Bumblebee's armor during the first fight scene with Barricade was basically 30 year old rusty sheet-steel?

And later on he was fighting battle-hardened Decepticons with nothing but flimsy-ass fiberglass or whatever protecting him?!?

Um...NO.

Robots IN DISGUISE.

 

So are you implying that a TF gains extra armor once they adopt an alt mode? That doesn't quite fly; how would they produce it?

 

Otherwise THIS is the end result of every fight:

Transformers 3 BumbleBee Accident - YouTube​

 

Actually, when all the they are in robot mode, their disguise panels are all scratched up and torn, but in alt mode they look like they just rolled off the car lot.

 

Being Cost Effective shouldn't mean easy to die.

 

Easy. They probably change body shape or use energon to make more parts.

 

The dreads weren't killed by Optimus Prime and even they died pretty quick. Being a protoform has nothing to do with endurance; their role in the movie does. Brawl didn't die right away because the movie required him to stay for most of the battle. The Brawl clone Optimus Prime slaughtered in 2 seconds in DOTM died in 2 seconds because it needed just be cannon fodder to make Prime look powerful. I wish I could have a more "in-fiction" answer, but the endurance of some of the robots is so random to the point where it's probably true.

 

Hypothetically speaking, they could store their nanomolecular armor inside of their Protoform bodies. When they trans-scan something, they could simply open their nanomachine ports, and let them form the alt. mode shell around them. Larger robots can store more nanomachines, so they can form bigger, and more durable armor.

It doesn't necessarily explain why so many of them go into battle "naked", though the lack of any vehicle that's not a shattered wreck in Chicago could go a ways towards explaining that. Can't scan a wreck unless you want to be a wreck ('76 'Bee, Megatruck).

There may be a tradeoff between hard armor on the outside, and nanomachines in the inside, and the other way around. Protoforms are hardy enough for a quick skirmish, but without regenerating armor, they won't last long. 'bots who've scanned something will be weaker to single hits, but able to recover easier from their damage.

 

Maybe because they don't have enough energon which makes them more weak.

 

Because Bay said so?

Ever watch other action movies? So many bad guys that are feared by the general population, but 1 guy makes them all look useless. Hundreds of them.

 

All of this. Using sheer numbers to make good guys look tough, instead of writing them as heroic and having them struggle with villains actually capable of beating them. Bay's style is all visual, so he couldn't figure out ways to make the heros look tougher that didn't involve just more killing. Also, they were uncapable of writing a story where killing everything wasn't the only option.