Sparkplug Witwicky was last seen in the episode Cosmic Rust.

Chip Chase was last seen in the episode Child's Play.

Carly was last seen in the episode Nightmare Planet and was weirdly replaced by Arcee as the motherly figure for Daniel in every episode after that.

Raoul was last seen in the episode Auto Bop and while the Autobots typically seen hanging out with him would continue to be featured in future episodes he would not.

Now Sparkplug and Chip also appeared in Scramble City which takes place some time between season 2 and the movie, and Carly actually popped back up again in Headmasters for quite a few episodes but Japanese portion of G1 kinda has a loose connection to the American side as it totally ignores the Rebirth. I'll let you decide if you want to accept them or not.

Even if you do there's still a problem with characters suddenly disappearing from the series and never being seen or mentioned ever again. So this is why I think the Sunbow cartoon might secretly be the darkest cartoon... human characters are generally unkillable. It was pretty shocking that Raf was even injured during Prime because bad things almost never happen to human characters... at least not on screen...

G1 was the only cartoon where human characters would just disappear from the story and I think the implication is that they were killed off screen some time after their last appearance on the show. Raoul for example was only in a hand full of episodes anyway but he was always with the same group of Autobots. They could of been on other adventures off screen we never got to see and of course those Autobots are featured in more episodes during season 3 but without Raoul. What if one of their off screen adventures the Autobots failed to save their human friend from the Decepticons and that's what drives them to become more active with the main Autobots. Like Blaster seemed happier just hanging out with Raoul than he did basically taking over Jazz's position.

There doesn't seem to be any relationship at all between Sparkplug and Daniel. Sure they're directly related as family but I mean they're never seen on screen together. There's no mention of Daniel even knowing a grandfather. Sparkplug may have died before Daniel was born, maybe even before Spike and Carly got married. They were just teenagers the last time Sparkplug was in the show.

It may of all happened off screen and was never even talked about but I think the implication is that those characters were killed and it was done silently off screen where it wouldn't scar young children watching the cartoon.

Sparkplug was officially said to be dead in the comics but again that's only loosely connected to the cartoon if at all so probably isn't canon as far as the Sunbow cartoon is concerned. But there's nothing proving these characters are still alive after their last appearances either. So what do you think happened to them? There isn't a lot of evidence to go in in the cartoon itself so if you want to pull from other sources go ahead. Or you can just pull crap out your aft I don't care. I just want to discuss what you think happened to these characters.

Personally I want to say that Sparkplug was killed by Megatron who just stepped on him without a care in the world.

Chip Chase was killed by Starscream who after realizing how intelligent Chip was forced him to help overthrow Megatron. Chip being too smart for his own good sabatoged Starscream to fail yet again and was promptly killed.

Carly I think was killed by Motormaster. I think Arcee was some how involved in Carly's death, not directly but enough to feel guilty and maybe that's why she starts taking a Daniel so much is because she feels responsible for his mother's death.

Raoul I think was killed by Soundwave. Blaster feels guilty because of this and becomes more active in the Autobot's cause solely to get revenge on Soundwave for Raoul's death.

 

Interesting, I do not take Scramble City or the comics as canon for the US cartoon.

For the record, I had Sparkplug killed by a heart attack.

Forgot about that Raoul, I think maybe Ravage would best kill Raoul.

I have thought that Spike and Carly must have got married at the Ark (or at a chapel near the Protectobots HQ). Everywhere else would be too prone to Decepticon attack.

I also had Chip Chase as the Bill Gates type. Maybe if he suffered a marriage breakdown then he would rejoin the Autobots but he could have been useful in the building of Autobot City.

 

Death by heart attack? Was his name written in a Death Note? That just seems a little too mundane for a universe where giant robots exist. You survived the Decepticons but a heart attack is what kills you? Really?

I don't really like the idea of human characters some how managing to survive multiple Decepticon encounters only to be killed by something real like a heart attack. That's why I had them all killed by Decepticons.

It also seems weird to me because he seemed to be in fairly good health and I just can't imagine him dying so young of natural causes. Maybe if he some how survived long enough to see his grandson grow to adulthood and have kids of his own then sure he can die of old age but since he seems to have died before Daniel was born or when he was too young to remember I just can't see Sparkplug having a natural death.

 

Natural death happens every day, and while I know you don't consider the comics continuity when thinking about the cartoon, many characters share traits between both continuities. Maybe Sparkplug's heart condition in the comics also existed in the cartoon Sparkplug.

Anyway, I do think there is some hidden darkness within the Sunbow cartoon, but not in terms of human character death. I don't think the writers secretly killed them off-screen. I think they just didn't care and had no story that required them.

That's some interesting head canon with the Carly/Arcee thing, though.

 

Sparkplug does look like a bacon and eggs for breakfast everyday kind of guy. Him having a heart attack/stroke at that point wouldn't surprise me as that was a pretty common cause of death in the 80's.

 

I think it still is but for a guy his size he seems to be healthier than I am. I'm pretty sure I would of been dead on the oil rig in the first episode if I was in his place. He's seen running from the Decepticons in more than one episode so even though he seems a bit over weight all that cardio is actually good for you supposedly and would reduce your chances of that happening.

Then again the stress of running too much while running for your life can also cause heart attack. But like I said if it were me I would of died on the oil rig in the first episode. Sparkplug managed to survive multiple encounters without showing any signs of health problems other than being a little over weight.

Also why wouldn't Spike or Daniel ever talk about him if he died of natural causes. I think the reason they don't talk about it was because he was brutally murdered by a Decepticon right in front of Spike and the event was so traumatizing that even mentioning his father would cause him to relive that event over again in his head.

Anyway, it's your theory you can do what you want with it. Just personally I don't like the idea of a character being killed by something mundane and ordinary.

 

Warpath was last seen on "Surprise Party".

That episode came out on October 9th.

October 9th is my birthday.

HASBRO?!

 

It is a bit mundane. But as evil, as the Decepticons are I really do not like the normal to big size Decepticons m killing humans. I am okay with maybe a cassette killing one or two humans due to their being less discrepancy in size.

With Sparkplug, I just see him eating a lot at the Roadhouse or Diner that was depicted in the Chip Chase escape scene in Megatron's Master Plan part 2. Also, in the latter part of S2, the main thing I remember Sparkplug for is fixing Omega (not so much on the battlefield).

What I think is really dark and unexplored is the disappearance of the female Autobots in the Search for Alpha Trion episode.

 

Well considering the time gap between season 2 and the movie I can see Sparkplug dieing of old age. Though they didn’t go into any detail into it.

 

Cool theory maby sparkplug died of old age.

 

As grim as it is I really like this. It isn't some Decepticon super weapon, or Dr. Arkeville plot, just that banality of death. It shows that no mater how strong, brave or smart they are, even heroes can die. There are just some fights you can't win.

 

Sparkplug was originally going to appear in Five Faces of Darkness, part 1 alongside Blaster and Outback. His dialogue was reassigned to Blaster because you don't bring in a voice actor for one line from one of their secondary characters.

 

That is a weirdest theory that I ever heard of, but I think that Sparkplug is retired and lived in a beach house with Skids, Carly is maybe doing more major stuff in the background, Chip become a scientist and later got his mind transferred into Prowl in the farther future, & Raoul become a mechanic and a family man.

 

I think that's somewhat unlikely, since he couldn't have been older than 50 in the cartoon. Heart attack, maybe, but not old age. Also, interesting theories everyone.

 

I'm in the process of re-wathcing G1, and I would say the show is actually a little bit darker than I remember (albeit sometimes unintentionally). Some of the stuff the show does to avoid violence ironically gives it a darker edge.

For instance, consider 'Autobot Run', where Megatron constructs a device to crush and destroy the helpless, immobilized Autobots. In a way that seems more twisted than just shooting them. Obviously it was just a plot device to prolong their destruction until help could arrive, but it still feels strangely dark. I've noticed a few things like this throughout the show.

 

Raoul was in 2 episodes, both of which took place in New York City. I just assume that Raoul stayed in NYC and once in a while Tracks and maybe Blaster visited him off screen. Tracks wasn't in season 3 and he was more of a friend to Raoul than Blaster, so there is no real reason to show him. I assume Tracks died in the battle of autobot city

Sparkplug probably died between season 2 and the movie. He would've been in his late 60s early 70s by 2005 and was generally a pretty useless character.

Don't forget that some autobots disappear without any explanation in addition to the humans. Skyfire was a major player for a few episodes but then just fades away. The Dinobots are gone from most of season 2 (between season 1 and 2 they were only in maybe 5 or 6 episodes) and then show up in the movie without Snarl. In season 3 they never go into robot mode. Skids just shows up for 2 episodes without any explanation where he came from or where he went.

 

I've recently been reminded that in the pilot when the Decepticons attacked the oil rig Sparkplug and Spike were on... why was Spike even on the oil rig when he's too young to have a job there? Anywhere there were other people on the rig but only our two main characters were rescued by the Autobots so everyone else we see on that rig died.

I think their logic back then was as long as it doesn't happen on screen kids will never notice all the human deaths. And it seems to have worked. I mean I probably would have assumed that everyone else was rescued off screen rather than they died. Except now as an adult I realize the only reason they would't show a rescue is because it never happened but they won't show a death because of TV ratings. If they want to sell this as a kids show they can't ever show or talk about death, it's just sort of implied.

There's also the fact that those oil rigs can hold even more people than what was shown on screen so probably about 48 people died.

 

The more I think about it the more I think would have more to worry about the Geddi's brothers (or associates) than the Decepticons. But I think Raoul is probably left alone as few humans want to get on the wrong side of the Autobots.

I kind of forgot about Skyfire. I like to think he was killed (assuming it was not him in Dark Awakening) by a combination of Thundercracker, Skywarp and Starscream before the new characters were introduced in Dinobot Island. I dislike the thought of Powerglide usurping a live Skyfire.

But if a series 2.5 was made I would probably have Skyfire killed battling Combiners.

 

what about Shawn Berger??? I really wish they had a line explaining what happened to him. I mean, he literally sold out the entire planet Earth just so he can rule 2 cities. did he go to jail? was he executed for treason?

 

I would say that he went to jail for a long period of time. Spike's may have provided evidence about him being helped by Berger so that Berger did not get the death sentence.

On Dark Themes, what do you think happened to Decepticons on foreign planets when Devcon defeated them?