Furmanism

Transformers writer Simon Furman is infamous among fans for dialogue concepts that are frequently retreaded. Such repeated phrases are known informally as Furmanisms.

CAN I DO LESS?

 * "Always lived life in the FAST LANE -- guess you DIED that way, too! Can we do any less?" --Jazz,
 * "I've stood here and watched humans -- frail flesh creatures -- fight and die for their world. CAN I DO LESS?" --Jazz,
 * "You are WRONG! You were ready to sacrifice yourself to save my family.  CAN I DO LESS FOR YOU?" --Jose,
 * "Kup, there's got to be another way! Ratchet sacrificed everything to save us -- can we do less?" --Sureshot,
 * "The real Scorponok wouldn't have turned and fled! He'd have accepted his responsibilities, his FATE!  Can I then do less?" --Scorponok,

FIGHT AND DIE

 * "Yeah. Better to FIGHT AND DIE-- than live with the knowledge that I ran!" --Jazz,
 * "But could I live with myself, knowing I fled, gave in to my fear?" --Scorponok,
 * "We're Dinobots; we stick together, fight together -- and DIE together, if necessary! Better that than live with the knowledge that we turned and ran, abandoned a comrade!" --Swoop,
 * "Better to die a hero than live as a coward." --Narration,
 * "Hold still, relic... Better to stand and die than perish in ignominous flight!" --Random G2 Cybertronian chasing Tracks,

INDIGESTION

 * "Well, then... I'm about to give you the worst case of INDIGESTION you've EVER had!" --Megatron,
 * "READY. Let's give this stuff the worst case of INDIGESTION it's EVER had!" --Dirge,
 * "Let's give this creature... the worst case of INDIGESTION it's ever had." --Optimus Prime,

IT CAN BE DESTROYED

 * "He's not invincible! He can be hurt!" --Buster,
 * "This is no demon, no ghost! It is metal and circuitry!  It can feel pain -- IT CAN BE HURT!" --Optimus Prime,
 * "Concentrate your fire! It has FORM, it has SUBSTANCE... it can be DESTROYED!" --Mindset,
 * "Whatever that thing is, it has mass, it has substance... IT CAN BE DESTROYED!" --Jhiaxus,
 * "Ultimately, Megatron is argonized steel and polymer sinew, just like us. He can be HURT... He can be KILLED..." --Starscream,

IT NEVER ENDS

 * "And so it ends! Though it never really ends, does it?" --Shockwave
 * Okay, okay. I know I have a responsibility, a duty! But when does my contract expire? When does it end?" "It never ends, Spike." -- Spike Witwicky & Fortress Maximus,
 * "But it never ends." --Optimus Prime (opening narration),
 * "The future holds only conflict and mayhem! It never ends!" --Optimus Prime (closing narration),
 * "I wish I could share their elation, believe that is truly over. Before he died, Jhiaxus mentioned a name, a place. In my heart of hearts, I know... IT NEVER ENDS!" --Optimus Prime,
 * "As one they attack, Autobots and Decepticons who fought for and against the dream, now united in the pantheon of Transformer myth. Their time, they thought, had come and gone. But some battles... NEVER END!" --Narration,
 * "Even the business of running a bitter war of attrition does nothing to stave off the dark, foreboding, fracturing of my psyche. I see the end. But the shuddering, lurching instant brings scant comfort. For I know, deep down... IT NEVER ENDS!" --Optimus Prime,

LIKE SOME PREDATORY BIRD

 * (There were only two instances of the complete "hovers like some predatory bird," not the requisite three, but it's too awesome not to mention.)


 * "I now believe a SECOND menace exists, one that hovers like some predatory bird at the edge of my consciousness." --Optimus Prime,
 * "Ahead, hovering like some vast, predatory bird on the fringes of Fahl Space... the Decepticon flagship, Twilight--" Narration,

NEVER DID WANT TO LIVE FOREVER!

 * "Demolishor! Oh, well... never expected to live forever!" --Smokescreen,
 * "Thunderwing. HNH. Never DID want to live forever." --Springer,
 * "Oh well... never DID want to live forever!" --Snarl,
 * "You think? Oh well... never DID want to live forever!" --Ratchet,

OVER -- FINISHED!

 * "To be honest, CHAINCLAW-- I don't know why we're BOTHERING! The war's over -- FINISHED!" --Jazz,
 * "I'm warning you, Prime -- Interfere now and the alliance is over, FINISHED!" -- Scorponok,
 * "Do you not understand? It's OVER -- FINISHED!" --Bludgeon,
 * "And now... it is time for this mindless war to cease. It is done, finished." --The Last Autobot,
 * "The war is over, finished." -- Optimus Prime
 * "ENOUGH! Do you not understand, Decepticons?  It is over -- FINISHED!" -- Optimus Prime,
 * "And suddenly, in one massive stroke - it was done, finished." -- Narrating Optimus Prime,
 * "That's ENOUGH, Kup! It's OVER -- finished!  Do you HEAR me?!" -- Optimus Prime,
 * "IDIOTS! INCOMPETENTS! I am surrounded by DOLTS! This should have been over, FINISHED!" -- Jhiaxus,
 * "Officially, hostilies are OVER, finished. Maximal-Predacon, we're one big happy family. But WE know different." -- Lio Convoy,

REAP THE WHIRLWIND!

 * "Our sins remembered, final judgement pronounced. The heavens opened, and we reaped, I say... REAPED THE WHIRLWIND." --Spinister,
 * "When you posted me to this backwater rock in space, you were sowing the seeds of your OWN destruction! Now... REAP THE WHIRLWIND!" --Starscream,
 * "We saw the signs, the portents--the dark clouds gathering on our horizons. And yet we averted our eyes, pretended it wasn't coming. And in doing so we unleashed a storm of even greater magnitude, one that so very nearly destroyed us all. And now, it seems... others shall REAP THE WHIRLWIND." --Optimus Prime inner monologue,

WHAT CHANCE DO WE HAVE?

 * "In my OWN time I destroyed an entire RACE of Autobots, their MIGHTIEST LEADER! What CHANCE then -- DO YOU HAVE?!" --Galvatron II,
 * "If all those Autobots, all those humans, couldn't save Earth... WHAT CHANCE DO WE HAVE?" --Prowl,
 * "Galvatron accounted for the most powerful Autobots around, so what chance do I have?" --Jazz,
 * "Even the Mighty Optimus Prime has fallen! What chance then, for the rest of us?" --Scorponok,
 * "If even THIS great force can fall, what chance then for the REST of us?" -- Optimus Prime,
 * "Five of us, weaponless, against the whole blasted Decepticon army! WHAT CHANCE DO WE HAVE?" --Prowl,