Furmanism

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

Various Furmanisms

CAN I DO LESS?

• "As long as life remains in me, I will do everything in my power to save him. I can do no less!" —Optimus Prime, "Under Fire!"
• "But both Wreck-Gar and Inferno sacrificed themselves to save me. Can I do any less than risk my life to AVENGE them?" —Smokescreen, "The Legacy of Unicron!"
• "Always lived life in the FAST LANE -- guess you DIED that way, too! Can we do any less?" —Jazz, "Life in the Slow Lane"
• "I've stood here and watched humans -- frail flesh creatures -- fight and die for their world. CAN I DO LESS?" —Jazz, "Rhythms of Darkness!"
• "You are WRONG! You were ready to sacrifice yourself to save my family. CAN I DO LESS FOR YOU?" —Jose, "A Savage Place!"
• "Kup, there's got to be another way! Ratchet sacrificed everything to save us -- can we do less?" —Sureshot, "The Price of Life!"
• "The real Scorponok wouldn't have turned and fled! He'd have accepted his responsibilities, his FATE! Can I then do less?" —Scorponok, "On the Edge of Extinction!"

DOWN TO EARTH--LITERALLY!

• "Aww, did I bring the poor Autobot DOWN TO EARTH with a bump?" —Rumble, "The Gathering Darkness"
• "Let's bring these latter-generation big shots DOWN TO EARTH!" —Skydive, "Total War!"
• "Bring him DOWN TO EARTH!" —Lio Convoy, The Ascending #3

FIGHT AND DIE

• "I detest fleeing! I would rather DIE fighting!" - Headstrong Call of the Primitives

• "Yeah. Better to FIGHT AND DIE-- than live with the knowledge that I ran!" —Jazz, "Rhythms of Darkness!"

• "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, "Still Life!"

• "What of it? Better to DIE a warrior's death than endure this mockery of life!" —Crankcase, "The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire"

• "Better to DIE a hero than live as a coward." —Narration, "Salvage!"

• "Hold still, relic... Better to STAND AND DIE than perish in ignominous flight!" —Random Generation 2 Cybertronian chasing Tracks, "Total War!"

• "FIGHT AND DIE, Ravage, FIGHT AND DIE. Or...bring him to ME." —Magmatron, The Ascending #4

• "Save your breath, you mindless machine! I'd rather fight and die than follow the likes of you and Unicron!" -Starscream, Drift

THE WORST CASE OF INDIGESTION IT'S EVER HAD

• "Well, then... I'm about to give you the worst case of INDIGESTION you've EVER had!" —Megatron, "Dark Shadows!"
• "READY. Let's give this stuff the worst case of INDIGESTION it's EVER had!" —Dirge, "A Rage in Heaven!"
• "Let's give this creature... the worst case of INDIGESTION it's ever had." —Optimus Prime, "Worlds Collide, Part 4"

IT CAN BE HURT

• "He's not invincible! He can be hurt!" —Buster, "Robot Buster!"
• "Springer's right! If they can hurt... they can BE HURT!" —Inferno, "Survivors!"
• "This is no demon, no ghost! It is metal and circuitry! It can feel pain -- IT CAN BE HURT!" —Optimus Prime, "Skin Deep"
• "Concentrate your fire! It has FORM, it has SUBSTANCE... it can be DESTROYED!" —Mindset, "Swarm"
• "Whatever that thing is, it has mass, it has substance... IT CAN BE DESTROYED!" —Jhiaxus, "A Rage in Heaven!"
• "Ultimately, Megatron is argonized steel and polymer sinew, just like us. He can be HURT... He can be KILLED..." —Starscream, Infiltration #6

IT IS OVER -- FINISHED!

• "To be honest, CHAINCLAW-- I don't know why we're BOTHERING! The war's over -- FINISHED!" —Jazz, "Rhythms of Darkness!"
• "Me just want this over with -- FINISHED!" —Grimlock, "The Price of Life!"
• "I'm warning you, Prime -- Interfere now and the alliance is over, FINISHED!" —Scorponok, "...All This and Civil War 2"
• "Do you not understand? It's OVER -- FINISHED!" —Bludgeon, "End of the Road!"
• "And now... it is time for this mindless war to cease. It is done, finished." —the Last Autobot, "End of the Road!"
• "ENOUGH! Do you not understand, Decepticons? It is over -- FINISHED!" —Optimus Prime, "End of the Road!"
• "And suddenly, in one massive stroke - it was done, finished." —Narrating Optimus Prime, "Another Time and Place"
• "The war is over, FINISHED." —Optimus Prime "War Without End"
• "That's ENOUGH, Kup! It's OVER -- finished! Do you HEAR me?!" —Optimus Prime, "Primal Fear!"
• "IDIOTS! INCOMPETENTS! I am surrounded by DOLTS! This should have been over, FINISHED!" —Jhiaxus, "Dark Shadows!"
• "Your day, such as it was, is done! Over!" —Megatron, "A Meeting of Minds"
• "Officially, hostilities are OVER, finished. Maximal-Predacon, we're one big happy family. But WE know different." —Lio Convoy, The Gathering #1

IT NEVER ENDS

• "And so it ends! Though it never really ends, does it?" —Shockwave, "Time Wars"
• "It never stops, does it? One battle blurring into the next! Sometime I wonder if there'll EVER be an end to the fighting! —Override, "Kings of the Wild Frontier"
• "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 and Fortress Maximus, "The Last Autobot?"
• "But it never ends." —Optimus Prime (opening narration), "Another Time and Place"
• "The future holds only conflict and mayhem! It never ends!" —Optimus Prime (closing narration), "Another Time and Place"
• "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, "A Rage in Heaven!"
• "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 felt, had come and gone. But some battles... NEVER END!" —Narration, "Reaching the Omega Point"
• "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, Stormbringer #1
• "Oh god - it never ends!" -Random civilian, Transformers Comic issue 14

LIKE SOME PREDATORY BIRD

• "I now believe a SECOND menace exists, one that hovers like some predatory bird at the edge of my consciousness." —Optimus Prime, "Devices and Desires!"
• "Ahead, hovering like some vast, predatory bird on the fringes of Fahl Space... the Decepticon flagship, Twilight--" —Narration, "New Dawn"
• "Like some dread bird of prey, Megatron would hang suspended in the upper atmosphere, raining lightning bolts down on enemy emplacements while his drone (ground) troopers picked off any who attempted to flee or fight back." —Description of Megatron's vehicle mode, Transformers: The Movie Guide

NEVER DID WANT TO LIVE FOREVER!

• "A mere three minutes of air left. Ah well, who wants to live forever?" -Hi-Q, "Dreadwing Down!"
• "Demolishor! Oh, well... never expected to live forever!" —Smokescreen, "Worlds Collide, Part 2"
• "Thunderwing. HNH. Never DID want to live forever." —Springer, Stormbringer #2
• "Oh well... never DID want to live forever!" —Snarl, You Can Draw Transformers
• "You think? Oh well... never DID want to live forever!" —Ratchet, Transformers Comic #2

NO! YOU'RE DEAD!

• "No! Y-you were dead... I killed you!" —Thunderwing, "The Big Shutdown!"
• "No! It - it can't be you... you're dead!" —Ratchet, "Back From the Dead"
• "But he's dead! We saw him die, didn't we?" -Siren, "Assault on the Ark!"
• "No! I saw you die, felt your aura leave its mortal remains! You were no more!" —Bludgeon, "End of the Road!"
• "Noo! It can't be... I killed you! You're dead! ...you must be!" —Galvatron, "Vicious Circle!"
• "YOU did this... but you're DEAD!" —Dreadwind, "Race with the Devil" (cover)
• "No! It can't be you... you're dead!" —Megatron, "Salvage!" (cover)
• "Nooo! You're - you're dead... dead! I saw you die!" —Megatron, "Salvage!"
• "Megatron! You're....dead! I terminated you!" -Starscream "Starscream's Brigade"

REAP THE WHIRLWIND!

• "Our sins remembered, final judgment pronounced. The heavens opened, and we reaped, I say... REAPED THE WHIRLWIND." —Spinister, "Worlds Collide, Part 2"
• "When you posted me to this backwater rock in space, you were sowing the seeds of your OWN destruction! Now... REAP THE WHIRLWIND!" —Starscream, Infiltration #6
• "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's inner monologue, Stormbringer #2

SURPLUS TO REQUIREMENTS

• "Doesn't matter we came through for you guys, almost got ourselves killed in the process...we're now just surplus to requirements, RIGHT?" —Hunter O'Nion, Escalation #1
• "We have to find him...before whoever has him decides he's SURPLUS to requirements." —Verity Carlo, Escalation #4
• "HEADMASTERS. In evolutionary terms, the next step. Which rather makes you two...SURPLUS to requirements!" —Machination Headmaster guy, Devastation #2

TIME I MADE A STAND!

• "It is time for someone to make a stand. Time for someone to fight back. Someone like ME... a time like NOW!" —Professor Morris, "In the National Interest"
• "If I turn away now, I'll just keep on turning away. Sometimes you have to make a STAND!" —Carnivac, "Way of the Warrior"
• "No! I've had it with running! I left those soldiers to the Decepticons' tender mercies, I won't do it with you! IT'S TIME I MADE A STAND!" —Carnivac again, "A Savage Place!"
• "Instead of running around like headless chickens we should be trying to HELP her! I say we make a STAND!" —Thunderpunch, "On the Edge of Extinction!"

TIME I WASN'T HERE!

• "Auto lock on — transferring all electrical systems to outer hull. Which means it's time I wasn't here!" —Prowl, "Dinobot Hunt!"
• "Time I wasn't here!" —Hud, "Kings of the Wild Frontier"
• "Time I wasn't here!" —Nightbeat, "All Fall Down"
• "Time we weren't here!" —Hot Rod, Devastation #3

WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT?

• "Uhn! Blast it, Backstreet! What're you playing at?" —Dogfight, "Race with the Devil"
• "Nautilus? But he wasn't supposed to break cover for at least another month! WHAT ON CYBERTRON IS HE PLAYING AT?" —Rodimus Prime, "Wanted:Galvatron — Dead or Alive!"
• "Forget how! What in Primus' name do you think you're playing at?" —Springer, "Survivors!"
• "Whaddaya think you're playing at, Inferno?" —Broadside, "Survivors!"
• "What do you think"
  "you're playing at?" —Doubleheader, "Whose Lifeforce is it Anyway?"
• "Hey! What are you playing at, Nightbeat?" —Kup, "The Price of Life!"

WHAT CHANCE DO WE HAVE?

• "If all those Autobots, all those humans, couldn't save Earth... WHAT CHANCE DO WE HAVE?" —Prowl, "Rhythms of Darkness!"
• "Galvatron accounted for the most powerful Autobots around, so what chance do I have?" —Jazz, "Rhythms of Darkness!"
• "In my OWN time I destroyed an entire RACE of Autobots, their MIGHTIEST LEADER! What CHANCE then -- DO YOU HAVE?!" —Galvatron II, "Surrender!"
• "Even the Mighty Optimus Prime has fallen! What chance then, for the rest of us?" —Scorponok, "On the Edge of Extinction!"
• "If even THIS great force can fall, what chance then for the REST of us?" —Optimus Prime, "On the Edge of Extinction!"
• "Five of us, weaponless, against the whole blasted Decepticon army! WHAT CHANCE DO WE HAVE?" —Prowl, "End of the Road!"
• "If this malevolent force can best the last of the Templars, WHAT HOPE DO I HAVE to fight against it?" -Apelinq, "Apelinq's War Journals"
• "Oh, in these human bodies, what CHANCE do we have?" —Ratchet, "Human Error, Part 1 (Transformers Animated)"

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE THINGS I CAN DO NOW!

• "That was just a small demonstration. You won't BELIEVE the things I can do now!" —Cyclonus, "Fire & Ice"
• "But these days...you won't BELIEVE the things we can do!" —Bludgeon, "Revelation"
• "Prime...you won't BELIEVE the things I can do now!" —Megatron, Escalation #5

Notes

Even Furman's non-canonical works are not immune to furmanisms. In the pseudocanonical story The Last Days of Optimus Prime Megatron uses the phrase "It never ends."