Sweet (and Horrible) Death

With minions, it's expected that they're going to bite it at one point or another. It comes with the job. While most are left to simply explode in a burst of flames (ho-hum), some have had the distinction of getting their own death animation, with fancy visuals and sounds.


In actuality, they're all kinda grisly — I wouldn't wish them on anyone. But from a fetish aspect, I've likened them to orgasms. In many cases, these sequences would involve the minion writhing, struggling, or spasming momentarily before their obliteration.

The Hiderers of Dengeki Sentai Changeman are one of the earliest (if not the earliest) grunts who had a distinct death sequence. When the hose around their torso was cut, it would begin spewing a white gas. The Hiderer would writhe momentarily before glowing and dissolving into a blue substance and disappearing.

Many years later were the Z-Putties of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Striking them in the 'Z' on their chest plate would disrupt their power, causing them to crumble to pieces and vanish. The Z-Putties' reaction to being struck on the Z included apathy (little to no reaction), confusion or shock (grabbing the Z and staring at it), writhing (as if trying to stay alive), or they'd have been hit so hard they would simply fall limp before shattering.

VR Troopers featured the Skugs (based on Kinclons from Spielvan). Skugs could be defeated by making them touch another Skug, causing them to convulse uncontrollably before disintegrating. In the second season, Ultra Skugs (based on the Miraclers from Space Sheriff Shaider) were introduced. They were defeated the same way — but as they disintegrated, brightly-colored and glowing pieces of their bodies would be seen scattering in various directions.

Power Rangers Zeo had the Cogs (the Barlo Soldiers in Ohranger). When hit with a strong attack, Cogs would fall to the ground and short-circuit, writhing and malfunctioning. Almost always, their inner gears and workings could then be seen through their metal exteriors. Sometimes, gears, screws or other parts would fall from their bodies as a result.

In OhRanger, the Barlo Hei would be broken completely to pieces if dealt a strong enough blow.

Early on in Power Rangers Turbo, the Pirahnatrons had a death sequence in which they would thrash on the ground like a fish out of water before melting into a puddle of brown goo.

Early on in Gaoranger, if an Orgette was strongly slashed by one of the GaoRangers, it would have claw marks on its face and torso and begin twitching and spewing liquid from its wounds.

The Karths from Boukenger were made of stone. When defeated, their movements would become more jagged, and their bodies would appear darkened and cracked before exploding into rubble.

A tokusatsu called Madan Senki Ryukendo featured purple bat minions known as Familiars. When the Familiars were defeated they would dissipate into a purple mist.

In GekiRanger, the minions were the Rin Shi. They were undead warriors — zombies, if you will — and when they were defeated, would sometimes burst into chunks and purple mist.

Another tokusatsu, Tomica Hero Rescue Fire, featured fire-based minions called the Jakasts, who would sometimes burst into flames or freeze and shatter (depending on the weapon used against them) when hit with a powerful attack from the Rescue Fire team.