Unraveling Bender's Fate: The Astonishing 10 Times He Met his Demise in Futurama (& How)

Summary

Bender, one of the main characters in Futurama, has died 10 times throughout the show.

Bender dies numerous times throughout non-canonical episodes, allowing the writers to creatively dispose of the character. Nevertheless, he consistently finds a way to return to life, whether it be through time travel, cloning, or reincarnation.

Bender, one of Futurama's main characters, has died a total of 10 times throughout the show, despite still being present in the newest season. Bender, also known as Bender Bending Rodriguez, is a foul-mouthed bending unit working at Planet Express. He is a close friend to Fry, Leela, and the rest of the gang. Being a robot in the sci-fi universe of Futurama, Bender has experienced numerous deaths and resurrections. Here are the 10 instances of Bender's deaths in the show.

Futurama has made a grand return with Hulu bringing back the beloved show created by Matt Groening for an eleventh season, over a decade since its original run. The revival includes almost all of the iconic characters from the original series, including the beloved robot, Bender. Voiced by actor John DiMaggio, Bender has become one of the show's most memorable aspects, playing a significant role in numerous popular moments and storylines. Interestingly, many of Bender's storylines involve his demise. In this article, we will explore the 10 episodes throughout Futurama's eleven seasons where Bender meets his untimely end.

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10 Futurama Season 2, Episode 16, "Anthology Of Interest I"

The "Anthology of Interest I" episode of Futurama is the initial installment of a series of anthology episodes that do not follow the main timeline of the show. In these episodes, the writers take the opportunity to repeatedly kill off the character Bender. In one segment of the second season, Bender experiences two distinct deaths. Firstly, he meets his demise when a colossal Zoidberg propels him onto the Empire State Building, impaling him. Later on, in the "Dial L for Leela" segment, Leela causes Bender's demise by subjecting him to radiation emitted from a microwave.

9 Futurama Season 3, Episode 18, "Anthology Of Interest II"

Only a season later in "Anthology of Interest II," the non-canonical episode found another opportunity to once again have Bender killed. In the segment "I, Meatbag," Bender contemplates the consequences of being a human, resulting in a narrative that plays out this hypothetical scenario. Instead of being murdered by a member of the Planet Express crew, Bender's hedonistic lifestyle and lack of self-control ultimately leads to his demise. It's important to note that since these two episodes are not part of the official Futurama timeline, Bender did not actually die in the main storyline, although his demise is evident in these self-contained stories.

8 Futurama: Bender's Big Score

Futurama: Bender's Big Score, one of the Futurama direct-to-DVD movies, stands out by an astonishing number of destroyed Bender versions. The story revolves around Bender gaining time-traveling abilities, leading him to journey across the timeline and pilfer various treasures. However, at the film's conclusion, all the timeline paradoxes, including the numerous Bender clones, are eradicated. In a spectacle of explosive demise, Bender duplicates detonate, causing a rupture in the fabric of space, while the original Bender miraculously survives.

7 Futurama Season 7, Episode 1, "Rebirth"

6 Futurama Season 7, Episode 7, "The Late Philip J. Fry"

While Bender has met his demise in unofficial storylines and alternate versions of Bender have perished in official storylines, it is in season 7, episode 1, "Rebirth," that we witness the true death of the original Bender within Futurama's primary timeline. This specific episode unveils the shocking revelation that the Nimbus collides with the Planet Express ship after the events of the film Into the Wild Green Yonder, resulting in the demise of the entire crew. Among the casualties is Bender, who meets his end in this tragic incident. However, thanks to Farnsworth's resourcefulness and his utilization of power from a doomsday device, Bender is resurrected to continue his animated adventures.

"The Late Philip J. Fry," an acclaimed episode from the seventh season of Futurama, showcases yet another paradoxical death of Bender. In this episode, Fry, Farnsworth, and Bender find themselves trapped in a forward-only time machine. Eventually, they discover that once the universe dies, an identical one is reborn, causing them to journey into the 3000s of this new universe. Upon their arrival, the time machine unintentionally crushes the duplicates of Fry, Farnsworth, and Bender from the new universe, allowing the trio from the original universe to take their place.

5 Futurama Season 7, Episode 13, "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular"

"The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" is an additional episode in the Futurama series, but this time it presents a collection of stories centered around the various winter holidays. In the first segment, which focuses on Xmas, there is a rapid growth of pine trees that takes over the entire Earth. As a result, the sudden increase in pine trees leads to a significant rise in the oxygen levels on Earth. However, at the conclusion of this segment, Bender, a character in the show, carelessly ignites a cigar. This causes the highly-oxidized atmosphere to ignite as well, resulting in the tragic demise of Bender and all other inhabitants on Earth.

4 Futurama Season 8, Episode 2, "Benderama"

In the second episode of Futurama season 8 titled "Benderama," the death count for Bender rises significantly as numerous clones of him meet their demise. The plot revolves around Bender utilizing one of Farnsworth's inventions to replicate himself, resulting in the creation of two slightly smaller versions of Bender. This process is repeated by the Bender clones, causing a rapid increase in their numbers until they reach a subatomic scale. Throughout the episode, the crew of Planet Express takes it upon themselves to eliminate as many clones as they can, successfully eliminating a considerable number of them.

3 Futurama Season 8, Episode 3, "Ghost In The Machines"

Futurama season 8, episode 3, "Ghost in the Machines" witnesses Bender's demise for the umpteenth time, as he is unexpectedly murdered by the suicide booth, which ironically happens to be his ex-girlfriend. This tragic event results in Bender transforming into an imperceptible ghost, operating solely on a wireless network, and restricted to interacting solely with the Robot Devil. Towards the end of the episode, in a daring scheme, Bender attempts to take control of Robot God, ultimately resulting in Robot God banishing him back to Earth. Upon returning, Bender seamlessly resumes his existence in his original body, as if the occurrence of his death had never transpired.

2 Futurama Season 10, Episode 4, "Forty Percent Leadbelly"

In "Forty Percent Leadbelly," the fourth episode of Futurama season 10, Bender fulfills his lifelong dream of becoming a folk singer. However, his triumph is short-lived as he meets his demise soon after. Bender's untimely end is a result of his affair with the girlfriend of a railroad worker robot named Big Caboose, who accidentally runs him over with a train. A memorial service is held for Bender, but it is later revealed that Big Caboose unknowingly killed a 3-D printed clone of Bender, leaving the real robot alive.

1 Futurama Season 11, Episode 9, "The Prince And The Product"

The final demise of Bender in the popular animated show Futurama is depicted in the anthology episode "The Prince and the Product," which is part of season 7. In this episode, the initial segment revolves around a universe where all characters are mechanical wind-up toys. Upon learning that Fry's spring is malfunctioning and he is on the verge of dying, Bender sacrifices himself by rewinding Fry's spring, thereby saving Fry but resulting in his own demise. Fortunately, the concept of reincarnation exists in the Futurama universe, leading to Bender returning as an airplane shortly after his untimely death.

Fresh episodes of Futurama are released on Hulu every Monday.