OPTIMUS PRIME

Optimus Prime is the Autobot leader from the Generation 1 continuity family.

I’m that guy everyone remembers. No, not the tape guy, the other guy.

Optimus Prime is the awe-inspiring leader of the Autobot forces. Selfless and endlessly courageous, he is the complete opposite of his mortal enemy Megatron. Originally a mere civilian known as Orion Pax or Optronix, he was chosen by the Matrix of Leadership to command, the first in a number of heavy burdens he has been forced to bear. Another is his bringing of the Transformers‘ conflict to Earth. Every casualty, human or Cybertronian weighs heavily on his spark. He does not show this side to his soldiers and never succumbs to despair. The Autobots need a decisive, charismatic leader and that is what he gives them. It was that leadership which turned the tide of the Great War.

On the battlefield, there are few who rival Optimus Prime’s prowess. He is easily the strongest of any Autobot his size. When teamed with his Combat Deck and Roller drone, his ion blaster and energon-axe are deadly weapons. He would sacrifice his life to protect his fellow Autobots or those under their care and does so on a regular basis. His compassion for other sentient beings is his only real weakness, and one the Decepticons have taken advantage of time and again…

Marvel Comics continuity

Main article: Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity

Don’t worry, the multiple crises of conscience come soon enough.

Optimus Prime was a gladiator champion for Iacon before quickly working his way up the Autobot ranks once Megatron started the war. Four million years ago, when Decepticons attacked the Ark, he personally chose to crash it onto Earth, a decision that caused him much remorse when the war restarted on Earth in the modern day.

Though Optimus allowed himself to be destroyed when he betrayed his own moral code while playing a video game, a copy of his mind survived on a floppy disk. Years later, he was restored as a Powermaster, binary bonded to the Nebulan, Hi-Q. Optimus Prime slowly earned the respect of Decepticon leader Scorponok, mourned the loss of his friend Ratchet, and ultimately sacrificed everything to defeat Unicron. Though Optimus died again, his mind persisted in Hi-Q, and the Last Autobot was able to restore him as an Action Master in time to bring a temporary end to the war.

In one universe, Optimus Prime went on to battle Jhiaxus, his Cybertronian troops, and the Swarm. In another, fifteen years of peace passed before Megatron rose again.

S.T.A.R.S. pack-in flyers

The fury of the “Road Warriors”… and Cosmos.

The Autobots were outnumbered and outgunned on Earth from the start, though Optimus was confident (and correct) that reinforcements from Cybertron would arrive. Reinforcements from Cybertron!

However, the situation was still so desperate that Optimus not only decided to recruit human allies The battle is far from over!, but aggressively tried to recruit and deputise human children, including giving them the power to co-ordinate Autobot teams in battles. He wouldn’t even make a final move on the Decepticons until he had enough child soldiers on his side. Earthlings: THE S.T.A.R.S. need your help now! Have the Decepticons defeated us once and for all? In at least one case, this likely led to the death of a small boy at Decepticon hands. Can one boy, alone, hold back the evil Decepticons?

Optimus later led a convoy in search for a building site for Autobot City, which ran into a Decepticon ambush. Rodimus Prime remembers the Transformers greatest battle on Earth. He sent off several Autobots to get help, knowing this was the only chance of victory. Transformers Combat Data Those several Autobots were seen again, but Prime… wasn’t.

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Main article: Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity

He had this ax once. It was very memorable.

Before the war, Optimus Prime was originally Orion Pax, a young dock worker with a girlfriend named Ariel. But as the war began, Megatron destroyed them both, and Alpha Trion rebuilt them into more powerful warriors.

Four million years ago, Optimus Prime ended a Decepticon attack on the Ark by directing it towards prehistoric Earth. When both factions reawakened in 1984, Optimus Prime and the Autobots fought the Decepticons on numerous occasions until 2005. During an attack on Autobot City on Earth, Prime fell in battle against Megatron and passed the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus.

Optimus Prime eventually returned, once as a zombie, and again when he was rebuilt by the Quintessons to stop the spread of the Hate Plague.

The details between these events differ between universes. Sometimes Optimus Prime merged with Vector Sigma soon after defeating the Hate Plague, and returned much, much later as Star Convoy. Sometimes Optimus Prime partnered up with Marissa Faireborn to receive upgrades through mutual kissing. Sometimes… look, he did a lot of weird stuff, okay? He later sacrifices himself to restore the Matrix of Leadership.

Sticker Adventures books

During a Decepticon attack, Cliffjumper pleaded with Optimus to let him jump into the fray. Optimus denied his request, telling him that they already had the Decepticons on the run. In the battle’s aftermath, the Decepticon’s activity seem to vanish altogether. Grateful for the quiet, Optimus decided to head out and fetch extra fuel for the Autobots with Sparkplug. He returned just in time to find his Autobots in the middle of a battle with the Decepticons. With Sparkplug and Prowl’s help, Optimus refuelled his troops, and once more drove the Decepticons back. Revenge of the Decepticons

Optimus Prime and the Autobots were repairing a ship in the hopes of using it to return to Cybertron, when the Decepticons attacked. He took a hit in the midst of the battle, and fell unconscious…

Then he dreamed of awakening, only to find his troops smashed. Realizing his only hope for survival lay with Cybertron, Optimus then boarded the ship the Autobots were repairing, and travelled back to his home planet. Arriving on Cybertron, he found it completely under Decepticon domination. Optimus then met an old Autobot codger who pleaded that he return to Earth to gather a force that could overthrow the Decepticon’s regime. Optimus remorsefully told the old Autobot that there could be no reinforcements from the planet Earth. The two Autobots were then swarmed by Decepticon police officers, who Optimus fought until his dying breath…

Only for Optimus to awaken for real, back on Earth and surrounded by his troops. Realizing that his trip to Cybertron was a dream, Optimus instructed his Autobots to redouble their efforts in fixing up their ship, certain that they would soon need to return to Cybertron.

Marvel Storybooks continuity

When Optimus captained an Autobots spacecraft with the intent of clearing an asteroid field headed for Cybertron, he found his ship and crew attacked by the Decepticons. Rather than allow his Autobots to be taken prisoner, he deliberately crashed the Ark on Earth into a volcano.

Millions of years later, Optimus was one of the thirty-five Autobots rebuilt into modern machines by the ship”s computer. Some time later, Jazz reported that he had spotted Decepticon activity at a nearby construction site. Optimus decided to take a proactive angle to their war with the Decepticons, and led the entirety of his troops to the Decepticon base. Once there, they found themselves allowed in by Megatron, feigning a friendly demeanor. Not fooled by Megatron’s claims that he was making an honest living heading a construction company, Optimus engaged the evil robots in combat, before being blasted out of the Decepticon base. Optimus and his troops were sent tumbling down the cliffside beneath their feet. The Autobots suffered only minor damage from the fall, and after getting patched up, moved out once more to stop Megatron’s plan, now well under way. Megatron was holding millions of humans hostage in a bid to get the Earth to surrender unconditionally to the Decepticons.

The two sides found themselves equally matched until the Constructicons merged into The Devastator. The tables were turned once more when the Dinobots appeared, and mercilessly slaughtered the Constructicons. The Decepticons’ plan foiled, Optimus decided that the Autobot-Decepticon war had come to an end, despite Megatron’s protests to the contrary. He and his Autobots then drove away victorious. Battle for Earth

Megatron’s greatest weakness: the reflection of the sun

Optimus pondered Sunstreaker‘s whereabouts after noticing that he had been absent from Autobot headquarters for longer than expected. The answer came through Blaster, who relayed a message from Megatron; Sunstreaker was the Decepticons’ captive. Megatron demanded that the Autobots surrender, or else Sunstreaker would be destroyed and rebuilt as a Decepticon! The Autobots refused to give up without a fight, but Optimus took care to explain the threat they were up against before a rescue party headed out. Optimus told Sideswipe, Slag and Sludge of Devastator‘s combiner nature, and warned them not take the danger he posed lightly. The rescue squad failed in liberating Sunstreaker, and were captured themselves. The Autobots were shaken by this turn of events, but Optimus was able to think up a new plan to trick the Decepticons. He ordered his Autobots to build a hollow statue of Devastator for him and his soldiers to hide within. Optimus then wrote a letter explaining that the statue was a peace offering for the Decepticons, and the completed decoy was placed before the Decepticons’ base. The ruse worked, and Optimus and his troops burst forth from the false Devastator after the Decepticons had let down their guard. An all-out brawl between Autobots and Decepticons followed. The fight came to an end when Megatron attempted to down Optimus with his fusion cannon, only for Optimus to deflect Megatron’s beam back at him by bouncing it off a reflective piece of metal. With the Decepticons defeated, Optimus ordered his troops to retrieve their wounded and return to Autobot headquarters.

Marvel coloring books

In lieu of solving the FIRRIB debate the hard way, Prime eliminates the problem at the source.

Alerted by Bumblebee of Megatron‘s latest plan, Optimus Prime led the mission on Wheeljack‘s ship to foil them. He sent Bumblebee on an underwater scouting mission, and took part in a pitched battle that ended in the Decepticon’s being defeated. Search for Treasure Under the Sea When Rumble dropped rocks on the Autobots, Optimus used Roller to eliminate most of them. Unfortunately he was forced to surrender when he saw the other Autobots had been captured by the Decepticons, and was placed in a special Autobot prison. Luckily Bumblebee remained free, and after he’d rescued the others, Optimus wrapped Megatron up with an iron bar. Bumblebee to the Rescue!

One peaceful day, Optimus decided it was too quiet, and sent Bumblebee and Mirage to find out what the Decepticons were up to. Sure enough, the Decepticons were looking for a factory, so Optimus had Mirage create a holographic factory as a trick, and ambushed the Decepticons. Optimus himself hurled Megatron into orbit. Decepticon Patrol Optimus and his Autobots rescued Sparkplug and Buster Witwicky when the pair were captured by Decepticons, and afterwards Prime was amazed when Sparkplug repaired Wheeljack and Prowl. After Bumblebee and Hound discovered that the Decepticons were attacking Hoover Dam, Optimus and his team defeated them. The Deadly Fuel Shortage

Jazz and Ironhide reported to Optimus that the Decepticons were stealing gas, and Optimus was able to use Roller to find out the Decepticons were using a molecular transfer device. The Autobots assaulted the Decepticon stronghold so they could take care of the device. Summertime Coloring Book After a rain storm, Optimus and most of the other Autobots went out on patrol. When the Decepticons used a fake message to lure Bumblebee out of the Ark so they could take it over, Optimus used the same gambit to retake the ship

Deadly Paradise

When Sideswipe was accused and convicted of destroying the Nova Suspension Bridge, Optimus was infuriated that one of his own Autobots could commit such a heinous act. Optimus was tasked to hunt down and deactivate Sideswipe, though the task proved to be easy as Sideswipe did not run, hide or resist. After Optimus had deactivated Sideswipe, he was approached by Prowl, who pointed out that Sideswipe’s actions made little sense, as he had committed the crime in broad daylight before many witnesses. Agreeing that the Decepticons might be behind the situation, Optimus allowed Prowl to take a team of Autobots to Carob Island to clear Sideswipe’s name while Optimus and Jazz stayed behind to continue working on human/Autobot relations. Prowl returned with evidence that it was indeed a Decepticon-controlled clone of Sideswipe that had committed the crime. Optimus then presumably reactivated Sideswipe when his name was cleared.