Optimus Prime is a character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the Autobots, a faction of transforming robots from the planet Cybertron. The Autobots are constantly waging war against a rival faction of transforming robots called Decepticons. He is depicted as a brave, powerful, wise and compassionate leader who puts his talent to use improving the universe around him. Optimus is portrayed as having a strong sense of justice and righteousness and has dedicated himself to the protection of all life, particularly the inhabitants of Earth.^[1] According to Bob Budiansky, co-writer of the Transformers series, Dennis O'Neil was responsible for his name.

Transformers: Generation 1

Template:Transformers character The first generation Optimus Prime transforms into a Kenworth K100 cab over truck. Within his chest is a mystic talisman, known as the Autobot Matrix of Leadership or the "Creation Matrix", carried by all Autobot leaders.^[2]

When Optimus transforms, his cab disconnects to become a sentient robot, and his trailer opens to reveal an ion blaster, forming a combat deck.^[3] The combat deck supports a mobile battle-station and command headquarters armed with assorted artillery and beam weapons that fire automatically. The combat deck can also serve as a radio antenna for battlefield communications between the autobots. The combat deck also included "Roller", a mobile scout buggy meant to scout behind enemy lines. When Roller is deployed, Optimus can see and hear what Roller sees and hears.^[4] Injury to one component is felt by each of the others. If the combat deck or Roller were to be destroyed, Prime could survive. However, despite the slight degree of autonomy they possess, the combat deck and Roller would not be able to survive without Optimus.

In the animated series, Optimus is able to fire short-range optic blasts, project holographic maps, and deploy hydro-foils, designed by Wheeljack, to traverse bodies of water with ease. In the animated series, Optimus was also given the ability to retract his right hand unit and replace it with a glowing axe.^[5]

Across the assorted continuities of the original Transformers universe, there have been various interpretations of Optimus Prime. One of Prime's most notable characteristics over all continuities his unswaying commitment to leadership by example. The animated series's version of Optimus Prime is depicted as a straightforward, wise, and upbeat battlefield general. Additionally, the animated series's version of Optimus dislikes rap music, putting him at odds with music-loving characters like Blaster and Jazz.

In the Marvel Comics series, in addition to these characteristics, Prime is secretly plagued by self-doubt and a conflicted sense of pacifism that often makes him an extremely reluctant warrior.

Animated series

As seen in the The Transformers episode "War Dawn", Optimus Prime began his life as a robot named Orion Pax, a mostly defenseless dock worker during the Golden Age of Cybertron nine million years ago, with a girlfriend named Ariel and a best friend named Dion. During this time, a new breed of robot with new flight capabilities appeared on the planet that Orion idolized. When Megatron, the leader of the new group of robots, approached him with inquiries about using one of the dock warehouses, Orion was swayed by Megatron. Both Orion and Ariel were severely wounded when Megatron and his forces attacked in order to claim the energy stored there. Searching for someone to help them, the time-displaced Aerialbots took Orion and Ariel to the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion, who used them as the first subjects for the new reconstruction process he had developed involving rebuilding the frail Autobot frames into more battle-hardy configurations. With this reconstruction, Orion Pax became Optimus Prime, the first of the Autobot warriors.

Optimus took the mantle of leadership as the civil war against the Decepticons erupted, and would remain in that position for the next nine million years. Ariel was rebuilt into Elita One, the commander of the Autobot resistance on Cybertron. The fate of Dion is left unrevealed. It has been speculated by fans that Dion might have become Ironhide or Ultra Magnus just as Orion and Ariel became Optimus and Elita, but this remains fan speculation only, and, his close friendship with Optimus notwithstanding, there is no evidence to support the idea.

As leader of the Autobots, Prime headed up their mission to search for new sources of energy to revitalize the depleted Cybertron. Optimus vowed to Elita that he would return from his mission for her, but just before the launch of the Ark, Optimus was mistakenly led to believe that Elita was killed. Shortly after its launch, the Autobots' craft was attacked by the Decepticons' space cruiser, the Nemesis, and boarded by Megatron and the Decepticons. In the ensuing struggle, the G-forces of a nearby planet pulled both craft down, and the Autobots' ship crashed into a volcano, thrusting all the occupants into emergency stasis. Four million years later, in the Earth year 1984, a volcanic eruption jarred the ship's computer, Teletraan I, back to life. The computer reactivated the Decepticons, programming them with new Earth-based disguise modes. As a parting gesture, Starscream fired upon the Autobot ship, creating a landslide. The vibrations from that landslide knocked Prime into the path of the computer's restoration beam, restoring him to life, thus beginning the war anew on Earth.

Prime was perpetually at the forefront of the action throughout the early years of the war on Earth, usually confronting Megatron, though in some rare instances, such as against the Insecticon-controlled Decepticons or the Combaticons, teaming up with him for the greater good. He has suffered his fair share of battlefield scrapes, almost meeting his end when his vital cosmotron component was critically damaged by the Decepticon jets and when Laserbeak had his body disassembled and turned into Decepticon trophies, such as a pet "alligaticon" and a defense laser. Throughout the first two seasons, Optimus Prime has led the Autobots to many victories, such as stopping Megatron from controlling the crystal of power, stopping the Dinobots' rebellion by saving Grimlock, defeating Devastator with his detach arm, helping capture Nightbird, rescuing Blaster and Cosmos from the Decepticons on the Moon with the help of Omega Supreme, and helping save Perceptor and the other Transformers from the cosmic rust disease.

Over the course of the next twenty years, the Decepticons succeeded in seizing control of all of Cybertron, forcing the Autobots to operate from their new city on Earth and two bases on Cybertron's moons. In the Earth year 2005, Prime, stationed on Moonbase One, dispatched troops to Earth to acquire energy for an upcoming strike on Cybertron. The Decepticons, however, got wind of the plan and used the shuttle run to attack Autobot City. A distress call summoned Prime and support troops to Earth. In the fearsome ensuing fight with Megatron, Optimus Prime sustained fatal injuries, but not before turning the tide of battle and forcing the Decepticons to flee. Despite the efforts of Perceptor, Optimus Prime went offline after passing the Matrix and role of leader to Ultra Magnus. The Matrix fell into the hands of Galvatron, and was finally taken back by Rodimus Prime. Optimus's last words were "Until that day... 'till all are one."

Prime's body was entombed in a massive deep-space mausoleum with the many other fallen Autobots. In 2006, his grave was desecrated and his body reanimated by Quintessons in an attempt to destroy the Autobots by using Prime to lure their space fleet into a trap. The Matrix was able to purify Prime of the Quintesson influence, and he ordered the other Autobots to clear out while he piloted his flagship into the Quintessons' detonator, triggering the explosion of a nearby sun. Prime was supposedly destroyed in the explosion. According to "The Return of Optimus Prime", Prime's body was recovered from the craft by two human scientists, Jessica Morgan and Gregory Swofford, just minutes before the explosion. As their ship departed, it was coated with solar spores, which induce rage and madness in any sentient being they came into contact with, released by the explosion of the sun. Jessica's father, Mark Morgan, loathed all Transformers, and his hatred only grew when an attempt by the Decepticons to steal a heat-resistant alloy he had developed resulted in Jessica being paralyzed. Swofford and Morgan reconstructed Optimus Prime's body, planning to use it as a delivery system for the spores in order to destroy the Transformers.

When they could not reanimate him, they used his body as a lure instead, bringing the Autobots to their lab, where they are infected. As this "Hate Plague" began to spread across the galaxy, Sky Lynx retrieved a Quintesson, who fully restored Optimus Prime to life. Coating himself in Morgan's heat-resistant alloy, Prime reclaimed the Matrix from Rodimus and unleashed its concentrated wisdom to destroy the Hate Plague. In 2007, following the release of the Matrix's energy, Prime began to suffer from visions which foretold a great transformation for Cybertron. Events began with the Decepticons' theft of the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, which forced Prime to consult Alpha Trion within Vector Sigma. Prime learned that the mega-computer had orchestrated events in order to restore Cybertron's Golden Age. When the Plasma Energy Chamber was opened and threatened to drive Earth's Sun supernova, Spike Witwicky and the Nebulans, who had become involved in the conflict as a result of these events, were able to drain off the excess solar energy and revitalize Cybertron. With the Decepticons driven off Cybertron and Nebulon free from tyranny, Cybertron enters into a Golden Age of peace and prosperity under the leadership of Optimus Prime and the Autobots.

The seldom seen 5th season re-airing of the show featured the G1 episodes retold by a stop-motion Powermaster Optimus Prime to the live-action youngster Tommy Kennedy. Although no back story was ever provided for how Prime became a Powermaster, the new sequences are said to take place after the four previous seasons. This indicates that Prime became a Powermaster in the original Sunbow continuity. Although the animated series ended in the U.S. after The Rebirth, Optimus Prime continued to appear in animated sequences of Transformers toy commercials, progressing from Powermaster to Action Master. He even made an appearance as a computer-generated Combat Hero. Many episodes of the series were re-aired to promote Transformers: Generation 2. During these sequences, computer-generated scenes featuring key G1 characters are borrowed from Generation 2 commercials to serve as opening, closing, and commercial bumpers. Optimus Prime is shown in the opening and closing fighting Generation 2's Ramjet.

While the Transformers animated series came to an end in America in 1987 after The Rebirth, production was continued in Japan with three new, exclusive animated series spin-offs to continue the story. The first of these series, Transformers: The Headmasters, supplanted the events of The Rebirth. With the Decepticons defeated, the Autobots entered into an even closer relationship with Earth. The Autobots also began the colonization of other worlds, the first of which was the planet Athenia, where Optimus Prime was stationed. It soon became apparent, however, that the consequences of releasing the energy of the Matrix to cure the Hate Plague were more far-reaching than Optimus had anticipated. Without the energy of the Matrix to act as a balancing factor, Vector Sigma had become destabilized. The Decepticons suddenly returned to exploit this, assaulting Cybertron in order to seize control of the mega-computer. Prime took a squad of troops to aid in the battle on the planet. When the arrival of the Autobot Headmasters tipped the battle in their favor, Prime broke off from the main attack and headed down into the depths of the planet, planning on stabilizing Vector Sigma at any cost.

While the other Autobots searched for the Matrix on Earth, Optimus Prime searched for Vector Sigma, guided through the dangers of the planet's catacombs by the spirit of Alpha Trion. Prime eventually arrived at the computer, only to find his way barred by Cyclonus and Scourge. At that moment, Hot Rod arrived with the Matrix, the same with which Alpha Trion merged, re-energizing it. The Matrix transformed Hot Rod back into Rodimus Prime and, for the first time, the two Primes fought side-by-side and defeated Galvatron. Before Rodimus could implement the Matrix to stabilize Vector Sigma, however, Optimus Prime merged himself with the computer, restoring its balance to save the planet. Optimus Prime sacrificed himself, dying again only a few short episodes after his rebirth. Later, Prime would make a final and permanent return in the Japanese Transformers continuity, Battlestars: Return of Convoy. This entry was only available in print, appearing in the TV Magazine, a Japanese publication.

Optimus Primal, leader of the Maximal faction in the Beast Wars animated series and toy line, is not Optimus Prime. Primal is one of the Maximal descendants of the Autobots, who took the name to honor Optimus Prime. The same applies to the Megatron of this era. Before the animated series began, Hasbro envisioned Prime and Megatron as their beast counterparts, but once the animated series began, this had already been changed. Design elements, such as Prime's mouth-plate slitted to add an actual mouth for the animated series and the first mini-comic that came packaged with the toys, suggest this. Nonetheless, Optimus Prime and Megatron were a major reason the Beast Wars began.

The Beast Wars were waged on prehistoric Earth, eventually leading to the discovery of the buried Ark. The beast Megatron, following the original Megatron's instructions in a desperate gambit, attempted to change history by killing Optimus Prime, who was still lying in The Ark in stasis lock. Megatron hoped that this would result in the Decepticons winning The Great War and the eventual rule of Cybertron by the Predacons, the descendants of the Decepticons. Megatron unleashed a full-power weapon blast at Optimus Prime's face, delivering a near fatal blow. Optimus Primal, however, took Prime's spark into his body to protect it from surgical trauma while his injuries were repaired. The subsequent power increase caused by Prime's spark's connection to the Matrix augmented Primal into the large, transmetal "Optimal Optimus" form with three alternate modes (jet, land vehicle, and transmetal gorilla). Then, with the repairs complete, Prime's spark was restored, and he briefly activated before sinking back into normal stasis.

When animating the scene in which Primal removes Prime's spark, Mainframe's animators consulted The Transformers: The Movie for reference on the interior of Prime's chest. Not realizing the importance of the Matrix of Leadership, they rendered it as a container for Prime's spark. Beast Wars writers Larry DiTillio and Bob Forward have since claimed that in their view, Prime had not received the Matrix from Alpha Trion at this point, but a later comic produced for Botcon indicated that the Matrix was in fact stored in a secondary compartment, hidden behind Prime's spark. In this particular comic, the alien Vok used the Matrix, the Transmetal Driver, and a control suit once piloted by the Predacon Quickstrike to create Primal Prime.

A giant statue of Optimus Prime in front of the Cybertron Archives holding two Golden Disks appeared on Cybertron in the Beast Machines series, but was destroyed by the Vehicons in the episode Fires of the Past. When show writer Bob Skir was asked what these two disks were he said that neither the statue nor disks were in the script, but he suggested that they were either the disks from Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes or that Optimus won them in the 2,395,989th Annual Cybertronian spelling bee.^[6] Later in the series, Optimus Primal discovered the ancient city of Iacon deep within Cybertron, where he was approached by a hologram statue of Optimus Prime. As it turned out, however, the statue was Megatron in disguise. Obsidian also comments on how Optimus Primal is not as great a leader as Prime was.

Books

Optimus Prime appeared in the following books:

• The 1984 sticker and story book Return to Cybertron written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books.
• The 1984 sticker and story book The Revenge of the Decepticons written by Suzanne Weyn and published by Marvel Books.
• The 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Dinobots Strike Back by Casey Todd.^[7]
• The 1985 Find Your Fate Junior book called Battle Drive by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel.^[8]
• The 1985 Transformers audio books Transformers Lightning Strike, Megatron's Fight For Power, Transformers Fight Back, Laserbeak's Fury and Satellite of Doom.
• The 1985 audio story Sun Raid.
• Decepticons Underground and Autobot Hostage from the 1988 series.

Optimus Prime was featured in the 1993 Transformers: Generation 2 coloring book "Decepticon Madness" by Bud Simpson.^[9]

Comics

3H Enterprises

Simon Furman's "Alignment", a text story available through Transforce, a British Transformers convention, mentions Prime falling during what was intended to be the final conflict with the Decepticons at Pinea Omicron, long after the events of the Generation 2 comic book. He managed to defeat Galvatron II, but in doing so, was damaged such that Grimlock had to engage a stasis field around him to save his flickering Spark, making Prime a living war monument.

Though Prime's ultimate fate is unknown, in a story entitled "The Last Days of Optimus Prime", also from Transforce, Prime laments the new Transformers age without war and passes on to a Transformers afterlife, referred to as "J'nwan". The story is vague, however, and may be a metaphor for Prime rejoining the Matrix, as his time had come. In this realm, he was approached by the Predacon Sandstorm, who tried to plead for the help of Prime and the other legendary Transformers in dealing with a Unicron/Predacon hybrid named Shokaract. Prime refused, but later led a group of Transformers, including Megatron, Grimlock, and Soundwave), to distract the creature while Primus dealt the final blow.

Binaltech

Due to the interference of Ravage, the same as the one who appears in the Beast Wars, most of the events of the original animated feature do not transpire. The most influential of these events is the Battle of Autobot City. Because this battle did not occur, Optimus Prime and Megatron do not have their final showdown. This means that, for this continuity, Optimus Prime does not die and Megatron is never reformatted into Galvatron. As a result, Optimus Prime is able to lead the Autobots during the Binaltech saga.

Equipped with knowledge of the future and the danger that would soon be threatening the Transformers, Ravage's machinations included trapping Megatron and a large army of Decepticons in a spacial rift with the intention of protecting the Decepticons from the approaching Unicron and forcing the Autobots to face the planet-eater unaided. The Decepticons would then be in a position to conquer the victor of that battle.

Aware of the changes to the timestream and the potential for the entire Autobot race to be annihilated by Unicron, Optimus put into motion Operation Distant Thunder, a plan to undo the damage to the timeline caused by Ravage, restoring the events that were seen in the movie. This would mean that saving all the Autobots from Unicron would result in Prime and others such as Prowl, Wheeljack, Ironhide, and Ratchet would die per the original events. They hoped they would be able to at least partially avoid such an outcome by sending a message to their past selves about all they had learned.

Upon discovering that the Matrix was the key to destroying Unicron, Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus went alone to face Unicron while the rest of the Autobots executed the plan to restore the original timeline. They hoped that at least one of these plans would be successful. Prime was injured in the confrontation with Unicron and, although his injuries were not mortal, he passed the Matrix to Magnus, who shed his outer armor and managed to complete the mission, destroying Unicron.

Distant Thunder was ultimately unsuccessful, but as the universe started to rip apart, a black Optimus Prime clone appeared. The Binaltech universe was split into its own separate continuity, while the original timeline was also restored, stabilizing the multiverse. The clone, friendly to the Transformers, proclaimed that the Binaltech universe must be allowed to continue, as it was important to the future. Optimus Prime questioned the black doppelganger, who explained only that he carried "the Protector's" spark, but refused to reveal any more detailed information. Soon after, the clone, who was originally developed by Dr. Archeville as a weapon of evil, ejected the spark that had invaded and taken over the black figure, reverting to its original evil programming. The malevolent Nemesis Prime, no longer just a black version of Optimus, escaped.

Per Ravage's original plan, with Unicron defeated, the Decepticons returned to conquer the Transformers. Optimus Prime had also planned for this event, and sent Mirage to press a switch, buried deep within Cybertron, that would render all Transformers inert. This was seen at the conclusion of the "Five Faces of Darkness" story arc from the original animated series. Optimus hoped that by rendering all the Transformers inoperative, the war would be stopped, hoping that the humans would be able to reactivate the Transformers in the future. Instead of deactivating all Transformers, however, only those with original Cybertronian bodies were deactivated. Transformers with Earth-made Binaltech bodies continued to function. The Autobots effectively won the war, the large army of Binaltech Autobots easily outnumbering the few Decepticons who had managed to procure Binaltech upgrades. The few Decepticons remaining, effectively just Nemesis Prime and Shockwave, escaped with Megatron and their other inert comrades.

With the major threats taken care of, Optimus Prime turned his and the Autobots' attention to identifying and shutting down the rogue projects taking place across Earth using stolen Binaltech technology and secrets. It was during one of these missions that Optimus Prime faced off against Nemesis Prime, both in Binaltech Dodge Ram forms. Initially, things looked bad for Optimus Prime, as he was no match for his opponent's spectral armor. However, the Protector merged with Prime, and the enormous power that resulted allowed Prime to reflect Nemesis Prime's final attack, obliterating the evil Decepticon. Optimus Prime recalls the union of the two sparks being familiar, from an event in the distant past. Optimus Prime is reassured by the Protector about "the seeds of the future" and the Protector is revealed to be Optimus Primal.

Devil's Due Publishing

Optimus Prime would also be a major character in Devil's Due Publishing's various G.I. Joe meets the Transformers series. Devil's Due Publishing does not address Prime's early years, save that he survived an assassination attempt by Bludgeon soon after receiving the Matrix. The traditional Ark storyline left the Transformers crashed on Earth. In this series, instead of being reactivated by the Ark, the Transformers and the ark were discovered by the terrorist organization called Cobra. The Transformers inside were reformatted into Cobra vehicles, remotely controlled by the Televipers. Prime was turned into a Cobra Sentry Missile System tank, which was a 1985 Sears store exclusive red repaint of the HISS tank.^[10] After an attack on a U.N. summit in Washington D.C., Optimus was able to get a message to Wheeljack, alerting G.I. Joe to where the Cobra base was hidden. Subsequently, he and the other captive Autobots and Decepticons broke free. After the ensuing battle, Optimus fought and defeated his enemy Megatron. After Megatron's defeat, the Transformers returned to Cybertron in a second Ark Class vessel, but not before giving their human allies the ability to build and use mecha based on Transformers technology.

Prime's homecoming was not all he had hoped for, for Shockwave had taken control of the planet. Prime and the other Transformers were forced to go underground, waging a guerrilla war against the Decepticons. Around this time, Cobra would attempt to steal Teletran-3, but their attempt to teleport directly into the chamber would set off a catastrophic malfunction, one that threatened to crack open time itself. Optimus Prime and the Stunticons were amongst those who found themselves sent back in time. Optimus was reformatted into a 1920s semi-truck and was eventually rescued by Roadblock, Beach Head and the Baroness, who helped him capture the Stunticons.

In the wake of this incident, the Transformers managed to reclaim much of Cybertron. Mindful of the dangers of allowing humans like Cobra access Cybertronian technology, Prime sent Perceptor, Grimlock, Arcee, and Bumblebee on a mission to Earth. As it turned out, Prime's fears were well founded. The U.S. government had used parts from Megatron to create Serpent O.R., a cyborg designed to be a perfect weapon. A raid by Cobra allowed it to escape and gather an army of Decepticons on Cybertron, killing Bumblebee in the process. Despite the grief of losing Bumblebee, Prime continued on and rallied his comrades to do the same. Attacking the Autobot capital city, Serpentor's forces proved overwhelming, and Prime surrendered to ensure the Decepticons would cease fire and not kill another comrade. Realizing that Serpentor wanted the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, Prime broke free as Serpentor was distracted, but was unable to kill him. He was promptly attacked and nearly beaten to death by Razorclaw and Motormaster. He was subsequently forced to watch as Serpentor opened the Matrix. In doing so, Serpentor was not only reformatted into a Transformer-like mechanoid, but was also shown the futility of the fighting by the Matrix. At this point, Cobra Commander was able to take control of Serpentor's body. In an attempt to stop him, Hawk opened the Matrix and was transformed into a great leader, rendering Cobra Commander comatose. As the Joes prepared to head home, Prime promised to record the Hawk-led humans' future.

Prime appeared again in the fourth crossover called "Black Horizon". When Hawk, who had been afflicted by the Matrix, began getting dire visions of a new threat, Prime journeyed to Earth. He took Hawk and Flint to Tibet to discover the source of the problem, only to encounter Bludgeon once again. Prime battled Bludgeon and only won due to intervention by Hawk. Fighting their way into a secret city beneath the Himalayas, the trio realized the extent of the threat. At stake was the impending destruction of humanity by Unicron and the world being taken over by Cobra-La. Optimus and Hawk were discovered by Bludgeon and a group of Cobra-La troops. Prime defeated Bludgeon, then, with Hawk and Joe Colton, gatecrashed the Cobra-La ceremony to sacrifice Firewall to Unicron. Prime was mobbed by Cobra-La warriors and pinned down by a monstrous insectoid creature. Prime demolished them in time to save Hawk from Golobulus. With Cobra-La arrested by G.I. Joe, Prime made sure his comrades were okay before sitting down to watch TV with Eject and Firewall.

In the third series, both Prime and Serpentor indicate that the Matrix had transformed Prime from "a simple archivist" into a great warrior. This indicates that the history of this incarnation of Prime is roughly in line with that of the Dreamwave version.

Dreamwave Productions

In the 21st century reimagining of the original continuity by Dreamwave Productions, Optimus Prime started life as a data archivist known as Optronix, or Orion to his friends. After taking note of a battle where the Autobot leader Sentinel Prime had been killed by Megatron, he was summoned to the Council of Elders and informed that the Matrix had chosen him to be the next leader of the Autobots. He received the Matrix of Leadership shortly thereafter, and arranged for the Autobot evacuation of Cybertron. He intended to leave the Decepticons to their own devices, but a battle with Megatron beneath the planet's surface, accompanied by visions from the Matrix, stirred him on to fight for the safety of his homeworld.

Some time into his role as leader, Prime disappeared with Megatron in a spacebridge experiment, spending a period of time on Quintessa, but returned some time later. Events during this period have gone unrecorded as a result of Dreamwave's closure.

The actual events of the Autobots and Decepticon coming to Earth were never printed by Dreamwave comics, but flashbacks of the events are printed later. These flashbacks suggest that the Autobots allied with humankind and defeated the Decepticons at the turn of the century. They planned to return to Cybertron aboard the newly constructed Ark II, but the ship was destroyed as part of a military conspiracy to take control of the Transformers. A terrorist organization, run by the enigmatic Lazarus, was able to seize control of several of the Transformers that fell back to Earth while the U.S. military was occupied with locating Prime's body. Before his departure, Prime had entrusted a small portion of the Matrix to Spike Witwicky, who was forced by the product chief, General Hallo, to use it to reactivate Prime. Functional again, Prime used the Matrix to reactivate more of his fallen comrades, and then faced off against Megatron in San Francisco.

Following the battle, Prime began to experience subconscious urgings, leading both the Autobots and the Decepticons to the Arctic Circle. When they arrived, Shockwave was there to arrest them as war criminals. Shockwave had succeeded in ending the war on Cybertron, but Prime soon fell in with a rebel Autobot group that had discovered Shockwave had greater agenda. Rallying Transformers across Cybertron to the cause, Prime faced Shockwave, but was defeated and had the Matrix ripped from him and used to activate Vector Sigma. Before Shockwave could make full use of the mega-computer's data, however, Ultra Magnus, Prime's brother, arrived and bested him. The injuries Prime took during this conflict necessitated a prolonged restoration period in stasis, but Dreamwave's closure meant that Prime never appeared in their pages again.

Art from unreleased issues later showed Optimus Prime awakening from the cryo regeneration chamber and freeing Alpha Trion from Shockwave's lab.

Prime would make one further surprise appearance in Dreamwave's Transformers: Armada comic series, although it would not be the Prime of Dreamwave's first series. When the Optimus Prime of the Armada universe disappeared, pulled into another dimension by the power of Unicron, the Chaos-Bringer sent something back in his stead: a nearly dead Optimus Prime from that universe, who warned the Transformers of Unicron's coming into their universe before dying.

Fun Publications

In Crossing Over, when the Cybertronians Skyfall and Landquake unexpectedly arrive on the Earth of the "Classicsverse", Megatron attempts to destroy them, but Optimus Prime and his Autobots are able to drive Megatron away.

At the command of Megatron a human city was attacked by Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust. The city was defended by Ironhide, Jetfire, Optimus Prime and Sunstreaker.^[11]

In the "Wings Universe", Optimus Prime is among the Autobots present when Megatron attacks Iacon with his new weapon, Devastator.^[12]

A version of G1 Optimus Prime appears in Invasion Prologue by Fun Publications. In this story he is in his Generation 2 Combat Hero form.^[13]

IDW Publishing

When IDW Publishing received the rights to the series, author Simon Furman was hired to oversee the line. Furman decided that the Generation 1 continuity "was in need of ... a contemporary restart"^[14] so that the comic could retain a modern audience. Furman's revised continuity establishes Optimus Prime as the present-day leader of an Autobot army spread across the galaxy in small units, waging a covert war against teams of Decepticon infiltrators over resource-rich worlds. The Stormbringer miniseries explains that the Transformer homeworld of Cybertron is a dead planet, ravaged by an ancient cataclysm caused by the Autobot-Decepticon War. Prime had been forced to ally with his arch-rival Megatron to end the destruction. In the series, the interference of Jetfire and the Technobots, in a plot organized by the Decepticon Bludgeon, alerts Prime to the possibility that the Cybertronian cataclysm might be re-ignited and spread to other planets. Prime calls in the Wreckers, meeting them on the surface of Cybertron in time to witness the return of the being called Thunderwing, the focal point of the apocalypse. The combined efforts of Prime, the Wreckers, Jetfire, the Predacon-led Decepticons, and a unit of aging Centurion drones are barely enough to render Thunderwing inert.

Bludgeon's recovered files bring Optimus Prime to Earth, where an Autobot detachment led by Prowl has discovered that a Decepticon infiltration unit led by Starscream has broken standard protocol after discovering a new form of Energon. This Ore-13 appears to be the same "Ultra-Energon" that Bludgeon used to revive Thunderwing, who had been dormant for millennia after the apocalypse. Starscream had already used it to fuel a failed attempt to usurp Megatron's leadership, as detailed in the Infiltration miniseries.

In the Escalation miniseries, Megatron engages Prime and, boosted by Ore-13, overcomes him. Believing their leader dead, the rest of the Autobots attempt to buy the newly arrived Hot Rod time to collect the clone. Prime, who had transferred his consciousness to a backup memory in his trailer command post, advised them to exploit Ore-13's weakness and assault Megatron all-out, catalyzing the Decepticon leader's Energon supply and crippling him.

Bumblebee, Jazz, Optimus Prime, Prowl, and Ratchet appeared in a New Avengers/Transformers crossover by Marvel Comics and IDW Publishing in 2007.^[15]

Optimus Prime leads Bumblebee, Drift, Kup, Prowl, Ratchet, and Wheeljack in Las Vegas when a Cybertronian ship crashes, containing Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, and an infestation of zombies from another universe. Galvatron attempts to take command of the Autobots and, after fighting them, explains his mission to stop an undead infestation. Wheeljack sets up an energy shield around the city to keep the infestation contained, but it only last for 24 hours. Despite the containment effort, Kup realizes that Bayonet, a Decepticon in Galvatron's command, is not all she seems. She turns out to be the extradimensional vampire Britt.^[16]

Kiss Players

This Japanese series, told through radio plays using the Transformers: Alternators Optimus Prime toy mold, branches off from the original animated series. It is set in a different universe than both the original G1 and Binaltech continuities. Set in the year 2006, one year after Prime's death in The Transformers: The Movie and four years before the third season, it sees Prime's corpse covertly transported to Japan by the Earth Defense Command, a government organization. The convoy transporting his body was attacked by a group of female commandos, led by Marissa Faireborn, who had known Prime years ago as a child. Believing they had secured Prime's body, the commandos were taken by surprise by EDC "Kiss Player" operative Ringo and her Autrooper mechanoid partner, who killed them all except Marissa. Marissa went to Prime's body just as an Autrooper began to fuse with it and, reflecting on her childhood memories of Prime, she gave his faceplate a final kiss. This initiated a transformation where Marissa and Prime were fused together and Prime was reborn with a new body, capable of transforming into a Dodge Ram SRT-10.

Marissa and Prime are now on the run from the EDC and are also frequently attacked by the mysterious "Legion" Transformers. When faced with such foes, Marissa unleashes her "Kiss Player" ability by kissing Prime, fusing with him once again, increasing his power so that he can best their opponents. Prime is armed with the Surf Blade, a weapon formed out of Marissa's surfboard, wielded expertly thanks to the knife skills Marissa passes on to him when they merge.^[17]

Marvel Comics

Stories from the UK Marvel Transformers series are in italics.

In the series released by Marvel Comics, before the Great War broke out on Cybertron, the robot who would be Optimus Prime, before he received the Matrix of Leadership from Sentinel Prime, was a Transformer of note, displaying his skills in the Infraformers Sharpshooting Competition. When the war began, Prime quickly made a name for himself as a combat leader of the Autobots.

On a mission with the Triggerbots to stop Megatron from claiming the Underbase, Prime was forced to jettison the massive databank into space to prevent anyone from acquiring its power. With this action, he proved his wisdom and skill to the Autobot Council of Elders. He continued to move up in rank, eventually becoming the field command over the Autobot armies.

Four million years ago, Cybertron, shaken from its orbit and drifting through space, became threatened when it floated into the path of an asteroid field. Prime led a group of elite Autobot warriors on the Ark, the Autobot starship, on a mission to destroy the asteroids. Although the mission was successful, during the aftermath of this mission, the Ark was attacked by Decepticons hoping to overpower their weakened foes. Intent on keeping the secrets of the Ark from the Decepticons, Prime set the craft on a suicide course, crashing it into the then prehistoric planet Earth.

Later, the Transformers were all transported to Cybertron by Primus to battle Unicron. Although Unicron had tainted the Matrix after killing Thunderwing, Prime managed to reacquire and purify the Matrix. Prime then sacrificed his life one more time to destroy Unicron by plunging the Matrix into his maw. The Powermaster process, however, had been working to fully bond Prime and Hi-Q. Prime's death completed the process, and the two minds and souls became one. Hi-Q's biomechanical body was stripped down and reconstructed by the Last Autobot, resurrecting Optimus Prime once more with the two minds now one. Prime rejoined the other Transformers on the planet Klo and routed Bludgeon's Decepticons.

The sequel series, Transformers: Generation 2, began an undisclosed period of time later. At the beginning of the series, Prime was restored to a form resembling his original body. He and the Transformers found themselves caught in the schemes of a new generation of Cybertronians, led by the icy Jhiaxus, who were colonizing and cyber-forming other worlds. Plagued by nightmarish visions of a life-destroying entity called "the Swarm", Prime looked into Cybertron's past and discovered that Jhiaxus and his kind were the result of an unintentional Transformer reproduction. Their nature and intent, he found, was distilled to the purest, most unemotional form of conquest and that the Swarm was the by-product of this process. To fight this new enemy, Prime and the Autobots entered into an alliance with the recreated Megatron's Decepticons. Though Prime was eventually consumed by the abomination and destroyed, he was able to unleash the energies of the Matrix into the Swarm, purifying it. In parting, the Swarm recreated Prime in a new form, and he and Megatron set out to lead the united Autobots and Decepticons into a new age.

Toys

Through the years, there have been many action figures made in the likeness of the original incarnation of Optimus Prime, some of which have been featured in fiction, others of which have not. Additionally, some toy makers have made unlicensed toys in his image or accessories for the existing toys.

The original 1984 Optimus Prime toy was part of Takara's 1983 Diaclone toy line named "Battle Convoy". It was designed by the creative design team of Hiroyuki Obara, Shoji Kawamori, famous for his work in Macross, and Kohjin Ohno.^[18] The toy's characteristics, such as the head design and the use of the cab front as the upper torso, have become design elements in nearly every incarnation and variant of Optimus Prime. This particular toy has been reissued multiple times, mostly to commemorate the anniversary of the Transformers franchise. Optimus Prime was also released as an Action Master and Powermaster toy in the original Transformers toy line.

For the Generation 2 toy line, the original Optimus Prime toy was altered somewhat and an electronic sound maker was added.^[19] Later Generation 2 toys of Optimus were completely new designs, such as Combat Hero Optimus Prime, Laser Optimus Prime, and Gobot Optimus Prime, who could become a red Lamborghini car.

In 2003, Takara introduced the Masterpiece MP-01 Convoy/Optimus Prime. While retaining the original concept of a transforming semi-trailer truck, this die-cast figure incorporated modern toy manufacturing techniques for improved detail and articulation, while, at the same time, captured the look of the cartoon character. It has since been released by both Hasbro and Takara Tomy in different variations. In 2010, a version of the Masterpiece toy, called Masterpiece Convoy Sleep Mode, was released, painted in dark colors to match the appearance of Optimus Prime after his death in the 1986 film.^[20]

In 2006, Hasbro introduced Alternators Optimus Prime, which turned into a licensed 1:24 scale model Dodge Ram SRT-10.^[21]

In 2011, Takara Tomy released MP-10 Convoy, a smaller, more show-accurate version of the Masterpiece Optimus Prime figure.^[22]

Other merchandise

Optimus Prime is among the three Autobot figures available to play in the Monopoly Transformers Collectors Edition game.^[23]

As the figurehead of the entire Transformers franchise, Optimus Prime has been on more pieces of merchandise than can be stated here. Several statues and busts of Optimus Prime as well as Optimus Prime themed objects have been released by various companies since the return of Transformers to prominence, such as the "Optimus Prime Oral Care Station". Other figures released include various PVCs as part of Takara's "Super Collection Figure" line, which were later imported as part of Hasbro's "Heroes of Cybertron" series. Larger "Mega Collection Figure" PVCs were articulated and came with energy axe and gun figures.

As part of the merchandising wave for the first Transformers film in 2007, Hasbro's Playskool line released a Transformers-themed version of Mr. Potato Head based on Optimus Prime. To keep with the potato theme, the toy was labeled "Optimash Prime" and the packaging included the slogan "More than meets the fry", a potato-oriented version of the Transformers slogan "More than meets the eye".

Video games

Optimus Prime has appeared in numerous video games since the introduction of the Transformers series. He makes a cameo in the 1999 Beast Wars Transmetals video game for Nintendo 64, where he is killed by Megatron at the end of the campaign, showing what would have happened in the Beast Wars series with a Predacon victory. Prime is also one of the playable characters in the 2003 Japan-only Transformers game for the PlayStation 2 and the 2010 Transformers: War for Cybertron. Optimus Prime is also playable in the Hasbro Net Jet Transformers fighting game Transformers Battle Universe. Three versions of Optimus Prime are playable characters, including the first generation incarnation, his incarnations from the 2007 live-action film, and the incarnation from Transformers Animated. In this game, Optimus Primal is also a playable character. He is a regular character in the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 2003 fighting game DreamMix TV World Fighters. He appeared as a boss in a simple Flash-based video game on the Hasbro web site.^[24]

The first generation version of Prime is also offered as downloadable content for some versions of the 2009 third-person shooter Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

In popular culture

• A forty foot (12.2 m) statue of Optimus Prime exists in Kunming city in Yunnan Province, China. It is located near several automobile dealerships.^[25]
• In the South Park trilogy "Imaginationland", Optimus Prime is one of the warriors who fight on the side of the good imaginary characters.
• A figure in the form of Optimus Prime appears in a pattern of windows and other markings on the background of the game Assassin's Creed.^[26]
• Optimus Prime was parodied in several episodes of Robot Chicken. He was voiced by character actor Abraham Benrubi.^[27]
• In 2003, a United States National Guardsman legally changed his name to "Optimus Prime" on his 30th birthday.^[28]
• Sheldon Comics includes several comics either containing Optimus Prime toys or referencing the Optimus Prime.^[29][30][31]
• In conjunction with the release of the 2007 live-action film, Hasbro released a Mr. Potato Head version of Optimus Prime named Optimash Prime^[32] and a transforming plush toy called Softimus Prime.^[33]
• Optimus Prime is mentioned in the Lemon Demon song "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny".
• In the 2006 comedy movie Clerks II, Elias states that his screen name is Optimus Prime.
• A Canadian military operation in Afghanistan was code-named "Op Timis Preem".^[34]
• British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the news media that, "Optimus Prime could solve the current problems in our world."^[35]
• At a gathering of Jewish people near the end of the Family Guy episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", Peter Griffin finds out that Optimus Prime is Jewish when the robot arrives at the gathering in vehicle form and transforms, complete with a yarmulke and Tallit.
• Legacy Brewing Company from Reading, Pennsylvania, now out of business, made an Imperial India Pale Ale called "Hoptimus Prime". The beverage also appeared in the 2008 Xbox 360 game Fable II.
• Optimus Prime is referred to in a verse from the song "Get at Me Dog" by DMX
• Optimus Prime was featured in Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy in a short cartoon in which Prime was having sex with a human female in robot mode. When he reached climax, he transformed into vehicle mode and crushing his partner.
• In 2011, James Reimer, the rookie goaltender of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, has been dubbed "Optimus Reim" for his positive demeanour and machine-like ability to stop pucks.
• Optimus Prime makes a few appearances in Cartoon Network's Mad (in both his Generation 1 and Movie forms). He is voiced by Gary Anthony Williams.

Honors

At BotCon 2010, Hasbro named Optimus Prime as one of the first five robot inductees in the Transformers Hall of Fame.^[36]

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Template:Transformers character

Optimus Prime is the fictional protagonist of the Transformers: Robots in Disguise (Fire Convoy in the original Japanese version) branch of the Transformers universe.^[37] Based on the character of the same name, Prime once again leads the Autobots against the Decepticons. His voice actor, Neil Kaplan, does his voice in a style reminiscent of that of Peter Cullen, the voice of the original Optimus Prime. Wired Magazine nominated Fire Convoy as one 12 most ridiculous Transformers ideas of all time.^[38]

Hidden on Earth as common, everyday vehicles, the Autobots are forced to emerge when Megatron and his Predacons arrive and wreak havoc in their attempts to attain the power of Earth's various energy sources.

In this universe, Optimus Prime transforms into a fire engine. The front section of the vehicle detaches and becomes Prime himself, armed with "Blaze Blaster" cannons. To attack, he is able to use his headlights, known as the "Fire Flash" attack, and leg wheels, known as the "Gyro-Strike". The rest of the vehicle transforms into a mobile battle station/refueling port/communications array and can combine with Prime as additional weapons and armor, forming his super mode referred to as "Super Fire Convoy". The ladder/hose section houses Prime's Power Stream water cannon, capable of shooting freezing streams of water, called his Blizzard Storm attack. It also contains a quartet of rocket launchers. In super mode, his feet contain missile launchers than can mount to the shoulders of his regular robot mode. In this mode, he can fire his fists for his "Flying Fist" attack.

Animated series

Optimus Prime and his brother, Ultra Magnus, were created at the same time by Alpha Trion, but when Prime was chosen to carry the Matrix, Magnus felt ignored, and was left carrying a grudge against his brother.

Later, Optimus pursued Megatron to Earth to stop him from pillaging the planet's energy resources. Prime's loyal team of Autobots clashed with Megatron's Predacons on many occasions, stopping their schemes with the aid of Koji, a human whose father had been abducted by the Predacons. Prime and Koji went on to form a strong friendship, although Prime blamed himself for Koji's father's abduction. Optimus proved his bravery on many occasions, battling and defeating Sky-Byte in an underwater duel and personally rescuing Side Burn from a Predacon trap. Later, when Megatron targeted a tanker truck to scan as the alternate mode of the final protoform, Optimus Prime leapt into action in order to save the truck's human driver and, as a result, the tanker, Prime and the human were all scanned. With an infusion of Megatron's spark energy to complete the concoction, Scourge was born, emerging from his pod as a dark twin of Optimus Prime. Prime's pleas to make Scourge remember his original Autobot loyalties fell on deaf ears.

Prime soon had other things to worry about, as Magnus arrived on Earth with the intention of taking the Matrix, which he believed was rightfully his, at all costs. Prime, who refused to fight back, was seriously injured by Magnus. Magnus tracked Optimus to a desert island, where he pretended to offer him the hand of friendship, only to attempt to absorb the Matrix for himself. During the struggle, the brothers combined into the form of Omega Prime, also known as the God Fire Convoy. Through this link, Magnus was also able to channel the power of the Matrix, which he used to supercharge the Autobot Brothers into newly colored forms. Prime went on to battle the Decepticons on many other occasions. Although Magnus remained a free agent, refusing to take orders from his brother, over time, his animosity dwindled, and he frequently helped the Autobots by combining with Prime to battle the Predacons and Decepticons. During the final battle with Megatron's new form, Galvatron, the two brothers finally reconciled. Together, they faced Galvatron at the Earth's core and defeated him once and for all.

In Car Robots, the original Japanese version of Robots in Disguise, there is not one singular Matrix, but multiple ones, each held by a high-ranking Autobot. God Magnus already possesses a Matrix, and simply seeks to steal the power of Fire Convoy's to increase his own. The overspill supercharges the Autobot Brothers.

Dreamwave Productions

An incarnation Optimus Prime made one appearance in Dreamwave's Summer Special issue before the company went under. Optimus Prime and Magnus had to work together to stop the Decepticons from stealing a nuclear reactor. Shortly after, it was decided that Beast Wars, rather than Robots in Disguise (RiD), would be the next Dreamwave comic series.

Prime would make one further surprise appearance in Dreamwave's Transformers: Armada series. With Optimus Prime having disappeared to an alternate dimension, devastated by Unicron, the Autobots attempted to find their leader. As Jetfire attempted to locate him through Spacebridge links to other dimensions, one of these clearly shows RiD Optimus Prime and Prowl.

3H Enterprises

In 2002, 3H secured the official Transformers convention license as well as licenses to produce comic books and start a fan club. Optimus Prime appeared in Transformers Collectors Club comics, a comic released by 3H enterprises. In the comic, he is the same Optimus Prime from the Robots in Disguise continuity, but is taken to the Transformers: Universe reality.

This incarnation of Optimus Prime first appeared in the Transformers: Universe comic series in issue #2. As part of Omega Prime, he was escaping with various other Transformers from Unicron. He appeared again at the end of issue #3, brought in to Alpha Trion's lab to aid Optimus Primal. After this, both Prime and Magnus became part of Optimus Primal's army of Autobots, battling against Unicron's Decepticons.

According to the bio printed in the Transformers Collectors Club magazine, Optimus Prime was a member of the Cybertron Dimensional Patrol, but was abducted by Unicron. It is unknown whether he repainted himself yellow before being abducted or if the recoloration was due to the radiation emanating from Unicron, which has a tendency to recolor Cybertronians.

The conclusion to the storyline was forestalled when Hasbro retracted 3H Enterprise's license, but an explanation can be found in issue 8 of the Transformers Collectors Club magazine, Cybertron/Robots in Disguise. In this issue, Prime tells the tale of how Unicron's forces were defeated in the last battle by Optimus Primal's forces and Unicron disappeared into the black hole opened in Transformers: Energon. Combined as Omega Prime, they could not escape fast enough, and were sucked into another dimension.

Fun Publications

In the Cybertron universe, Cybertron was under attack by two of the Heralds of Unicron, Nemesis Prime and Ramjet. They had already damaged Alpha Trion, and while Ramjet engaged Vector Prime in a duel high above Cybertron, Nemesis Prime got past Sentinel Maximus and revealed his plan to use the Dead Matrix to drain Primus and use the energy to revive Unicron. Omega Prime, a combination of Optimus Prime and his brother, Ultra Magnus, appeared to challenge Nemesis Prime. The brothers recovered, only to receive Optimus Prime, bearing word of Vector Prime's death in battle. Prime and Magnus were subsequently seen planning the hunt for Unicron with Sentinel Maximus.^[39]

Optimus Prime appears in Invasion Prologue by Fun Publications.^[13]

Transformers: Universe

Template:Transformers character A new version of Optimus Prime was created for the Transformers: Universe storyline. This version of Optimus Prime comes from a universe populated solely by Spy Changers where Transformers are smaller than those in other universes.

3H Enterprises

This version of Optimus Prime appeared in the 2004 BotCon voice actor play, and was seemingly another Optimus Prime brought from a parallel dimension to that of the Robots in Disguise fiction.

The voice actor drama was written for OFTCC 2004 by Simon Furman, set after the events in the comics. Among those taken from their world via teleportation beam by Unicron and his Decepticon minions were Spy Changers Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ultra Magnus, and Ironhide. The Autobot forces opposing Unicron attempted to deflect a beam, leaving them all trapped on an uninhabited ice-world. The Autobot forces teamed up to overcome the Decepticons led by Reptilion. The Autobots were then, presumably, returned to their own worlds.

Unicron Trilogy

Template:Transformers character

The "Unicron Trilogy" version of Optimus Prime is a fictional character of this branch of Transformers lore. Appearing in Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon and Transformers: Cybertron (known as the aforementioned trilogy), Optimus is the leader of the heroic Autobots. He often converted to his super combat mode. In all three series, Optimus' English voice actor is Gary Chalk, who previously voiced Optimus Primal in Beast Wars and Beast Machines.

Animated series

In Transformers: Armada, Optimus Prime shares the role of main protagonist with Rad, Alexis, Carlos, Starscream and Hot Shot. The Optimus of this universe shares many similarities with his parallel universe versions, including nobility of spirit and a strong desire to protect all humans on Earth. In this continuity, the two sides are not looking for energon, but a small race of power-enhancing Transformers known as Mini-Cons. Optimus led his small band of Autobots to stop Megatron from acquiring their power for himself.

In his first appearance in the series, Optimus looks similar to the original G1 Optimus Prime until he copies himself with a semi-truck and his design in robot mode changes to the image shown here. Soon after, he retrieves his Mini-Con partner, Sparkplug. The cab of his truck mode detaches to form Optimus himself, while the trailer transforms into a battle station mode operable by Optimus and several Mini-Cons. Optimus can also combine with his base to form a "Super Mode" robot that, when combined with Sparkplug, can fire a series of powerful lasers. Additionally, Optimus can combine with Jetfire and/or Overload in his Super Mode for additional power.^[40]

Although the original Japanese incarnation of Transformers: Cybertron, known as Transformers: Galaxy Force, was produced apart from Armada and Energon, the series, as originally conceived by Hasbro, was as the third part of the trilogy. The English language dub of the series treats it as such.^[41] Consequently, inconsistencies arise between Cybertron and the other two series, but have been explained by the Cybertron comic book, available exclusively through the Official Transformers Collectors Club, as the result of fluctuations in the fabric of reality caused by the Unicron-induced black hole.

In this incarnation, Optimus Prime is the main protagonist and shows a near-xenophobic reluctance with interacting with other cultures, believing that such interaction would cause more harm than good. Consequently, he prohibits his team from mingling with the locals of Earth, Velocitron, and the Jungle Planet during their search for the Cyber Planet Keys. This attitude was drastically changed when Prime realized that the only way to acquire the Cyber Planet Keys from Velocitron and Animatros was to play by their laws.

Early in this new series of encounters with Megatron, Red Alert contacted the Autobots on Earth and asked for Optimus Prime to join then on Velocitron. Ransack and Crumplezone tricked Hot Shot and Dirt Boss into believing that a race between them would determine which of them would be allowed to race Override for the Planet Cup. During the race, Ransack and Crumplezone caused a rockslide that buried Hot Shot. Hot shot was saved when Optimus Prime, Vector Prime, and Landmine arrived, but Optimus was upset that Hot Shot had become involved with the locals. Clocker and Brakedown were eager to help the Autobots. After being unable to obtain the Planet Cup from Override herself, Optimus Prime endorsed Hot Shot's plan to win the cup in a race with the aide of the other Autobots. Ransack and Crumplezone were contacted by Megatron and were told to keep on eye on things. They also decided to enter the race, either to win the cup and cause as much damage as they could to the other racers. Override, Dirt Boss, Ransack, Crumplezone, Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, Red Alert, Landmine, Clocker and Brakedown participated in the qualification round. In the final episode of Transformers: Cybertron, Optimus Prime proposed a new Space Bridge project using the power of the four Cyber Planet Keys and the four great Cybertronian ships. Many Autobots and former Decepticons joined in the project. Jetfire was left in charge of Cybertron as Optimus Prime led the Atlantis with the Earth Cyber Planet Key, joined by Red Alert, Safeguard, Scattorshot, Leobreaker, Menasor, and Heavy Load.

Dreamwave Productions

Just as Marvel Comics produced a companion comic to the original Transformers toyline that differed from its animated counterpart, so did Dreamwave produce a comic to go along with the Transformers: Armada and Energon lines that owed little to their animated fellows. This incarnation of Optimus Prime, however, is not particularly different from his animated counterpart in personality.^[42][43]

Transported to a parallel Universe, as the walls of reality began to crumble, foretelling the coming of Unicron to the Armada universe, Optimus Prime and Jetfire were reformatted by their Mini-Con companions using the Mini-Con Matrix into new "Powerlinx" forms. Optimus Prime and Jetfire combined to hold the chaos-bringer at bay. Unicron was eventually defeated by the united power of the Mini-Cons.

Ten years after Unicron's defeat, Cybertron was seemimngly at peace, but Optimus still feared another attack from Unicron. Although the Autobot High Council dismissed his fears, a mental link with Primus confirmed that Unicron was still alive. Megatron's disembodied spark, trapped within the chaos-bringer, called out to Prime. Events overtook Prime as Unicron's four Horsemen, Rhinox, Airazor, Cheetor, and Terrorsaur, attacked Cybertron, devastating it. Prime's link with Primus allowed him to upgrade himself into his Energon form and drive them off.

Using the Spacebridge to travel to Earth, Prime was sidetracked when Megatron transported him to Unicron's body. Megatron attempted to cajole him into distracting Unicron long enough to transfer his consciousness into a new body. Prime refused until Megatron showed him what was happening on Earth. A massive Terrorcon invasion had devastated many of Earth's greatest cities, with the stalwart Autobot defenders nearly overwhelmed. Megatron offered to deal with the invasion if Prime would aid his rebirth. Out of options, Prime agreed, and battled Unicron's internal defences to disable a sensor, allowing Megatron's resurrection. As Megatron teleported to Earth to keep his end of the bargain, Prime, still inside Unicron, prepared to fight back.

Dreamwave's closure meant that resolution to the storyline was not accomplished, nor was the Cybertron era of the Dreamwave comics reached.

Pack in comics

In the second Transformers: Energon pack-in comic, Prowl, Inferno, and Landmine discover some hills on Earth rich with energon and request permission from Optimus Prime build an energon tower. Optimus agrees, but warns the Autobots that Decepticon activity has been detected nearby. Megatron attacks with a horde of Divebomb Terrorcon clones. The Autobots attempt to fight back by having Mirage and Inferno powerlink, while Landmine goes into 'brute' mode. However, they are overwhelmed when Insecticon Terrorcon hordes join in the attack. The Autobots retreat and Megatron takes the energon for himself.

Fun Publications

IDW's Transformers Collectors Club exclusive comic story, Revelations part 6, is set after the defeat of Galvatron, but before Optimus Prime's mission to start a new Space Bridge project. In this story, the Autobots from the IDW series Robots in Disguise, Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Sentinel Maximus, Downshift, Perceptor, Alpha Trion, Over-Run, Anti-Blaze, Checkpoint, and Scythe, meet the Autobots from the animated series, Cybertron Optimus Prime, Jetfire, Override, Scattorshot, Red Alert, Hot Shot, Lori, Bud, and Coby Hansen, and thank each other and remembering those who were lost in the battles.^[39]

Optimus Prime appears in Invasion Prologue by Fun Publications. In this story he is in his Beast Planet form.^[13]

Video games

Optimus Prime is among the characters appearing in the 2004 Transformers video game for the PlayStation 2.^[44][45]

Live-action films

Template:Transformers character The character Optimus Prime appears in the live action films Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon as the leader of the Autobots and one of the main protagonists of the four films. In these movies, Optimus Prime is able to transform into a conventional Peterbilt 379 cab, rather than the cab over design of his original Generation 1 body. In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, he gains a first generation-style trailer. Also straying from the G1 design, Prime's vehicle mode is now decorated with red flames painted onto a blue body à la Rodimus Prime, his Generation 1 successor. The reason for the change was due to Director Michael Bay's decree that mass displacement does not occur when they transform, requiring Optimus's vehicle form to have more mass to achieve the desired size in his robot form.

Although the character was redesigned to some extent, like the other characters in the film, many classic design elements remain in his robot mode including a predominantly red torso, primarily blue legs, the presence of windows in his chest, smoke stacks on his shoulders, and a head design influenced by the original, featuring the iconic faceplate and ear finials. The faceplate is able to retract to reveal a mouth. His weapons include his iconic ion blaster stored in the form of the fuel tanks on his back, and a shell cannon stored on his back, two retractable energon blades that extend from both forearms, which is a homage to Prime's energy axe in the Generation 1 animated series, two retractable energon hooks on both of his forearms, and bladed knuckles. The trailer contains an energy axe, a shield, and flight gear. In the later IDW comics, he displays the ability to produce a holographic driver.

At San Diego ComicCon 06, it was announced that original Optimus Prime voice actor, Peter Cullen, would reprise his role for the third film. Cullen has commented that Prime is basically the same in the third film as the previous two, and retains the same basic personality.

Involvement in the films

The character of Optimus Prime first appears in the 2007 Transformers film as the leader of the Autobots in the search for the Allspark. After arriving and scanning a Peterbilt truck, Optimus greeted Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes, introducing his men and explaining why they had come to Earth. The film ends with Optimus sending out a deep-space signal, inviting other Autobots to join them on Earth.

Optimus Prime's character returns in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He leads the Autobots as part of NEST in seeking and destroying remaining Decepticons on Earth. After severely damaging Megatron, he kills The Fallen, forcing Megatron and Starscream to retreat. At the end of the film, he thanks Sam for reviving him and again transmits a message to space, hoping to find more Autobots.

Optimus appears again in the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Optimus receives his own armory consisting of weapons and flight tech that transforms into a trailer for him to carry in vehicular form. After assisting NEST operatives in fighting Shockwave at Chernobyl, Optimus learns that the humans have concealed the discovery of a Cybertronian ship on the moon. With the Decepticons defeated and the war finally over, Optimus and the Autobots accept Earth as their true home.

Optimus Prime is set to return in the fourth installment according to producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, and with a Western Star semi-truck as a new alternate mode.^[46] Some recent reports revealed that Optimus Prime will be captured by Lockdown and will reactivate the Dinobots, and will later ride Grimlock into battle through Hong Kong.^[47][48]

The 2000s film series incarnation of Optimus Prime was met with warm reception. It was named the 30th greatest movie hero of all time by "Total Film Magazine".^[49]

IDW Publishing

The back story of the Transformers on ancient Cybertron is told in Transformers: Defiance. In this story, Starscream returns to Cybertron after encountering an enemy scout ship in the Eshems Nebula. After being repaired for minor damage by Ratchet, Starscream and Ironhide report to Optimus Prime and Megatron.^[50] In issue #2, Optimus Prime is ordered by Megatron to counter-attack Cybertron's invaders, but instead, Optimus organizes a resistance to Megatron's decision. In issue #3, Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Prowl break into Megatron's quarters while he is away looking for clues to why he is acting so strangely. What they find is an ancient artifact that Megatron had restored.^[51]

According to IDW Publishing's Transformers: Movie Prequel comic book, Optimus Prime and Megatron co-ruled Cybertron until Megatron began a war for control of the Allspark. Optimus formed the Autobots, a militia of civilian Transformers sworn to protect the Allspark. Optimus fought back, willing to doom Cybertron itself to deny Megatron the Allspark. His reasoning was that a new homeworld could be rebuilt with the Allspark once Megatron was no longer a threat. He entrusted Bumblebee with the task of distracting Megatron at Tyger Pax long enough for the Allspark to be sent into space.

In Transformers: Alliance, Optimus Prime and the Autobots aid the human soldiers after the battle in Mission City and destroy the Allspark-powered machines that were created. A trailer is obtained for Optimus Prime to carry the remains of Jazz. The Autobots leave Mission City as the Sector 7 personnel arrive to claim the remains of the Decepticons. About a month later, Epps and Lennox contact Optimus Prime about aiding them in escorting the remains of the Decepticons to the naval yard. They are spied on by Barricade, who transmitts the information to Starscream.

Titan Magazines

In Titan Magazines' UK Transformers magazine, a comic strip on Optimus Prime, written by Simon Furman, would reveal where he was during the events of Movie Prequel #1. As he carries out his fateful plan to send the Allspark into space, the Autobot base is attacked by one of Megatron's drones with specific orders to kill him. As it locates the Allspark, Prime does the only thing he could think of to prevent it from transmitting its location to Megatron. He transforms into protoform mode and physically rams through it. Recovering in time to see the Allspark blast off, Prime is granted a vision of their war on Earth.

In "Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part 3", Mikaela Banes attempts to free Optimus Prime, but is attacked by Frenzy. In "Part 4", Mikaela frees Optimus Prime and freezes Frenzy.

Optimus Prime would return in issue #22 of the Titan Transformers Magazine series in a story called "The Decepticon who Haunted Himself".

Books

Optimus Prime appears in the prequel novel Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday, where he and a group of Autobots travel in the Ark searching for the Allspark, battling Starscream's Decepticons along the way. While going through a wormhole, the Autobots find themselves encountering a group of humans in a spacecraft reverse-engineered from studying Megatron. With this discovery, Prime realizes the significance of Earth, as both Megatron and the Allspark are there. After saving Bumblebee from a pit of rock-chewing cave worms, Prime battles Starscream. He is about to be gunned down by Starscream and Bonecrusher when he is saved by the human craft. In retaliation, Starscream obliterates it.

Optimus Prime also appears as a character in the book Transformers: Dark of the Moon The Junior Novel.^[52]

Cyber Missions

In the online CGI cartoon Cyber Missions produced by TG Studios for Hasbro's web site, Optimus is once again seen fighting Megatron, this time with some help from Sideswipe. Optimus also helps Ironhide against Mindwipe.

Video games

In the Autobot Campaign, Optimus Prime provides intelligence and missions to Bumblebee in his search for the Allspark. Eventually, the clues lead the Autobot to Sam Witwicky. After saving Sam from Barricade, Bumblebee finally completes preparations for the Autobots to arrive on Earth. Once on Earth and having informed the two teenagers of their mission, Prime and the Autobots are discovered by Sector 7. Optimus sends Jazz on a high-speed destruction distraction mission, then sends Ironhide to rescue Jazz from a double-threat posed by the government agents and various Decepticon scouts. When Bumblebee is captured, Prime transforms and chases the chopper which from which the small Autobot is tied. After a lengthy chase, Prime manages to catch the net, only to be thrown off by another Cybertronian meteor. As Bumblebee is carried away, Optimus promises he will not fail him again. Jazz informs him that the meteor is not an Autobot. Prime confronts the new threat, who turns out to be the Decepticon triplechanger Shockwave. The two battle it out across Tranquility before Optimus finally destroys him. During the battle, Optimus overhears Starscream's transmission revealing the location of the Allspark. Optimus then returns to an intel role as he guides Bumblebee in his mission to retrieve the Allspark from Hoover Dam. Unfortunately, the Decepticons manage to free Megatron, leading to the final battle in Mission City. As the Autobots battle it out with the Decepticons to protect Sam and the Allspark, things seem to take a turn for the worse as Megatron finally arrives. Before he can claim the Allspark, Optimus attacks him. Optimus defeats Megatron and leaves him on the ground, seemingly devoid of life. However, just as Sam is giving the Allspark to Optimus, Megatron awakens, leaping at Optimus with his chain-flail out, making one last attempt at defeating his adversary. Optimus grabs the chain, pulling Megatron in closer, and, with the Allspark clutched in his fist, delivers a punch through Megatron's spark, killing him. Optimus reflects on the losses and rewards of this battle, as the Autobots have a new home, but many were killed in the battle. The story ends with Optimus and the Autobots choosing to remain in Earth, proclaiming it as their new home.

Optimus Prime appears near the end of the Decepticon Campaign. Sam and Mikaela inform Optimus that all the Autobots were defeated by the Decepticons. Optimus proclaims that they sacrificed their lives to protect the Allspark, and their sacrifice will not be in vain. Leaving Sam and Mikaela in a safe place, Optimus faces Megatron, but is defeated. Weakened and damaged, Optimus crawls to reach the Allspark. However, Megatron attacks Optimus with his chain-flail, killing him.

In Transformers: Autobots, Optimus Prime meets up with the other Autobots to give further commands to his troops. Create-A-Bot, the new rookie, is eager to help in the cause, but Optimus tells him to sit back while the other Autobots fight the Decepticons. Create-A-Bot finally defies orders and completes a mission against Optimus's council. After nearly getting himself and the other Autobots killed, Create-A-Bot apologizes to Optimus personally. Taking pity on the newcomer, Optimus lets him off with a stern warning, and they move out together to face Megatron, who has absorbed the power of the Allspark. Optimus fights Megatron, but Megatron gains the upper-hand. Optimus is on the verge of defeat when Create-A-Bot takes the Allspark and drives to Megatron's chest, weakening Megatron but mortally wounding himself in the process. Optimus fights Megatron again, defeating him. As Megatron is on the ground, he tells Optimus that if he kills him, the Allspark will be destroyed and Cybertron will never be restored. Optimus says to Megatron that he will do what he must do, then he raises his sword and kills Megatron, destroying the Allspark in the process. Create-A-Bot also dies, but not before telling Optimus his final request to make Earth the new home of the Autobots and to protect the humans. The game ends with Optimus sending a message to all surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars.

In Transformers: Decepticons, Optimus Prime lands on Earth along with the other Autobots to stop the Decepticons. Optimus does not appear until Megatron is released and Starscream escapes with the Allspark. Optimus fights Megatron, but is defeated and is killed while Megatron gives chase to his traitorous second-in-command.

In the 2009 Revenge of the Fallen video game by Activision, Optimus Prime is among the playable characters.^[53]

Optimus Prime is also among the characters who appear in the flash game TRANSFORMERS CVBERVERSE Battle Builder Game.^[54]

Other media

During the promotion of the Transformers films, Optimus Prime appeared in several commercials. Optimus Prime, along with other Transformers, were featured in several commercials for General Motors. Scenes with Optimus Prime were used in several General Motors commercials.^[55] A commercial for the Discovery Channel featured Optimus Prime singing part of a promotional song.^[56]

Optimus also appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, giving "The Top Ten Things That Sound Cool When Spoken by a Giant Robot".^[57]

Optimus Prime is one of the Autobots featured in Transformers: The Ride at Universal Studios theme parks. In the ride, Optimus fends off against the invading Decepticons at N.E.S.T. headquarters while telling Evac to escape with the AllSpark shard. He battles Megatron throughout the ride until Megatron is killed by Evac. Optimus then congratulates Evac and the riders for protecting the AllSpark.

Transformers Animated

Template:Transformers character Optimus Prime appears in the Transformers Animated series in 2008 as a red semi-trailer truck, able to be fitted with many "trailer" attachments, most notably one that effectively makes him a fire truck. Unlike the other Optimus Primes, this one is much younger.^[58]

This Optimus Prime is usually called "Boss-bot" by Bulkhead and "Big Bot" by Bumblebee (possibly a reference to Beast Wars).

Optimus has the ability to change any part of his robotic body into a tool or gadget. He has swing lines in his wrists. His wrists can also fire capture bolas. His arsenal includes a grappler, fire extinguisher and a negative friction spray. It is interesting that, unlike all the previous series, his face can almost always be seen, because his mouthplate is retractable like in the 2007 live action film.

Animated Optimus Prime, in an Earth-based fire truck mode, appears as a hidden character in the Transformers Netjet video game by Hasbro.

Instead of being leader of the Autobots, Prime was actually a washout from the Elite Guard. Despite no longer being a member, he maintains his military ranking of "Prime".

The scale chart released for the series indicates Optimus Prime stands about 22 feet tall.^[59]

It should be noted that in the lead up to the premiere of the Japanese translation of this series, TakaraTomy marketing director Masahiko Yamazaki indicated changes would be made to place it as a prequel to the 2007 Transformers live-action film. This would have made this version of Optimus Prime an earlier version of the film character. In practice however, the only changes that were made consisted of trimming for time to allow additional promotional material to be added to the start and end, and the name change of Bulkhead into "Ironhide" (with Ironhide becoming "Armorhide"). The future 22nd century Detroit setting and characterizations of the cast remain as they were in the original production.

Animated series

In the animated series, Optimus Prime was originally in the Autobot Academy and friends with Sentinel Prime and Elita One. When Elita is lost on a planet dominated by giant spider-like aliens, he blames himself for leaving her behind, where she supposedly dies in the explosion of a wrecked Decepticon warship loaded with Energon. Sentinel doesn't forgive him for losing her and Optimus takes full responsibly for Elita's demise. Ultra Magnus, who had high hopes for him, expels him and thus bars him from any position of the Elite Guard. However, Magnus pulls some strings so that Optimus could be captain of a strange Space Bridge repair crew composed of an old grumbler of a war vet named Ratchet, a fledgling Bumblebee, and his fellow cadet, Bulkhead. Optimus is given command of the starship Omega Supreme.

The series begins when Optimus and his crew, after picking up a disillusioned ninja named Prowl, are sent to clear rubble from a space bridge passage. There, the Autobots stumbled upon the Allspark and are immediately attacked by Megatron's battle cruiser, the Nemesis. Through treachery by Megatron's second-in-command, Starscream, Megatron was fragged and the Autobots crashed on Earth in the early 21st century. After being in stasis under Lake Erie for 50 years, the Autobots awaken in Detroit of the near future, where they immediately discovered humans in need and became heroes of the city. During the battle for the possession of the Allspark, Optimus goes offline after defeating Starscream, only to be revived by Sari Sumdac and her Allspark-infused key.

In "Endgame" 2-parter, Ratchet builds Optimus a jetpack attachment to help in the coming battle against the Decepticons. After some initial difficulty, Optimus is able to get the hang of the device, only to be shot down by Starscream's female clone, Slipstream. Though Ratchet urges Optimus to use the Magnus Hammer, he is reluctant to do so, given his past with Ultra Magnus. In the end, he wields the weapon as the Lugnut-controlled Omega Supreme clones land on Earth. During the fight, Optimus manages to master the Magus Hammer's power in order t overwhelms Megatron to the point of being acknowledged by name. After a devastating battle, the last remaining Omega clones self-destruct due to Starscream's intervention. With Prowl's sacrifice, the Allspark is rebuilt into one as it forms a barrier around the Omega clone, along with Optimus and Megatron. Prowl's spirit pulls Optimus from the bubble just as the clone self-destructs with Megatron still trapped inside. Prime laments Prowl's passing before defeating a heavily damaged Megatron and sparing him the deathblow, saying that Megatron does not deserve the "easy way out". He and his team return to Cybertron with Omega Supreme, the captured Decepticons, and Prowl's body and are greeted as the hero he had wished to be so long ago. The reconstructed Allspark, having a structure similar to the G1 incarnation of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, is hung around his neck.

Fun Publications

Optimus appeared in the 2008 BotCon voice actor play "Bee in the City", voiced by David Kaye. In this story, Professor Sumdac attempts to create a teleportation system to get the Autobots to Cybertron, but an interaction with Sari's key ends up transporting Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Sari to Transtech Cybertron. There, they met Flareup and are detained by Shockwave. Bumblebee teams up with Beast Wars Megatron to free his comrades, but must then stop Megatron from taking the key for himself. Afterward, the Autobots and Sari returned to their own dimension.

After the events of Transformers Animated the Stunticons set up a Stunt Convoy show in the city of Kaon and use it as cover to attempt to break Megatron out of his detention at Trypticon. Their attempts are thwarted thanks to the efforts of Cheetor, Optimus Prime, and Sideswipe. The Stunticons are placed in detention with Megatron and an attempt to rescue them was made by the Decepticons Blot, Mindwipe, Oil Slick, Scalpel, Sky-Byte, and Strika.^[60]

Other media

Optimus Prime appears among the characters in Re-Unification, the 2010 TFCon voice actor play prelude comic.^[61]

Video games

Optimus Prime is one of the playable characters in the 2008 Transformers Animated video game for the Nintendo DS.^[62]

Transformers: Timelines (Transtech)

Template:Transformers character Optimus Prime is the Autobot leader on Transtech Cybertron. On Transtech Cybertron, Optimus Prime is a gifted politician who has forged an alliance with Megatron, the militaristic leader of the Decepticons. together, they helped bring forth a golden age on Cybertron. Transtech Cybertron is unique among Cybertrons of alternate universes in that war has not broken out between factions.^[63]

Fun Publications

Optimus Prime appears in Withered Hope by Fun Publications, where he oversees Senate hearings on the Gobot's dimensional travel. In the end, it is concluded not to help the Gobots to prevent them from leaving Axiom Nexus for the safety of Cybertron.

Optimus Prime appears in the story "Transcendent". In this issue, Starscream reports his findings on Skyfall and Landquake to him.

Shattered Glass

Template:Transformers character A new Optimus Prime character appeared as the centerpiece for the 2008 BotCon exclusive toy set. This Optimus Prime leads the Autobots in a mirror universe where the Autobots are evil and the Decepticons are good.

According to his tech specs, during Cybertron's Golden Age of peace, Optimus Prime served among the guardians of Cybertron's accumulated knowledge. He hungered for power and, through his studies, he determined that military might was the only way to achieve his goals.^[64]

Optimus carries a laser cannon and ion blaster which combine into a shoulder cannon.^[65]

Reception

The Botcon 2008 set was chosen as the "Action Figure Digest Hot Pick". This version of Optimus Prime was featured on their magazine cover.^[66]

Fun Publications

Optimus Prime appears as leader of the Autobot forces in the Transformers: Timelines story "Shattered Glass" by Fun Publications. When Cliffjumper, the Generation 1 character from a parallel universe, is seemingly discovered alive, Optimus welcomes his old friend back to the Autobot fold. After learning that Clffjumper is not the evil Autobot he remembers, he shoots Cliffjumper and leaves him to fend for himself in the Rad Zone. Optimus plans to launch his new warship, the Ark, to conquer Earth, but Cliffjumper aids Megatron's heroic Decepticon forces in a successful attack on the Ark's launch platform.^[67]

Optimus Prime also appears in the text-based fiction Dungeons & Dinobots. He commands the Autobots to attack the Arch-Ayr fuel dump. The attack is thwarted when the main Decepticon forces are augmented by the Mayhem Suppression Squad. When Wheeljack attacks both the Autobots and Decepticons with a massive force of drone Dinobots, Optimus offers to allow the outcast Autobot scientist to rejoin the Autobot ranks if the Dinobots destroy the Decepticons. The Dinobots prove unstable and go on a rampage, attacking everyone, including each other. Optimus punishes Wheeljack by having Ratchet painfully reformat him for Earth mode and assigning him to the Ark repair crew on the advice of Side Burn. He punishes Blurr for allowing his heroic Decepticon cousin, Crasher, part of the Mayhem Suppression Squad, to live. When Grimlock returns to the Autobots, Optimus lets him live because the Dinobot has gained useful intelligence and helps in work on the Ark.

Megatron is captured by the Autobot Targetmasters in the episode "Do Over". When Optimus learns Megatron has been captured, he rushes to be the one who kills his old enemy, despite the closing launch window of the Ark. When confronted by Optimus Prime, Megatron attempts to use the Autobot Targetmaster Nightstick to shoot the Autobot leader, but Nightstick takes control of Megatron's arm. Megatron then tricks Optimus into using Megatron's own sword to cut his hand off, freeing him from Nightstick. Optimus fails to kill his foe and misses the launching of the Ark, which has been taken over by Rodimus. He then takes out his anger on Blurr.

In "Reunification", Optimus is seen building his new ultimate weapon, Omega Doom. He learns that Megatron has supposedly been killed by watching a broadcast from the Autobot reporter Rook. When Kup leads the Autobots Camshaft, Hound, and Warpath, in an attempt to assassinate Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader easily defeats the four rebels. Alpha Trion then attempts to kill Optimus, but Optimus uses Omega Doom against the ancient robot. Prime then sends Doom against the Decepticons.

Optimus appears in a flashback in The Coming Storm, shooting Nightscream.

Transformers: Prime

Template:Transformers character Optimus Prime is the leader of the main group of Autobots in the iteration of the Transformers franchise primarily marked by the 2010 computer animated series Transformers: Prime on The Hub.^[68]

In this universe, Optimus is a veteran military commander and second in command who wields an ion blaster and a double bladed energon axe. He became the leader of the Autobots after Zeta Prime fell in battle, but is not certain he wants the responsibility. The war with the Decepticons was going badly, and it looked like there was no end in sight. He vowed to himself and to the warriors under his command that he would never surrender, never retreat, and never stop fighting until the Decepticons were defeated.

In the Transformers: Prime series he can form bladed weapons or blasters from his hands. He has telescopic vision and turns into a long-nose semi-trailer truck. Following an upgrade by the Forge of Solus Prime, he gains a jetpack, a larger size, and an all-terrain expeditionary fighting vehicle for an alternate mode.

Books

Optimus Prime appears in the novel Transformers: Exodus. He starts off as a data clerk Orion Pax who eventually is named "Optimus Prime" by Cybertron's high council. Learning of the growing dissent among the classes of Cybertron, he is inspired by the gladiator Megatronus-the future Megatron-to stand up for the rights of all Cybertronians. Sadly, his friendship with Megatron is broken after he is named Prime, and the war between the Autobots-named by Prime himself for their desire for autonomy-and the Decepticons begins. In the course of the war, Prime jettisons the AllSpark from Cybertron and eventually receives the Matrix of Leadership from the badly damaged Primus, thus making his title of Prime official. With Cybertron in desperate need of time to heal, Optimus and a crew of Autobots board the Ark and depart the planet with Megatron's Nemesis in pursuit.

Optimus Prime appears in the short story "Bumblebee at Tyger Pax" by Alex Irvine.^[69]

Optimus Prime appears in the novel Transformers: Exiles, in which the Autobots continue their search for the AllSpark. The journey takes them to the lost Transformer colonies of Velocitron and Junkion, and in the course of it Optimus discovers a number of artifacts. Initially believing them to be the Star Saber, an ancient weapon that belonged to Prima, he eventually discovers that they are the Blades of Time. Using them, he opens a portal to another dimension where he meets with Vector Prime, who informs Optimus that the time of the Thirteen has passed. Upon returning to Junkion, he fights against the Decepticons after they obtain the Requiem Blaster, and is aided by the appearance of Nexus Prime.

Optimus also appears in the novel Transformers: Retribution.

In the Covenant of Primus, it is revealed that the aligned continuity version of Optimus Prime was one of the original Thirteen Primes, specifically the thirteenth to be created. Uniting the others with his words of encouragement, he kept them going during the battle against Unicron, in which he rendered the evil being unconscious using his own Spark. Recovered by the other Primes, he remained with them until the group was shattered by the murder of Solus Prime. Upon the creation of the Well of All Sparks, Optimus chose to enter the well and be reborn as part of the new generation of Transformers. He thus emerged as Orion Pax, but was recognized by his former comrade and future mentor Alpha Trion.

Games

Optimus Prime is one of the playable Autobot characters in the 2010 video game Transformers: War for Cybertron. In the Autobot campaign, he starts off as Optimus, a warrior who rallies his fellow autobots against the Decepticons following the reported death of their leader Zeta Prime. He succeeds in defending the Autobots' home city of Iacon from Starscream and his forces. Optimus then receives a distress call from Zeta Prime. Knowing that this is most likely a trap set by Megatron, he proceeds anyway with a rescue mission. He lets himself, Bumblebee, and SideSwipe be captured by the Decepticons and is sent to a prison in Kaon, the decepticon capital, in an elaborate scheme to free Zeta Prime and all imprisoned Autobots. He frees all the other prisoners, and defeats Soundwave and his minions Frenzy, Rumble, and Laserbeak, but he is too late to save Zeta Prime. After taking Zeta Prime's body back to the Autobot high council, he is bestowed upon the well earned title of Prime.

Optimus Prime is then informed that Megatron has infected the core of Cybertron with dark energon and is given the task to undo the damage done. After rescuing Omega Supreme, Optimus, Ironhide, and Prowl fight their way to the core, but it's too late. The core informs Optimus that it is far too corrupted. It can repair itself by shuting down, but it will take millions of years. By that time, Cybertron will have to become cold, barren, and uninhabitable. The core gives Optimus a small piece of itself, saying it will still survive as long as the piece does. Optimus accepts the burden and the core relinquishes the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.

Realizing that the planet is dying, Optimus orders a mass evacuation of all Autobot cities, but many transport ships are destroyed by the Decepticon satellite Trypticon, under orders from Megatron that no one shall leave the planet. He orders the Aerialbots Jetfire, Silverbolt and Air Raid to fly and destroy Trypticon. The aerial trio manages to destroy Trypticon's jet pack and send the Decepticon behemoth crashing into Cybertron, where Optimus Prime and the Autobots band together to narrowly defeat him, sending him plunging into a pool of raw energon. Optimus and the remaining Autobots volunteer to stay and defend Cybertron from Megatron for as long as possible while the rest evacuate the planet. He commissions a massive vessel known as the Ark to transport the remaining Autobots into space when the time comes.

In the Nintendo DS game War for Cybertron: Autobots, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are the initial two characters playable in the game.

Optimus Prime appears in the next game, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

Animated series

In the war for Cybertron eons ago, Optimus was once Orion Pax, a historical archivist in the Iacon library. Throughout his studies on Cybertron's past, Orion became aware of the social inequality among Cybertron's populace. He became inspired by a gladiator taking the name of one of the thirteen original Primes, Megatronus. Megatronus attempted to start a revolution to overthrow Cybertron's current leadership and take the mantle of Prime. However, Orion preached a different ideology, declaring that violence is not the means to achieve justice, and thus, Megatronus changed his name to Megatron and severed ties with Orion, starting the Great War that destroyed Cybertron. Orion soon ventured into the core of Cybertron and was bestowed with the Matrix of Leadership by Primus, creator of the Transformers, becoming Optimus Prime. After Cybertron became barren and lifeless, he and Megatron took their war to Earth, after which Megatron disappeared for three years.

With Ratchet, Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Cliffjumper under his command, the Autobots were granted asylum on Earth by the US government if they kept the Decepticons at bay. However, in "Darkness Rising", the Decepticons return, killing Cliffjumper and target Jack, Raf, and Miko, three children who were seen with Arcee and Bumblebee. Optimus requested they be brought to base and know the full story, much to Arcee and Ratchet's dismay. Megatron returned soon after, wielding Dark Energon and nearly killing Optimus and Ratchet with a horde of reanimated Cybertronian corpses. Optimus later fought Megatron on the latter's space bridge, which Megatron intended to use to bring forth an army of undead to conquer Earth. Though Optimus is nearly killed by Megatron, he is able to gain the upper hand, and leaves Megatron to his apparent destruction when the Autobots destroy the space bridge. However, Optimus later confided in Ratchet that he still mourns Megatron's death, as he had a small glimmer of hope he could be turned to good. However, he does not underestimate Megatron's successor, Starscream.

Optimus's fears regarding Starscream would prove valid, as the Autobots would be forced to engage the Decepticons several times to thwart his machinations. During this time, the Autobots also came into conflict with a human organization known as MECH, a group obsessed with obtaining advanced technology who quickly became a serious threat. However, the greatest shock would come after Optimus fell victim to a life-threatening virus created by Megatron, which led Arcee and Bumblebee to board the Decepticon warship to find a cure. While aboard, they located a comatose but still alive Megatron, and Bumblebee entered his mind to find a cure for the virus. This effort helped save Optimus' life, but set in motion Megatron's return to his place as leader of the Decepticons.

Megatron's schemes became an even greater concern to Optimus as the time drew near for the fulfillment of an ancient Cybertronian doomsday prophecy, which Megatron believed was a description of his own rise to power. After Megatron seriously injured Rafael, Bumblebee's human companion, Optimus came to the conclusion that Megatron had to be destroyed in order to put an end to his evil. The two leaders engaged in battle, and Optimus nearly succeeded, only for Megatron to receive an unexpected boost to his power. A far greater threat was then revealed to be awakening beneath the Earth's surface: Unicron, the ancient enemy of Primus. Unicron sought to destroy Optimus, as the Matrix of Leadership was the only thing that could stop his reawakening. The Autobots were forced into an unlikely alliance with Megatron, and traveled to Earth's core to use the Matrix to force Unicron back into his induced slumber. They succeeded, but as a result of expelling the Matrix energy from his body, Optimus lost all memory of being a Prime, and came to think of himself once more as being Orion Pax.

Believing Megatron to still be his ally, Orion returned to the Nemesis with him, and went to work decoding the Iacon database, completely unaware of the modern Autobot-Decepticon conflict. A series of incidents, culminating in a meeting with the renegade Starscream, destroyed Orion's trust in Megatron, and he refused to aid his cause any longer. He soon escaped the warship and followed Megatron to a Decepticon spacebridge that his teammates had seized, briefly engaging Megatron in battle. However, while quickly defeated, his presence allowed the Autobots to fulfill a contingency plan that he had set in motion while still Optimus. Entrusting the Key to Vector Sigma to the human Jack, Optimus ensured that the Matrix of Leadership could be restored. Having received the restored Matrix from Vector Sigma on Cybertron, Jack then uploaded it into Orion, restoring Optimus' memories of being a Prime.

Optimus and the Autobots would then come into conflict with the Decepticons in a bid to possess various Cybertronian relics that had been sent to Earth by Alpha Trion, Optimus' mentor. The coordinates of these relics were encrypted in the Iacon database, which both sides raced to decode as fast as they were able. During this period, the Autobots were also forced to contend with MECH again, when they stole Bumblebee's transformation cog. Optimus would subsequently be forced to confront Nemesis Prime, a remote-controlled duplicate of himself created by MECH as part of their efforts to create an army of transforming robots. With help from Agent Fowler, Optimus was able to dispatch his doppelganger. Optimus was also forced to contend with a Decepticon that he actually possessed some respect for: Dreadwing, Megatron's somewhat honorable new second-in-command. On several occasions, Optimus would appeal to Dreadwing to turn his back on Megatron, and the pair even worked together to fight Starscream after the renegade gained the Apex Armor.

The Autobots also welcomed a new teammate during this time: Smokescreen, who had known Alpha Trion during the last days of the war. Optimus found himself having to deal with the young recruit, who often acted impulsively and thus put himself and others at risk. However, other pressing concerns came to light after Optimus managed to acquire the powerful Star Saber, a relic of the original Thirteen Primes. The saber conveyed a message from Alpha Trion, who informed Optimus of the Omega Keys, relics that held the power to restore Cybertron when combined with the Omega Lock. The Autobots and Decepticons continued racing to obtain them, and Megatron turned to drastic measures. Having the arm of a fallen Prime attached in place of one of his own, the tyrant gained the use of the Forge of Solus Prime, which he used to create the Dark Star Saber from Dark Energon. A duel between Optimus and Megatron resulted in the Star Saber being broken. However, the Autobots continued their quest resiliently, only for the Decepticons to obtain all four Omega Keys.

Unexpectedly, the Autobots were aided by Dreadwing, who delivered the Forge of Solus Prime to them before meeting his end at Megatron's hands. Using the Forge, Optimus upgraded the Autobots' groundbridge into a spacebridge, allowing them to travel to Cybertron and intercept Megatron. Reforging the Star Saber, he led his team into battle against Megatron's forces, and they managed to reclaim all four keys. However, the Decepticons then turned the tables by kidnapping Jack, Miko, and Rafael, whom they ransomed for the four Omega Keys. When Megatron then began his attempt to transform Earth into a planet like Cybetron-which would have killed all life on the planet-Optimus made the sacrifice of seemingly destroying the Omega Lock using the Star Saber. The Autobots returned to Earth, only to find that Megatron had succeeded in creating a fortress near the location of their base. Sending the Autobots and their human charges to different points across North America, Optimus then destroyed the groundbridge controls with the Star Saber to prevent the Decepticons from locating them. He was then caught inside the base when the Nemesis opened fire, leveling the facility.

Optimus was spared demise at Megatron's hands by Smokescreen, who had defied orders by returning to base. Taking the badly wounded Optimus to a cavern, Smokescreen was then sent to recover the Forge of Solus Prime, thinking that Optimus would use it to repair himself. However, Optimus revealed that the Forge's power was limited, and that he wished to conserve it in order to restore the Omega Lock. Knowing that he would die without any aid, Optimus prepared to present the Matrix to Smokescreen, and nearly joined the All Spark after seeing a vision of Alpha Trion beckoning him there. However, Smokescreen placed the handle of the Forge in Optimus' hand as he lay dying, and its energies gave him a new, more powerful body capable of flight. Optimus then flew to the Decepticon fortress, arriving just in time to save the Autobots-including new arrival Ultra Magnus-from demise at Megatron's hands. He then took out the fortress's cannons, allowing Agent Fowler's fighter plane squadron to bring the fortress down. With that, the Autobots took up residence at Agent Fowler's army base, with Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack becoming permanent members of Team Prime.

The Autobots were soon forced to contend with the Decepticons' latest project: an effort to clone an army of Predacons from fossilized remains discovered on Earth. Despite their best efforts, the Decepticons acquired several samples, and soon began cloning Predacon troops. However, after coming to believe that the Predacons could be a threat to them, Megatron and his forces arranged for the Autobots to find the laboratory and destroy it. Optimus came to the rescue of Magnus and Wheeljack, who had destroyed the Predacon protoforms only to be attacked by Predaking, an active Predacon who had learned how to transform. When the Decepticons began efforts to rebuild the Omega Lock, Optimus managed to shoot down Soundwave and bring him back to base as a prisoner, though the Autobots failed to get any information out of him. Soon enough, they gleaned the Decepticons' true purpose, but Optimus remained committed to preventing them from harming Earth.

Optimus engaged Predaking in a single battle, and despite his improved form was defeated by the Predacon. The Decepticons then gained everything they needed to complete the Omega Lock, and worse, Ratchet was captured by Soundwave. Guessing that Ratchet's synthetic Enegon formula might be necessary for the Omega Lock to function, Optimus and his team set out to find their missing medic. An attempt to do so failed, but Ratchet managed to contact them and provide them with the warship's coordinates. Optimus soon confronted Megatron again, and was determined to defeat him and use the Omega Lock to revitalize Cybertron. In the course of the battle, Bumblebee seemingly perished, and Optimus was nearly destroyed by Megatron as well. However, the cybermatter that the Decepticons had created to cyberform Earth healed Bumblebee, who used the Star Saber to kill Megatron. With the other Decepticons captured or fled, the Autobots returned to Cybertron and revived Primus using the cybermatter. They then returned to Earth to bid a final farewell to their human friends, with Ratchet volunteering to remain behind in case of further Decepticon trouble on Earth.

In the finale TV movie Predacons Rising Optimus takes Wheeljack with him to locate the Allspark so that Cybertron can generate new life. Since it is located in the Theta Scorpia star system, it is difficult for Optimus to obtain as the area is bombarded by deadly solar flares and radiation. After obtaining the Allspark and narrowly escaping the storm with Wheeljack, Optimus receives word that Unicron has returned using Megatron's body. Upon arriving back on Cybertron, Optimus battles Unicron and uses the Allspark's container to trap him. This frees Megatron from Unicron's enslavement, destroy's Unicron's army and causes Megatron to give up his dreams of conquest forever. After explaining that he has merged the Matrix of Leadership with the Allspark, Optimus reveals that his spark has also become one with the Allspark, and that he must sacrifice himself in order to continue Cybertron's future. After a fond farewell to Team Prime, Optimus flies into Cybertron's core and merges with Primus and the Allspark, ending his life and the dynasty of Primes forever, but securing a new future for Cybertron.