Optimus Prime (Primax)


 * Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots in the Generation 1 continuity family. Before he became Optimus Prime, he was named alternatively Orion Pax or Optronix in certain continuities.



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

On the battlefield, there are few who rival Optimus Prime's prowess. His ion blaster and his energon-axe are deadly weapons, though lacking when compared to others. He is easily the strongest of any Autobot his size, and what he lacks in raw firepower he easily compensates with guts. He would sacrifice his life to protect his fellow Autobots or those under their care, and has on a few occasions. His compassion for other sentient beings is his only real weakness, and one the Decepticons have taken advantage of time and again... though it's also the source of his strength!

Prime (usually) carries within him the Matrix of Leadership.

"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."

- Optimus Prime's most common bio quote


 * Japanese name: Convoy
 * French-Canadian Name: Optimus Primus
 * Italian name: Commander
 * Hungarian name: Optimusz Fővezér; and Optimusz Prájm (pronounced: prīm) in the first The Movie dub
 * Czech Name: Optimus Primus
 * Brazilian Name - cartoon: Líder Optimus
 * Brazilian Name - comics: Supremus Absolutus

Generation 1

 * (Note: Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.)



Before the Great War broke out on Cybertron, the robot who would be Optimus Prime (his name before becoming the Prime Autobot remains unknown) was a Transformer of note, displaying his skills in the Infraformers Sharp-shooting Competition. Subsequently, when the war began, Prime quickly made a name for himself as a combat leader. 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 acquiring its power, but with this action, proved his wisdom and skill to the Autobot Council of Elders. ''The outbreak of the Great War saw Autobot territories falling under Decepticon dominion, one City-State at a time. The last City-State to be taken was the Autobot capital of Iacon. As Decepticons besieged Iacon, the Council of Elders prepared to surrender. Councillor Xaaron suggested that High Councillor Traachon step down and allow a military officer to assume Autobot leadership. Traachon then used his powers of veto and effectively elected himself out of office, allowing Optimus Prime to assume supreme command of the Autobots, becoming the first soldier to ever hold the mantle of Autobot leadership.''

Four million years ago, Cybertron - shaken from its orbit and drifting through space - came under threat when it floated into the path of a massive asteroid swarm that could potentially devastate the planet. Prime led a group of his most powerful Autobot warriors on the Autobot starship, the Ark, on a mission to destroy the asteroids, and although successful, in the aftermath of this mission the Ark was attacked by Decepticons, hoping to overcome their weakened foes. Intent on keeping the secrets of the Ark's computer, Auntie, from the Decepticons, Prime set the craft on a suicide course, crashing it into the prehistoric planet Earth.

In 1984 C.E., a volcanic eruption reactivated Auntie, which in turn brought the Transformers back on-line. Prime led the Autobots in their opening battles to prevent the Decepticons from plundering Earth's resources, but following their initial victory, the Autobots were all deactivated by Shockwave. Prime was decapitated by Shockwave, and had the energy of the Creation Matrix leeched from his mind to give life to Shockwave's creations, the Constructicons (although Shockwave was unaware that the Matrix was not merely a program in Prime's mind, but a physical object in his chest). Before Shockwave could give life to his next Decepticon, Jetfire, Prime transferred the Matrix energy into the mind of Buster Witwicky, who used the energy to turn Jetfire on Shockwave, allowing Prime to reclaim his body and retake leadership of the Autobots, giving Jetfire true life as a reward.

''Optimus Prime began to consider whether he was too important to the Autobots, and if they could carry on should he fall. To alleve his doubts, he and a reluctant Wheeljack plotted to fake Prime's death to teach the Autobots how to fend for themselves. While Prime was setting up an imposter version of himself to leave behind destroyed for the Autobots to find, Megatron sent the Predacons to attack Prime. In an ironic twist, would the Autobots stumble across a genuine dead Prime?''

After a period of effective leadership, Prime engaged Megatron in a video game duel for possession of a super fuel. Prime was victorious, but Megatron implemented a cheat code, allowing him to re-enter the game. Prime was able to defeat him yet again, but in doing so, he also destroyed several of the game sprites, and refused to accept his victory, as he had performed an action that compromised his beliefs about the preservation of life, which he would never have done, had the duel been real. In accordance with the rules of the game, Prime's body exploded and he died. Autobot surgeon Ratchet's subsequent efforts to restore him were unsuccessful, and his body was launched into space. The funeral barge eventually crashed on giant moon where it lay for untold time. At one stage, an alien ship crashed near the barge. The dying alien reached out toward the Matrix, with the Matrix choosing to revive the being as Death Bringer. Much later, the Matrix would revive a small predatory animal which would prove instrumental to the conclusion of the Matrix Quest.

Prime's personality had been copied onto a floppy disk by the technician running the game, Ethan Zachary, who employed him in various video game scenarios he developed. Prime's damaged mind led him to belive that he himself was a video game character, and in an attempt to bring him back to life, Goldbug, Joyride, Slapdash, and Getaway took the disk to the planet Nebulos, where a new body was constructed for Prime. They built a new body for Optimus Prime, and even upgraded it with the ability to combine with the trailer to form a larger robot. In an effort to keep Transformers off their planet, however, the Nebulans had poisoned their fuel, and the sensation of dying convinced Prime that he was truly alive, and not a game character. To save his life, the Nebulan scientist Hi-Q bonded with him, creating Powermaster Optimus Prime.

Powermaster Prime and his Autobots later battled Deathbringer. ''Optimus Prime immediately sensed Matrix energies emanating from Death Bringer, and realised that the undead reaper was a creation of the Matrix. Although Death Bringer proved to be invulnerable, Optimus Prime was finally able to defeat it by convincing it to self-destruct in concordance with its primary function. The battle with Death Bringer alerted Optimus Prime to the fact that his old body was still out there somewhere in space, and more importantly, that the Matrix that it carried was also with it. With a war to win, the location of the Matrix was not a high priority.''



With the subsequent threat of Unicron looming, priorites quickly changed and Prime began a quest to locate his old body and the physical Matrix object within it. When the Matrix was successfully reacquired, Prime sacrificed his life one more time to destroy Unicron by plunging the Matrix into his maw. However, the Powermaster process had been working to fully bond Prime and Hi-Q, and with Prime now destroyed, the process completed itself in Hi-Q's body, and the two minds and souls became one. Hi-Q's biomechanical body was stripped down and reconstructed by the Last Autobot, creating a brand new Optimus Prime.

Generation 2


Prime was plagued by visions of the Swarm - a destructive by-product of Transformer reproduction - entering into an alliance with Megatron against it and the forces of the second-generation Cybertronians led by Jhiaxus. Prime's body was destroyed yet again when he confronted the Swarm, but upon releasing the energy of the Matrix into it, purifying it, Prime was reborn by the repentant creature. At the end of the battle, Prime’s dream of reuniting the two races of Transformers into a single force for good seemed to be a possibility when the Autobots and Decepticons fought side by side against a common foe.

Fun Publications Classics comics


(Note: The Classics comic takes place after the end of the original Marvel Comic, but in a new timeline that does not include the events of the Marvel UK-exclusive stories or Generation 2.)

Optimus Prime has returned to Earth commanding Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Grimlock, Jetfire, Mirage and Rodimus (formerly Hot Rod) to counter the return of Megatron. When Transformers from another reality, Skyfall and Landquake, arrive on Earth unexpectedly, Megatron stumbles upon them, only to find himself under attack by Prime and his Autobots. Overwhelmed, Megatron managed to escape with Landquake, while the Autobots returned to Autobot headquarters with Skyfall.

Optimus Prime took his Autobots and Skyfall to South America, where the Decepticons were investigating a mysterious energy source that was similar to the radiation readings of their new dimension-traveling companions. After Prime left Jetfire in mid-transit to help RUNT fight the Seekers, he and the remaining Autobots arrived at their destination and battled the rest of Megatron's forces on the ground.

Shortly after the events of this battle, Prime regrouped, seemingly having lost Skyfall and Cliffjumper (along with Landquake). He was pleased to be visited (seemingly very quickly, if really at all) by Ultra Magnus when their paths crossed while the latter was hunting Bug Bite.

Generation 1 cartoon

 * Voice actors: Peter Cullen (US), Tesshō Genda (Japan), Francis Lax (France)



Optimus Prime began his life as a robot named Orion Pax, a simple dock worker during the Golden Age of Cybertron nine million years ago, with a girlfriend named Ariel, and a best friend named Dion. At the time, a new breed of robot had recently appeared on the planet - ones with new robot-mode flight powers that made Orion idolize them. Unfortunately for Orion, when Megatron, the leader of these robots, approached him with inquiries about using one of the dock warehouses, Orion fell for the deception and he and Ariel were critically wounded when Megatron and his forces then 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 - rebuilding the frail Autobot frames into battle-hardy configurations. With this reconstruction, Orion Pax became Optimus Prime, the first of the Autobot warriors, who took the mantle of leadership as the civil war against Megatron and Decepticons erupted, while Ariel was rebuilt into Elita One, the commander of the Autobot resistance on Cybertron.



As leader of the Autobots, Prime headed up the Autobots' mission to search out new worlds with new sources of energy to revitalise the depleted Cybertron. However, shortly after its launch, the Autobots' craft was attacked by the Decepticon space cruiser and boarded by Megatron and the Decepticons. In the ensuing struggle, the g-forces of a nearby planet pulled both crafts down, and the Autobots' ship crashed into a volcano, thrusting all the occupants of the ship into emergency stasis. Four million years later, in the Earth year 1984 C.E., a volcanic eruption jarred the ship's computer, Teletraan I back to life, and it reactivated the Decepticons, programming them with new Earth-based disguise modes. As a petty parting gesture, Starscream fired upon the Autobot ship, creating a landslide that knocked Prime into the path of the computer's restoration beam, restoring him to life, and 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, and, in some rare instances, being forced to team up with him for the greater good (or the lesser evil). 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 Laserbeak, and suffering a severe - though unfair - defeat when Megatron challenged him to one-on-one combat while imbued with the different powers of all the Decepticons.

Generally, Prime acting in a commanding role as part of larger battles and event, but played prominent and solo roles in a few, also. In 1985, Megatron created a perfect duplicate of him, leaving the Autobots unable to differentiate between the two until the clone disregarded the safety of their human companion, Spike Witwicky, exposing the deception. Later in the same year, Prime's fame and prowess led him to become the target of the demented big-game hunter, Lord Chumley, who sought his head to go along with his other rare trophies. Entering the hunter's estate alone, Prime defeated all the traps and beasts lying in wait and brought Chumley to justice. The same year also saw Elita One captured by the Decepticons on Cybertron and used to lure Prime there alone; although knowing it was a trap, he ventured in solo and was defeated by the Decepticons and nearly destroyed, until Elita's stasis-field powers froze time long enough for them to escape. Prime was forced to seek out Alpha Trion to save the wounded Elita's life, and in the process, rediscovered his forgotten connection to his creator. When Megatron created the Stunticons, Prime decided to have the Aerialbots created as a countermeasure, though Alpha Trion gave his life by merging with Vector Sigma to ensure their creation. For some reason, his memorial was also built 20 years before his death.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformer manga (Japan-only)
During an energy raid on Tokyo, Optimus Prime and the Autobots met up with a young Japanese boy named Kenji, whose inventive mind helped them to defeat Menasor. As a token of thanks, Optimus Prime granted Kenji a special communications helmet and made him an official Autobot ally.

While showing Kenji around the Autobots' new Tokyo base, Optimus Prime lamented that he wished his "kid brother" Ultra Magnus would hurry up and arrive with his trailer upgrade. As he pondered the where-abouts of his sibling, the Decepticons attacked Yokohama. The Autobots hurried to the scene only to encounter an over-powered Megatron in his newest form: the Super Megatron Gun. The Autobots' defeat seemed assured until Magnus arrived with Prime's trailer upgrade, the Scramble Power Buster. The Scramble Power Buster trumped the might of the Super Megatron Gun, leaving Prime and Magnus to vanquish the Decepticon forces with their combined attack: the Double Cross Kick (basically, them jump-kicking the Decepticons in the spine at the same time).

Scramble City (Japan-only)
After the location of the top-secret Autobot City Metroplex was discovered by Ratbat, Megatron unleashed a horde of Decepticon combiners to attack the mammoth Autobot before it could be activated. Optimus Prime lead a counter-offensive of Autobot combiners to the front lines. Things looked grim, as the Decepticon combiners thrashed the Autobots. As a last resort, Ultra Magnus activated Metroplex, who arrived in time to fight off the Decepticons. However, Megatron unleashed his trump card, the Decepticon City: Trypticon.

OVA

 * Voice actor: ? (Japan)

Selecting a time when the original Megatron was known to have gone missing, Beast Megatron traveled back in time via the Blasty Zone to sieze Decepticon leadership and gather precious solitarium. Beast Megatron's forces were strong, though Optimus Prime managed to fend off the villains when several time-displaced Autobots and Maximals (Star Saber, Victory Leo, Lio Convoy and Optimus Primal) came to his aid.

Beast Megatron would not relent, and eventually discovered a massive deposit of solitarium beneath New York City. The Decepticons razed the city in search of the element until Prime and his forces arrived to save the day, this time aided by the enigmatic Autobot Reverse Convoy. Things were going smoothly until Reverse Convoy revealed himself to actually be the real Megatron in disguise. Now going by the name Rebirth Megatron, Prime's nemesis teamed with Beast Megatron to conquer their mutual foes. Prime managed to defeat the duo by combining his power with Lio Convoy's and Optimus Primal's.

Binaltech (Japan-only)
While Optimus Prime was fighting the Decepticon on Cybertron, he charged Ultra Magnus to protect the earth and to lead the construction of the new Autobot city. When the crisis annouced by Ravage arrived, he went with Ultra Magnus on a last chance mission to stop Unicron, while sending Skids into the past to restore the timeline so that recent events instigated by Ravage would not happen.

Transformers The Movie


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 from two bases on Cybertron's moons. In the Earth year 2005 C.E., Prime was stationed on Moonbase One, and dispatched troops to Earth to acquire energy for an upcoming strike on Cybertron. The Decepticons, however, got wind of the plan and attacked the shuttle, killing its occupants. Their scheme was to use the shuttle to stage a surprise attack on Autobot City; an attack which almost suceeded if not for a distress call which summoned Prime and support troops to Earth.

Optimus Prime foresaw that his final battle with his arch-nemesis was looming, deciding that the Decepticons must be stopped, no matter the cost. Bravely, he plowed through the remaining Decepticon ranks, punishing them for every Autobot they killed overnight, before confronting Megatron. In the ensuing battle with Megatron, Optimus Prime sustained fatal injuries, but not before turning the tide of battle and forcing the Decepticon to flee. Despite the efforts of Perceptor, Optimus Prime could not be saved. Knowing his time had come, he passed the Matrix of Leadership, and with it leadership of the Autobots, into the hands of Ultra Magnus, Which later Hot Rod obtained (The spirit of Optimus Prime within the Matrix turned Hot Rod into Rodimus Prime to even the fight between him and Galvatron). With his last ounce of energy, he muttered the Autobot rallycry, then died.

Teletraan Go! Go! comics (Japan-only)
Shortly before the Unicron War of 2005, an unknown saboteur badly damaged Teletraan I's databanks. Optimus Prime notified his Autobots of the attack and issued a command that the information be recovered as soon as possible. "Black Panther Man," stationed on the artificial Earth satellite Nana, volunteered for the important task and assigned Teletraan 15 to the case.

Teletraan 15 later traveled to the future, where Micromaster Hot Rod saved her from a Novaroid. As Dark Nova and Ultra Megatron prepared to merge, Star Convoy arrived and asked Hot Rod to aid him in the coming fight. But before they could start the battle, an interruption came from an unexpected source: Galvatron emerged from a Transwarp portal and attacked!

On another mission into the future, Teletraan 15 and her companion Steeljaw were aboard Jetfire as he was attacked by the Decepticon jets Smokescreen and Dreadwing on his way to his commander. Fortunately for them, Battle Convoy (a.k.a. Laser Optimus Prime) appeared and severed Dreadwing's wing with a single mighty slash of his sword. Teletraan 15 thought that he looked sad and wondered if he had learned his sword skills during his Kiss Player days.

Kiss Players (Japan-only)
Note: Kiss Players is set in 2006 and 2007, in the first part of the 4-year gap between Transformers the Movie and Season 3 created by the latter being entitled Transformers 2010'' in Japan.



In the year 1985, as Optimus Prime prepared to face his enemy Megatron atop the Sherman Dam, Brave Maximus Fortress materialized nearby with an unusual crew on board. Undetected by the Autobot leader, three human pop singers had arrived from more than 20 years in the future, brought there by the mysterious Sparkbots. When the Kiss Player Marissa Faireborn kissed Prime, who was unable to detect her presence, a fragment of what she believed to be the Allspark emerged from his chest. With their prize secured, the time travelers continued on their time-hopping adventure.

Later, Prime would save the life of a young Marissa, leading to the human girl's lifelong romantic crush on the Autobot leader.

In 2006, following Prime's death in the Battle of Autobot City in America and the devastation of Tokyo by the Galvatron impact event the year before, his corpse was covertly flown to Japan by the anti-Transformers organization called the Earth Defense Command. Soon thereafter, as the E.D.C. transported Prime's body by truck, its convoy was ambushed by a group of young female resistance commandos. Believing that they had secured Prime's body, the commandos were taken by surprise and slaughtered by the Ne squad Kiss Player Ringo and her Autrooper partner, who burst out of the torso of the false Prime.

(Note: The fake Prime corpse was represented in art by the Masterpiece Convoy toy with an E.D.C. logo attached over its Autobot symbol. The real Optimus Prime was illustrated as the original toy.)

Marissa Faireborn, the sole surviving member of the squad, discovered that the true body was being transported within Prime's nearby cargo trailer. Slicing the trailer open, she was too late to prevent an E.D.C. Autrooper from partially fusing with Prime. Reflecting on her childhood memories of playing with the kindly Autobot leader, Marissa lovingly kissed his faceplate. In an explosion of energy that destroyed the trailer, the two fused and Prime was reborn in a new, living body. The pair had become Kiss Players!

And then they started dating.

Marissa enjoyed washing Prime, especially his... um... stick shift and the rim of his gas tank. Which made Prime shudder and moan.

Eww.

(Another Note: This is all actually part of the official fiction. Really.)

In addition to his ion blaster, Prime soon gained a weapon that he originally named the High Frequency Blade: a sword that he created from Marissa's beloved pink surfboard. Marissa hated the name, however, and renamed it the "Surf Blade". Naturally, Prime agreed to this, because really, what're you gonna do? Women, am I right, fellas?

As fugitives from the E.D.C., Prime and Marissa spent their days on the run and their nights hanging out at the beach. He longed for the day when he would be able to see her bathing in the sun, rather than the moonlight, although he also thought that all the soft-serve ice cream she was eating was making her a little fat.

One night while Marissa was surfing, she had a squid latch onto her. Then a Legion that had infused itself with both an octopus and shipwreck attacked her. With tentacles. Prime fought it off and saved Marissa, but the E.D.C. Autroopers were soon dispatched to the scene, and the two had to beat a hasty retreat.

Over the months that followed, Prime and Marissa battled Legions, led Legions (due to the Galvatron-infused cells inside Prime's new body, which sometimes overcame him with nightmares about his old enemy Megatron), fled from Hot Rod, who believed Prime to be an impersonator of his dead commander, and both fought and fled from the E.D.C.

Finally, teaming up with Hot Rod and his Kiss Player partner Shaoshao Li (who had adored Marissa since childhood and hated Prime for stealing her friend's affections), and the E.D.C. Kiss Player Atari Hitotonari with her Autrooper partner, Prime and Marissa entered the secret experimental facility beneath the Tokyo headquarters of the E.D.C. and discovered the sinister truth behind the shadowy organization. Everything that had occurred was part of an attempt by E.D.C. commander Amao to resurrect her daughter, who had been killed in the 2005 catastrophe. Finding Galvatron's headless corpse imprisoned in the facility, the Kiss Players realized that the only way to repair things was to return the Unicron-created Decepticon's cells. Galvatron's body absorbed the Legions, the Autroopers, and the cells inside Prime and Hot Rod, who were returned to their former forms...which meant that Prime was once again dead.

Years later, after he had again been returned to life, Prime (and Goldbug) helped the time-traveling Marissa once more by rescuing her and her friends from the Sharkticon pit on Quintessa.

Season 3/2010
Prime's body was entombed in a massive deep-space mausoleum with the many other fallen Autobots, but his corpse was desecrated by the Quintessons in 2006(2010 if you go by Japan's fiction), when they reanimated it as part of an attempt to destroy the Autobots by using Prime to lure their space fleet into a trap. However, the Matrix was able to purify Prime of the Quintesson influence, and he got the other Autobots clear while he piloted his flagship into the Quintessons' detonator, triggering the explosion of a nearby sun.

Prime was believed to have been destroyed in the explosion, but in reality, before the flagship impacted with the detonator, his body was recovered from the craft by two human scientists, Jessica Morgan and Dr. Gregory Swafford. However, as their ship departed, it was coated in solar spores released by the explosion of the sun. Jessica's father, Dr. Mark Morgan, loathed the Autobots, 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. Swafford and Morgan reconstructed Optimus Prime's body in an attempt to use it as a delivery system for the spores, which induced hatred and madness, in order to destroy the Transformers.

However, when they could not reanimate him, they used his body as a lure instead, bringing the Autobots to their lab, where they were infected. As this "Hate Plague" proceeded 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.

(Note: There is a considerable continuity error concerning zombie Optimus. At the end of "Dark Awakening", Optimus is in pretty rough shape (as the screen shot shows), missing an arm, part of his face, a sizable portion of his shoulder, covered with cosmetic damage, etc. He is also apparently fully conscious as he flies the ship into the Quintesson trap as it is being ripped apart by laser fire. However, when he is discovered in "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1", he's both whole and shining new, and apparently comatose. There is no hint whatsoever of the battle that took place only minutes previous, no Quintesson laser-fire piercing Prime's pristine ship. Plus, the sun in question is about to go nova naturally rather than by Quintesson design, which is why Morgan and Swafford were there in the first place.)

Rebirth (America-only)
In 2007, Prime began to suffer visions following the release of the Matrix's energy, 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, learning 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 other organic 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.

Headmasters (Japan-only)
(The Headmasters anime ignores the events of the 3-part "The Rebirth" story arc and picks up a year after "The Return of Optimus Prime", in 2011.)

One year after Prime's resurrection, the Autobots had entered into an even closer relationship with Earth and 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 when Prime had released the energy of the Matrix to cure the Hate Plague, the consequences were more far-reaching than he had anticipated - without the energy of the Matrix to act as a balancing factor, Vector Sigma had become destabilized, and 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, and 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.

Guided through the dangers of the planet's catacombs by the spirit of Alpha Trion while the other Autobots searched for the Matrix on Earth, Prime eventually arrived at the computer, only to find his way barred by Cyclonus and Scourge. Hot Rod then arrived with the Matrix, with which Alpha Trion merged, re-energizing it and transforming Hot Rod back into Rodimus Prime; 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 sacrificed himself to perform the task, merging with the computer and restoring its balance to save the planet.

Battlestars: Return of Convoy (Japan-only)


In a sinister plot to destroy the Autobots, Dark Nova had Optimus Prime's sparkless body revived as the evil False Convoy. False Convoy battled the Autobots but was defeated. Using the power of the the Zodiac, Optimus Prime was brought back online and upgraded into Star Convoy. He was then reunited with Hot Rod, who became his Micromaster partner.

With the likes of Sky Garry, Grandus and Sixliner, Star Convoy did battle with the Decepticons and Dark Nova's horde of Great Galaman drone warriors. Getting nowhere fast, Dark Nova then resurrected Galvatron (last seen buried in ice) as Super Megatron to counter Star Convoy. This didn't work all that well, and after defeating Super Megatron, his foe was resurrected again by Dark Nova as Ultra Megatron. After disposing of him yet again, Dark Nova merged with Ultra Megatron into Star Giant.

Star Giant proved to be virtually indestructible from the outside until Star Convoy got the bright idea of giving the villain the worst case of indigestion he's ever had. Holding Star Giant's massive mouth open, he ordered Sky Garry and Grandus to move in. After all 3 were swallowed, they began taking Star Giant down from the inside while simultaneously fighting off his various defensive systems. As soon as the trio escaped from Star Giant's interior, the monster exploded, leaving only his head slightly intact. As it happens, Megatron was housed inside Star Giant's noggin and survived the attack.

Generation 2 manga (Japan-only)


After the end of Battlestars, Optimus Prime down-graded back to his original body. Megatron eventually recovered from the Star Giant incident and supposedly turned over a new leaf. Megatron joined with Prime to form the Cybertron Alliance, and things were good for a little while, as Megatron's attempts at peace were genuinely sincere. The alliance ushered in what would be called the Second Generation of the Transformers. However, after human soldiers killed one of his dearest comrades, Megatron adopted a new body and started the war anew.

To counter Megatron, Optimus Prime upgraded his body into a new Missle Trailer mode. Rallying a new wave of Autobot warriors, Optimus dilligently repelled Megatron and the Decepticons. Megatron eventually wore Optimus down in battle, though, blowing him away with a barrage of devastating attacks. Megatron finally succeeded in delivering a fatal blow to Optimus, shooting him at point blank with his cannon. Prime would have been done for, except that the sparks of the previous Autobot Supreme Commanders within the Matrix of Leadership activated the Reconfiguration Matrix to forge him a new body. Optimus Prime became Battle Convoy and easily trumped Megatron's power. After a lengthy and costly war, Battle Convoy managed to drive the Decepticon forces to retreat into deep space. Prime was last seen wounded, being aided off the battlefield by his fellow Autobots.

E-Hobby
Presumingly using his Reconfiguration Matrix to revert to his original body, Optimus Prime came into possession of two powerful Solar-powered missile launchers created by the Decepticons. The energy consumption of these missiles is so large that it was necessary for Prime to be given a Sunlight-absorbing Black body coating in order for them to operate at full power. It was in this form that Prime rescued Laser Rod Ultra Magnus from Galvatron II.

Generation 2: "The Earth is in Danger!"
(Note: this manga special is not in continuity with the Japanese G2 story pages and minicomics.) In the year 199X, the Decepticons had learned of a powerful new energy source known as forestonite which just happened to be located (surprise surprise) on Earth. Megatron sent his trio of Cyberjets to Earth first to draw out the enemy Autobots. The Cyberjets made quick work of Electro but were soon halted by the appearance of Optimus Prime.

Megatron then entered the fray and fired his Black Hole Burn attack from his fusion cannon, narrowly missing Optimus Prime but vaporizing Hooligan in the process. Prime fought fiercely but Megatron began to take the upper-hand in battle.

However, Prime was encouraged to keep fighting by the cheers of a human boy named Junpei. Megatron, surprised at Prime's resiliance, attempted to finish his foe off with his Tornado Axe attack. Prime countered with his Double Wheel-Torque Mega-Ton, which trumped Megatron's attack and injured the Decepticon badly. Megatron teleported back to his ship and left Earth's atmosphere, vowing to return.

Optimus Prime adressed Junpei, asking if the boy was injured. Junpei revealed he was alright but presented concern about the Decepticons returning to Earth. Optimus Prime swore that the Autobots would remain on Earth until the threat of the Decepticons was finished and asked for Junpei's help in making that future a reality.

Beast Wars
The Beast Wars raged on prehistoric Earth, eventually leading to the discovery of the buried Ark. Megatron, following his namesakes instructions in a desperate gambit, decided to attempt to change history by killing 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 eventually Predacon control of Cybertron. Megatron unleashed a full-power weapon blast at Optimus Prime's face, near-fatally injuring him. However, Optimus Primal proceeded to take 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 mutated Primal into a large, Transmetal "Optimal Optimus" form. Then, with the repairs complete, Prime's spark was restored, and he briefly activated before sinking back into normal stasis.

Sometime after the Autobots and Decepticons awoke in the 1980s, the original Megatron gained access to one of Earth's Voyager spacecraft and inscribed a message on the disk on board. In the event that he lost the War, Megatron left instructions for the descendants of the Decepticons to use transwarp technology to travel to Prehistoric Earth, locate the Ark, and change history by killing Optimus Prime.

Beast Machines
An enormous statue of Optimus Prime, bearing two Golden Disks, could be seen on Cybertron in front of the Hall of Archives. The statue was subsequently blown to pieces by the Vehicon forces. Later, Megatron beamed a hologram of Optimus Prime down to the ruins of Iacon to confront Optimus Primal. Primal mistook the hologram for the real thing and shared with it the code for the Oracle. Megatron quickly revealed his ruse. Primal explained to his Maximals that he knew the image was fake, but he needed the location of the missing sparks from Megatron's mind.


 * Writer Bob Skir claims that neither the statue nor the golden disks in its hands were mentioned the script. However, he suggested that they were either the disks from the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, or that Optimus won them in the 2,395,989th Annual Cybertronian spelling bee. We're betting on the latter.

Universe: Primeval Dawn
The Vok took the Matrix of Leadership from an unconscious Optimus Prime, used it to create Primal Prime, then gave the Matrix to their new creation.

(Note: In the Beast Wars cartoon, Prime's spark was shown to be contained in a Matrix-like vessel. In Primeval Dawn, that vessel was shown to be merely a container for his spark, and the actual Matrix was hidden underneath.)

Kid Stuff Talking Story Books

 * Voice actor: Unknown



Optimus Prime is a "metallic nemesis." Megatron said so.

Big Looker Story Books
In "The Great Car Rally", a 2-part race was being held with a massive supply of oil and gasoline as the prize. The Decepticons wanted it badly, but so did the Autobots. Megatron entered the race by hiding himself inside a hollowed-out car, but ended up losing to Cliffjumper. Optimus Prime celebrated the Minibot's victory with a gargantuan smile as all the Decepticons starved to death.

Dreamwave comics continuity
Optimus Prime started life as Optronix (Orion to his friends ), a data archivist. After taking note of a battle in which the Autobot leader Sentinel Prime had been defeated 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, gaining a powerful new body in the process, and almost arranged for the Autobot evacuation of Cybertron, intending to leave the Decepticons to their own devices, until 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 in a space bridge explosion along with Megatron, but returned some time later, having spent a period of time on Quintessa.



Following the awakening of the Transformers on Earth, the Autobots protected the planet from the Decepticons. Over the next fifteen years, the Autobots befriended the humans, particularly the Witwicky family. The Autobots finally allied with humankind and eventually defeated the Decepticons at the turn of the century. They planned to return to Cybertron aboard the newly constructed Ark_II, along with seven humans, including Witwicky patriatch Sparkplug. Before the ship departed, Prime gave a piece of the Matrix to Spike Witwicky, Sparkplug's son and Bumblebee's closest human friend. But the ship was destroyed as part of a military conspiracy to take control of the Transformers. However, 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 located Prime's body. Spike was forced by the product chief, General Robert Hallo, to use the piece of the Matrix 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 this, Prime began to experience subconscious urgings, leading both the Autobots and the Decepticons to the Arctic Circle, where Shockwave arrived to greet them - and 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 a greater agenda. Rallying Autobots across Cybertron to the cause, Prime faced Shockwave in battle 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 arrived and bested him. The injuries Prime took in this conflicted necessitated a prolonged restoration period in stasis...

''...which turned out to be the remainder of Dreamwave's existence. Bummer.''

IDW comics continuity


''Before the war, a robot that's a hybrid of the "Orion Pax" and "Optronix" designs appears listening to Sentinel Prime's speech at the funeral of Bumper and Fastback. He is standing with Elita One, Alpha Trion, and a white version of himself (presumably Ultra Magnus, possibly even Dion). Whether this is truly the IDW continuity's version of pre-Prime Optimus remains unrevealed.''

Optimus Prime commands the Autobot armed forces spread across the galaxy from the Autobot Orbital Command Hub. He was directly involved in the cataclysm (just under 450 years ago) that reduced Cybertron to a dead husk, fighting alongside Megatron in an attempt to stop Thunderwing's rampage. Their efforts were futile, and they only survived due to Cybertron swallowing Thunderwing at Thunderhead Pass. Megatron was unconvinced that Thunderwing was dead, and advocated that Cybertron be destroyed to better insure that the mad Decepticon is forever destroyed. Prime refused, and threatened to stop any effort that Megatron attempted. Megatron agreed to spare the planet, but warned Prime that anything which happened afterwards was on his head.



In the present, Prime recieved a pulsewave from Ironhide, who was stationed under Prowl on Earth, saying that the Decepticon infiltration cell under Starscream had broken their infiltration methods and enacted siege mode prematurely. Soon afterward, the Autobot science vessel Calabi-Yau sends a distress signal from above Thunderhead Pass, he ordered the Wreckers to withdraw from Varas Centralus and meet him on Cybertron. Thunderwing had been restored by Bludgeon and his followers, and though the Wreckers made short work of them, the real fight would be met with Thunderwing. After the Wreckers, Predacons and Centurion drones were unable to destroy the monster, Prime took to the field, firing massive amounts of energy at Thunderwing, forcing it to exhaust its last reserves of Ultra Energon and, ultimately, its life.

Jetfire discovered information in Bludgeon's files about the mysterious new form of Energon found on Earth. Linking it to the pulsewave transmission from Ironhide, Prime diverted his spacecraft to Earth and called Nightbeat in to assist him. . Shortly after arrival &mdash; having undergone alteration so that he can disguise himself as an Earth truck &mdash; he slowly began to realize how unusual the situation Prowl's unit had found itself in was. Not only had the Decepticons broken their own infiltration protocols over what Starscream had dubbed Ore-13, but after attempting to recover what appeared to be Sunstreaker's remains, it was also evident that some of the planet's native sentients &mdash; humans &mdash; posed a threat possibly equal to that of their old enemies.

Optimus Prime, now fully filled in on Earth's happenings, decided that they needed reinforcements. He called Nightbeat, Hot Rod, and Hardhead to come when they could. When Prowl pointed out that Megatron, in his new gun-based Earth mode, was in the breakaway Soviet state of Brasnya stirring up trouble, Prime ordered them into action.

Blitzwing almost got the drop on Prime, but Roller was right behind him, and executed him with one single shot. Megatron returned to his full-size robot mode and disagreed with the quality of Prime's tea and crumpets. At last, the two rivals were going to go at it.

The fight, at first, went well, with Prime blowing Megatron's fusion blaster clean off. Megatron, however, tireless thanks to Ore-13, prevailed, almost beating Prime into stasis lock.

However, Prime transfered his consciousness into his trailer, leading Megatron to believe him dead. Realising that "Ore-13" was the same as Ultra Energon, Prime returned to his body in time to save his forces from the relentless Megatron, dealing enough damage to the Decepticon leader to drain his power reserves, just as he did against Thunderwing. The victory was narrow however, leaving Optimus with the daunting task of fending off an increasing enemy force without his last ace in the hole.

This near-death experience had left Prime somewhat unsettled. While his conciousness was in infraspace downloading to his trailer, he sensed a presence of dread - the visage of his long-missing predecessor Nova Prime. Looking for answers, Optimus Prime left Earth temporarily to seek an audience with Omega Supreme for answers. Once there, he found out about Nova's beliefs of how Transformers were better than everyone else and should show it, and faced down the rampaging Monstructor, a legacy of Nova's tenure locked away by Omega Supreme. Then he went on to give his "you shouldn't have done that" speech to Omega, hand Monstructor's limbs over to Jetfire's team, and went on to do what comic G1 Primes do best and have angst-ridden introspection about himself and the tarnished legacy of the Prime lineage.

After returning to Earth, Nightbeat discovered that a human group was aware of the base's location, and recommended to Prime that they move the Ark-19. As preparations were underway, Prime recieved a message from Hound, saying that Thunderwing had been stolen. Sideswipe, eager to search for Sunstreaker, suggested that they be reassigned to Earth, and Prime agreed. However, the thrashing Prime gave Megatron had so embarrassed him that he ordered in Sixshot. While moving the Ark-19, Prime and the others came under fire by Sixshot. Ordering Ratchet to get Jimmy and Verity to safety, Optimus then instructed Nightbeat to upload all of Ark-19's data to Ark-32 and for Prowl to activate the self-destruct sequence.

IDW Hearts of Steel continuity
He appears very briefly in the first few pages, in his "Ice Age Wars" body (we only see him in robot mode, but his altmode is a brachiosaurus ). He spends most of the story in stasis lock.

IDW Hearts of Steel Concept Art micro-continuity
Optimus is depicted as turning into the front half of a fanciful red-and-blue locomotive. The rear half of the locomotive turns into a battle station. Since this altmode has no place in the story, these sketches constitute a micro-continuity in which Optimus Prime and Megatron are active in the late 19th century.

Toys
See Optimus Prime (G1) toys.

Trivia

 * According to Bob Budiansky, longtime comics writer Denny O'Neil named Optimus Prime prior to Budiansky being brought on to the Transformers project.




 * Aside from occasionally having Alpha Trion as a father figure, Optimus Prime may have a mother! In an advertisement for Pepsi Convoy that shows him in a refrigerator (along with Destron Pizza), a note attached to a nearby piece of tupperware reads:


 * Dear Convoy
 * Warm it before you eat
 * Mom


 * Although the ad itself is for Pepsi Convoy, he is a separate character, and it can be assumed that the note was left for Convoy/Optimus Prime himself.


 * The first wave of Dreamwave posters in 2001 identified Optimus Prime as Captimus Primus, which is tantalizingly close to making some sort of sense.