Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots. Long ago, he was the humble leader of  Cybertrons' science division, which studied the AllSpark, and were protected by Lord High Protector Megatron's military. When Megatron was corrupted by The Fallen, Optimus discovered that he was the last of the Dynasty of Primes, hidden away when The Fallen destroyed their lineage. In response to Megatron's attempts to seize the AllSpark and conquer other worlds, Optimus assumed his proper and rallied the Autobots to stand against the .

As obsessively as Megatron strives to achieve his objective, Optimus is equally as dedicated to stopping him, even at the cost of his life, his world, and—if necessary—his own people. It was on his order that the AllSpark was jettisoned into space, dooming Cybertron to a slow death and his people to a nomadic life. The sacrifices he has made weigh heavily on his spark, but they must be done, for there is no other choice. He knows the ambitions that lurk in Megatron's spark, and they must never see the light of day. Lives must be kept free from the threat of Megatron's tyranny, no matter the cost.

“	Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing.	”
—Optimus Prime reflecting on his past, Revenge of the Fallen

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Transformers (2007) film

Voice actor: Peter Cullen

“	A necessary sacrifice to bring peace to this planet. We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes.	”
—Optimus Prime on sacrificing his life to destroy the AllSpark

The leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, came to Earth shortly after sent his comrades a beacon. Upon atmospheric re-entry, Prime managed to land outside of 's inhabited areas. While Sam and Mikaela watched, Optimus transformed and fled his landing place. From atop a hill, he quickly scanned the form of an Earth truck, thus configuring his body to transform into it. Prime, Ironhide ,Jazz , and Ratchet met up with Bumblebee and his human friends, and in an alley. In one of the most extended in the multiverse, Prime assumed his robotic form before the stunned humans. After confirming Sam's identity, Prime introduced himself and his team. When Mikaela asked of the Autobots' intentions, Prime explained the search for the AllSpark, the betrayal of Megatron, and why Sam was important to their search. Glasses that belonged to Sam's ancestor, , contained the location of the AllSpark encoded across its lenses, so Optimus Prime ordered his troops to wait outside Sam's house while Sam and Mikaela searched inside for the glasses. Much to Sam's exasperation, Optimus Prime, in his impatience, clumsily ruined his parents' garden, and the Autobots' heavy footsteps convinced them there was an earthquake. Prime's attempts to hide, such as having the Autobots transform into vehicle mode right in the backyard, were also less than satisfactory. Ultimately, Sam came so close to a panic attack that Prime was forced to order the Autobots to fall back. As Prime lectured his team on their supposed inability to remain quiet, Ratchet got himself shocked by walking into some powerlines, causing further problems. When came to investigate, Prime's attempt to avoid discovery caused the house to shake, though this was to their benefit, as the father assumed that the damage to the yard was the result of an earthquake. Ironhide suggested that they kill the parents, but Optimus scolded his old friend. Despite all this, their presence remained undetected until arrived (in a convoy of GMC Yukons) and abducted Sam, Mikaela, and Sam's parents.Optimus Prime sent the Autobots in pursuit of the SUV that contained Sam, Mikaela, and Sector Seven's director, . Prime intercepted the vehicle carrying their young human friends, ripping the roof of the vehicle off, with the other Autobots disarming the agents, and made it perfectly clear to Simmons how pissed off he was at him for trying to apprehend the two children, regarding this as a bad move on Simmons' behalf. Optimus then ordered his comrades to relieve the agents of their weapons, and attempted to interrogate Simmons. The agents' lack of surprise at their appearance indicated that they had seen Cybertronians before, but Simmons refused to reveal any information. With a Sector Seven backup team en route, Prime ordered the Autobots to scatter, while he took Sam and Mikaela. While hiding under a bridge, Mikaela and Sam slipped and fell off Prime's shoulder. Bumblebee managed to catch them before impact, but was captured, and Sam and Mikaela recaptured, by the organization after their retreat. Now in possession of the glasses which could tell him the location of the AllSpark, Optimus regretfully left Bumblebee in Sector Seven's hands, knowing that if they went after him, they would have to use deadly force.

After regrouping the next day, Prime used the glasses to locate the AllSpark. Jazz again raised objections to leaving Bumblebee behind, but Prime remained firm in his belief of not harming the humans. Ironhide seemed okay with using deadly force, stating the humans were too violent, but Prime countered that when their time had come, the Cybertronians had been . Going on to explain the potential he saw in the humans, as well as reminding them that "freedom is the right of all sentient beings", Prime revealed to the Autobots his real plan for the AllSpark: if they could not defeat the Decepticons, Prime intended to merge the Cube with his . Though this would destroy the AllSpark, Ratchet cautioned Prime against this, as it would also kill him. Prime believed that this was acceptable, vowing not to let another race suffer the mistakes of the Transformers. The glasses placed the AllSpark at where, luckily, Bumblebee and the young humans were taken.Optimus Prime's team met up with Sector Seven, Bumblebee, Sam, and Mikaela en route, who had planned to hide the AllSpark in nearby . While on the highway, he was attacked by , who managed to tackle Optimus and drag him over the edge of a freeway overpass. During the battle, Optimus struck the rage-filled Transformer so hard his popped out. As the Decepticon swung his claw wildly, Optimus drew his sword from his right arm and sliced off one of Bonecrusher's arms, before brutally finishing off his enemy by Bonecrusher's neck, severing his head.

Optimus arrived at Mission City just in time to observe Megatron discarding the remains of Jazz, and challenged him. Millennia in the ice had done nothing to lessen Megatron's hatred of his brother, and he launched himself in jet mode at the Autobot leader. Optimus leaped and grabbed hold of the wings, which was a really bad idea, as Megatron drove himself and Prime through an office block. As they flew out of the building onto the street below, Megatron transformed and leapt on top of Prime, declaring the humans undeserving of life. Prime rejected his claims, saying that they deserved to choose for themselves. Megatron threw Prime across the street, declaring that if he wished to defend the humans, Prime could die with them. He then formed his from his forearms. The power up time allowed Prime to draw his and fire, hitting Megatron. The Decepticon used the momentum to spin around, then used the fusion cannon to blast Prime across the street into another building. Megatron then resumed the hunt for Sam and the AllSpark.Tracking Megatron to the deserted building, Prime barely managed to catch Sam after Megatron knocked him off the roof. Telling the boy to hold onto the Cube, Prime attempted to scale down the building, but Megatron jumped on Prime, causing them both to fall down hard onto the street below. Sam survived, however, and Optimus told the boy that if he could not defeat Megatron, Sam must put the AllSpark into his chest which would destroy it. As Sam sought cover, Optimus faced down Megatron, and informed him that, "At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall". Unfortunately, Megatron, even after years of stasis, proved to be far too powerful for Prime to defeat alone. The unit led by Lennox and the Raptor squadron laid down suppressing fire as Megatron reached for the AllSpark, until Optimus finally took him down by sweeping his legs. Still, Megatron continued, crawling toward the cube. Believing he had lost, Optimus implored Sam to put the AllSpark into his chest. Sam instead thrust it into Megatron's chest, killing the Decepticon leader and destroying the AllSpark.As Optimus watched his brother die, he regretfully said there was little other choice. He also told Sam he owed him a debt of gratitude for saving his life, but was then informed that Jazz had not survived (Jazz was flapping around disrespectfully like a ragdoll during this sequence). Prime briefly eulogized his comrade, then commented that they had gained new comrades in the humans, and was honored by their bravery. Bumblebee, who had finally regained his voice, requested permission to remain with Sam Witwicky, to which the young human eagerly agreed, and Optimus approved. He noticed a fragment of the AllSpark in Megatron's chest cavity and removed it, then permitted the humans to dispose of the Decepticon corpses by dumping them into the deepest part of the ocean.Though Megatron was killed and his Decepticons were defeated, the AllSpark was destroyed, leaving the Autobots unable to restore Cybertron. The Autobots elected to remain on Earth, and Prime sent a message into deep space to any surviving Autobots in the Galaxy to come to their new home on Earth, their long years of searching having finally having come to an end. As the other Autobots rested (and watched Sam and Mikaela make out on Bumblebee's hood) Optimus Prime looked to the sky, hoping his message had been heard.

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Revenge of the Fallen film

Voice actor: Peter Cullen

After the events in two years ago, Optimus Prime and the Autobots became part of a Transformer/human military group called NEST, which hunted down the remaining Decepticons across the world. When Demolishor and Sideways were detected in Shanghai, NEST was deployed there, including the Autobots and NEST soldiers.. Once Demolishor made himself known by transforming into robot mode and crushing dozens of cars along the highway, radioed an overhead C-17 to release the Autobot leader. Optimus Prime parachuted out of a NEST cargo plane and landed in vehicle mode. He leapt off a bridge onto the Decepticon's head as he plowed through it. When the massive Constructicon refused his order to pull over, Optimus unleashed several blasts of his into Demolishor's head. These shots, coupled with Ironhide destroying his tires, sent the titan crashing to the ground and into a warehouse. As he and Ironhide approached the dying Decepticon, Optimus asked if he had any last words. With his dying breath, the Constructicon stated that would rise again. Optimus responded in the negative and unceremoniously executed him.

Returning to , Prime entered a briefing with , the National Security Adviser who had been appointed liaison by the , and , the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was watching by satellite feed. Prime relayed the warning of The Fallen to them, but Galloway made no effort to conceal his hostility toward the Autobots. He noted that while they had given them intelligence and the sole remaining AllSpark fragment, Galloway took issue with their refusal to share weapons technology and their continued sending of transmissions into space. Prime told Galloway that the Autobots were aware of humanity's history of warfare, and Morshower said that all the transmissions had been vetted by NEST officers. Galloway also pointed out that despite Megatron's death and burial in the Laurentian Abyss and the destruction of the AllSpark, the Decepticons had not left Earth as Optimus had hoped, leading him to conclude that the Autobots were the ones who the Decepticons were after. When asked if the Autobots would leave Earth peacefully if told to, Optimus replied that they would honor their request, but warned Galloway to consider what would happen if the Autobots left but the Decepticons did not.

Unknown to Prime, the Decepticon had been monitoring transmissions and spied on the briefing. Dispatching to the island, he had his agent steal the remaining AllSpark fragment, killing several soldiers in the process. The incident left the Autobots with rather chilly relations with the United States. Seeking outside help, Optimus dispatched Bumblebee to retrieve Sam Witwicky from college in an effort to secure his testimony on the Autobots' behalf. Meeting Sam at an abandoned cemetery near his college, Optimus explained the situation. Sam was not receptive; in fact, he was quite hostile, saying that he had just started college and was trying to have a normal life. Knowing that fate often called at inconvenient times, Optimus impressed upon Sam the importance of what was going on, but Sam reiterated that the Cybertronian War was not his, and that they didn't need him. Optimus relayed his fear that it soon would be, and silently said that they needed him more than he realized.Prime's fear soon came to pass, but in the last way he could imagine: the Decepticons had used the AllSpark shard to resurrect Megatron, who had learned that the knowledge of the AllSpark had been passed to Sam by a fragment Sam had touched, and soon captured him, Mikaela, and Sam's college roommate . Heading to rescue the three humans, Optimus and Bumblebee ambushed the Decepticons in the where the teens were being held, just as was about to perform fatal neurosurgery on Sam. Knocking Megatron and out of the building, Optimus managed to whisk Sam away from the plant. Optimus made it as far as the nearby forest when Megatron arrived. Going one-on-one with the Decepticon leader, Prime managed to hold his own, all the while trashing talking Megatron. Megatron then called for Starscream and , who quickly arrived. Prime was forced to run interference between Megatron and Starscream, who pursued Sam.As the battle raged, Megatron told Prime that the boy was the key to finding another energon source, then shattered his and sent him flying back with a point blank shot from his . Megatron asked if the boy's life was greater than the future of their race, but Prime knew that he would never stop with a single life. Declaring that he'd take them all on, Optimus Prime unsheathed his and fought a three-on-one fight against the Decepticons. Surprisingly, not only did he manage to hold his own, he was actually winning, managing to stab Megatron multiple times, slice off Starscream's arm and use it as a club, and rip apart Grindor's head. However, Megatron managed to stab his own sword through Optimus Prime's chest, following with a point blank shot through his injured back. Critically injured, Optimus implored the still-observing Sam to run. Although the rest of the Autobots soon arrived and drove off Megatron and Starscream, Optimus Prime was .Soon after, The Fallen made his presence known and demanded Sam Witwicky be turned over to him or the world would be destroyed. Galloway used this as a reason to shut down NEST and ordered the Autobots returned to Diego Garcia under guard, along with Prime's corpse (which Galloway callously denounced as a piece of scrap metal). Fortunately, Bumblebee, and managed to spirit Sam, Mikaela, and Leo away before The Fallen made his announcement. With help from their former enemy Seymour Simmons and the Decepticon-turned-Autobot , the group discovered that Sam's mind contained the Language of the Primes, to which group The Fallen had once belonged. The human/Autobot group managed to locate the Seeker , who told them of how the forged a to use a star's energy to replenish the AllSpark, and the , needed to activate the harvester, until they were betrayed by The Fallen, who tried to harvest in defiance of the Primes' rule of the sanctity of life. Sam hit upon the idea to use the Matrix to restore Optimus to life, similar to how the Decepticons had used the AllSpark fragment to resurrect Megatron. Having been teleported to by Jetfire, the group managed to relay the information to Major Lennox and Sergeant Epps, who faked engine trouble over Petra, where the was located. Unfortunately, the Matrix had turned to dust in the thousands of years since its entombment, but Sam still believed that it could be used to revive Optimus.However, the Decepticons were still looking for the harvester and the Matrix needed to activate it. Sam was technically killed in the , during which he communed with the six Primes from the tomb, who restored the Matrix. Jamming it in the fallen Autobot's chest, Sam used the Matrix to restore Optimus Prime to life. Unfortunately, The Fallen soon arrived and stole the Matrix. Having been fatally injured by , Jetfire offered his parts to Optimus, as only a Prime could defeat The Fallen, and snuffed out his own spark. After Ratchet and finished attaching Jetfire's wings and thrusters to Prime's body, Optimus hurried to the , which had been constructed around the harvester, and damaged the machine before it could destroy Earth's sun.Optimus Prime then faced Megatron and the Fallen. This against the odds battle went far better for Optimus, as he used Megatron's own fusion cannon to shoot off half his face and his afterburners to send him through some ruins. Optimus then battled the Fallen, using his Energon Sword to slice through his face. The Fallen countered by ripping off his left wing and striking him with it, but Optimus managed to grab the Fallen's own spear and impale him with it. Telling the traitorous Prime he had picked the wrong planet, Optimus used the spear to rip off The Fallen's face plate. As The Fallen tried to flee, Optimus Prime punched through his abdomen and crushed his spark core, killing The Fallen and forcing Megatron and Starscream to retreat.On the return voyage home, Optimus thanked Sam for saving his life, as the boy thanked the Autobot leader for believing in him. Following this, Optimus Prime sent another transmission into space, detailing recent events so that the pasts of both races would be remembered, and also declaring that Humanity and the Autobots would face the future together.

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Toys

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Leader Class Toys

Optimus Prime [2009]

• Japanese ID Number: RA-01

Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Optimus Prime is an entirely different mold from the first movie's Leader Class Optimus Prime. While striving for vehicle realism and painstaking accuracy to

I will never stop telling you I'am Optimus Prime. Ever.

his visual portrayal in the live-action films, this Optimus Prime is so complex even the instructions won't help. Transforming him back into a truck is probably more complicated than the movie and can only be considered torture. Like the previous Prime, it is loaded with features, though it ditches the first movie's Automorphing for the new Mech Alive gimmick. When a grey tab on his midriff is pressed, Prime's entire pectoral region "flexes", lights in his chest and eyes glow, and he declares "I am Optimus Prime" in Peter Cullen's voice. For the European release of the figure, to get past the language barrier, the Cullen sound clip is abbreviated to just "Optimus Prime"; in some regions, including Quebec and the UK (but only after a month or two) both versions were made available. A transformation sound effect activates when his torso is transformed, and once Prime is in truck mode, an almost unnoticeable button (a small square located beside the screw for the battery compartment, undocumented in his instructions) is revealed, which activates engine-revving noises. Each arm features flip-out blades that trigger when a button on the forearm is pressed. Each of these blades has a Cyberglyphic symbol on it. The blades severely restrict Prime's arm articulation when retracted, as they get in the way of the kibble, but as there is very little one can do with Prime's arms without causing the blades to deploy, this is hardly noticeable. One detail not reflected in most of Hasbro's photos is that the sun visors above Prime's windows are mounted on ball joints and can be positioned like they are in his CG design. The blue panels at the back of Prime's lower legs can be pulled out slightly as well. This edition of Prime is noticeably taller in robot mode and noticeably smaller in vehicle mode than the original release.

Optimus Prime can also combine with Leader class Jetfire to form his super mode by slightly transforming his backpack and feet. Sadly, this takes away from his leg articulation, because otherwise he could never support the massive backpack he has in this mode. However, fans have created alternate configurations that increase leg articulation and movie-accuracy.

Like several new-mold Revenge of the Fallen toys, Optimus Prime suffers from some cost-cutting measures that affected the final production version of the mold. According to Hasbro's stock photos/back-of-box photo of the hand-painted prototype, the toolboxes on the sides of his legs were designed to fold away further for a sleeker, cleaner look. Additionally, the rear tires would have been able to split in half, with the inner half of the tire going inside the outer half to recreate the thin tires seen on Prime's CG design. Some articulation was lost on the toy between Hasbro stock photography and the final release. His fingers are no longer articulated; instead, the entire hand is now one molded piece. Finally, the lower arms appear to have been originally designed so that his hands could slide in or out of them during transformation. Sadly, he also lacks rubber tires, which the original movie Prime did have.

The TakaraTomy release of Optimus Prime replaces the red plastic from his neck down to the middle of his pectorals with gray plastic. The smokestacks also are a different shade of gray, and are more opaque than the Hasbro release.

The instructions for this toy are infamous for being amazingly vague and unclear in its visual depiction of the transformation steps.

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