Character Analysis: Optimus prime(Feat Lswan)

 Optimus Prime Character Sheet

Background

Basic Overview

• Age: Over 9,000,000 years old (cartoon)

• Height: 6 meters (cartoon), 11.6 meters (IDW)

• Weight: 16.5 tons (weight of the truck Optimus transforms into)

• Forged Orion Pax on Cybertron over nine million years ago.

• After gaining the Matrix of Leadership, became Optimus Prime.

• Fought against the Decepticons in a war lasting millions of years across the galaxy.

The Autobot known as Orion Pax was forged on Cyberton in the ancient past. How ancient depends on which continuity you’re going with (the cartoon has it at nine million years ago, IDW and Marvel both have it at around four million years ago), as well as who Orion Pax was. In the cartoon he was a humble, nobody dock worker, while in the IDW comics series he was the captain of the Rodion police force. Regardless of his exact origin, at one point, for one reason or another, Orion became wrapped up in the conflict between the rebellious Decepticons and the ruling Autobots: the beginnings of the Great War. Orion was fatally wounded and on death’s door before he came into contact with the Matrix of Leadership, the holiest object in the Transformers world and symbol of power. With it encased inside his chest, his body transformed and he became known as Optimus Prime (the title of Prime being passed down and symbolic of leadership among the Cybertronians).

With that, Optimus rose to lead the Autobots against the Decepticon threat, led by Megatron, in a war that would last millions of years and consume and depopulate the entire planet of Cybertron (even knocking it out of orbit in the Marvel comics!). The war would eventually leave the planet depleted of its energon (the substance Cybertronians use to sustain themselves), forcing the beleaguered Autobot forces still led by Optimus to seek out energy elsewhere: a far-away planet called Earth. Megatron and other Decepticons attacked their ship mid-flight, sending it crashing into Earth, with everyone inside, Autobot and Decepticon alike, being put into stasis lock (a kind of super robot coma) for four million years until 1984 when they awoke.

When they did, they discovered modern human civilization and used their ability to transform into different forms to camouflage themselves outside (though this was almost immediately discarded, and the Transformers became known far and wide). Optimus would go on to lead the Autobots into battles against Megatron and the Decepticons around the world for many years, and even eventually return to Cybertron and battle even more serious cosmic threats like Galvatron, Jhiaxus, and the almighty Unicron. After years of battle, the Autobots would win the war and Cyberton would be reborn, but for a soldier like Optimus Prime, this brave new world had little to offer, and he chose to leave Cybertron as a symbolic end to past and future conflict.

Experience

Basic Overview

• Fought continuously in the Great War for five million years

• Matrix of Leadership gives access to the Primes of past

• Has battled a variety of Decepticons and other threats

Length of Time

Optimus’s age and how long he’s been fighting in the Great War varies between continuities. The shortest amount was in the Marvel comics line from the 80s, where the war was said to have lasted over 1000 years before the Autobots and Decepticons crashed on Earth and went dormant for four million years. The cartoon, however, extends the length of time all the way to five million years of constant warfare before the four million year time gap on Earth. This is revealed when several Autobots go back in time nine million years to Cybertron’s past and meet a young Orion Pax hours before he became Optimus Prime. The war in the IDW continuity lasts a similar amount of time, four million years, but now there’s no gap in time when the Autobots landed on Earth and went into stasis, so the war began four million years in the past (instead of nine) and continued uninterrupted. I think people are most familiar with the cartoon’s telling of Transformers lore, so I’d probably go with that to give Optimus his best showings.

Communing with the Primes

I’ll cover this more in-depth in the Arsenal section below, but as it relates to experience, I felt I should bring it up. By tapping into the Matrix within his chest, Optimus can commune with all previous bearers of the Matrix for advice. Think of it like Aang or Korra talking to previous Avatars. Optimus usually only comes to them in times of great need, but when he does, he gets access to another six million years of experience (considering the first Primes appeared over 10 million years in the past in the IDW continuity) to draw from. The only downside is that utilizing the Matrix in that way puts him into a coma, so it’s not something he does in the heat of battle.

Battlefield Experience

In terms of raw fighting experience, Optimus is the epitome of a warrior. He has commanded countless battles over the course of his career, even once hooking himself up to an Omnicube, and commanding one thousand battles all happening at once on different fronts (the omnicube only facilitated in funnelling all the information to him at once, he still had to process all of it by himself and give orders). He has commanded the Autobots to both victories and defeats, and has even managed to recover and continue fighting after horrific injuries and losses. He’s battled numerous foes like Megatron and his future counterpart Galvatron, other Decepticons like Bludgeon, the giant Devastator, the even more giant Trypticon, the sentient AI TORQ III, the wily hunter Lord Chumley, and the god-like Unicron, who is literally Transformers Satan.

Arsenal 

Basic Overview

• Short-range: Energon axe/sword

• Long-range: Ion blaster

• Special: Jetpack, Matrix of Leadership

Energon Axe & Sword

Optimus can produce an axe and a sword made of pure energon from his right hand to use as a melee weapon. He is skilled with them, usually using them in deadly combat and able to match Megatron’s energon morning star. There’s not too much to be said about them; they’re basically just a giant axe and a giant sword. The axe is more common for him to use, if you wanted to decide which to include in the animation.

Ion Blaster

In terms of long-range combat, Optimus relies on a giant laser rifle known as the Ion Blaster. It can fire bolts of energy at massively hypersonic speeds and hit enemies from miles and miles away. It has two alternate settings: a rapid fire machine gun mode, and a slower but more powerful bazooka mode. It doesn’t seem to have a cap on ammunition, as it’s never been shown to run out, though at worst you can say it has more than enough to last a single fight. It’s only weakness is that firing it too much at full power can cause it to backfire.

Jetpack

Although Optimus can fly at high speeds on his own, he can strap on a jet pack for extra speed and longevity. Much like the energon axe and sword, there’s not much more to be said here other than its speed feat which I’ll cover in the feats section down below.

Matrix of Leadership

The most crucial part of Optimus’s arsenal is the Matrix of Leadership, also known as the Creation Matrix. It is composed of a fragment of the Transformers Creator God, Primus, who used it to serve as the progenitor of the Transformers race. Not only is it a holy object to Cybertronians, it can literally give life to their race. Aside from the ability to commune with Primes past as I mentioned before, it can also heal Optimus of serious injury (though this is uncommon, and he has died from injuries before). It enhances Optimus’s strength and when push comes to shove, he can use it to produce a devastating blast of energy (potentially planet-level if need be), and it will even shield him from the same blast. It also more vaguely can be used to purge evil from powerful forces, as it did with the Hate Plague and Megatron’s spark.

Abilities

Basic Overview

• Optimus Module

• Prime module

• Command Deck

• Alt mode

Optimus is divided into three parts (or modules), each of which he either is or controls with his mind. These three can separate to accomplish different tasks at the same time or be used as back up in a fight, and each has its own set of abilities and weapons.

Optimus Module

The Optimus module is Optimus Prime himself, his sentient, physical being. He is a giant robot (surprise surprise), made of what’s known as “living metal,” a material native to Cybertron. Within his chest he contains a Spark, basically the Transformers equivalent of a soul, and is known as a “point-one percenter,” an inordinately powerful spark that only 0.1% of the Transformers population possesses. This module comes with several super powers, including:

• Superhuman physicality: Being a giant robot, Optimus is unsurprisingly superhumanly strong, fast and durable. I’ll cover this more in the feats section, but when fights enter melee range, Optimus relies heavily on his physicality and on hand to hand combat. He is in the upper tier of Transformers physically, only being matched by Megatron and Galvatron and surpassed by giants like Devastator and Trypticon.

• Super senses: Optimus also has superhuman eyesight, able to see and tag objects with his ion blaster from over 30 miles away. I’ve heard that his hearing extends a similar distance but didn’t find that stated in any of the guidebooks. He also has “sensors” of some sort that can detect events happening in other places, but it’s limits are unclear and it was only mentioned once.

• Energy blasts: Optimus can fire energy blasts from his hands and energy beams from his eyes. He doesn’t use this very often, so if it needs a recharge/how powerful it is is unclear, but it’s something he can pull out in hand to hand to give himself an advantage if, say, his ion blaster is knocked away from him.

• Flight: Despite this essentially invalidating his jet pack, Optimus can fly at high speeds through the air. In fact, one of his flight feats greatly surpasses anything the jet packs have been shown to do. Like of other powers of his, there isn’t a lot of information on it.

• Telekinesis: Optimus can use telekinesis to mentally control parts of his body that have been severed and even command them to fight back. This power works over significant distances, and Optimus does not need a line of sight on the body part he’s controlling in order to affect it.

• Healing Factor: Optimus mentions he has “repair systems” that can compensate for minor damage he receives. It also might explain how he’s been able to survive so many horrific bodily injuries throughout his career and continue fighting. It won’t save his life from those kinds of wounds on its own, and he still needs medical treatment afterwards, but the fact that he can keep fighting even when missing limbs, having his spark casing crushed, or having been disemboweled, goes a way towards his survivability.

Prime Module

The second module is the Prime Module, also known as Roller, a small, remote-controlled drone that Optimus can operate from up to 1200 miles away for reconnaissance or back up. It has a turret that fires energy blasts strong enough to one-shot other Decepticons and can drive and maneuver fast enough to avoid their attacks. Anything it sees or hears, Optimus can see or hear as well, making it a good tool for stealthy spying.

Command Deck

The last of Optimus’s modules is the Command Deck, which is formed from the trailer attached to his truck while in his alt mode. It opens up to reveal an Auto-Launcher turret which uses a variety of artillery and beam weapons, a grapple arm which can load itself and change weaponry, and a satellite station which can detect invisible enemies and target them for Roller to destroy, as well as facilitate a connection between itself and Optimus, allowing him in one instance to download his consciousness in it to avoid a fatal attack long enough for his body to recover and upload himself back into it.

Alt Mode

Every Transformer has an “alt mode,” a form they can transform into that’s different than their regular robot mode. These are generally modeled after Cybertronian vehicles, but after landing on Earth, the computer aboard the Autobot ship scanned Earth-based vehicles and downloaded their forms into the stasis locked Cybertronians, giving them the ability to transform into cars, trucks, and jets. Optimus gained the ability to transform into a Freightliner FL86 semi-trailer truck. His truck form can drive at over 175 mph, can traverse any terrain (even over water with the hydrofoils installed), and is strong enough to punch through mountainsides and even other Decepticons. He can actually still fight in his truck form (though without limbs his combat is more limited, naturally), and he can transform back and forth between his robot mode and his alt mode in a split second, fast enough at one point to dodge blasts from Megatron’s fusion cannon.

Other

Optimus has two power ups from the Marvel line of comics, the Powermaster and Actionmaster forms. I don’t think either should be included, however. Both only showed up in that specific line of comics, and the boosts in power they give Optimus aren’t very clear. Plus, Powermaster requires Optimus bond with another character to activate the form, and Actionmaster doesn’t allow him to transform into a truck, which I imagine is something you’ll want to incorporate into the episode (for this reason, Actionmaster was hugely unpopular with the fandom and basically killed the franchise for a time). Every major feat for Optimus is from his base form anyway, so their inclusion wouldn’t add much.

Feats 

Strength 

• (Transformers: the Movie) Has on many occasions damaged Megatron’s armor with physical attacks alone, even once punching straight through it (The Transformers: Regeneration One, Issue 85). For scaling purposes, here is Megatron’s most notable durability feat:

• (Episode 13: The Ultimate Doom, Part 3) Megatron tanks an explosion of all the energon on his ship which was powerful enough to knock Cyberton out of Earth’s orbit. Megatron is later shown with a few cracks in his armor, but otherwise fine.

• (The Transformers: Devastation, Issue 4) Cracks and breaks Sixshot’s armor, which he states was “forged from the metals drawn from the compacted subatomic matter of a collapsed star.”

• (The Transformers 2009, Issue 1) His punch clash with Megatron is so powerful it created shockwaves strong enough to destroy buildings and shatter glass.

• (Episode 20: Attack of the Autobots) Throws a mini-satellite into a stable orbit around Earth. He didn’t throw it from ground level, but he clearly threw it fast enough for it to start orbiting at what looks like a regular high speed orbit.

• (Episode 15: A Plague of Insecticons) Lifts an oil tanker and throws it at Megatron.

• (Episode 24: Atlantis Arise) Holds up and braces the majority of the Washington Monument.

• (Transformers: Devastation) Can punch the ground hard enough that all the trees in the surrounding area shoot up out of the ground (most earthquakes can’t do that).

• Optimus is one of the most physically powerful Cybertronians, and has overpowered numerous other Transformers including:

• (The Transformers: Escalation) Megatron.

• (The Transformers: Robots in Disguise) Himself (technically Nova Prime taking Optimus’s physical form.

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 40) Shockwave.

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 44) Rumble.

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 44) Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Starscream, all at the same time.

• (Transformers Generation 2, Issue 4) Jhiaxus.

• (Episode 95: The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2) Rodimus Prime, who at this point in time has the Matrix of Leadership powering him. Optimus doesn’t, making this an extremely impressive display from someone who is depowered.

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 205) Strong enough to resist the pull of a “time storm,” something that was capable of obliterating Galvatron.

• (Episode 15: A Plague of Insecticons) Strong enough to drive through a mountain in his truck mode.

Ion Blaster

• His gun is powerful enough to one-shot several Transformers, including:

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 18) Laserbeak.

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 44) Soundwave.

• (The Transformers: Autocracy) Buzzsaw.

• (The Transformers: Autocracy) Megatron.

• (Episode 16: Heavy Metal War) Devastator.

• (Episode 19: City of Steel) Devastator again.

• (Episode 73: Dark Awakening) Rodimus Prime (w/ the Matrix).

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 196) For scaling purposes, Optimus’s Ion Blaster is roughly as powerful as Megatron’s Fusion Cannon, which has been stated to be able to “flatten a small town.”

• (The Transformers 2009, Issue 17) And for consistency’s sake, it’s heavily implied here that Megatron could destroy a city with his Fusion Cannon.

Matrix of Leadership

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 322) The Matrix of Leadership is powerful enough to destroy Unicron, a planet-sized transformer god. Worth noting that he’s about the same size as Cybertron, which itself is the size of Saturn. 

• (Transformers: the Movie) This feat is replicated here with Rodimus.

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 250) Even a fragment of the Matrix is enough to change the weather around the planet.

Speed 

• (Season 5: The Movie) Optimus can fly through space fast enough on his own to reach an interstellar peace conference within a reasonable amount of time.

• (The Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Issue 26) He can dodge a blast from his own Ion Blaster, while it’s in mid-flight.

• (Episode 13: The Ultimate Doom, Part 3) For scaling purposes, his Ion Blaster’s lasers travel fast enough to tag Megatron’s ship within about a second, which had flown out into space by that point.

• (Episode 14: Countdown to Extinction) Optimus also dodges a blast from Megatron’s Fusion Cannon.

• (Episode 14: Countdown to Extinction) For reference for scaling purposes, Megatron’s Fusion Cannon can fire its projectiles fast enough to exit Earth’s orbit within seconds.

• (Episode 24: Atlantis Arise) He dodges it here as well.

• (Episode 63: The Revenge of Bruticus) And here again.

• (The Transformers: Escalation, Issue 5) Can transform in and out of vehicle mode fast enough to dodge Megatron’s fusion cannon blasts.

• (Episode 3: More than Meets the Eye, Part 3) Uses a rocket pack to catch up to the Decepticon shuttle. By the time Prime gets shot, they’ve already just about exited the atmosphere.

• (Episode 6: Divide and Conquer)  Dodged a missile, and then when it returns, he deflected it with a punch. 

Durability 

• (The Transformers: Monstrosity) Survives being at the epicenter of the exploding Toraxxis Mega-Refinery, an explosion large enough to be seen prominently from outer-space, and which created an enormous gash in the planet. (calc #10: 63 gigatons to 10.66 teratons to 2.693 petatons of tnt)

• The refinery was stated to produce “eight billion megaliters of refined energon per production cycle.” This use of invented units is strikingly similar to Megatron’s durability feat of surviving a planet-level explosion equivalent to “ten billion astroliters of energon.” The units are different, but possibly related (for example,  1 astroliter = 1000 megaliters?).

• (Episode 34: Microbots) Gets blasted by Megatron, who is using the Heart of Cybertron, a device designed to maximize his energy, and which, for reference, was capable of transporting the Decepticon ship all the way from Cybertron to Earth at massively faster than light speeds

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 4) Tanks a blast from Megatron’s Fusion Cannon.

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 8) Here again, as well.

• (The Transformers: Escalation, Issue 5) And here. 

• (Episode 6: Divide and Conquer) And here.

• (Episode 8: SOS Dinobots) And once from his own Ion Blaster.

• (Episode 17: Autobot Strike) From Megatron again.

• (Episode 26: Enter the Night Bird) And again.

• (Episode 31: Dinobot Island, Part 2) Yet again.

• (The Transformers: Monstrosity) Stepped on by Trypticon, a monster as large as a mountain, after being smacked around by his tail.

• (The Transformers: All Hail Megatron) Shot by multiple Decepticons (while already injured; Megatron had ripped the Matrix out of his chest), and then survived having a wormhole collapse on top of him. 

• (Episode 3: More than Meets the Eye, Part 3) Survives being blown up by a blast that caved in a mountainside and rolling down a cliff in his truck form.

• (Episode 3: More than Meets the Eye, Part 3) Shot by a starship laser, re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, and crashed into the ground.

• (Episode 10: War on the Dinobots) Tanks laser blasts from all three Dinobots at once.

• (Episode 26: Enter the Night Bird) Tanked being struck by what looks like a lightsaber.

• Optimus has endured some pretty horrific wounds and survived, if not continued to fight unhindered, including:

• (The Transformers UK, Issue 8) Having his arm reduced to slag.

• (Issue 71) Having a large metal axe embedded into his back and is up on his feet by the next page.

• (Issue 99) Having his back crushed by a Guardian.

• (Issue 197) Being disemboweled.

• (Transformers Generation 2, Issue 4) Being impaled in several places.

• (Issue 6) Having his sides blasted open and tortured by Sith lighting.

• (Issue 12) Having his face ripped off.

• (The Transformers: Autocracy) Having a hole blown in his chest and his arm ripped off.

• (The Transformers: Escalation, Issue 5) Punched through the chest and had his spark core (heart) squeezed (though this KOs and nearly kills him).

• (The Transformers 2009, Issue 22) Being blasted apart by antimatter.

• (The Transformers: Punishment) Being shot in the chest with an Infernus bullet, which is designed to penetrate Cybertronian armor and burn the victim up from the inside.

• (Episode 6: Divide and Conquer) Shields a couple of humans from a large explosion, and then blasted by the full force of three Decepticons. Though he’s badly damaged, he’s still capable of transforming and driving out of there. Later on in the episode, while he’s being repaired, Laserbeak blasts his exposed insides, and they melt and explode everywhere, and he’s still functioning.

• (Episode 19: City of Steel) Being torn into literal pieces.

• (Transformers: The Movie) Survives being impaled, having his wound slashed by a beam sword, and then shot in that same wound by, yet again, Megatron’s fusion cannon, and keeps going to defeat Megatron (though he later dies from these wounds).

• The Matrix of Leadership can be used to regenerate his body and heal fatal wounds instantly, including:

• (The Transformers: Autocracy) When he had a giant hole in his chest.

• (G2 Mini Comic) When he had his right side blown to smithereens and was basically dead.

Skill 

• (The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye) While connected to an Omnicube to facilitate all of the information getting to him at once, he was able to command a thousand battles happening simultaneously on different fronts against Megatron who was doing the same.

• (Transformers Generation 2, Issue 12) Allowed himself to be consumed and totally eradicated by the Swarm in order to introduce them to the Matrix and thus Primus’s influence. After that, they reconstituted him. Robot fucking Jesus.

• (The Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Issue 26) Battles Nova Prime, who can take on the appearances and abilities of other past Primes, including Optimus himself.

• Optimus is a sharpshooter with his Ion Blaster, making numerous impressive shots across his career, including: 

• (The Transformers: Escalation, Issue 5) Can shoot accurately enough to fire down the barrel of Megatron’s fusion cannon and blow it up.

• (Episode 13: The Ultimate Doom, Part 3) Can shoot a Decepticon jet out of the air.

• (Episode 27: A Prime Problem) Can ricochet his ion blaster bolt off of several different rock faces. 

• (Transformers: The Movie) Leaps into the air from truck mode, backflips, and takes out three Decepticons with his ion blaster in as many shots, then lands perfectly on his feet.

• (Optimus Prime Marvel Bio Page) Can shoot the nose of a Decepticon jet from 30 miles away.

• (The Transformers 2009, Issue 25) Fought his way into the Cybertronian Senate using Springarm’s corpse. He used his friend’s CORPSE as a weapon!

• (Episode 25: Day of the Machines) Tricked TORQ III, an advanced supercomputer and artificial intelligence. 

• (Episode 51: Prime Target) When caught in a specially designed net, he uses a chain to connect to a transmission tower to short out the net.

• (Transformers UK, Issue 8) Recognizes Megatron’s plan and counters it.

• (Transformers UK, Issue 44) Fakes injury to trick Rumble into leaving himself open.

• (Transformers UK, Issue 97) Grabs hold of Divebomb to avoid being spit-roasted by Tantrum and Headstrong, thereby defeating all three of them at once.

• (Episode 10: War on the Dinobots) Fights all three Dinobots at the same time.

Weaknesses 

Optimus doesn’t really have any crippling weaknesses, but he does have some worth mentioning. For as durable as he is, he does have his limits, and though he has survived and healed from devastating internal wounds, enough damage to his insides will lead to his death (should the Matrix decide not to help him out). His powers and arsenal are also fairly straightforward, and he usually only relies on his physical strength and ion blaster in fights, making him somewhat predictable, despite his tactical genius and millennia of experience. Speaking of his ion blaster, while its ammo seems to be unlimited, using it at full intensity in succession will cause it to overheat and explode in Optimus’s hands. His endurance also isn’t limitless, and if he’s gone a while without consuming energon (something that can be exhausted in long fights), he will begin to tire. Also, any damage his other modules take, Optimus himself will feel. In terms of the Matrix, if it’s removed from his chest, Optimus will not only lose access to its power, he will be unable to contact the Primes of the past, and be unable to use it in anyway. His greatest weakness, though, is his compassion, which is arguably what has kept the war going between the Autobots and the Decepticons for so many millions of years. If he were just a little more ruthless, he might have ended the conflict ages ago, but his compassion is what makes him Optimus Prime.