Well, we all know Optimus Prime. And we know that when he died Hot Rod succeeded him as the new Autobot leader and he was renamed Rodimus Prime. But does this mean that every Transformer that becomes leader of the Autobots gets renamed and gains the -IMUS PRIME part? And if that's so then how would robots like Ironhide and Jazz be called? Ironimus Prime and Jazzimus Prime? Was just wondering
Seems to depend on the continuity. It varies. In Animated it's a title below Magnus. In the Sunbow G1 show, Optimus Prime was given the name before rising to command of the Autobots. In the DW continuity it's the title he's given when become Commander.
In most continuity though, a leader of the Autobots gets the Matrix and gets the suffix 'Prime'...Nova Prime, Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime... So no, they don't all get-imus behind their name, I think in the case of Hot Rod it was tagging into the Optimus fame..and Hot Rod Prime sounds silly.
The Prime suffix is always given to the Autobot's supreme commander* - Nova Prime, Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime, etc. The -imus part is exclusive to Optimus and Rodimus. * Animated, of course, changes this up in that the supreme commander is called "Magnus" while "Prime" refers to a lower ranking commander.
"Magnus Prime" would have sounded really cool, and already even has "us" at the end. Would have been great for G1 (or even RiD) Ultra Magnus, but now Animated has established Magnus as a rank, rather than a personal name...
As stated earlier, Magnus is the title/rank of the leader in animated. Also in animated there is a sentinel prime & longarm prime. After G1 there was a time where Fortress Maximius & Ultra Magnus alternated the role of leadership without a name change. If you talk about matrix bearers/autobot leaders then those before optimus prime then we have Prima, Prime Nova & Sentinel Prime.
i think decepticons should have a leader tag. maybe tron? hmmm.... startron or even shocktron. but if this was the case then megatron would have just been mega
He could've just been called Megawave or Megascream or whatever... Wouldn't it be awesome to see a Jazzimus Prime vs. Sountron? xD
No. Even ignoring Animated for the moment. At best, it describes the linage of those who are authority figures, though it's likely that there is some connotation to being a Matrix Bearer. In many of the comics, those who were or are bearers of the Matrix bear the designation. In the cartoon, once he gave up the Matrix, Rodimus Prime became Hot Rod again, until he later got it back, once again becoming Rodimus Prime. In G1, particularly in Japan, there were a number of Autobot Supreme Commanders who lacked the Prime or Convoy designation: Fortress Maximus, Ginrai, Star Saber, and Dai Atlas. While Matrix Bearers include: Nova Prime (IDW), Sentinel Prime (G1 Comics), Optimus Prime (Convoy), Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Convoy), Armada Optimus Prime (Micron Convoy), Energon Optimus Prime (Grand Convoy), Cybertron Optimus Prime (Galaxy Convoy), and others who were supreme commanders and Matrix bearers, the rest were not supreme commanders but were matrix bearers: Lio Convoy, Lio Convoy Jr., Big Convoy, RiD Optimus Prime (Fire Convoy), Reverse Convoy, and RiD Ultra Magnus (God Magnus; it's implied however that his Matrix isn't as powerful as Fire Convoys, hence his obsessive desire for Fire Convoy's as well). The water gets a bit muddled with Galaxy Force. Vector Prime is revealed in the Q&A's to have once been a matrix bearer. However, the leaders of each of the planets were Convoys: Live Convoy (Evac), Flame Convoy (Scourge), Nitro Convoy (Override), and Megalo Convoy (Metroplex). However, they were bearers of Planet Keys, which could be similar enough to the Matrix to have such a title. After all, both the Matrix and the Planet Keys are fragments of Primus's power. So, if Ironhide were to become Autobot Supreme Commander, his name would be Ironhide. It would only be if he were in control of a relic of Primus would he get a name redesignation. I would stress the aspect of controlling said relic, as Ultra Magnus, Scourge, Thunderwing, Alpha Trion and others were in possession of the Matrix, but weren't masters of it, while all of the Convoy's on the list above were. With Animated, we got a clear designation protocol, with Magnus, Prime, Minor suffixes as ranks.
I was wondering about the leader's name in Animated - if Magnus is the title, am I to believe that Ultra Magnus's original name was just Ultra? Because that would be kinda lame. I'd rather think his name was Magnus and they added the Ultra title before it. Ultra Optimus sounds better than Optimus Magnus (not by much though).
Ultra Optimus literally means Super The Best...Optimus Magnus means The Greatest [and] The Best...I'd say Optimus Magnus sounds alot better than Ultra Optimus...and not even because of these literal meanings. Also, if all ranks are BEHIND the characters' names, it is only logical the rank would be Magnus. But yes, Ultra is a shitty name.. But don't forget that these are robotic callsigns that are given to them, might not be their 'true' names (if they even have any.)
Yeah, I agree... Ultra by itself as a name is pretty lame. So I would like to think that Animated Ultra Magus goes by a different name before he earned the Magus title. And when he was conferred the Magus title, maybe the council added Ultra in front to make it sound more commanding.
In my head, 'Rodimus' was already his name - Hot Rod was just a 'nickname' they called him because of his hot-headedness. So when he became leader and got the Prime suffix everyone used his full name, hence 'Rodimus Prime'. That's what's in my head. Amongst other, less savoury stuf....
Optimus just called him Rodimus Prime for a joke. I can see Optimus now, all deaded and sat in the Matrix and thinking, 'This'll be a giggle for the other past Autobot wisdoms stuck in here with me. I'm going to give the new leader guy a really stupid name. Here we go... Arise, Rodimus Prime... ya frickin' end-cheese. That'll learn yer for getting me killed...'
Bludgeon, Thunderwing, Scorponok, Jhiaxus, and Straxus would beg to differ. Although I like the idea of titles for each rank, I don't think its essential, especially in the case of the Decepticons.
I like that. Pretty cool fan theory. And for the record, (I learned this at TFCon thanks to Protoman), Rodimus is not just some "lame" made up name. Like Optimus it's a real Latin word/name that means "warrior." So Rodimus Prime is really Warrior Prime, or First/Greatest Warrior. Cool huh? There's a character in the anime Slayers who is also named Rodimus.
There's no suffix or "name format" for any of the G1 leaders/supreme commanders/emperors of destruction, Autobot or Decepticon. According to G1 canon (which in my view, includes the Japanese cartoons) Autobots 1. Optimus Prime 2. Ultra Magnus (briefly) 3. Rodimus Prime 4. Fortress Maximus 5. Ginrai/Super Ginrai/God Ginrai 6. Star Saber 7. Dai Atlas 8. Star Convoy Decepitcons 1. Megatron 2. Starscream (very briefly) 3. Galvatron 4. Scorponok 5. Overlord (field commander) 6. Black Zarak (devil z) 7. Deathsaurus 8. Violen Jiger 9. Dark Nova
no not really because in Japan it goes Optimus Rodimus Fortress Metal Hawk Ginri Starsaber Dia Atlas then returns to prime so i don't think imus is much of a deal
