Optimus Prime

Status: Released

Wave: Animated Voyager Wave 2

MSRP: $19.99

Size Class: Voyager

Suggested Age: 5+

Assortment Number: 83463

Product Number: 83672

SKU Number: 653569296034

DPCI Number: 087-06-0087

Voice Actor: David Kaye

Cartoon Overview
A young (by Cybertronian standards) commander of a ragtag and largely inexperienced group of misfit AUTOBOTS. He’s a born leader, a natural tactician, a dedicated never-say-die fighter and a master of improvisation in the face of adversity. Unassuming, humble, friendly and cheerful, Prime comes across as “The Bot Next Door.” He takes his mission and his men with the utmost seriousness, but is still able to relate to them as a regular guy. He’s not the kind of leader who needs to bark orders to command respect (besides, he’s got RATCHET to do that for him).

Optimus cares deeply for his crew, and spends time trying to get to know them better. For example, he spends time trying to get Ratchet to open up about his past. He's not the most firm or take charge of leaders, sometimes needing prompts from Ratchet, and sometimes making bad calls. He's also got some problems controlling his team, who all tend to do their own thing regardless of what he says.

Optimus has a fear of spiders, from the disastrous incident in which he was forced to leave Elita-1 behind on a world full of giant spiders. He deeply regrets not spending time looking for her afterwards, and leaving her behind in the first place. This is brought to the fore when Elita faces off against him in her new form as Blackarachnia years later. From his dialogue in that encounter, it is clear that Optimus is going to do everything he can to one day get Blackarachnia back, which could potentially cause him even more trouble down the line.

In Megatron Rising, faced with an increase in Decepticon activity due to Lugnut amd Blitzwing on Earth, and the reappearance of Starscream, Optimus has to make some tough decisions. First was his decision that letting Sari keep the Key was a risk, so he had Ratchet take it away from her, upsetting Sari (and unknown to Prime, leading to her being captured by Blackarachnia), as well as making Bumblebee storm out in pursuit of Sari, calling Optimus a bad leader in the process.
Optimus then learned from Bulkhead and Prowl that the Dinobots were still alive on their island. Less than satisfied that they had kept this from them, he still tried to make contact and ask for their help, although his refusal to let Prowl handle the negotiations meant that they ended in failure. When Optimus then heard from Ratchet that the Decepticons Lugnut and Blitzwing had got their hands on the Key, Optimus began to doubt himself. He felt that Bumblebee was right, and that every decision he had made was the wrong one. His day was about to get worse, though, as he arrived at Sumdac Tower in time to witness the resurrection of an enemy who he thought was dead... Megatron! Naturally, Megatron made short work of Optimus and the other assembled Autobots before departing to claim the Allspark.
Wounded, Optimus fell back to Isaac Sumdac's lab, where the Allspark charged machinery helped to get the Autobots fighting fit again. Optimus learned the truth about Megatron there, as well as mending his friendship with the other Autobots.
After an attempt to lead the battle off world ended in the Ark being shot down, Optimus faced off against Megatron himself. Again, Optimus was no match for the Decepticon leader. Refusing to admit defeat, Optimus fought his way back to his feet, only to be pushed back by a wave of intense energy. Megatron had gained the Allspark and was using it as a weapon! At the last moment, Sari threw her Allspark Key to Optimus, which Optimus used to deliver an Allspark powered punch to the Allspark in Megatron's chest, causing it to disperse explosively, defeating Megatron in the process.
After the battle, Optimus handed the Allspark Key back to Sari, telling her that it was now one of the most powerful artifacts on Earth with the Allspark gone.

In The Elite Guard, Optimus shows a new side to his personality when he is reunited with Ultra Magnus and Sentinel Prime. For much of the episode, Optimus Prime accepts Sentinel Prime's criticism, as it is against regulation to talk back to superior officers, which Sentinel technically is (although as revealed later in that episode, Sentinel and Optimus are both of the "Prime" rank, even though Optimus washed out). Optimus puts up with a lot of Sentinel's generally overbearing behaviour, until he endangers Sari on insisting that Optimus stand down, at which point optimus stands up for himself, and his abilities in the field are acknowledged by Ultra Magnus "even though he is a little rough round the edges".
Optimus' rivalry with Sentinel Prime came to a head in Return of the Headmaster. Sentinel Prime forever talked down to Optimus, treating him like a lower-class robot not worthy of speaking in his pressence without permission. Optimus mostly took this, although not happy about it. He mentioned an incident in the past when it seems he took the blame for something he and Sentinel had done - probably related to Elita-1's disappearance. The two do not see eye to eye at all, so Optimus took great pleasure in beating up on the Headmaster-controlled Sentinel Prime when they confronted the Headmaster on his freight-liner hideout. However, when it came to explaining to Ultra Magnus what happened, Optimus helped Sentinel to save face, recognizing how much Sentinel Prime wanted to keep his reputation intact. The experience brought the two closer together, although some rivalry remains, with Sentinel trying to convince Optimus to bend the truth in Mission Accomplished to get his career going again. The scene implies very much that Optimus Prime is not good at lying, or at least does not hide the truth very often, sometimes at personal cost. That same episode also shows how Optimus is not above a little gloating when he is proved right.

Optimus' feelings for Elita-1, now Blackarachnia, come to the fore in Black Friday, where he once again meets Blackarachnia. For her, he bends his usual upstanding persona to intimidate Porter C. Powell into handing over a genetic modifier Blackarachnia wants in return for an antidote to a Cyber Venom infecting Bumblebee and Prowl (although, this could also be down to Prime's own dislike of Blackarachnia). In that same episode, Optimus also continuously warns the Dinobots of how Blackarachnia is using them, even though he himself is used. Optimus also shows how he believes that Blackarachnia still has some shred of goodness in her and can someday be redeemed.

Optimus Prime with the other Autobots and the Elite Guard Member Blurr faced off against Megatron's Decepticons and Starscream's Clones in the second season finale, A Bridge Too Close. The emergence of Starscream as a mutual foe led to Optimus and Megatron fighting side by side, briefly - before Megatron decided to use Optimus as a human shield. Later, Megatron intended to use Optimus as a guinea pig for his Spacebridge, prior to leading his armies through. Optimus managed to get loose thanks to some help from Prowl, and in the end, slipped some Stasis Cuffs on Megatron, causing Megatron to go tumbling into the out of control Spacebridge for parts unknown.

Robot Mode Power: OPTIMUS PRIME has the ability to change any part of his robotic body into a tool or gadget. His arsenal includes a jet-powered axe, grappler and fire extinguisher.
Optimus also exhibited an ability to tap into phone and radio signals in Return of the Headmaster, using an antenna built into his "ear piece". In the same episode, he also demonstrated an ability to track signals back to their origin.

Vehicle Mode Appearance: Fire Truck

Notes
Original bio posted on Hasbro's Transformers Animated site:

OPTIMUS PRIME is the young commander of a ragtag inexperienced group of AUTOBOTS. He’s a born leader, a never-say-die fighter, humble, friendly, and cheerful. OPTIMUS PRIME is not the kind of leader who needs to bark orders to command respect. He is usually the first to join the fight and the last to leave it putting himself before any member of his team.

ROBOT MODE POWER: "Battle Axe"
OPTIMUS PRIME'S main weapon is his battle axe. It is an ENERGON-based weapon that has multiple purposes. The axe blade can modify into a laser blade, it can also grow to cut large objects. The handle can grow in length for a pole-vault style attack, and the back of his axe has a built-in thruster for added lift and boost of great speeds.

OPTIMUS PRIME is a walking multi-utility knife with ability to convert any part of his robotic body to into a tool or gadget. His arms and legs can hyper-extend, he can whip grapples and swing his way around Detroit. OPTIMUS PRIME can also "spike" into any computer or machine to control it. AXE? SOMKESCREEN? HANG GLIDER? FIRE EXTINGUISHER? He has all of these tools and much more; but he isn’t just stocked with tools, he is clever about how he uses them.

* Can cut reinforced steel.
* Advanced fire-fighting systems.
* Trained at AUTOBOT Academy.

Contributors
Tony_Bacala, Tim Formas, Sol Fury

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