"Primes never party." Bulkheads simple statement in TFP seems to fully summarize any and all of Optimus Primes characterizations of late. Solemn, brooding, serious, rarely given to anger or joy. A far cry from the basketball playing, teasing, and at times downright joyful Prime of Marvel comics or the Sunbow cartoon. That Prime was also capable of feeling shame or anger or irritation.

But the ultimate question of this thread, should Optimus be the brooding bot of TFP*, or can he still be a relatable... Almost human character who could be your best friend, instead of just a remote Herculean demigod?

 

Optimus should be a relatable, more down-to-Earth character. I hate the endlessly stoic, vacant Optimus of TFP and the movies. I miss when Optimus was wise but not pretentious. He should be fatherly and kind, not standoffish and closed off.

Optimus would absolutely party, in a charmingly awkward boomer kinda way, but he would totally celebrate if there was something worth celebrating.

 

I like how Cyberverse handled it. Optimus doesn't really party, but not because it's beneath him since he's operating on some other plane of existence or whatever; he's just kind of introverted and mellow.

 

They absolutely should. I think part of the reason why there's been a lack of Optimus feeling like he's the leader of troops he cares about and vice-versa is because of Cullen's aging voice not really giving off that vibe, that he's a charismatic leader who sees himself as something of a father figure to the troops. He sounds more like a gatekeeper now, like the imposing guardian who bars the way to a major character's sanctum or lair, and while that's a good voice, it's not Prime to me.

Ideally, we'd go back to how G1 Prime is, where he and his troops will literally just play some basketball for the hell of it. I do also enjoy Cyberverse's stance on it, where he's far more introverted but will do it for the sake of keeping up morale. But him just not partaking in any of that is just boring to me.

 

I prefer an Optimus who makes dad jokes, like Cybertron and BW Optimus. Adult, but not above having fun and actively trying to give his troops a pleasant atmosphere. He doesn't have to be a goofball to not be a hardass.

 

Fucking this.

Prowl I can easily see being a bit of a wet sock, but Optimus? He'd totally realize the importance of morale staying up, and one of the best ways to do that is interacting and mingling with his friends and confidants. He's just like they are, he's not above them, and he definitely doesn't view himself as superior to them, in-fact he cares about his team almost as if it were a very large (and sometimes quite rowdy) family. He'll crack jokes at the expense of his friends, and they'll do the same, because nothing creates bonds like being able to rib and prod each-other.  

I've always wanted to see the Autobots roast Optimus in a playful sense, or seeing despite the times Grimlock and Prime will butt heads in regards to leadership and other matters they can get along in a setting such as this, because deep down (he'll never admit it) Grim respects Prime and values his level-headedness in comparison to his fiery temper.

 

Yes

 

Now I want Optimus telling dad jokes to his comrades and they all cringe at them, but secretly find them funny.

 

YES! Dear god Primes should party. Not all the time, but they should definitely kick back and relax and interact with their fellow Autobots! Not the damned Stoicmus Prime of TF: Prime and other versions where he's just so friggin' ponderous and seems to only exist to give speeches.

And the ones who hear them are cringing slightly but also laughing and shaking their head. "That's our Optimus!"  

 

I don't know that all Primes should but it'd be nice to have an Optimus who does, again.

 

which is why i love that random filler cyberverse episode where optimus started dancing... that was just so ridiculous and yet somewhat charming at the same time.

 

This question really does perfectly highlight many peoples main problem with the Optimus Prime character.

I would say that this problem isn’t exclusively his as many other characters in fiction outside of transformers who also have to play role in the story of the responsible leader and all-round good guy heroic character also struggle with these same difficulties.

It happens as many of the villains and the hot headed/violent underlings of the main responsible leader get to do all of the fun and wild seeming things pushing the story along into interesting places until the leader has to come along and bring everyone in line and tell them off and complain at them for being naughty, so the heroic leader often ends up feeling like boring killjoy to the viewer. Many writers are also conscious of not making their leader an unrealistic Mary Sue to the viewer so they compensate by making them indecisive brooders and unwittingly end up making them seem even less fun and aspirational to the viewer.

It’s a tricky balance to get right and there are no easy or obvious answers so it’s no surprise as to why so many portrayals of Optimus Prime have fallen flat over the years whether it’s transformers Prime’s version already discussed here, Firman writing him as endlessly complaining at Grimlock for being a badass or idw particularly when barber wrote him as a hypocritical, indecisive and preachy douche.

There is hope though as G1 cartoon overcame this by allowing him to occasionally be silly and celebrate, however the light hearted tone of the show in general made it easier to do this. young portrayals of him have also been more fun whilst maintaining the character traits whether it is in Transformers Animated or idw’s Orion Pax super cop portrayal. Beast Wars’s Optimus primal kind of played the same role in the story and from what I remember he struck a pretty good balance between fun and gravitas.

 

I liked the stoic legend esque optimus when the movies first did it. It fit in with that verse of the transformers being larger than life. But tge fact it's become the defacto optimus is boring. He needs to be more friendlier, a bit more humorous. If the g1 toon prime was like he was in tfp, i bet he wouldn't have become the icon he is. The tfp version doesnt really have a personality. People latched onto him because he was like a dad, not a mythical figure. He needs to return to that.

 

I have visualized Prime telling dad jokes and it is glorious.

 

That's a very good point - this kind of problem isn't just common to Optimus depictions.

To answer the question, I think that Optimus would be covering monitor duty while the party takes place, after a token appearance to say something along the lines of, "Thank you for everything you're doing. Have a good time."

 

For Most incarnations of Optimus yes but One thing I never really understood is why people expect TFP Optimus to be partying and being super fun and joking around the dude literally lost everything his girlfriend got killed, his best friend turned into an evil warlord who tries kill him like everyday, he lost a lot of friends, and his entire planet got destroyed due to war seriously how would you expect him to be joking around after he’s through all that he’s essentially like Batman he lost a lot stuff that was close to him and is really stoic and wise

 

People expected TFP Prime to not be written as such a shitty, one-dimensional character with token, cliche informed attributes.

Elita-1 doesn't count. It was a throwaway line added in for forced drama and amount to nothing in the show. TFA Optimus thought he'd lost his Elita but didn't become a depressing stick in the mud. As for everything else, you realize all the other Autobots also lost everything, right? But you know the thing about people, be they humans or fictional robots from space, have this endearing quirk of surviving and moving forward. They take these experiences, good and bad, and grow and move on even if they can't or won't forget them. That's why even Arcee, for all her ridiculous emotional baggage, can still crack a joke and not be a wooden cutout. Hell, even Batman has a sense of humour, and he is motivated entirely by a horrific tragedy he physically cannot move on from. This is especially important for a guy like Optimus, who is a leader and a role model for his fellow Autobots. He should have an air of charisma, but I can't understand why any of the Autobots would ever want to be around him.

Nobody asked for TFP Optimus to be "partying and being super fun and joking around," they expected him to not be an emotionless robot. (pun unintended) It's boring and pointless to write a character so bland and so inhuman as your main hero. Nobody can relate to Optimus because he is so absent and detached from the most basic tenets of humanity.

 

We don't want him like that. That level should be reserved for the kid appeal characters like bee. We just want him to have a personality of some kind. Any kind. Movie prime lost all that and he still had a personality. He probably needed some therapy, but at least he had a personality.

 

Excluding him constantly announcing his desire to violently kill things, Movie Optimus was basically the same as Prime Optimus.

 

When he was talking to cade while he repaired him, he showed a bit of spiritualism in regards to sparks and souls. He showed a softer side when they were hiding at different points in the movie. And you can't exclude his violence and aggressiveness, because that is part of his personality. It may not be the best optimus personality, and I'm not saying movie prime had a massively deep personality, but he certainly had one more than tfprime version did.

I also realise typing this that aoe was the one that showed his personality the most.