I think I'd have fun with Strongarm Prime, Chromia Prime, Elita Prime, or a refocused Solus Prime.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing Solus and the rest of the Thirteen get a bit more focus (perhaps in a prequel film or comic series set in ancient times), but if we're specifically talking about a stand-in or replacement for Optimus, Elita makes the most sense to me. Strongarm is more of a follower than a leader, Chromia is a good choice for a sub-commander but I can't see her leading an entire army, and Solus is supposed to be dead. Feel free to disagree, though.

 

Override works since she’s already a Prime in her own right.

I could see Strongarm working but not right out of the gate. She’d need a story arc to show her progression from dutiful beat-cop to leadership material. Of everyone on Bee’s team in RID, she was the only one that he seemed to take under his wing at first, like he was trying to build her up to be more than a rookie. That aspect of their professional relationship kinda fell by the wayside when season 2 started & the cast broke up into 2 teams.

If they did use Elita-1, I’d want to see a new head design. Never been a fan of the wide antenna helmet. It looks like a Space Invaders alien landed on her head.

 

I for one wouldnt recognize it as the same optimus that I grew up with an associated myself with . Therefore I’d pay no attention to that continuity.

 

Elita would have been my first choice, with Override a close second, and Windblade in third after character development. I never really cared for Strongarm - she struck me as a hall monitor that never grew up.

I've got to agree with @Mako Crab in that if we go with Elita, she needs a head redesign. I'd also redo her colors, either to gold and white with her pink, or to something like this:



The original picture is by BHS-ArchetypeRex at deviantart.

 

I could dig it, honestly. It would be pretty tricky choosing the right voice actress for that version, though.

And as for all the folks going off on how characterization matters, and that gender shouldn’t matter - if the characterization was good, then why would it matter if OP was female? Also, just drop the whole “genderless robots” thing altogether. There have been plenty of episodes and stories throughout the franchise’s history that establish gender. They may not have clear anatomical differences, but there are genders present on Cybertron.

It would be relatively simple to reimagine the origin, too. Just have Orion Pax so damaged by Megatron’s attack that Alpha Trion rebuilds Ariel into Optimus Prime first because of time constraints. Pax becomes Elite-1 later. Take it from that characterization perspective. Pax and Ariel were both young, naive laborers that were basically the dumb teens that get caught by the killer/monster in every campy horror movie. There was essentially little to no difference between them during that origin story.

It also flips the trope of “sacrificing the girl so the male lead can further his own journey”. Recent Primes have been a bit bland, honestly, and really haven’t felt right. Prime Optimus didn’t have a lot of development, nor much going on beyond the traditional self-sacrifice stereotypes. Cyberverse Prime is as charismatic as dry toast. IDW 1 Prime at least went through an emotional journey, but he didn’t recapture that G1 Prime - one that could get serious, yet enjoy himself. Optimus has been too one-note lately in terms of characterization. Honestly, a new twist on Prime might force some more creative writing that depended on characterization, rather than playing it safe with an OP with a singular personality trait. Hell, with THIS fanbase, the writers would go in knowing they’d be facing a backlash from the get-go. Why not go all out and try something new?

 

Gender for Transformers is weird, especially given the binary. I wonder what would have happened if it was a Japanese show of the same era? Like Ranma 1/2.
Hope this isn't too political and religious.

 

Do not care what gender the leader is, just as long as they are written and characterized well. And if we get a female Optimus we should get a female Megs too. Legends Megaempress is a good template to work with.

 

I just relized that she's using the back of her combiner head as part of the gun. You know what that means.
(Noises of spinning head laser shooting)

 

Nice art! That’s quite the step up from her G1 appearance.
I honestly forgot about Windblade. I never read the latter half of IDW G1, so my main reference for her is the toons, which never have her in a leadership role. I forgot that she helped rule Cybertron in the comics. So uh... yeah. She could absolutely do the job.

 

Negatory morning glory

 

If I were treating this question completely seriously I would immediately reference all the Alternate Reality story telling I've been exposed to via sci fi, DC's Elseworlds, and Marvel's What If... and say as long as the storytelling is good, I'd be on board with just about anything.

However, since the only variance asked for is female Optimus, I assume this is a bait question to sensationalize the subject. I'll go on record and say that when the next thread asks the opinions of a gay Optimus, my answer will be the exact same.

 

Dosent bother me

 

I wouldn't care. Like I don't care about the Unicron Trilogy and Bayverse. To each their own.

 

NO!

 

No thank you

 

I would buy this figure.

 

Especially if it was about 5' 8" tall?

 

Nah, I like my life size sex dolls to look like women. #realdoll

 

A female Prime? Sure, I'm open to the possibility of a female Autobot leader, as well as one for Decepticons.

A female Optimus Prime? No, I'm against gender-swapping.