I just got into a discussion about this with someone on Facebook, and I swear it's been discussed here before.

There's a couple pieces of early art like Unicron.com and File:FriedmanAuctionKupModelEdit.jpg - Transformers Wiki that draw him bed-first for some reason - was this what he was intended to look like? Did someone realize he made more sense as pickup or whatever if they flipped him around, or was this just a goof-up on a few of the early designs for him and he was always supposed to be a truck? I don't know why this is bothering me so much  

 

As an alien cargo truck, that could actually be pretty neat, but I think Kup is meant to be a normal Earth truck from "the distant future of 2005," so I dunno.

 

I think it's just a reverse shot to show what the back end looks like.

 

Nah, that's just showing Kup's truck model from the rear. A lot of early art includes rear angles for reference.

 

He's a futuristic/cybertronian pickup truck.

 

I don't know how anyone could think differently.

 

Its a truck from 2005, what do you expect?

 

Our old future.

 

As someone who graduated high school and was learning to drive in 2005, I gotta say I was pretty disappointed in what cars looked like then  

 

Only if he were a Phantom from the "Master Chief Collection."

 

The animators of "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2" sure thought so! Check the scene where Optimus Prime says "Autobots, transform and roll out" for the first time since his resurrection. Goldbug's in the foreground in vehicle mode, Optimus transforms while Kup is standing behind him, Optimus drives off, then Kup transforms while Goldbug drives off... and then Kup drives off backwards.

 

That scene popped into my head when I saw the thread.

Pretty sure he was always meant to look the way he does with truck bed in the back, they named him Kup as in picK UP truck

 

Very nice catch

I believe it happened only one time right?

 

Kup has always looked to me like he is the front end of truck/trailer thing. And, he would attach himself to a trailer. Like, perhaps this is what Optimus Prime would look like if he had a Cybertronian form in the G1 cartoon. Except, with the trailer.

 

It's Orion Pax, but this is pretty much the same thing Optimus Prime (G1)/toys - Transformers Wiki

 

Yes, I am quite aware of that, thanks.

But, I was referring to even before that toy existed.

 

He also reversed into action alongside Ultra Magnus towards the end of the episode Starscream's Ghost, when Starscream and the sweeps land on Cybertron after getting caught trying to escape. Never noticed the one in Return of Prime. I wonder how many other times he did that? Always confused me as a kid watching Kup reverse up like that.

 

Another good catch