Interesting

 

I remember reading somewhere, where Megatron, maybe other cons as well, calls Optimus by "Prime" as a form of respect. Which seems about right, considering he almost always say Prime in anywhere

But I'd say TFP would be the sole exception, where its the opposite: Megatron pretty much only say "Optimus" and never "Prime".

 

”Op” from the early Marvel comics never really caught on as a nickname for Optimus Prime.

 

Optimus by friends, Prime by acquaintances

 

I'd say he's also called "Prime" by lower-ranked soldiers, same way you'd call someone who's higher-ranked by their rank. You call a general "General", you call Optimus "Prime."

 

I kinda miss when 'Prime' was just his name/ nickname.

For instance, when Jazz says, "Ready, Prime" during that first roll out, it feels informal, but still respectful.

I kinda don't like how much emphasis is put on the whole thing with the likes of TFP. And even then, with at least the games, books, and such the reason Aligned Megatron seldom ever called him Prime (unless he was being mocking are faux dramatic) was because he felt snubbed that he didn't get it and never saw Optimus as worthy of the title.

 

yes that is what I meant by acquaintances

 

I call him "Op" quite a bit. Never even registered that it was a mostly comics thing. Makes sense, I guess, as that's my favorite version.

 

Since childhood, I have always preferred to call him "Optimus"... because that feels more like his actual name, as opposed to just a title.

Clearly the TV series really liked calling him just "Prime" but that never resonated with me.

zmog

 

I see it as Optimus being regarded most times as being the "last" Prime, so as a title, when used it's like others have stated and convey the title as "teacher/leader/etc." as the position is linked to him and him only at the point of the G1 story happened.

I have to go with at the time, it was more about it being his "last name" as the cannon wasn't established whatsoever until later on that there were other Primes and that it was more about being a title than a name.

Does it matter to me? nah, I don't really find it something to worry about. I take it as it comes off and it's a title that's bound to the individual, and that there was multiple "Primes" and he's one of them, regarded as the last one, and so it works.

But when I state anything about him, I will always state "Optimus" simply because saying Prime can lead to possible confusion, with "Prime the TV show", or any other Prime, such as Rodimus, Sentinel, as at least those three have links that are strong enough to the "Prime" name. So Optimus is about the individual.

So yes, in his presence when there's no other Prime around, calling him Prime is fine, but otherwise, it's easy enough to have them say Optimus or go with Optimus Prime as a whole.

And I would see it (from the G1 times) that it was also meant to even insult him (when stated by the Decepticons) that wouldn't be on a "first name basis" with him, but also have it as a reminder that he's it, the last one, a representation of their society having failed.

 

My personal approach to this in my writing:

Optimus Prime - once every few paragraphs to establish/remind people of his name
Optimus - close friends, such as the Ark’s bridge crew
Prime - most others, all Decepticons; also used most of the time as a shorthand when writing about him
OP - affectionate nickname, probably used by Jazz and maybe Blaster a lot (lol)

Examples that I just wrote rn:

Optimus Prime walks in. He turns to the Decepticons and sits down at the table, looking down. “So, Prime, you decided to show your face.” Megatron says. Prime looks up at him. [insert boring meeting talk] Prime leaves the room, and Bumblebee follows him as they walk away. “How’d it go, Optimus?” the small yellow scout asks.

 

In my "Legacy"-based pitch, Optimus has not referred to himself as Prime in many years, having sacrificed the power of the Matrix to destroy Unicron but not before more than half of Cybertron was irreparably destroyed. Galvatron still calls him Prime as a taunt, even going so far as to wear the empty husk of the Matrix on a chain around his neck just to rub it in.

 

It has been TEN YEARS.

 

It was TFA where 'Prime' officially became a rank, along with 'Magnus'.

Otherwise 'Prime' was used in G1 like how military people are referred to by their rank and last name or just rank or last name, as first names are unprofessional in that setting when on duty.

--Moony

 

It definitely predates that. It was a title as far back as Dreamwave's War Within. And IDW had it as a title before TFA.

 

“Prime” has been a rank as far back as mid-G1. Animated just made Prime a lesser rank to Magnus, which in itself was a deviation from the norm of “Prime” being the rank given to supreme commanders or Matrix bearers.

 

I’ll say the unpopular: I’ve always thought “Optimus Prime” was a silly name anyway, so it doesn’t really matter to me how it’s said. “Optimus” or “Prime” or “Optimus Prime”, whatever— I prefer Convoy. That’s not a localized bias, either, as I grew up in the States and got the Optimus Prime toy for Christmas in 1984.

 

"Convoy" does a poor job of conveying the fact he's the leader-character though.

 

Maybe to children. A name is a name. If I become President, I’m not changing my name to Zentropidus Supremultimate. You are what you become, not what name you’re given. I grew up with a girl named Grace who could barely walk a straight line. And another named Chastity who got pregnant at 16.

So yeah, maybe “Optimus Prime” was good for marketing to those 8-year olds, but it sounds pretty silly to me.

 

The dissonance is strong with this reply. You literally stated the exact reason why Optimus has just a bombastic name - conveying to children that he's the leader - and then you went on to complain that it's silly. That's the whole point!