The Autobot leader Optimus Prime is on par with DC Comics' Superman when it comes to having a characteristically noble mythos.
Although Optimus has had many reinventions since his inception in the 1980s, this remains his overriding quality; that of a natural-born leader with surety of thought and action in battle and deep contemplation in peace.
He has been reinvented in Marvel Comics as a gladiator who rose through the ranks to become the Autobot leader; he's also been portrayed in Dreamwave Comics, rising from the role of a data entry clerk of some kind in the Transformers archives, to being granted the Autobot Matrix of Leadership for his innate qualities by the planet's leader.
He's been revamped as the equivalent of a dock worker on Cybertron millions of years before humans arrived on Earth in the Transformers Animated Series storyline of 1984.
In each of these, a similar strand runs throughout: Optimus Prime came from nothing, to become most definitely something.
The Character of the Autobot Leader Optimus sees all sentient life as sacred, even if they're not Cybertronian.
A natural leader, he always, in each incarnation, seems destined to lead - though not originally inclined to do so - almost like a reluctant leader that performs better than anyone else is capable when the mantle falls upon him; which, due to the consistent rise of the Decepticons, always does.
Indeed; how can you have a hero without a threat? Optimus Prime in the Movies In the Transformers movie franchise directed by Michael Bay, Optimus Prime lives up to his true billing as a warrior extraordinaire, often descending on a battlefield with a singular level of skill unmatched by neither Autobot nor Decepticon.
In keeping true to his heroic persona, he is often shown wielding sword-like blades in favor of guns, because, let's face it: true heroes swing blades, because anyone can kill with a gun (!).
This medieval infusion works better than any other period of warrior, due to our consciousness of stories of gallant knights riding in to save the day with little more than a lance and a dagger.
Consistently, Optimus wreaks havoc among the evil in fair fights alone, cutting and rending rather than shooting and blasting, as the latter shows a level of skill the former cannot hope to convey.
Optimus the Finisher Despite his private reservations about any action that doesn't clearly further the cause of peace, Optimus Prime shows himself time and again to be a formidable and sometimes merciless warrior.
Particularly in the movies, this mercilessness seems less about the need to appear strong before his troops, than his belief that once you turn to the dark side, it's over for you.
Optimus dispatched the Decepticon Bonecrusher with a cannon-blast to the face; he did the same to Demolishor and tried to do it to Megatron in Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen (he would finally succeed in erasing the Decepticon leaders face in the final installment, Dark of the Moon).
With all his enemies now dead, and the Transformers franchise so successful financially, for what reason will the great Prime and his loyal Autobots again rear their metal heads?
Although Optimus has had many reinventions since his inception in the 1980s, this remains his overriding quality; that of a natural-born leader with surety of thought and action in battle and deep contemplation in peace.
He has been reinvented in Marvel Comics as a gladiator who rose through the ranks to become the Autobot leader; he's also been portrayed in Dreamwave Comics, rising from the role of a data entry clerk of some kind in the Transformers archives, to being granted the Autobot Matrix of Leadership for his innate qualities by the planet's leader.
He's been revamped as the equivalent of a dock worker on Cybertron millions of years before humans arrived on Earth in the Transformers Animated Series storyline of 1984.
In each of these, a similar strand runs throughout: Optimus Prime came from nothing, to become most definitely something.
The Character of the Autobot Leader Optimus sees all sentient life as sacred, even if they're not Cybertronian.
A natural leader, he always, in each incarnation, seems destined to lead - though not originally inclined to do so - almost like a reluctant leader that performs better than anyone else is capable when the mantle falls upon him; which, due to the consistent rise of the Decepticons, always does.
Indeed; how can you have a hero without a threat? Optimus Prime in the Movies In the Transformers movie franchise directed by Michael Bay, Optimus Prime lives up to his true billing as a warrior extraordinaire, often descending on a battlefield with a singular level of skill unmatched by neither Autobot nor Decepticon.
In keeping true to his heroic persona, he is often shown wielding sword-like blades in favor of guns, because, let's face it: true heroes swing blades, because anyone can kill with a gun (!).
This medieval infusion works better than any other period of warrior, due to our consciousness of stories of gallant knights riding in to save the day with little more than a lance and a dagger.
Consistently, Optimus wreaks havoc among the evil in fair fights alone, cutting and rending rather than shooting and blasting, as the latter shows a level of skill the former cannot hope to convey.
Optimus the Finisher Despite his private reservations about any action that doesn't clearly further the cause of peace, Optimus Prime shows himself time and again to be a formidable and sometimes merciless warrior.
Particularly in the movies, this mercilessness seems less about the need to appear strong before his troops, than his belief that once you turn to the dark side, it's over for you.
Optimus dispatched the Decepticon Bonecrusher with a cannon-blast to the face; he did the same to Demolishor and tried to do it to Megatron in Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen (he would finally succeed in erasing the Decepticon leaders face in the final installment, Dark of the Moon).
With all his enemies now dead, and the Transformers franchise so successful financially, for what reason will the great Prime and his loyal Autobots again rear their metal heads?
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