When you think of Transformers,
odds are that the first bot you think of is Optimus Prime. Noble, brave, selfless, and completely
devoted to the protection of all sentient life, Optimus helms the heroic
Autobots of Cybertron in their ongoing fight against their ancient foe, the
malevolent Decepticons—who in turn are led by Optimus’s polar opposite,
Megatron. Long before the war came to
Earth or raged on Cybertron, Optimus was Orion Pax, a simple archivist/librarian
in the great Hall of Records in Iacon, Cybertron’s Autobot capital. During his years of service, he became
friends with a gladiator named Megatron, who shared his hopes and ideas for a
united, equalized Cybertron. As Megatron
gained popularity and standing, amassing a host of loyal followers, his views
began to show their true colors: tinged with violence and cruelty. When Megatron finally stood before Cybertron’s
High Council to argue his case for unity and equality, he was arrogant and
combative, demanding to be made the next Prime.
Orion was also present, and he answered Megatron’s haughty speech with
impassioned words of peace, fairness and mercy for all Cybertronians. The Council was moved by his words, and as
one they chose to give the Primes’ inheritance—the Matrix of Leadership—to
Orion, and he became Optimus Prime, last of the Primes. Even though he is the supreme commander of
all Autobot forces, Optimus is still at his heart the gentle, pacifist
librarian, and every fallen Cybertronian—both Autobot and Decepticon—weighs
heavily on him.
Many of us have no doubt seen
Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, and much as I love and respect the great
Peter Cullen—who voices Optimus—I am forced to agree with the many Transfans
who say that the Optimus of those movies is not the one we know and love. I myself believe that a closer bot to the
Prime of lore is the Optimus Prime of the 2007 Transformers: Animated TV
show. Let me explain why.
(Spoilers ahead.)
1. Humble
origins. True, when we first meet Optimus,
he’s no archivist or librarian in the Iacon Hall of Records. He’s not the supreme leader of the
Autobots. Not even close. He’s a young Autobot Academy washout in
command of a space bridge maintenance crew, currently stationed on a remote,
far-flung outpost in Autobot space. (There
are a couple of other familiar faces…a crusty old medibot and a cocky yellow
speedster ring any bells?) This is far
from a glamorous job. It involves days
and days of clearing rocks and more unsavoury debris from space bridges so the
Autobots can use the Cybertron space bridge network unhindered. And at first glance, Optimus himself is no warrior
bot in shining armour. He’s essentially
a walking Swiss army knife—with way more
additions: grappling hooks, an arm-mounted cannon that deploys snare nets and
bolas and does double-duty as a fire extinguisher, and an axe. And when his team finally arrives on Earth,
the vehicle mode he adopts is that of a fire truck. But in spite of such a thankless station in
life, a part of him still harks back to Orion Pax: he’s a “history buff”,
spending his spare time watching old history vids of the war and the Autobots’
heroics. For someone who enjoys and
loves great moments of history herself, this part of Optimus’s character hits
very close to home. After all…
2. He
protects his own. His team isn’t
just bots he works with. They’re his
family. Not only does he protect them
fiercely with every line of code in his being, he is a constant presence of
comfort; despite his youth and inexperience, he always leads from the front and
by example and always offers a sympathetic ear whenever they have need. When they crash on Earth mere miles from
downtown Detroit, they’re essentially marooned and cut off from Cybertron and
their fellow Autobots. More than
anything else, this brings them all together.
Well…when the story starts, we get the feeling that Optimus is still
very much the typical Academy-bot, annoyed when regulations aren’t followed,
ready with rally-words about working together (and cogs in the great Autobot
machine…) and stern when his orders aren’t obeyed. But spending time with both his Autobot and
Earth teammates brings out the innate kindness in him, along with the kind of charismatic
and effortless leadership that you would follow to the ends of the earth. Now he’s not so much annoyed that his orders
weren’t followed as concerned that his fellow-bots could have gotten themselves
hurt because they didn’t follow his
orders. But as for the speeches…I got
nothin’.
3. He’s completely
devoted to protecting all sentient life.
All Autobots are sworn to the protection of life…and arguably none take
this more seriously than Optimus. When
his team captures enemy Decepticons, they are not executed but subdued and held
until they can stand trial. And when they
encounter human evildoers on Earth, they are not harmed either. During their stint as Detroit’s newly
anointed superheroes, Optimus and his bots have many run-ins with humans who
would be well-fitted to joining the Decepticon ranks. But even then, no matter what these human
criminals have done, Optimus treats them with as much care and gentleness as
any other human he comes into contact with.
One such human is the Angry Archer—a Robin Hood-esque villain with
almost as many gadgets as Batman. When
Optimus encounters him one night in Detroit, he holsters much of his more
dangerous tools and uses only his bolas and hands to capture him.
During one of their many
battles, Optimus gains the upper hand over Megatron, and the Decepticon leader
says, “What are you waiting for, Autobot?
Finish me.” For a moment…I feared he would. But Optimus only smashes Megatron’s
arm-mounted fusion cannon and slaps stasis cuffs on him, saying, “That would be
the easy way out, Megatron. You don’t
deserve it.” If that isn’t being faithful
to your morals, I don’t know what is.
Out of respect to Peter Cullen,
I will not condemn the live-action Transformers movies here. But one of the things they sorely miss is the
Optimus who is mindful of his humble origins, fiercely protective of his own---bots and humans---and
unyieldingly true to his own code. So
what if this one’s animated? I’ll take
it. It’s a good show, and this Optimus
is witty, human, easy to relate to, and he’s won himself a very dear place in
my heart. It doesn’t hurt either that he’s
voiced by the talented and versatile David Kaye. And…he carries a wicked axe.
Who is (are) your favourite Optimus Prime(s)? Why? Show your love for our boss bot!
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