Optimus Prime

Origin

Nine million years before the start of the series (Earth year 1984), Optimus Prime was originally a robot dock worker on the planet Cybertron named Orion Pax. Orion had a girlfriend named Ariel. One day, Megatron approached Orion and persuaded him into letting Megatron use one of the warehouses on the docks. When Megatron and his Decepticons attacked the warehouse, Orion and Ariel were both injured during the attack.  Fortunately, the Megatron of 1985 had made a failed attempt to trap the Aerialbots at the beginning of time with a time travel device called the Chronosphere.  The Autobots of 1985 managed to destroy the Chronosphere while it was in operation, and the Aerialbots were merely sent back 9 million years.  The Aerialbots took Orion and Ariel to a repair bay that was being run by Alpha Trion, a first generation product of Vector Sigma.  Alpha Trion decided to use the two as his first subjects for an upgrade process.  Orion underwent the upgrade and thus became Optimus Prime,  while Ariel was upgraded to become Elita One.  Optimus Prime was the first Autobot warrior and thus took the mantle as the Autobot leader.  Optimus would remain as the Autobots leader as the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons waged on for the next five million years.

For five million years, the Autobots and the Decepticons fought over the last remaining energy source on Cybertron. Eventually, Optimus decided to take his Autobots on a mission to search for new energy sources on other worlds in order to restore Cybertron’s energy source. Just before the Autobots’ Ark was about to launch, Optimus was led to believe that Elita was killed (which she was not). Now in space, the Ark was attacked and boarded by the Decepticons. A battle broke out between the Autobots and the Decepticons until the gravity force of a nearby planet dragged both ships onto it. The planet would be known as Earth, and the Ark crashed landed inside a volcano. This forced everyone in the Ark to go into emergency stasis mode. The Autobots and the Decepticons remained in stasis status for four million years, until a volcanic eruption turned on the Ark’s computer, Teletraan I, and it reactivated the Decepticons. The Teletraan I also programmed them with Earth vehicle disguises. Starscream decided to fire at the Ark before he left, causing a landslide to ensue. The landslide would knock Optimus near enough to the computer to reactivate him. Now reawaken, Optimus reactivates the rest of his Autobots and continues the war against the Decepticons.

Optimus Prime took the form of a cab over flat-nose truck. Optimus and the Autobots have sworn to never harm the humans, and would eventually meet a boy named Sam “Spike” Witwicky. They first met when the Decepticons attacked an oil rig which Sam and his father, Sparkplug, was working on. Optimus rescued the two and they offered to help the Autobots. Spike would teach the Autobots the ways of the humans. Optimus would often confront and battle Megatron, as they are of equal strength. Optimus would eventually discover that Elita was still alive, but she was captured by the Decepticons on Cybertron. They planned to use her to lure Optimus into a trap, and although Optimus knew it was a trap, he went to Cybertron alone. Optimus was defeated and was nearly destroyed by the Decepticons, but Elita activated a stasis field and allowed Optimus and Elita to escape. Optimus brought Elita to Alpha Trion and asks him to heal Elita’s wounds.

Twenty years goes by and it is Earth year 2005, the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons continue. The Decepticons now control all of Cybertron, while forcing the Autobots the live in scattered places. The Autobots operate in their city on Earth called Autobot City, they also have two bases on Cybertron’s moons. While the Autobots were transmitting a message to gather more energy from Earth to prepare for an attack against the Decepticons, the Decepticons were able to intercept the transmission. They attacked the shuttle and used it to infiltrate Autobot City undetected. The Decepticons began their attack on Autobot City, while the Autobots were forced to radio Optimus for backup. Optimus eventually arrives at Autobot City with the Dinobots and were able to fend off the Decepticons. Optimus would confront Megatron in a final battle, both were seriously wounded after the battle and Megatron would retreat. Meanwhile, Optimus calls for Ultra Magnus and gives him the Autobot Matrix of Leadership (A talisman passed down from Autobot leader to Autobot leader). Optimus Prime died shortly afterwards.

Optimus Prime was entombed in a mausoleum of fallen Autobots in deep space. However, in 2006 the Quintessons retrieved his corpse and reanimated Optimus Prime into working with them. They attempted to destroy the Autobots by luring them to the Quintessons by using Optimus. However, the Autobot Matrix of Leadership freed Optimus from the Quintesson’s control. Optimus decided to fly his flagship into the Quintessons to destroy them in an explosion. However, Optimus’ body was retrieved before the explosion by two human scientists named Jessica Morgan and Gregory Swofford. As their ship left, the explosion from the sun coated their ship with solar spores. When the Decepticons attempted to steal their heat-resistant alloy, Jessica was paralyzed in the process. Swofford and Jessica’s father Mark Morgan (who hated the Transformers) decided to rebuild Optimus Prime into a transport system in order to transport the . The spree would be known as the “Hate Plague” and it causes any sentient being to be induced with madness. However, when the two of them could not reanimate Optimus, they decided to use him as bait to lure the Autobots to their lab to be infected with the Hate Plague, to which it was successful. Meanwhile, the Sky Lynx was able to retrieve the Quintesson and forced it to revive Optimus Prime. Optimus was now coated in the heat-resistant alloy, thus making the “Hate Plague” have no effect on Optimus. Optimus retrieved the Matrix from Rodimus Prime and used it to destroy the Hate Plague. In the year 2007, Optimus began seeing visions from the Matrix’s energy, telling him about Cybertron’s transformation. When the Decepticons stole the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, Optimus went seeking the words from Alpha Trion, which he learns that the mega computer is restoring Cybertron to its Golden Age. Meanwhile, with the Plasma Energy Chamber opened, it caused Earth’s Sun to go supernova. Spike and the Nebulans were able to drain the extra solar energy and it helped revive Cybertron.

Comics

Optimus Prime has been featured in the new IDW series, before that with Dreamwave, and even before that, Marvel itself, meeting Spider-Man!

Transformers Animated

Optimus (Transformers: Animated)

One day, Optimus and his friends, Elita-One and Sentinel, have landed on a restricted Organic world, rumor to the last place where a Decepticon ship was seen. Hearing rumors of the Cons' hoarding mass quantities of Energon, Sentinel and Elita talk Optimus into go for a little exploring for the 'treasure'. The trio were then swallow up as the ground beneath them gave way and had them in a underground cavern. After getting separated from Sentinel while fighting against the planet's  inhabitants of giant spiders, the two Academy Bots found the Decepticon ship, with Energon cubes and more alien spiders. The two try to make a quick escape by having a  stalactite fall on the energon and trigger an explosion. Elita-1 uses her special download ability, enabling her to copy the powers of another Bot for a short time, to get Optimus grappling hook in order to get out of explosion, but her download time was up while she was still escaping, causing Elita-1 to fall back into the Decepticon ship, with the spiders. Optimus meet up with his team and rather going back to save her, Optimus carries him away in risk of getting blown up in the energon. After wards, the two try to contact Elita-1, as well as scanning for her energy signature; but got nothing, leaving them to the fact that she went off-line. From that point on, Sentinel blame Optimus for Elita-1's death and hold it against him.

After reporting to Ultra Magnus about Elita-1's demise, the Autobot commander expels Optimus from being in the Elite-Guard, while Optimus didn't ratted out Sentinel, the one who brought them all on the planet to begin with. But since Optimus showed great potential during his academy days, Ultra Magnus managed to have him command his own ship and team... of Space Bridge Repair-Bots, consisting of Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead. With Omega Supreme as their ship. While doing work on a bridge in an asteroid field, the crew come across the Ninja-Bot Prowl, who was meditating after the lost of his master in the war. The crew accidentally destroys Prowl's ship, leaving him stranded with him. Optimus would allow Prowl to come travel with in their ship, and they might leave sooner if he could lend a hand. Prowl agrees to this, although remarking that Space Bridge Repair was humiliating job that was beneath him.

Shortly after that, while still clearing the Space Bridge of a build up of space rocks, the Autobots came across one of their planet's lost and most powerful treasure coming out of the Space Bridge. The All-Spark, the life giving artifact to all Transformers. Ratchet says that they should head out, because the reason why the All-Spark was lost in the Space Bridge  in the first place was to keep it out of the Decepticon hands. And how else was in the sector but Megatron himself, and his minions. After getting orders from Ultra Magnus to stay put and don't be hero, Optimus takes things in his own hands and takes his ship and crew to the nearest working Space Bridge and get out there.

 Movies

Transformers Film (2007)

Optimus as he appeared in the 2007 film

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Optimus & Jetfire Combined

Forms

Optimus' vehicle mode is usually a semi-truck, but he has also taken the form of a firetruck.  He has been known to combine with his trailer or other Autobots to become a super-powerful transformer