Sentinel Prime (G1)

2011-08-02T04:51:57Z

175.157.12.49:

{{disambig3|Sentinel Prime}}
{{factions|quintesson|autobot}}

:''Sentinel Prime was an Old Ass [[Autobot]] leader in the [[Generation 1 continuity family]].''
[[Image:Sentinel prime lou.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Well, shoot, who wants the Matrix?]]
'''Sentinel Prime''' was [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime's]] immediate predecessor as [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]]. ([[Alpha Trion (G1)|Except when]] [[Zeta Prime|he isn't]].)

==Fiction==
===''The Transformers'' cartoon===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Jack Angel]] (English), ? (Japanese)

[[Image:Aubotot gladiator.jpg|right|250px|thumb|You've got the pre-Touch. You've got the pre-Power. Pre-Yeah.]]

'''Sentinel Major'''You mother fucker was originally one of the Quintessons' slave robots on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] around twelve million years ago. Unusual among his consumer goods brethren, Sentinel Major was equipped for combat and was forced to participate in [[Gladiatorial combat|gladiatorial games]] for the Quintessons' amusement, wielding a spiked ball-and-chain weapon and a tire-shaped shield. He was once defeated in battle by [[Prima]], who attacked their Quintesson masters when their match was over, only to be destroyed himself.

Subsequently, the consumer goods robots rose up against the Quintessons in a rebellion that ultimately forced the aliens off the planet. Sentinel Major survived this clash, but he and the rest of his race—now dubbed "Autobots"—were robbed of any chance of peace when the military hardware robots, now known as "[[Decepticon]]s", set their sights on conquering Cybertron for themselves. Two [[Guardian Prime|Autobot]] [[Zeta Prime|leaders]] fell during the war that ensued, and Sentinel Major inherited the Matrix of Leadership and became Sentinel Prime, leader of the Autobots. Under his leadership, the Autobots realized that they would never be able to defeat the Decepticons with firepower, and they turned instead to stealth, reconfiguring their bodies to be able to [[transform]] into other forms. With the power of his new ability, Sentinel Prime defeated the [[Early Decepticon leader|Decepticons' leader]], and the Autobots won the war.

[[Image:Aubotot gladiator vehicle.jpg|left|180px|thumb|He transforms into Rhi, the forgotten Beast Rider.]]

The ensuing period of peace was known as the [[Golden Age of Cybertron]], but, around nine million years BC, the Decepticon threat re-emerged when they too adopted transformation, and coupled it with robot-mode flight powers. One of the first of this new breed of Decepticons, the malevolent [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], killed Sentinel Prime in combat. As he died, the Sentinel Prime handed off the Matrix to [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], who kept it safe until the emergence of the next Autobot leader, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]].

When [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] journeyed into the Matrix in 2005, Sentinel Prime was the sixth guide he encountered. Sentinel Prime recounted the development of transformation, the Autobot victory in the war and the rise of Megatron. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}}
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===Marvel Comics continuity===
Sentinel Prime is mentioned frequently in the recitation of Primes before Optimus, but little or nothing is known of him.

{{note|The retelling of [[Unicron]]'s origin in the UK comics included a brief glimpse of a dying Matrix bearer passing the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to Optimus Prime. However, as he is unnamed, the only way we can presume this being is Sentinel Prime is because, as we are told later, Sentinel Prime was the leader before Optimus.}}

===Dreamwave comics continuity===
{{cleanup|June 2010|The text here doesn't seem to fit our established style.}}

:'' Sentinel Prime's biggest shortcoming is that he leads with his head, a peacetime leader in a time of war. His successor, Optimus Prime, leads with his heart, backed by his fists— a much more suitable combination.''

Sentinel Prime was Autobot leader for the first 500,000 years of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. More physically massive than Optimus Prime, Sentinel Prime's armor was made of [[trithyllium]] alloy impregnated with irradiated carbon fibers, unbreakable short of a precisely-aimed point-blank shot.

Sentinel Prime's primary weapons were his swiveling shoulder cannons, capable of firing a variety of specialized payloads including concussive and shrapnel-needle shells, and gyro-inhibiting and magnetic inducer shells. (Disruptive warheads which foul an opponent's systems.) He was also armed with a solar-energy rifle and an energon-charged sword.

Sentinel Prime used an [[electro-disrupter]], a device capable of projecting several copies of his image, to disorient his opponents in battle. When interrupted, electro-disrupter images de-rez, leaving a visible path back to the real projector. Because using direct attacks would reveal which image was the real Sentinel Prime, he must limit himself to indirect weapons like shrapnel shells when using it.

Sentinel Prime's only physical weakness was his shoulder-cannons. A direct hit down their barrel could cause the ammunition inside to explode, causing catastrophic damage. To minimize that risk, he swivels the cannons to his back except when about to fire.<ref>Nearly all of his technical specifications come from descriptions found in the [[Keepers Trilogy]].</ref>

[[Image:Sentinel prime dw.jpg|right|180px|thumb|"Marley was dead to begin with..."]]
8.2 million years ago, Sentinel Prime went to reason with [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], seeking to reach him with sermon and doctrine. He failed and was tortured and destroyed by Megatron on the battlefields of [[Tyrest (polity)|Tyrest]]. {{storylink|Transformers: The Ultimate Guide}} Megatron was chagrined to discover that Sentinel Prime (suspecting he might be killed) had not brought the Matrix with him into battle. {{storylink|The War Within issue 1|The War Within #1}}

====The Keepers Trilogy====
The Matrix used a vision of Sentinel Prime to strengthen Optimus Prime's resolve during a battle with Megatron by confronting him with the claim that Megatron had chosen Optimus to be Prime, knowing that he was weak. Megatron's alleged influence over the Prime selection process was never substantiated.

The [[Keeper (species)|Keepers]] subsequently created a robotic duplicate of Sentinel Prime to confuse Optimus and undermine his confidence. Though possessing all of Sentinel Prime's considerable abilities, Optimus eventually realized that the duplicate had been created from his own memories of Sentinel Prime, and was incapable of doing anything ''new''. Optimus destroyed the duplicate of Sentinel Prime, having largely overcome his own doubts about his fitness to be Autobot leader. {{storylink|Hardwired}}
{{-}}

===IDW comics continuity===
[[Image:IDWSent.gif|left|120px|thumb|Do I look pacifistic enough yet?]]
Sentinel Prime assumed office after [[Nominus Prime]], in the ancient past of Cybertron's "peacetime", and inherited a planet rife with corruption and social apartheid. He appears to have come to power "after the [[Clampdown]]", and shortly before Megatron would be arrested for sparking a riot.{{storylink|Chaos Theory Part 1}}

[[Image:IDWSentface.gif|right|150px|thumb|That comes in "Optimus Prime" and "Marvel Comics" inspired varieties...]]
He operated out of the [[Security Services Headquarters]] in [[Kaon]], generally regarded as "the worst place on Cybertron." Prime had much disdain for government authority, viewing the ruling [[Senate|Senators]] to be spoiled whiners. He worked alongside [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], his [[Second-in-command|lieutenant]]. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 1|Megatron Origin #1}}

After a surge in illegal [[Gladiatorial combat|gladiatorial bloodsports]], he assigned [[Bumper (G1)|Bumper]] and [[Fastback (G1)|Fastback]] to stake out one of the sites associated with the matches as part of a dragnet. Unfortunately, their communications were jammed by [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] just prior to their untimely demises. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 2|Megatron Origin #2}}

Sentinel Prime vowed not to let their deaths be in vain, and at their funeral, the Autobot leader urged others to let their deaths be a call to arms. Eventually, after Senator [[Decimus]] was kidnapped by the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] at Megatron's orders, Sentinel Prime led a raid on Megatron's base. They captured Megatron and most of the others, but were forced to free Soundwave per Senate directive, much to Prime's frustration. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 3|Megatron Origin #3}}

[[Image:IDW SentPrime Apexarmor.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Okay, What about now?]]
When [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]]'s "betrayal" led to the eventual eruption of the war, Sentinel Prime held the line at Kaon until he decided to take things to the next level. Thus, Prime returned with his massive "[[Apex Armor|Apex]]" mode, a battle-armor/super-powerful/more-firepower-than-god mode. It didn't make much of a difference, seeing as Megatron tore into it and pulled Prime off a cliff. Sentinel was defeated by Megatron. Afterwards, the former Prime's barely functional body was dumped into the middle of the Autobot forces. Prowl ordered a retreat. We would too.

The next morning, Megatron discussed his next moves with Soundwave... sitting on a throne made out of Prime's Apex armor. {{storylink|Megatron Origin issue 4|Megatron Origin #4}}

He was immediately succeeded by [[Zeta Prime]]. {{storylink|Spotlight: Blurr}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
*The original cartoon version of Sentinel Prime was never named in fiction. The character is referred to as "U-Haul Robot" in the dialogue script for "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" and was not given the name "Sentinel Prime" until ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II]]'' [[retcon|declared it so]] via an [[Ask Vector Prime]] entry. Likewise, the earlier appearance of "U-Haul Robot" was dubbed "Sentinel Major", giving him a pre-Matrix name.
*In a few instances throughout the third season of the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 animated series]], the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]] [[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] appears in the U-Haul Robot's color scheme. Guess [[AKOM]] got their "Hauls" mixed up!
*Any similarities between U-Haul Robot and [[Wikipedia:Spartacus|Spartacus]] are purely coincidental. No, really.
*The original IDW Sentinel Prime sketch included in "[[Spotlight: Optimus Prime]]" was clearly based on his first (and otherwise only) appearance in the Marvel comics panel shown above. Though his resemblance as drawn in ''Megatron Origin'' is less distinctly similar due to artistic interpretation and the helmet [[Alex Milne]] draws him wearing. He also definitely resembles, by and large, the Keepers description of the character, in that he is quite heavily armed. However the keen interest he shows in the use of those weapons and combat in general seem a stark contrast to the "peacetime leader unsuitable for war" portrayed in that continuity. IDW Sentinel is more likely to smash you with his [[Apex Armor]] than try to ply you with doctrine.
* G1 Sentinel Prime has yet to receive a toy of any kind. He did come close once. As revealed in the [[Transformers Collectors' Club]] roundtable panel at [[BotCon 2007]], the original concept for the convention-[[exclusive]] [[redeco]] of [[Cybertron Defense Team|Cybertron Defense]] [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] was Sentinel Prime. The mold DOES bear a decent resemblance to his IDW appearance, but in the end it was decided that [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] was a better choice for the mold (and likely for the [[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club (magazine)|ongoing club comic]] story).
* There is another ''[[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]]'' character called [[Sentinel Major]], who might be considered the incarnation of Sentinel Prime in [[Wings of Honor continuity|his own continuity]]. However, his design and role are obvious homages to ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]]'' [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]]. What to make of this is a matter of [[Talk:Sentinel Prime (G1)#Sentinel Major|some debate]].

==References==
<references />

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[[Category:Autobot leaders]]
[[Category:Fiction-only Transformers]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Gladiators]]
[[Category:Matrix bearers]]

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Sentinel Prime (G1)