The many deaths of Optimus Prime

2008-05-23T01:02:15Z

74.69.228.29: capitalization

Across all continuities, '''Optimus Prime dies a lot.''' This happens for various reasons:
* It allows for him to be replaced by [[Hot Rod|a new character]] (and thus [[To sell toys|a new toy]]).
* It allows for him to come back from the dead in a new body (again, a new toy).
* It's dramatic.
* It makes him into something of a [[Jesus|Christ]]-figure.

Some examples:

==''The Transformers: The Movie''==
[[Image: DeadPrime.gif|left|thumb|200px|[[Wikipedia:Oscar Wilde#Release_and_death|"Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."]]]]
* The best-known example is from ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', in which [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] dies of wounds from his battle with [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]. Famously, his body turns gray as he dies. ([[Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers|Urban legend]] says his body also ''crumbles,'' but no such footage is known to exist.) Being the first time he died, it was actually unexpected.
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==Generation 1 Season 3==
[[Image:Optimusg1zombie.jpg|right|thumb|200px|"Mind if I smoke?"]]
* He returns from the dead twice, first as a zombie in "[[Dark Awakening]]"—which ends with him dying again—and then (for reals, yo) in "[[The Return of Optimus Prime]]".
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==The Headmasters==
* In ''[[The Headmasters (cartoon)|The Headmasters]]'', Optimus Prime was killed again when he tried to bring [[Vector Sigma]] back under control in "[[A Dream Is Born, Double Prime]]". His body turned gray as he died. He was later resurrected and evolved into Star Convoy by the power of [[Zodiac]] in ''[[Return of Convoy]]''.

==Generation 1 Marvel Comics==
[[Image:Pmoptimusprimedeath.jpg|right|thumb|200px|"I swear, I was wearing my faceplate when I left the house this morning."]]
In the Marvel continuity, dying and coming back was practically a ''hobby'' for Prime.

*In "[[Afterdeath!]]", Prime, after failing to live up to his moral principles while playing a video game, volunteers to be killed. The [[Autobots]] launch his funeral bier into space. Fortunately, the creator of the video game, [[Ethan Zachary]], saves a backup copy of Prime's mind on a floppy. We first meet this virtual Prime sixteen issues later in "[[Pretender to the Throne!]]". He gets his new [[Powermaster]] body two issues thereafter, in "[[People Power!]]".

*About thirty issues later, Prime sacrifices himself to defeat [[Unicron]], in "[[On the Edge of Extinction!]]". However, his Powermaster partner, [[Hi-Q]], survives, and almost immediately begins babbling about how he's ''really'' Optimus Prime. This turns out to be true, and [[The Last Autobot]] metamorphoses Hi-Q into Prime (with a new [[Actionmaster]] body) in [[End of the Road! (Marvel US comic)|the last issue of the original Marvel US series]].

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==Generation 2 Marvel Comics==
[[Image:Swarmoptimus.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Unleashing the light of the Matrix upon a great evil. ''Again.'']]

*This Prime wasn't done dying yet. His adventures continued in the G2 comics, and he died defeating the [[Swarm]] in the final issue of that series, "[[A Rage in Heaven!]]". The Swarm reconstituted him three pages later (in a body based on his then-current [[Combat Hero]] toy).
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==Japanese Generation 2==
* In the Japanese version of ''Generation 2'', Optimus Prime was badly wounded by Megatron's [[fusion cannon]] and almost died, but was resurrected and evolved yet again, this time into [[Laser Rod]] Optimus Prime, by the power of the [[Creation Matrix|Matrix]].

==Beast Era==
[[Image:Smelt Prime.JPG|thumb|200px|right|Actually, he's still alive, ''but'' dying.]]
In ''[[Beast Wars (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' and ''[[Beast Machines (cartoon)|Beast Machines]],'' you could mark the end of a season by the near-death experience of one [[Optimus Primal|Optimus]] or [[Optimus Prime (G1)|another]]...

*At [[Other Voices, Part 2|the end of the first season]] of ''Beast Wars,'' [[Optimus Primal]] piloted a bomb-equipped stasis pod in an attempt to destroy the [[Planet Buster]]. Unfortunately, [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] had sealed the pod's hatch, and Optimus blew up with it. [[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)|Early in the second season]] (a few hours later as far as the characters were concerned), [[Rhinox]] managed to unite Optimus's drifting [[spark]] with a blank [[protoform]], thus bringing him back to life (and in a new [[Transmetal]] body, too).

*At [[The Agenda (Part III)|the end of second season]], the ''Beast Wars'' Megatron came very close to killing the original Optimus Prime. But [[Optimal Situation|Prime didn't ''quite'' die]], so we really shouldn't count it.

*At [[End of the Line|the end of the first season]] of ''Beast Machines,'' Optimus and Megatron had a cataclysmic battle, using the energies of [[Vector Sigma]] and the [[Plasma Energy Chamber]]. This would have destroyed [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], but Optimus took the warring energies into himself and disintegrated. However, his spark was trapped within the [[Oracle]], and the other [[Maximals]] convinced him to return to the real world at [[Fallout|the start of second season]]. The Oracle kindly gave him a new body (which, believe it or not, was ''not'' a new toy).

*At [[Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future |the end of the series]], Optimus gave his life to defeat Megatron once and for all, pushing him into the [[technorganic]] core of the planet. In assorted ancillary media ([[universe (comic)|convention comics]], [[Beast Wars Reborn|text stories]]), he comes back to life yet again.
(Strangely, the end of the third season of ''Beast Wars'' had no Optimus deaths whatsoever! A half-dozen ''other'' characters died, but not Optimus. Bizzah.)

==Armada cartoon==
[[Image:Sshot-arm-39-4.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Now Optimus, don't go all to pieces. You say you have to split? Well, you're a chip off the ol' block.]]

* In the ''[[Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]'' episode "[[Crisis]]", [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] used his body to block the blast of [[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]]'s [[Hydra Cannon]], protecting the [[Earth]]. When the cannon's energy is spent, we see Optimus turn grayish-white, then ''actually'' crumble to bits. A bunch of [[Mini-Cons]] use the [[Matrix]] to resurrect him [[Miracle|three episodes later]].

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==Armada comic==
[[Image:Wc_prime.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Wikipedia:Lincoln_memorial#Interior|<center>IN THIS TEMPLE<br>
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE<br>
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION<br>
THE MEMORY OF OPTIMUS PRIME<br>
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER</center>]]]]

* The corpse of an [[Optimus Prime (Worlds Collide)|Optimus Prime]] (killed by Unicron) from an alternate universe appeared in the ''[[Armada (comic)|Armada]]'' comic issue titled "[[Worlds Collide, Part 1]]". Yep, practically all we know about this Optimus is that he died. He doesn't turn gray, but his colors are faded.

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==Universe==
[[Image:Nemesisprimetfuclone.jpg|right|thumb|Technically, this is the clone.]]

* The corpse of an Optimus Prime (killed by [[Megazarak]]) from an alternate universe was cloned by Unicron to create [[Nemesis Prime (Universe)|Nemesis Prime]]. The clone, before he became Nemesis, appeared in ''[[Universe (comic)|Universe]]'' comic issue "[[Balancing Act, Part 2]]". Once again, practically all we know about this Optimus is that he died.

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==Transformers Animated==
[[Image:TFAnimated_transformandrollout_DEATH.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Dead in the third episode for 75 seconds. It's a new record!]]
* In the third part of the ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Animated]]'' movie, "[[Transform and Roll Out!]]", [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] dies after his battle with [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]]. Like the Generation 1 Prime before him, he turns gray upon dying. Seventy-five seconds later, [[Sari Sumdac]] uses her mysteeerious [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] [[Sari Sumdac's key|key]] to revive him.
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==See also==
*[[Prime Spark]] - The short story explores the question of where all those Optimus-es go when they die. (Answer: someplace dull.)

* [[Dirge (G1)]] - The appropriately named, yet very unlucky guy who gets [[:Image:Dirge_DeathSerpentor.jpg|killed]] [[:Image:Dirge_DeathSwarm.jpg|off]] [[:Image:Dirge_DeathTimelines.jpg|in]] [[:Image:Dirge_DeathUnicron.jpg|many]] [[:Image:Dirge_DeathArmada.jpg|continuities]] (but less than [[Optimus Prime (disambiguation)|Optimus Prime]]).

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The many deaths of Optimus Prime