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Bumblebee (Movie)

2010-04-09T21:58:04Z

89.214.136.179: Bumblebee (Movie)

{{factions|autobotfilm|NEST}}
{{disambig3|Bumblebee}}
:''Bumblebee is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Live-action film series|live-action film]] [[continuity family]]. He is also known as '''N.B.E.-02'''.''

[[Image:TF-Alliance03 Cover Nizzi.jpg|right|300px|thumb|"Groovy, bee-otch!"]]
'''Bumblebee''' is one of [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]'s most trusted lieutenants. Although he is not the strongest or most powerful of the Autobots, Bumblebee more than makes up for this with a bottomless well of luck, determination and bravery. He would gladly give his life to protect others and stop the [[Decepticon|Decepticons]].

Badly damaged in battle, Bumblebee lost the ability to speak verbally, though he can still communicate over inter-Autobot frequencies (in a fashion that seems somewhat akin to instant messaging, a usable but more distant and less personal means of interaction).

{{quote|[[William Lennox|You]] wanna lay the fate of the world on [[Sam Witwicky|the kid]]'s Camaro? That's cool.|[[Seymour Simmons|Agent Simmons]]|[[Transformers (2007)]]}}

:''Spanish name:'' '''Abejorro''' ("Bumblebee")
:''Mandarin name:'' '''Dà Huáng-fēng''' (大黃蜂, "Bumblebee")
:''Cantonese name:'' '''Daai Wong Fung''' (大黃蜂, "Bumblebee")
:''Hungarian name:'' '''Űrdongó''' ("Space Bumblebee")

==Fiction==
===IDW ''Transformers'' movie comics===
[[Image:Defiance1_Cliffjumper_Bumblebee.jpg|thumb|left|300px|"Tell Hasbro that [[Cliffjumper (disambiguation)|I]] don't want to be a [[repaint]] of [[Bumblebee (disambiguation)|you]] anymore!"]]

Many years in the past, Bumblebee and [[Cliffjumper (Movie)|Cliffjumper]] were guardians of the [[AllSpark (Movie)|All Spark]] at the Temple of [[Simfur]]. One day, Bumblebee wondered aloud why Optimus and Lord High Protector [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] were out investigating the nearby excavation site when the All Spark was "freaking" out with energy spikes. Cliffjumper assured him that whatever Optimus and the others were investigating, it must have been important, then reminded his colleague that they had their duties. When Bumblebee admitted nerves, Cliffjumper said that the two of them could handle anything, and just to let trouble come to them. He would soon regret those words when aliens attacked Simfur. They were seeking cover inside the temple when Lord Megatron swooped in, berated them for not taking the fight to the enemy and destroyed their opponent. He then told commander [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] to keep the lowly security guards out of the way of the military. {{storylink|Defiance issue 1}}

Bumblebee was concerned this was the start of something ''big'', to which Cliffjumper agreed, but he felt that as little cogs in the great machine, all they needed to do was stand guard. [[Prowl (Movie)|Prowl]] advised them to stay at their posts and report to him of any unusual activity from the All Spark during the battle. {{Storylink|Defiance issue 2}}

[[Image:Defiance3_Optimus_Bumblebee_orders.jpg|thumb|300px|Well, that's one way to make a first impression.]]

After [[The Fallen|the relic]] informed Megatron of Optimus' break and enter of his personal quarters, Bumblebee, [[Smokescreen (Movie)|Smokescreen]], Cliffjumper, [[Camshaft (Movie)|Camshaft]], [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] and Prowl were sent to the ruins near [[Burthov]] to arrest Optimus ''Prime's'' party on trumped-up charges of treason. When Optimus angrily demanded to know just what he had done to be charged with treason, Bumblebee pointed his weapon at the science leader and said they were just following orders, which seemed to satisfy Optimus. What the security officers didn't know was they were being led into a trap, and soldiers loyal to Megatron were under orders to eliminate all but Optimus. After being hit by an explosive round, the group banded together, realising they had all been marked for death. Optimus ordered them to flee to Burthov while he took care of Starscream's group personally. {{storylink|Defiance issue 3}}

[[Image:Defiance_Bumblebee_vehiclemodes.jpg|thumb|left|300px|My alt-mode is Pac-Man!]]

While on an apparent scouting mission, Bumblebee and [[Arcee (Movie)|Arcee]] discovered the ''[[Nemesis (ROTF)|Nemesis]]'' while it was under construction and reported their findings back to Prowl. Then Bumblebee transformed into a ball and Arcee transformed into a hover-bike and they both headed back to base. When the ''Nemesis'' was completed, Bumblebee and Arcee were there once again to witness the majority of the Decepticon forces board and take off for parts unknown to them.

With the bulk of the war-like Decepticons gone into space, the Autobots were able to hold their own in their resistance to Megatron's rule, but the war was ever-escalating in intensity, leading to increasing casualties and devastation to Cybertron. When it was clear to Optimus Prime that the conflict was locked in a stalemate, he made the desperate decision to capture the All Spark and launch it into space. This decision took Bumblebee by surprise, but he supported Optimus Prime. {{storylink|Defiance issue 4}}

[[Image:MovieMegatron Bumblebee torture comic.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Megatron's attempt at a "Give me your arm!" meme didn't really take off...]]

During the raid to capture the All Spark, Bumblebee commanded the Autobot forces at [[Tyger Pax]] on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] attempting to hold the [[Decepticon]]s off while the All Spark was launched off-planet. He succeeded, but Megatron crushed his voice box, and he lost his ability to speak in the process. {{storylink|Defiance issue 4}}{{storylink|Movie Prequel issue 1|Prime Directive issue 1}} [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]] has been having trouble fixing it ever since. Bumblebee was declared a hero for his actions, but he feared that all they had done was potentially spread their war to other worlds. {{storylink|Movie Prequel issue 1|Prime Directive issue 1}}

Later, he was the first to track the All Spark to [[Earth]], making planetfall in 2003. Here, he learned to express his emotions by tuning in appropriately emotive music on his car radio. Though the clandestine [[human]] organization [[Sector Seven]] tracked his descent and secured the area in [[Virginia]] where he landed, his quick assumption of a local alternate mode disguise allowed him to escape via Interstate 64. Bumblebee's search for the All Spark began in St. Louis, Missouri, where he used a remote link to a coffee shop computer to search [[Shwiggle]] for any signs of extra-terrestrial sightings. There, he discovered the legend of the [[Ice Man]], and the story of Captain [[Archibald Witwicky]]. {{storylink|Movie Prequel issue 3|Prime Directive issue 3}}

Bumblebee's quest took him to [[Baton Rouge]], Louisiana, where Captain Witwicky had been committed. First he visited the ruins of the long-abandoned [[Psychopathic Institute for the Long-Term Insane]], Witwicky's final home. {{storylink|Movie Prequel issue 4|Prime Directive issue 4}} From there, Bumblebee headed into downtown, where he scanned the records of Captain Witwicky from an unnamed [[asylum]]. This action unfortunately put Sector Seven onto his trail.

The Baton Rouge clues led Bumblebee to [[Springfield]], Missouri, in search of Witwicky's son [[Clarence Witwicky|Clarence]]. En route, he evaded the first of several attacks by Sector Seven. In Springfield, he found records of Clarence's descendants, and started out to track them down. The oldest son, [[Ben Witwicky|Ben]], had resided in Denver, Colorado, but the trail ended there. En route to his next stop in Tucson, Bumblebee was again attacked by Sector Seven, evading their helicopters by blinding them and rocketing off at high speed. Not long after, he was attacked by [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] in the desert. {{storylink|Interlude}}

Damaged and smoking, Bumblebee stopped by the roadside to rest and recover. Suddenly detecting a burst of All Spark energy, he continued onwards out of Colorado. In New Mexico, as he approached the source of the All Spark energy, he came under attack once again from Barricade. Other Decepticons, meanwhile, attacked the energy source and found it to be a Sector Seven ruse. Bumblebee managed to escape Barricade again, though unbeknownst to him the Decepticons let him go so that they could track him. Eventually, his search took him to [[Tranquility]], [[Nevada]], {{storylink|Movie Prequel issue 4|Prime Directive issue 4}} where he would soon encounter [[Sam Witwicky]].

===''Transformers: Beginnings''===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Mark Ryan]]

[[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] entrusted Bumblebee with the secret that the All Spark would be sent into deep space to prevent Lord Megatron from possessing and corrupting it. Just after the launch, Megatron attacked Bumblebee in rage at losing the All Spark and shattered the Autobot's voice capacitor beyond repair.

Bumblebee arrived on Earth and, sensing the AllSpark was near, took on local camouflage to search for the artifact. He immediately attracted the attention of Sector Seven agents and the Decepticons. {{storylink|Transformers: Beginnings}}

{{note|Transformers: Beginnings is a condensed, flash-animated retelling of the [[IDW]] [[Prime Directive (IDW)|Prime Directive]] Movie Prequel that is detailed above this section.}}

===''Ghosts of Yesterday'' prequel novel===
Between Tyger Pax and his arrival on Earth, Bumblebee and the rest of the [[Ark (Movie)|''Ark'']] crew encountered some humans in deep space and got their first clues to where Megatron and the All Spark rested. Bumblebee discovered a human shuttle, the Ghost 1, which had been made by reverse-engineering from Megatron's body. He was attacked by Starscream and escaped. Attacked by giant, metal-eating worms, he was ultimately saved by Optimus Prime. Bumblebee participated in the final battle against the Decepticons. {{storylink|Ghosts of Yesterday}}

{{charstubfiction}}

===''Transformers'' (2007) film===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Mark Ryan]] (English), [[Hiroshi Iwasaki]] (Japan radio voice) [[Akio Kato]] (Japan normal voice), [[Helmut Gauß]] (German)

[[Image:Movie2007 Bumblebee dealership.jpg|left|250px|thumb|The old old and the new old.]]
Bumblebee, having made his way to a second-rate car dealership, became [[Sam Witwicky]]'s first car. Sam's father promised his son a car if Sam paid half of the money and achieved three A's in school. After doing so with the help of his genealogy project, Sam rode with [[Ron Witwicky|his father]] to [[Bolivia's Finest Quality Used Cars and Petting Zoo|a car lot with an exceedingly long name]]. Following them to the lot, Bumblebee quietly placed himself among the other cars. To prevent Sam from having to choose another car, he used a high-frequency sound wave to blow out the windows of every other car in the lot, leaving [[Bobby Bolivia]] with no choice but to sell Bumblebee to the Witwickys.

The next day, Sam and his friend [[Miles Lancaster]] drove Bumblebee down to the lake in a misguided attempt to impress the popular girls at a party. Observing the exchange of thinly veiled insults between Sam and the football jocks, Bumblebee decided to help out Sam when the boy noticed [[Mikaela Banes]] walking home after a falling-out with her now ex-boyfriend. Playing "Drive" on his radio, Bumblebee inspired Sam to kick Miles out and drive Mikaela home. As the two awkwardly chatted, Bumblebee suddenly turned off his engine when they neared a romantic spot overlooking the city, this time playing "Sexual Healing" and "I Feel Good". Not knowing his car has a mind of its own, Sam misinterpreted this as a breakdown. Mikaela attempted to fix Bumblebee with her mechanical know-how, only to leave after Sam asked her why she tolerated jerks like her ex-boyfriend. Trying to help as much as he could, Bumblebee allowed Sam to start up his engine as she walked away, this time playing "Baby, Come Back". Arriving at Mikaela's house, Sam advanced a step towards her by stating that he didn't believe her to be shallow at all, that there was "more than meets the eye" with her. After she left, Sam quietly enthused that he loved his car.

[[Image:Movie2007 Bumblebee firstsighting.jpg|right|250px|thumb|One of the clearer shots in the film.]]
Later that night, Bumblebee drove off by himself with Sam in hot pursuit, believing it to be a car theft. Unwittingly leading his human owner to a junkyard, Bumblebee transformed and activated his communications beacon, requesting assistance from Optimus Prime and the other Autobots. Unknown to him, Sam had seen his robot form and run off, and was now being being pursued by the junkyard's two guard dogs. Bumblebee came to Sam's aid, scaring off the dogs, but had to escape when the police (whom Sam had previously summoned when Bumblebee drove away from his house) arrived to arrest Sam for breaking into the junkyard.

The next day, Bumblebee drove back to the Witwicky house sometime after Sam had been bailed out by his dad. Frightened and confused, Sam rode away from what he dubbed "[[Unicron|Satan]]'s Camaro", ending up in the city and encountering Mikaela in front of a Burger King. Bumblebee followed Sam towards an industrial area, not realizing that the Decepticon [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] was stalking the boy, intent on finding glasses belonging to [[Archibald Witwicky|Sam's ancestor]], which Sam had been auctioning on [[eBay]] Sam ran away from the attacking Decepticon and literally ran into Mikaela after she had followed him. As Barricade bore down on the pair, Bumblebee suddenly appeared, knocking the Decepticon off his feet, then drove the humans away as Barricade gave chase.

[[Image:Movie Bumblebee winner.jpg|left|250px|thumb|YOU BIG WINNER, HAHAHA.]]
Racing through dilapidated factories and warehouses, Bumblebee eventually arrived at a deserted chemical plant on the outskirts of town. There he waited until Barricade's back was turned before dumping Sam and Mikaela out of his passenger side door, then transforming into robot mode to protect his friends. Barricade transformed and attacked, hitting Bumblebee with his tire spikes and knocking the Autobot into a chemical tank. In retaliation, Bumblebee grabbed Barricade and threw him into an electrical substation, seriously damaging the Decepticon and putting him into stasis lock. After Sam and Mikaela took care of [[Frenzy (Movie)|Frenzy]], Bumblebee introduced himself to them entirely through the use of his radio, explaining that it was the only way he could communicate, that he was an alien, and that Sam had witnessed him calling to his friends the previous night. Transforming back into vehicle mode, Bumblebee invited his friends to enter (which they did after a brief hesitation) and began to drive them to nearby [[Griffith Observatory]].

[[Image:Movie Bumblebee Mikaela observatory.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Still think I'm a piece of crap, lady?]]
On the way, Mikaela (who had refused to sit in the driver's seat, as Bumblebee was driving), rhetorically asked Sam that if Bumblebee was a super-advanced robot, why did he turn into a piece-of-crap Camaro? Mildly insulted, Bumblebee stopped in the middle of a packed tunnel and forced the humans out, then drove away. As Sam lamented the fact that "four thousand dollars just drove away", Bumblebee passed another car and scanned it, driving back to the pair as a sleek and shiny 2009 Camaro. Amazed and impressed, Sam and Mikaela got back in, and Bumblebee continued their journey to the observatory. Arriving, the humans observed as the other Autobots entered the Earth's atmosphere and crash-landed in various parts of the city.

Bumblebee then took his friends to a secluded alleyway, where Sam and Mikaela met the other Autobots. Introducing themselves, Sam learned that Bumblebee was his guardian and that the Autobot's vocal processors had been damaged in battle. [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]] was still working on them as he fired a regenerative plasma beam<ref name="Orci">[http://boards.transformersmovie.com/showthread.php?t=12054 Post-movie Q&A with screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman]</ref> at the damaged area. [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] explained that their mission was to find the [[AllSpark (Movie)|All Spark]], and that Sam Witwicky was the key due to his grandfather discovering [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] on an Arctic voyage.

[[Image:Movie BumblebeeCC guardian.jpg|left|250px|thumb|I may be your guardian, but I will not carry you through a crowd to the music of Whitney Houston.]]
Arriving at the Witwicky residence, Bumblebee attempted to convince his comrades to remain out of sight while Sam was talking to his father. When Sam and Mikaela were captured by [[Sector Seven]], Bumblebee helped rescue them. The interrogation of [[Seymour Simmons|Agent Simmons]] went nowhere, however, and Bumblebee became so annoyed with his attitude that he released lubricant onto the agent. Soon, Sector Seven reinforcements arrived, intent on recapturing the kids and any "N.B.E.s" they could get their hands on. Optimus Prime tried to protect Sam and Mikaela as they hid under a bridge, but both almost fell to their deaths when they slipped. Bumblebee raced forward, transforming and catching them in mid-air. Unfortunately, this also gave Sector Seven a clear and obvious target for them to attack. Firing harpoon cables from helicopters, the clandestine human organization dragged Bumblebee to the ground, and its soldiers began to freeze the helpless Autobot, who reached out to Sam. The boy broke free from an agent's grip, pushing the soldiers aside until he was tackled by several agents and taken away. Though [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] objected to allowing Sector Seven to leave with their friend, Optimus Prime ordered his troops to stand down, as there was no way to save the prisoners without incurring human casualties.

[[Image:Movie2007 Bumblebee AllSpark.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Also available in pocket size.]]
Taken to [[Hoover Dam]], Bumblebee was continually doused with cryoblasts to keep him docile and inert as Sector Seven performed experiments on him. Sam and Mikaela (with some armed persuasion from [[William Lennox|Captain Lennox]]) convinced Sector Seven to release Bumblebee. Upon his release, Bumblebee converted to battle mode and almost lashed out at his human oppressors until Sam calmed him down, informing him of the presence of the All Spark and Megatron in the facility, and that the Decepticons were coming for both. Following the humans to the All Spark's chamber, Bumblebee hesitantly reached out to the life source of his people and reformatted it, shrinking the cube until it was a size that the humans could manipulate. Bumblebee and a military escort fled to [[Mission City]], meeting the Autobots en route.

Soon after they arrived at the city, [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] appeared. Recognizing the Decepticon, [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]] and Bumblebee lifted up an abandoned truck in order to shield the humans from any collateral damage Starscream's attack would inevitably bring. One of the Decepticon's missiles struck the truck, sending both Autobots flying, with Bumblebee landing in a store front. The attack tore off Bumblebee's legs and left him barely functional, as Sam discovered to his horror when Bumblebee crawled from the wreckage. Soon, the other Decepticons arrived, led by Megatron, and the remaining Autobots were engaged. Mikaela and Sam hoisted Bumblebee onto a abandoned tow truck, but refused to leave his side. The Autobot silently handed his friend the All Spark, trusting the fate of his people into the boy's hands, and urged him to run while he still could. As Sam ran off, Mikaela drove Bumblebee away from the fighting to relative safety.

[[Image:Movie2007_Sam_Mikaela_makingoutonBumblebee.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Why? Just.....why?]]

However, she was soon overcome with guilt for leaving Sam and the battle. With Bumblebee's assent, she turned the truck around and headed back in. As Mikaela drove down the street in reverse, Bumblebee activated his weapon systems, then fired his [[plasma cannon]] and missiles at [[Brawl (Movie)|Devastator]], who was pinning down Captain Lennox and the rest of the combined Ranger/Sector Seven soldiers. His contribution was the deciding factor, confusing Devastator enough for the soldiers to counterattack, and the Decepticon was destroyed at last when Bumblebee's final cannon blast pierced his spark. Bumblebee was rather pleased with himself, and Mikaela complimented his shooting.

After the destruction of Megatron and the All Spark, Bumblebee (who had regained his voice<ref name="Orci">[http://boards.transformersmovie.com/showthread.php?t=12054 Post-movie Q&A with screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman]</ref> requested permission to remain with Sam, to which the young man agreed. After his legs were repaired, he allowed Sam and Mikaela to make out on top of him as the other Autobots watched. {{storylink|Transformers (2007)|Transformers}}

It was the best day ever. Well, maybe not for Jazz.
{{-}}

===Titan Magazines ''Transformers'' movie comics===
{{notetitantlg}}
In an alternate reality, it was the crappiest day ever because Sam failed and was killed, and Megatron went on to conquer much of the Earth. Bumblebee liked to believe that there was a universe out there in which Megatron lost.

[[Image:Titan MikaelaBumblebee.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Why is he apologizing, you ask? Look where his left hand is.]]

Bumblebee and Mikaela went on to become old comrades in guerrilla warfare, and in 2008 went on a mission to rescue Optimus Prime from a Decepticon bunker in Denver. Bumblebee, now with missile launchers in car mode and increased physical strength, took out the bunker guard, [[Swindle (Movie)|Swindle]], (nearly crushing Mikaela by accident—"My bad.") and found Prime...or what was left of him. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 9|Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 1}} Now stuck in the base, Bumblebee was being hunted by [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 10|Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 2}}, and baited into revealing himself when the tyrant threatened to kill Mikaela. Bumblebee made a desperate attack, only to be beaten aside with ease. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 11|Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 3}}

Despite his defeat, he remained defiant to the end and refused to beg for mercy. Luckily the Autobot reinforcements arrived; unluckily, they couldn't stop Megatron; luckily again, Mikaela had revived Optimus Prime to save them {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 12|Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 4}} and arrived with Phase Two of their plan, a Sector Seven nanovirus that targeted All Spark energy. Plugging it to himself, Bumblebee charged at the super-powered Megatron and forcibly uploaded the nano-virus, killing the tyrant once and for all. Not that he patted himself on the back over this, for he knew too well that this just left a [[Starscream (Movie)|power vacuum]]... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 13|Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 5}}

Still partnered with Mikaela near the Savannah, Georgia refugee camp post-occupation, Bumblebee appeared frustrated with how the humans were frightened of him and, to be listened to, Mikaela had to do the talking for him. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 14}} They went back into battle again to end a [[NATO]] bombardment of the Autobots in Savannah, running a gauntlet of tanks and [[Thundercracker (Movie)|Thundercrackers]] before freeing the NATO field commander from Decepticon mind control. During the course of the battle he roasted a drone with fiery exhaust. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 15|Aftermath Part 2}}

Following this battle, Bumblebee was involved in many clashes with Decepticons to protect human infrastructure, including leading a small group to protect an oil pipeline in Alaska. [[Armorhide (Movie)|Armorhide]] did not follow orders well. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 16|Dark Spark}}

[[Image:Bumblebeehandlesthis.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Yes, you ''did'' see this happen.]]

Following ''that'', he was sent with Arcee and Armorhide to Cybertron, under Ironhide's command. The mission was to retrieve [[Nucleon]]. Bumblebee was ordered to do recon and discovered a strange satellite dish, but investigating it saw the team jumped by [[Stockade (Movie)|Stockade]]. Then a strange energy anomaly appeared in orbit, and when Bumblebee asked what it was, Stockade babbled "BLBLBLBLBBL!". {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 17|Return to Cybertron: Part 1}} Bumblebee's subsequent attempt at dialogue (after first convincing Ironhide to stop throwing his face at Stockade's fists) was more successful, finding out the anomaly was a living entity the Decepticons had deliberately summoned, believing it would rejuvenate Cybertron.

Not trusting this entity and wanting to stop all the Nucleon being used up, Bumblebee organised the Autobots to create a distraction while he snuck around and turned the Nucleon transfer off. He also intended to send a message to Optimus, and considering [[Unicron|the entity was Unicron the Anti-Life]], it's a good thing he did. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 18|Return to Cybertron: Part 2}} In the resulting chaos, Bumblebee had [[Divebomb (Movie)|Divebomb]] barge past him, had to rescue Ironhide from rubble, and found out the guy wanted to stop Unicron by destroying the world. He wasn't having a good day. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 19|Return to Cybertron: Part 3}}

The day improved when Optimus arrived with a better plan: Cut off the Nucleon that Unicron's body was using for power. Bumblebee and Armorhide were dispatched to drain the Nucleon seam. This took too long, though, so Ratchet came up with a quicker alternative. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 20|Return to Cybertron: Part 4}}

[[Image:Titan MikaelaBumblebeereunion.jpg|left|200px|thumb|OTP!]]

Upon returning to Earth, the Autobots found the Decepticons had pinched their base and all 600 square miles around it. They retreated, leaving Mikaela in Decepticon hands; Bumblebee was distraught over this. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 21|Hard Target}} He would be part of the raid to get her back, knowing and ignoring that it was an obvious trap due to how much they owed Mikaela. The raid was successful and the two were reunited, awwww! {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 22|The Decepticon Who Haunted Himself}}

It didn't last long, with the Decepticon-blackmailed American government ordering the Autobots out; Bumblebee got dispatched with Ironhide on a mission related to this. The next day, Bumblebee got one last hour with Mikaela (and to beat up [[Dropkick]] as an "up yours" gesture) before joining the Autobots in departing... ''and then they got nuked!'' {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 23|Revolution Part 1}}

Optimus had anticipated this though, and the Autobots faked their deaths with a decoy ship. Bumblebee, however, couldn't tell Mikaela this due to a decision to minimise any possible exposure. He was part of the spearhead team on return to Earth, intended to raise the Decepticon Heartland and teleport all the enemy there to the dead Cybertron. Mikaela was ''not'' happy to see him back, feeling they'd kept the plan from her because they didn't fully trust her to not be captured; Bumblebee tried to deny this.

In the final battle, Bumblebee 'tagged' Megatron and so is responsible for the tyrant being exiled forever—third time lucky!

In the aftermath, after it became clear the Autobots had just exiled ''themselves'' to Earth forever—"Hey, there are worse fates," said Bumblebee—Mikaela forgave Bumblebee. Both had a lot of clean-up work to do, but also a brave new world to explore together...!{{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 25|Revolution Part 3}}

===Real World===
At some point, Bumblebee let his guard down and the Decepticons took advantage by taking out an Autobot communications hub. He apologized for his lapse. {{storylink|Transformers: Rise of the Chevy Autobots}}

===Toy bios===
{{notemoviebio}}

Bumblebee and [[Hardtop (Movie)|Hardtop]], as two opposing elite spies, have crossed paths many times across the galaxy in a grueling test of endurance. Lately Hardtop has been taking this rivalry very personally, turning it into a vendetta. It was a crack shot by Hardtop that damaged Bumblebee's vocal processors, causing the Autobot pain when he tries to speak. {{storylink|Hardtop (Movie)#Transformers (2007)|Hardtop}}

During the [[Mission City]] battle, Bumblebee required assistance and had to be towed to safety by [[Longarm (Movie)|Longarm]]. {{storylink|Bumblebee (Movie)/toys#Deluxe Class toys|Towed to Safety}}

With the initial threat over, Bumblebee decided to kick back and relax. Transcanning a rally car, he began hanging around at race tracks, pitting himself against the human racers. {{storylink|Bumblebee (Movie)/toys#Fast Action Battlers|Rally Rocket Bumblebee}}

He would later be sent on a mop-up duty, hunting [[Scorponok (Movie)|Scorponok]] across the [[Middle East]]. {{storylink|Bumblebee (Movie)/toys#Legend Class toys|Bumblebee vs. Scorponok}}

Eventually, with pictures of him all over the internet, Bumblebee found to his discomfort that ''everyone'' recognised him... including newly arriving Decepticons, which put Sam and others in danger! With Mikaela's help, Bumblebee recoloured himself to help restore his disguise and make it easier to sneak up on the enemy. {{storylink|Bumblebee (Movie)/toys#Deluxe Class toys|Stealth Bumblebee}}

===IDW ''Transformers'' movie comics===
[[Image:Alliance2_Bumblebee_takecove-rrk.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"Why do they always aim for the throat!?"]]

Shortly after the battle in [[Mission City]], Bumblebee's injuries were tended to by Ratchet while Ironhide and Captain Lennox's men searched for the creatures inadvertently created by the All Spark's energy. After his legs were attached, he rolled out with the Autobots to escape Sector Seven's inquiries. A month later, when asked by Lennox, Optimus Prime informed the human that Bumblebee had resumed his role as Sam Witwicky's protector. {{storylink|Alliance issue 1}}

[[Image:Alliance3_Ironhide_Bumblebee.jpg|thumb|200px|"I see dead people, I mean it, look there's one right over there."]]

Bumblebee accompanied the other Autobots to escort the convoy transporting the dead Decepticons to a navy base in [[California|San Diego, California]], where they would be taken out to sea and dumped. Optimus Prime gave the surviving All Spark sliver to [[Professor Vine]] of Sector Seven, but after deciding this was a bad idea later on, he sent Ironhide and Bumblebee back to the [[Nevada]] facility to retrieve it. Bumblebee raced ahead and arrived to inadvertently save [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]]'s life by disarming the revived [[Wreckage (Movie)|Wreckage]]. A grateful Starscream shot Bumblebee as he was protecting the humans, {{storylink|Alliance issue 2}} leaving his vocal processor damaged. Though Ironhide praised him for his bravery and selflessness, Bumblebee regretted not being able to save everybody. By the time the Navy and the Autobots were out at sea to bury Jazz and dump the Decepticon corpses, Ratchet had repaired Bumblebee's body (giving him a modified vehicle mode in the process), but was evidently unable to fully restore his vocal processor. In an effort to prevent mistakes of the past occurring again and to protect Earth, the Autobots and the United States Military formed a special unit under Major Lennox and Optimus Prime's command. When the Decepticon [[Swindle (Movie)|Swindle]] was detected in [[San Francisco]], Bumblebee and the others rolled out from [[Diego Garcia]]. {{storylink|Alliance issue 3}}

After Optimus Prime destroyed a surprised [[Dead End (Movie)|Dead End]], Bumblebee chased Swindle onto the deserted Golden Gate Bridge. Though cornered, the Decepticon was amused that they had sent his old nemesis Bumblebee against him, and quickly set to clobbering the Autobot. Major [[William Lennox|Lennox]] distracted the Decepticon, allowing Bumblebee to pay Swindle back for his inept attempt to torture him thousands of years ago. On the plane trip back to Diego Garcia, Lennox and Optimus agreed that Sam Witwicky would become the target of the Decepticons again, and that he ''must'' be protected. Bumblebee was chosen to act as Sam's guardian again, and before he left, Prime pressed upon him that the protection of the boy was his first priority. {{storylink|Alliance issue 4}}
{{-}}
{{charstubfiction}}
{{storylink|Tales of the Fallen issue 1}}

===''The Veiled Threat'' prequel novel===
{{Note|The events of ''The Veiled Threat'' take place during [[IDW Publishing]]'s ''[[Alliance (comic)|Alliance]]'' comic.}}

Bumblebee does not appear in the novel, but NEST personnel mention that he is guarding Sam Witwicky.

{{storylink|The Veiled Threat}}

===Titan Magazines ''Revenge of the Fallen'' comics===

[[Image:Titan2_BumblebeePOV.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Robo-Vision]]!]]

His voice gone again, Bumblebee communicated by playing snippets of Earth songs.

Bumblebee was driven by the Witwickys to [[Princeton University|Sam's college]], where he quietly endured their bickering while scanning everything around him for potential threats. When he picked up radio transmissions from two new Autobots, he drove off into battle, and saved [[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]] and [[Mudflap (ROTF)|Mudflap]] from being slaughtered by [[Ransack (ROTF)|the Decepticon Ransack]]. But with the villain threatening a long game, Bumblebee knew that here came trouble... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.2|Dogfight!}}

Speaking of trouble, poor Bumblebee ended up as the twins' minder. You can guess how well ''that'' went... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.3|Learning Curve}}

[[Image:Titan2-6_aimedatyourheart.jpg|right|thumb|There's only room for ''one'' kid-appeal character...]]

Some time later, Bumblebee was hanging out in Sam's garage when he received an emergency call from [[Diego Garcia]]: the twins, now dangerous Decepticon turncoats, had abducted Sam! He tore out of the garage, tracked down the twins, and demanded they stop immediately. When they didn't, he launched suppressive fire and began ramming Skids, yelling ''"let my people go-go!"''. He soon had Sam free and the twins at gunpoint, ready to eliminate if necessary. However, partway into Mudflap's claims that they'd been framed and there was a bigger threat coming, [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]] got the drop on Bumblebee and gunned him down... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.6|Outlaw Blues}}

Clearly he got better, because he was around for the Fallen (see below) and later was sent back into the field to capture [[Reverb (ROTF)|Reverb]]. When Jolt messed the mission up, Bumblebee saved the day by ''ramming'' the bike head-on. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.9|Culture Shock}}

[[Image:Titan10_Eppsandbee.jpg|left|thumb|210px|]]

Later, with Lennox and his crew searching for [[Seeker (ROTF)|Seekers]], Bumblebee was left with only [[Robert Epps]] to to investigate an attack on Malmstrom Air Force Base and the disappearance of Optimus Prime. Epps worked out that Optimus had been victim of an electromagnetic bomb, and Bumblebee tracked his leader to where he was being held. (Poor Epps had to ride in Bumblebee jumping a ravine, and almost spewed up his breakfast) After locating Prime, they found he was a captive of the [[Free Men]] militia. At Epps command, Bumblebee hit the Free Men compound with his full firepowered, swiftly defeating the militia. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.10| Bring Me the Head of Optimus Prime}}

He despatched three raw cadets (Jolt, [[Rollbar (ROTF)|Rollbar]], and [[Dune Runner (ROTF)|Dune Runner]]) to [[Death Valley]] for a survival exercise. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.11|Spare Parts!}}

{{-}}

===''Revenge of the Fallen'' movie===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Mark Ryan]] (dialogue cut from final movie)

[[Image:ROTF Bumblebee overkill.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Hey, you're lucky. Back on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], I had to blow up ''whole [[city-state]]s'' to achieve objectives.]]
Bumblebee was dozing in the Witwicky garage the day Sam was packing for [[Princeton University]] when he heard the boy scream out his name. Bumblebee drove through, transformed and started blasting away at [[Allspark Mutation|Allspark Mutations]] of the Witwicky kitchen appliances. [[Judy Witwicky]] was horrified that Bumblebee blew up much of their house, but he shrugged her off and went back into the garage. As firefighters and local police arrived, Sam and [[Mikaela Banes]] went inside the garage. Mikaela asked whether Bumblebee was still having voice problems, to which Sam replied the Autobot was just playing it up. Sam revealed he did not want Bumblebee to come to college as he wanted a normal life, and he couldn't do that with Bumblebee watching over him. Bumblebee was heartbroken and began crying, refusing to listen anymore.

[[Image:ROTF Sam Bumblebee cry.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Humanization]] included.]]
However, [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] was having difficulties with [[NEST]] director [[Theodore Galloway]], who believed protecting the human race required drawing away the Decepticons from Earth by making the Autobots leave. Optimus believed Sam would be a worthy ambassador to convince the [[President of the United States]] otherwise. Bumblebee picked up Sam from a frat party, only to get an unwanted passenger in [[Alice]]. Bumblebee knew something wasn't right about the girl interested in Sam, smashing her head against his dashboard, and dousing her in liquid to get rid of her. Bumblebee dropped Sam off to meet Optimus at a graveyard, where the boy turned down Optimus' offer.

[[Image:ROTF Bumblebee vs Starscream.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Bring it, bee-yotches!]]
When [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] returned from the dead, Bumblebee was deployed to rescue Sam, Mikaela and [[Leo Spitz]], driving away with the latter two while Optimus drove off with Sam. Optimus died protecting the boy, and Bumblebee took him with [[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]] and [[Mudflap (ROTF)|Mudflap]] to an abandoned prison where they would be safe. Following Optimus' death, [[The Fallen]] and a new army of Decepticons struck out across Earth and announced their existence, promising to leave if they were given Witwicky. Galloway shut down NEST and had the other Autobots placed under guard with orders to ship them back to [[Diego Garcia]], while a manhunt began for Sam. Bumblebee was now protecting a fugitive.

[[Image:ROTF Bumblebee soar.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Team Autobot's blasting off again!]]
That evening, Sam told Bumblebee he was responsible for Optimus's death, and would understand if Bumblebee hated him, but the little Autobot bore Sam no grudge, and promised that he would help in any way he could. When Sam announced that he would turn himself in, Bumblebee insisted that it would not help matters. Under Leo's suggestion, the group came to [[New York City]] to meet his internet rival, the Robo-Warrior. As it turned out, the Robo-Warrior was none other than Bumblebee's former lubrication post, [[Seymour Simmons]], who elaborated on evidence of the [[Seeker (ROTF)|Seekers]] that came to Earth before Megatron and the All Spark. Bumblebee watched from the sideline as the humans and [[Wheelie (ROTF)|Wheelie]] awoke [[Jetfire (ROTF)|Jetfire]], who transported them to [[Egypt]], which unfortunately sent Bumblebee crash landing near Sam. Jetfire explained the origins of the [[Seven Primes]] and the treasons of [[The Fallen]], mentioning the [[Matrix of Leadership]], which Sam believed could be used to resurrect Optimus Prime.

[[Image:ROTF Bumblebee twin bash.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Respect my authoritah!]]
Bumblebee continued his role as chauffeur, transporting the humans to [[Petra]], the supposed location of the [[Tomb of the Primes]]. However, Petra appeared to be a dead end, and the Twins got into an argument of why they were following Sam around, which, knowing the Twins, got violent. As their brawl threatened to crush the humans in the close quarters, Bumblebee picked his two subordinates up in each hand, slammed them together, and threw them out of the temple. However, the Twins' brawl had managed to unearth the Tomb of the Primes, and Bumblebee further opened the hole with his plasma cannon, where they found the Matrix...which instantly turned to dust. Oops.

[[Image:ROTF movie BumblebeevsRampage.jpg|thumb|200px|Move your body Rampage! Yeah, like that, gymnastics are really easy when you have two legs. Oh wait...]]

While heading back to Egypt, the Autobots came under [[Operation: Firestorm|assault]] by Starscream, and it was decided that Sam and Mikaela would take the Matrix dust to Prime's body while Bumblebee, Simmons, Leo, and the Twins would lead Starscream and the Decepticons away. When it became apparent that Starscream was no longer pursuing them, Bumblebee left to rejoin Sam. Heading to the abandoned town where Sam and Mikaela were, Bumblebee found that [[Ron Witwicky|Ron]] and [[Judy Witwicky]] had been captured by the Decepticons, and were being held by [[Rampage (ROTF)|Rampage]]. Noticing Bumblebee, Sam distracted the [[Constructicon (ROTF)|Constructicon]] long enough for Bumblebee to jump him. While Bumblebee had Rampage on the ropes, [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]] jumped Bumblebee, but the plucky Autobot managed to fight off Ravage and ''rip out his spine''. Ouch. With Ravage dispatched, Bumblebee managed to tear off Rampage's arms and distend his head. Bumblebee then tried to escort his charges to NEST's positon, but the heavy amount of fire convinced Sam to have Bumblebee to take his parents to safety, while he continued his quest to save Optimus.

However, during Sam's flight to Optimus's body, Megatron caught up and blasted the boy, evidently killing him. Bumblebee returned to the scene with Sam's parents, and broke down in grief. However, the human miraculously survived the attack, and with the reformed Matrix of Leadership, resurrected Optimus Prime. Together, the assembled Autobots and humans watched as Optimus combined with the remains of Jetfire, destroyed the harvester and killed The Fallen. {{storylink|Revenge of the Fallen (film)}}
{{-}}

===Toy bios===

{{notemoviebio}}

After the discovery of new Decepticons on Earth, Bumblebee decided to upgrade his arsenal and modified his vehicle mode so he could use weaponry in it, deciding he'd been caught off guard too many times before. {{storylink|Bumblebee (Movie)/toys#Deluxe Class toys 2|Cannon Bumblebee}}

Following this, he volunteered to be Sam's guardian, It was a pretty swank deal: he got to hang with Sam and Mikaela all the time, got lots of [[oil]], and could join Ironhide in killing Decepticons whenever he wanted. {{storylink|Bumblebee (Movie)/toys#Deluxe Class toys 2|Bumblebee}} But when the battle shifted to the deserts, he threw himself into the fray, upgrading himself for desert combat and wielding the mighty ''sand blast''! {{storylink|Bumblebee (Movie)/toys#Fast Action Battlers 2|Sand Attack Bumblebee}}

===Cyber Missions===
:''Voice actors:'' [[Tom Anderson]], [[David Kledzik]], [[Tony Gialluca II]], [[Bronco D. Jackson]]

Bumblebee and [[Ironhide (Movie)|Ironhide]] were reviewing some [[data tracks]] that Optimus Prime had made for preservation in [[Vector Sigma]] when they detected an explosion outside their base. Bumblebee remained to lock down the most important data tracks while Ironhide went to investigate [[Bludgeon (ROTF)|the cause]] of the explosion. However, that is what the Decepticons wanted, as moments later, [[Soundwave (ROTF)|Soundwave]] burst into the base, overwhelming Bumblebee with a sonic attack, and mocking Bumblebee for being the smallest Autobot. Bumblebee countered that he wasn't as small as Soundwave thought, but in the battle that followed, Soundwave was able to physically overpower Bumblebee. Bumblebee fired a shot from his shoulder cannon, but Soundwave absorbed the sonic boom and sent the acoustic energy back at him. Bumblebee decided to use a more ingenious method: fire automatic weaponry at Soundwave, giving too many sonic booms for Soundwave to absorb, defeating the Decepticon. Bumblebee then tried to inform Ironhide of what had happened, but he had unfinished business with Bludgeon.{{storylink|Cyber Missions 1}} Following this, Bumblebee placed Soundwave in an electromagnetically sealed bubble, leaving him unable to absorb any sonic booms to escape. {{storylink|Cyber Missions 2}}

{{spoiler|Cyber Missions 5|27 April 2010}}

After Ironhide went missing in the jungle, Bumblebee reported the problem to Optimus, who was luckily in the area. Prime asked him to conduct a scan of the area in which Ironhide went missing, and Bumblebee discovered that the rocks in the area had an unusually high concentration of [[energon (fuel)|energon]] deposits. {{storylink|Cyber Missions 5}}

==Games==
==="Flight of the Bumblebee" online game===
At some point in time Bumblebee was trapped in a canyon with several Decepticons, among them Brawl, Barricade, Wreckage, and Scorponok. He valiantly fought through them all to make it to the other side. He did it without even bending a fender. {{storylink|Flight of the Bumblebee|Flight of the Bumblebee}}

===''Transformers: The Game''===
(No voice actor, considering the fact that his voice box got blown before the events of the game)

[[Image:TransformersTheGame wallpaper BumblebeeVsBarricade.jpg|left|300px|thumb|"All this artillery on your body and you go for a 'punch'?!?"]]

Bumblebee landed in Tranquility while being briefed by Optimus Prime on his mission to find clues on the All Spark. While on Earth, he took the form of a beat-up 1976 Chevrolet Camaro in possibly a dump or a demolitions bay. Some Decepticon drones were also in Tranquility at a nearby construction site, so Bumblebee confronted and destroyed the drones before any civilian casualties could ensue.<ref>Even though in the game, you actually can't step on or run over civilians.</ref> Prime detected a Cybertronian code matching that on an artifact owned by a boy named Sam Witwicky, who was reported to be buying a car at Bobby Bolivia's. Unfortunately, some more drones heard of Prime's report, so Bumblebee had to get involved in a high-speed car chase and defeat the drones.

With Sam buying the Camaro-ed Bumblebee, the first phase of finding the All Spark was complete. The next day, Prime warned Bumblebee that the Decepticon named Barricade was also on Earth and threatening to take Sam and his new female friend, Mikaela. So the Autobot had to incapacitate the arm-spinning, spike-punching, tantrum-throwing Decepticon while the humans escaped. Now that Bumblebee knew of the Decepticons' growing involvement in finding the All Spark's location, he obviously needed help. The only problem now with the Autobots' landing was their radar systems. The Decepticons had hacked radio towers throughout Tranquility to mess up any aircraft radar. Naturally, Bumblebee went to the scene and destroyed the towers. With the Autobots having landed, it was time to find the All Spark.

Optimus Prime explained to Sam and Mikaela about the All Spark, the importance of the glasses, and Humanity's fate. Before moving on the matter at hand, Mikaela questioned Bumblebee's alt-mode being such a beater. The mildly insulted Autobot then copied a more current version of the Camaro (2009 Concept). Later, a government group called Sector Seven went after the Autobots with their helicopters and cars. After Jazz's successful distraction, Sector Seven then switched their sights to Bumblebee, who got captured, but then got away with the efforts of Prime.

Sector Seven sent Bumblebee to Hoover Dam. The Autobot immediately saw the All Spark and a frozen Megatron. After a mysterious blackout, Bumblebee got free and started to shut down the power faster by ripping out the mainframe, blowing up the cooling fans, and removing nuclear canisters from their generators. The All Spark was his, but he had to wait for it to shrink while fending off Sector Seven troops, a lot of Energon drones, and a defrosting Megatron. (Oy!) Eventually, Sam and Mikaela got to the dam and fled with Bumblebee to Mission City before Megatron could get his huge, pointy clutches near the cube.

The Autobots' first priority was then keeping the cube from Megatron. Unfortunately for Bumblebee, he crashed into a building due to interference from energon drones generated by the cube's radiation. Ironhide came in and helped. While the rest of the Autobots fought the Decepticons, Bumblebee had one final showdown with Barricade. After a lot of punches, blasts, and car chases, Barricade finally went down for good. Megatron then went to the scene and incapacitated the wounded Autobot with one shot from his fusion cannon. Bumblebee urged the two humans to take the cube to Optimus for he could not go on any longer.

After the battle was won by the Autobots, Bumblebee struck a pose with the other remaining four as they listened in on Prime's final speech. {{storylink|Transformers The Game (console)|Transformers The Game (console)}}

===''Transformers: Autobots''===
Bumblebee arrived in Tranquility to meet up with [[Create-A-Bot (Autobot)|Create-A-Bot]], and after a short discussion created from radio sound clips, instructed Create-a-Bot to scan a number of vehicles, the last of which was a Decepticon. After a short battle, Bumblebee then used Create-a-Bot's mad h4x0r skills to break into the internet and find the location of [[Archibald Witwicky]]'s glasses, which turned out to be conveniently in Tranquility. Going to retrieve them, Bumblebee arrived at the Witwicky house to find [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]], who then blew up a car and ran, blaming the explosion on the yellow car now chasing him down the highway. Meeting on a bridge, they fought. Once Bumblebee won, Barricade once again ran.

Later, Bumblebee received a mission to destroy several [[Sector Seven]] turrets designed to shoot down the reported [[Non-Biological Extraterrestrial|N.B.E.s]] seen around the city. Afterward, he served as a distraction, driving to various markers to fight off the police while the other Autobots did their thing. Once that task was completed, he got captured by S7 forces and taken to Hoover Dam, where he had to be rescued by the others. Once free of his restraints, he searched the base for the All Spark, finding it in the deepest part of the dam. Upon being discovered, the All Spark turned the site's computers into mechanical scorpions...to defend itself. From the good guys. After retrieving the All Spark, Bumblebee had to escape in under 30 seconds to avoid getting locked in. After a quick getaway with Create-a-Bot providing cover fire, they met with Optimus. Following another quick gun-and-cover mission, a drone and Barricade were waiting for a two-on-two battle, in which Prime had to keep both Bumblebee and himself alive.

Finally, Bumblebee's last mission once again took place in Tranquility. All Spark in hand, he had to run to meet up with the Autobots, avoiding as many Decepticons as possible, within a time limit. Blackout was gunning for him the entire time, and lots of Decepticons were in the way. Once there, Create-a-Bot needed to keep Bumblebee from being [[Blastification|blasted]] into [[Slag (slang)|slag]] as they raced to meet up with Optimus. {{storylink|Transformers Autobots/Decepticons|Transformers: Autobots}}

===''Transformers: Decepticons''===
After sending troops to slow down Barricade and the Decepticon [[Create-A-Bot (Decepticon)|Create-A-Bot]], Bumblebee showed up in person to take care of business himself, serving as little more than a distraction. After running away, Bumblebee later acquired the All Spark, transporting it across Tranquility while [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] gave chase. Stopping in the suburbs, Starscream pounded Bumblebee's face to custard and pried the All Spark from his cold, non-functioning fingers. {{storylink|Transformers Autobots/Decepticons|Transformers: Decepticons}}
{{-}}

===''Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' - The Game===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Mark Ryan]] (English)
====Xbox 360/Sony PS3/PC====
=====Autobot campaign=====
[[Image:ROTF_360PS3PC_BumblebeeVsCombaticonWarrior.jpg|thumb|250px|Bumblebee decided to learn from a [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|different Prime]].]]

Bumblebee was the Autobots' high speed recon soldier. In combat mode, he possess a [[plasma cannon|solar plasma cannon]] firing rapid energy bursts, which could shift into a missile launcher that fired six missiles at a time. In melee combat, he could deploy an [[axe]] from his left hand. Finally, he possessed the ability to emit a localized [[electromagnetic pulse]]wave, which would temporarily stun enemy Decepticons.

Since he hadn't seen combat in some time, Bumblebee was sent through some retraining under Ironhide. Despite being fully combat certified, Bumblebee was not deployed during the [[Shanghai]] mission. When the Decepticons learned of the AllSpark shard Sam had left with Mikaela, Bumblebee was sent to rescue the girl and protect her from the drones dispatched to capture the shard. After a vicious fight, Mikaela was air lifted to safety.

After Megatron was reborn and kidnapped Sam, Bumblebee was sent to an industrial sector near his college to rescue the boy. He fought through twenty eight Decepticons while [[Ratchet (Movie)|Ratchet]] hacked their processors to learn Sam's location. Once he found Sam at [[Broadwater Metal Works|an abandoned foundry]], Bumblebee raced Sam to the extraction point. However, the Decepticons sent reinforcements under [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]]. Bumblebee was able to fight off the Decepticons and defeat Grindor, saving Sam. However, it was learned that some knowledge from the AllSpark had been absorbed into the boy when he killed Megatron. Sam was forced to go seek out [[Seymour Simmons]] to learn what was going on. Bumblebee protected the boy while talked at the deli Simmons' mother owned. Sam than told Bumblebee that he needed to get to the museum nearby to speak with [[Jetfire (ROTF)|Jetfire]], an ancient Decepticon defector. Bumblebee fought off the Decepticons sent to destroy the museum long enough for Jetfire to open a [[space bridge]] and take him and Sam to [[Egypt]].

Once there, Jetfire explained what was going on: thousands of years ago, the [[Dynasty of Primes]] came to Earth to build a [[solar harvester]] to convert Earth's sun into Energon. When they discovered the humans, twelve of the [[Thirteen original Transformers|original Primes]] upheld the sanctity of life, but one Prime, forever known as [[The Fallen]], betrayed and slaughtered his brothers. The machine was hidden from the Fallen, who went on to become the master of the Decepticons. The machine was hidden within the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]], and [[Devastator (ROTF)|Devastator]] was sent to destroy it and expose the harvester. On the way, he decided to terrorize the city of [[Cairo]]. Faced with the largest Decepticon ever seen, the Autobots decided that Bumblebee, the smallest of the Autobots, would be a good choice to help [[NEST]] counter Devastator's rampage. Surprisingly enough, it worked: Bumblebee was able to whittle down Devastator's cannons and missile launchers before finally defeating the beast.
{{charstubfiction}}

=====Decepticon campaign=====
[[Image:ROTF_360PS3PC_BumblebeeVsCombaticonScout.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Little bot in little China]]
It is believed that Bumblebee was behind the reasons why the Decepticons failed numerous times to capture Sam or Mikaela. Once Megatron went to Cairo to find Sam and destroy numerous Autobots, Bumblebee and Jetfire came out of hiding with NEST forces and attacked Megatron. They were both killed.
{{charstubfiction}}
{{-}}

==Toys==
{{main|Bumblebee (Movie)/toys}}

==Merchandise==
{{main|Bumblebee (Movie)/toys#Merchandise}}

==''Second Life''==
In the online virtual world simulation/game ''Second Life'', there is a full replica of the Sector Seven base which contains a giant discussion room where Michael Bay held a question board. This room contains a giant frozen Megatron replica and free avatars of both Bumblebee and Barricade. Both freebies are non-transforming. Also, the Bumblebee avatar has his battle mask down and it can't be raised. However, some sellers have created a transforming version.

==Trivia==
* According to an article on [http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=121138?imw=Y#12 Edmunds.com], the film makers wanted Bumblebee's original Earth form to be the 1976 iteration of the Camaro because it was the worst Camaro possible that also had chrome bumpers.

* The same article indicates that the 1976 Camaros used in the film were all purchased via online auction for under $6000 each, one for less than $2000. That one didn't run.

* One of the 1976 Camaros was sold on eBay. The bidding ended on July 18, 2007; the final price was $40,100.01.

* The Bumblebee computer-generated model consisted of 7608 individual parts, 1,511,727 polygons, 19,722 rig nodes, and 8094 texture maps. The volume of all the pieces came to 1069.01 cubic feet.<ref>Robertson, Barbara (2007). Heavy Metal. ''Computer Graphics, 30''(7), 12-17.</ref>

* Bumblebee stands approximately 16 feet tall, according to the [[Transformers The Game|official game]] strategy guide.

* Bumblebee's character animation is based on the performance of [[wikipedia:Michael_J._Fox|Michael J. Fox]] in the ''[[wikipedia:Back_to_the_Future|Back to the Future]]'' movies.<ref>From ''Cinefex'' magazine, issue number 111, published October 2007.</ref>

* The 2008 Concept Camaro used for Bumblebee in the first movie was built by Saleen in 30 days, using a heavily modified 2006 Pontiac GTO body as the basis. The '08 Camaro was not in production at the time that the first film was being made, hence an identical mock-up was needed to fill the role.<ref>[http://www.saleen.com/transformers.htm Saleen article about the construction of the Barricade and Bumblebee vehicles]</ref>

[[Image:MovieBumblebeeStinger.jpg|right|200px|thumb|He uses it once, then dies.]]
* Bumblebee is equipped with a pair of arm-mounted electrical "[[stinger]]s."<ref>Bumblebee's [http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_US/discover/Battle-Bios.cfm Battle Bio] at Hasbro.com</ref> While designed, the stingers were ultimately not featured in the movies, though they may influenced [[Bumblebee (Animated)|other media]].

* Speaking of weapons, for someone whose main job is being subtle, Bumblebee is quite well armed, with a cannon powerful enough to rattle [[Brawl (Movie)|Brawl]] and a ring-shaped light missile launcher in either shoulder. He is also a capable close-combat fighter, as seen in his fight against [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] and [[Rampage (ROTF)|Rampage]].

* According to the [[Movie Prequel issue 1|prequel comic]] by IDW Publishing, Megatron ripped out and crushed Bumblebee's voice capacitor during the battle at [[Tyger Pax]] back on Cybertron. [[Hardtop (Movie)|Hardtop]]'s toy bio claims the damage came from a shot fired by Hardtop. In the film itself, Ratchet only states to Sam that Bumblebee's "vocal processors were damaged in battle" and he was "still working on them" after firing a single plasma beam at Bumblebee's throat; by the end of all the conflict (the climax of the film proper), Bumblebee has regained his ability to speak. Although it was not confirmed on-screen, screenwriter Roberto Orci did confirm ''off''-screen<ref name="Orci"/> that Ratchet's (regenerative) beam was indeed the reason. It could be that the doc didn't have enough time/resources, what with all the war and inter-stellar space travel, to fully perfect the healing plasma early enough. And even if he did, 'Bee took off for the Cube after only a marginal amount of repairs were performed on him after his encounter with Megs, so a vial of even faster-acting plasma could be sitting in Ratchet's lab back on ol' Cybertron, if the 'Cons didn't trash it of course.

* Just as well, Roberto Orci ''also'' admitted that Bumblebee's brief contact with the All Spark would be an equally valid (and an even more "in-continuity") explanation.<ref name="Orci"/>

* Bumblebee's license plate number is 4NZ2454, registered in [[California]].<ref>''[[Revenge of the Fallen: The Movie Universe]]''</ref>

* In [[Transformers (2007)|''Transformers'' (2007)]], Bumblebee scans a working, driveable new generation Camaro — conveniently with the same paint job as his classic Camaro disguise at that time — that wouldn't be released until some time in the year 2009. However, it is possible that the Camaro in question was being road-tested by GM engineers, like they are doing in the real world.

* Although unexplained in the films, Bumblebee's vehicle mode changes appearance subtly between [[Transformers (2007)|''Transformers'' (2007)]] and ''[[Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''. This is probably because of product placement: Bumblebee's old [[alternate mode]] was an unavailable concept Camaro, while in ''Revenge'' he uses what seems to be the new Z/28 Camaro... whose mass production has since been canceled. Oops.

[[Image:ROTFBumblebeeAltColorsConcept.jpg|thumb|250px|But will we ever '''get''' an orange Bumblebee? No, we'll just keep getting slightly different yellow ones.]]

*According to designer [[Paul Ozzimo]] on his website, at one point there were plans to make Bumblebee into a Z/28 convertible for ''Revenge of the Fallen'', and the possibility of changing his color to orange or black with yellow was also discussed. While none of these alterations happened, concept art for both appeared on the "25 Years of Transformers" feature on the ''Revenge'' DVD... though the black version is only seen from behind.

* Screenwriter [[Roberto Orci]], when asked, admitted there had been plans to have Bumblebee speak in ''Revenge of the Fallen''; however, ultimately they liked his "musical ability" too much, and [[Michael Bay]] wanted to focus more on [[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]] and [[Mudflap (ROTF)|Mudflap]], since he thought kids would like the two characters.<ref name="orci">[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-movie-discussion/180451-welcome-mr-roberto-orci-you-may-ask-him-questions-283.html#post3785383 Q&A with Roberto Orci at TFW2005]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.tfu.info/2007/Autobot/Bumblebee/bumblebee.htm Bumblebee at TFU.info]
* [http://www.seibertron.com/toys/index.php?f_series=40&f_name=bumblebee&f_type=exact&Submit=Search Galleries of various different Bumblebee toys from the Movie]

[[Category:Autobots]]
[[Category:Exclusives]]
[[Category:NEST]]
[[Category:Movie characters]]
[[Category:Revenge of the Fallen characters]]
[[Category:Live-action film ARG characters]]
[[Category:Robot Heroes]]
[[Category:Scouts]]
[[Category:Transformers 2010 toyline characters]]

Optimus Prime (Animated)

2010-04-09T21:19:01Z

89.214.136.179: Optimus Prime (Animated)

{{factions|autobot}}
{{Template:Disambig3|Optimus Prime}}

:''Optimus Prime is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:OptimusPrimeAnimated.JPG|right|thumb|300px|"Freedom... [[Megatron (BW)|Yeesss]]..."]]

A washout from the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]], '''Optimus Prime''' was reassigned to [[space bridge]] repair duty under the supervision of [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]. He is a relatively naive and idealistic young leader, prone to long-winded "inspirational" speeches who leads a small and inexperienced Autobot [[space bridge]] maintenance team. Recently, his crew has landed on [[Earth]], adopted jobs as semi-official superheroes and currently live in an abandoned Sumdac Systems warehouse.

Despite his humble "Bot Next Door" persona, he performs his job with a dedicated seriousness. He transforms into a red truck cab that can be fitted with many kinds of "[[trailer]]" attachments (most notably one that makes him look like a fire engine) and wields a kick-ass, rocket-propelled, extendable battle axe, as well as multiple arm mounted modifications, including grappler cables, fire extinguishers and bola-whip throwers. Despite his formidable abilities and skills, not everyone thought so highly of the young Prime. [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] sneers at Optimus's lowly repair job, and [[Supreme Commander]] [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] once held the young officer in low regard. More than anything, Prime wanted to be a hero. He's had the speeches, he had the moves...but what was he missing? Maybe [[Stan Bush|The Touch]]?

But since coming to Earth, Optimus has learned the truth about heroism. It's not about glory and destiny, it's about doing the right thing and going to your limit and beyond. Ratchet, for all his cynicism, knows that Prime is a hero, and after seeing him in action, Ultra Magnus himself admitted that Optimus has excellent leadership skills.

{{Quote|So, this is what it feels like to be a hero...|Optimus upon his death|"[[Transform and Roll Out]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{Idw-tfa}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[David Kaye]] (English), [[Hiroki Takahashi]] (Japanese), [[Bernd Vollbrecht]] (German), [[Krzysztof Korzeniowski]] (Polish), [[Marco Balzarotti]] (Italian)

''During his training days at the [[Autobot Academy]], Optimus impressed Ultra Magnus with his performance in a computer simulated battle against [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. Although Optimus "died" in the battle, causing his boisterous pal Sentinel to make a crack at his expense, Magnus pointed out that Optimus had just scored higher on the test than anyone in Academy history, and let Optimus know he had great hopes for him.'' {{storylink|The Arrival issue 5#Survival Skills|Survival Skills}}

[[Image:Alongcameaspiderthreefriends.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"Whoa-oh! Surprise hug from Mr. Freaky-Big!"]]

A thousand stellar cycles ago, Optimus and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] accompanied Sentinel on an unpermitted mission to [[Archa Seven|a forbidden organic planet]] in search of a lost [[Decepticon]] [[Twilight (Animated)|ship]] rumored to be carrying a huge payload of [[Energon (fuel)|energon]] [[energon cube|cubes]]. The mission was declared a wash when the trio discovered that the planet was infested with giant spiders, but the trio found that their retreat was not an easy one. Separated from Sentinel in the chaos of a spider attack, Optimus and Elita found the Decepticon ship and its coveted energon cubes, only to be surrounded by another swarm of spiders. Optimus had Elita download his grappler abilities so that they could bring a giant stalactite down on the creatures, causing the energon cubes to explode in the process. As they attempt to swing their way to safety, however, Elita's download timed out and she plummeted back down into the heart of the conflagration, just as Sentinel arrived to bear witness. Knowing that to go after her would mean death, Optimus held Sentinel back from pursuing Elita and forcibly dragged him back to the surface just before they were caught in the explosion. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

Sentinel never forgave Optimus for making him leave Elita behind, and bore a grudge against him for the next thousand years, constantly belittling him and sniping at him. When the failed mission came to the attention of Ultra Magnus, the two were brought to a military tribunal. Sentinel gladly placed the blame for Elita-1's death at Optimus' feet, and gallantly, Optimus took the fall for leading the mission. He was discharged from the Academy, never to join the Elite Guard. Luckily for Optimus, Magnus thought that maybe the bot he once had such high hopes for still had some potential, and gave him the rank of "Prime" and his own ship...a rusted out junker filled with the incompetent young bots [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], plus a crotchety old medic, [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]].

During one of their routine [[Space Bridge]] terminal repair missions, Optimus Prime's crew stumbled upon a bot named [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] who was trying to complete his [[Cyber-Ninja]] training. Unfortunately, an [[energon cube]] explosion destroyed his ship, so Optimus offered Prowl a place on his crew. The would-be cyber-ninja expressed frustration at the constant curveballs life had thrown at him thus far, and Optimus noted that he could easily relate to that sentiment.
{{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

[[Image:Ani crew.JPG|left|thumb|300px|Call me Captainimus Prime!]]

Fifty years ago, Prime and his crew came across the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] while repairing a space bridge and brought the artifact aboard their ship. During transport, they were discovered by the [[Decepticon]]s, and [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] came after them. He proved too strong to take head on (in spite of [[Starscream (Animated)|his subordinate]] planting a bomb on his chassis), but when [[Teletran-1]] neared [[Earth]], Prime knocked Megatron overboard. The Autobots stayed in stasis for the next 50 years until they were accidentally awakened by an apparent intruder. Optimus and the Autobots took on Earth vehicles as alternate modes in an attempt to assimilate with what they believed to be the local dominant culture. Prime and his team were able to dispatch a bio-mechanical insectoid that was attacking Detroit. They were hailed as heroes for it.

[[Image:Sariprime.jpg|right|120px|thumb|Insert what where?!]]

Over the next several weeks, the Autobots got to learn human culture and customs, doing their best to prevent disasters and save lives. Eventually, Starscream came for the AllSpark, and Optimus found that the schemer could pack quite a punch. The Autobot officer was still able to keep Starscream from getting the artifact, though at the cost of his life. However, he was quickly revived by [[Sari Sumdac]] and her AllSpark-influenced [[AllSpark Key|key]]. Later, the Autobots helped rebuild parts of Detroit that were destroyed in their battle with Starscream. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}}

Unfortunately for Optimus, he had gained a reputation outside of Earth's atmosphere—not as a hero, but as the slayer of Megatron. The Decepticon [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] placed a large bounty on his head, and pretty soon, [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] came to collect. He captured Prime and stole his axe and grapplers. Fortunately, Ratchet saved him, finally getting the old bot to open up more. {{storylink|The Thrill of the Hunt}}

[[Image:TFA ep9 Optimus and Blackarachnia rooftop.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Optimus Prime is all left feet, but that's still not as many as Blackarachnia.]]

During the Autobots' first [[Halloween]] on Earth, the Decepticon [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] ambushed [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] and kidnapped Sari. When Optimus Prime tried to fight Blackarachnia, she dodged all his moves, as she had trained with him. Prime was shocked to learn that Blackarachnia was his old Autobot Academy classmate Elita-1, who hadn't died but been mutated while fighting off the giant arachnids those many years ago. Blackarachnia tried to use Sari's AllSpark key to remove the organic aspects from her biology, but the key began to drain the life from everything organic around and nearly killed Blackarachnia herself. Prime removed the key, saving Blackarachnia and the organics. Still calling her Elita, Prime tried to convince her to return to the Autobots so they could try and help her. She repaid that kindness by injecting him with venom and telling him that she would never trust him again. Prime was left to reflect on the friend he'd failed not once, but twice. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

When Decepticon energy signals were detected near the city, the Autobots quickly realized that their options were limited. Bulkhead mentioned that the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]] might help, forcing [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] to reveal how the two moved them to [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]]. Prime's reaction was...displeased, to say the least. Ranting that all he had to command were insubordinate malfunctions, Prime also concluded that the Key was no longer safe with Sari, and he ordered Ratchet to take it from her. As Sari ran off crying, Bumblebee mouthed off that their situation was an indication that Prime was unfit for command.

[[Image:Megatron Rising Optimus rant.JPG|right|170px|thumb|[[wikipedia:Red_Forman|Dumbasses]]!]]

Heading to Dinobot Island, Prime did not get off to a good start with [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]], mostly because Grimlock considered him lunch. After Prowl smoothed things over, Prime tried to convince them to help the Autobots fight the Decepticons, but Grimlock was uninterested. Receiving word from Ratchet that the Key had been stolen, Prime ordered Ratchet to guard the AllSpark while the Autobots headed back for the mainland. Prime himself also began to wonder if he was fit for command, seeing as all his decisions had blown up in his face. When Bumblebee contacted the Autobots to inform them that Starscream was at [[Sumdac Tower]], he refused Prime's order to hold back and went to attack the Decepticon on his own. Prime dryly noted that the day just kept getting better and better.

Then everything pretty much went to Hell when Megatron burst out of Sumdac Tower, to the shock and horror of just about everyone. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 1}}

Quickly regaining their composure, the Autobots attacked. Megatron beat the [[Slag (slang)|slag]] out of them. Though Optimus fared slightly better, Megatron still brought him down fairly quickly. They were only able to escape when Megatron punished Starscream for his betrayal. Taking refuge within Sumdac Tower, [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] explained his role in Megatron's revival and helped repair the Autobots with residual key energy. After Bumblebee called Prime to answer for his earlier assessment of them, Prime admitted he was wrong and asked them for forgiveness. When Ratchet and Sari showed up with Teletran-1, the Autobots took flight, hoping to lure the Decepticons away from Earth to prevent human casualties. Unfortunately, the Decepticons shot down the vessel and caused it to crash on Dinobot Island.

[[Image:Megatron Rising Optimus Megatron Key shove.JPG|left|200px|thumb|"Now, light our darkest hour!"]]

As the Autobots took on the Decepticons, Optimus faced down Megatron, which went as well as the first time. When Megatron got into the Autobots' ship, he took the AllSpark and placed the powerful artifact within him, using it as a weapon against Prime. However, Megatron had dropped the key, and Sari threw it to Prime. The Autobot officer used the key to send a surge of energy through the AllSpark, causing it to disperse while still in Megatron. With the threat passed, Prime apologized to Sari and returned the key, saying it was too important to be trusted with an Autobot. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 2}}

After the battle with the Decepticons, the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]] arrived to take the AllSpark back to Cybertron. Optimus explained that the AllSpark had been dispersed and that the Decepticons had been defeated. Sentinel Prime accused Optimus of lying and took every chance he could to belittle his former friend, but [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] decided to investigate their claims. Optimus took them to Dinobot Island, but the Autobots did not make a good impression on the Dinobots. Before they could investigate, they received a message from Ratchet, saying that [[police drone]]s had gone haywire at a Sumdac Systems manufacturing plant. Optimus managed to get Sari inside and shut off the assembly line, but the key was stuck in the console. Before Optimus could help, Sentinel pushed him aside and promised to see Optimus charged for high treason. Tired of Sentinel's slag, Optimus finally stuck up for himself and told Sentinel where to shove it, destroying the console the key was stuck in and revealing an AllSpark fragment. Ultra Magnus accepted the shard as proof of Optimus Prime's claims. Though Sentinel still refused to believe him, Magnus said that Optimus Prime displayed many qualities that Sentinel himself could use. {{storylink|The Elite Guard}}

[[Image:Returnofheadmaster optimuslaughs.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Ha ''Ha!'' [[Decapitation]].]]

When Sentinel and Optimus were at a press conference with [[Augustus Edsel|Mayor Edsel]], they received a call about a Decepticon sighting in old Detroit. After Sentinel mangled the roads en route, he told Optimus to split up and search on his own. Hours later, Optimus received a communication to from Sentinel to dismiss the police and come to Sentinel's location alone—and not to laugh when he got there. What Optimus found was Sentinel Prime's severed head, with his [[Structure|body]] having been stolen by the [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]]. He promised to help Sentinel find his body without letting Ultra Magnus or the other Autobots know, but not before taking a moment or two to enjoy the situation.

Heading for Sumdac Tower, Optimus confronted [[Porter C. Powell]], who denied knowing where Masterson was and told him the Autobots were no longer welcome at the facility. Optimus left, but immediately tapped in on Powell and Masterson's phone conversation, letting Optimus track Masterson to the docks. After encountering mini-Headmasters in the form of [[Tutor Bot]] and [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]], Optimus was able to get aboard the ship before it sailed away. Finding the Headmaster with Sentinel Prime's body, Optimus Prime proceeded to beat the living slag out of his attacker, much to Sentinel's discomfort. Finally defeating the mad scientist, Optimus reattached Sentinel's head to his body, but Masterson walked away due to legal technicalities. When Ultra Magnus asked them about it the next day, Optimus covered for Sentinel, saying that Sentinel had volunteered to use himself as bait to capture Masterson, and Magnus praised their bravery. In an awkward moment, Sentinel thanked Optimus for all he'd done, and the two shook hands amicably. {{storylink|The Return of the Headmaster}}

[[Image:Sentinel vs Optimus%2C with Jazz in the middle.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Jay Leno VS. Bruce Campbell, Battle of [[chin]]s.]]

When word of Decepticon attacks came after learning that Megatron was still alive, Ultra Magnus decided that Optimus and his Autobots would be needed elsewhere repairing damaged space bridges. The Elite Guard also wanted Optimus to...leave out that whole destruction of the AllSpark and Megatron's survival thing for the time being. When they detected an AllSpark shard energy signature in a human train, the Elite Guard went to retrieve it. Detecting Starscream, Optimus realized it was a trap and was forced to place stasis cuffs on Sentinel Prime to leave the Elite Guard's ship. Meeting up with his crew, he helped them remove the shard and save the humans. Magnus and Sentinel, who by now had broken out of his cuffs, were about to rip Optimus a new one for insubordination, assault, and the lack of evidence over the Decepticons—at which point Starscream's body crashed mere meters away from them, having been offlined by Megatron (again). When Starscream knocked out Ultra Magnus, Optimus took command (much to Sentinel's displeasure). He managed to place the stasis-cuffs on Starscream, and Ultra Magnus decided that Optimus Prime and his team would be allowed to stay on Earth, locate the remaining AllSpark shards, and arrest the remaining Decepticons. {{storylink|Mission Accomplished}}

Later on, when Bulkhead brought [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] and [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] back to Autobot headquarters, Optimus was not impressed with their antics and demanded that they leave. Optimus warned Bulkhead that the duo were not worth spending time with and that they were not capable of learning the ways of an Autobot. After the Constructicons were 'persuaded' by Megatron that their talents would be better utilized in the Decepticon ranks, Prime was furious and despite Bulkhead's insistence that they were his friends, Optimus questioned that they didn't know any better.

Unfortunately, he was proved right when Mixmaster and Scrapper showed up and demanded that they hand over the AllSpark fragments, to which Prime naturally refused. A struggle ensued (in which Ratchet and Bumblebee insisted Prime was 'their dipstick') and Mixmaster held Bumblebee hostage and demands the AllSpark. Prime tried to stall for time and Bulkhead handed over the fragments, to Prime's dismay. Bulkhead then 'had one for the road' and his scheme came to light. With the fragments retrieved, Optimus consoled a distraught Bulkhead and assured him that as long as the Constructicons (now having lost their memory due to the explosion caused by the tainted oil) were not wearing Decepticon badges, they still had a choice. {{storylink|Rise of the Constructicons}}

[[Image:Animated Black Friday Prime Meltdown.jpg|right|175px|thumb|At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall melt.]]

After learning that the Dinobots helped Meltdown escape, Prime took Prowl and Bumblebee to investigate Dinobot Island. There, he learned that Blackarachnia was manipulating the Dinobots, and had struck a deal with Meltdown to remove her organic half. However, Meltdown needed a genetic modifier. Blackarachnia, having poisoned Prowl and Bumblebee with her venom, told Prime to help Grimlock get the modifier in exchange for the antivenom that would save his Autobots. Though Prime tried to convince Grimlock of Blackarachnia's evil intentions, Grimlock would hear none of it. Returning to the mainland, Prime revoked his "protector of humanity" title long enough for Grimlock to "convince" [[Porter C. Powell]] to tell them where the modifier was. When Powell realized it was valuable, Prime was tempted to let Grimlock finish him off, but decided the Autobots didn't have time. Returning to Dinobot Island, Meltdown turned the tables on them, revealing that he planned to remove Blackarachnia's organic half, and sicced [[Fusion creature|his experiments]] on Prime and Grimlock. With the other Dinobots help, they sent the mutants packing. Prime then removed the modifier before Meltdown could finish his experiments, and exposure to the modifier caused Meltdown to break apart. Blackarachnia urged Optimus to come closer, but Grimlock's jealousy caused him to attack, allowing Blackarachnia to flee. When Prime went to Prowl and Bumblebee, he found the anti-venom, and saved their sparks. Although Powell tried to have Prime arrested, Fanzone refused to do anything about it. Because she left the anti-venom, however, Optimus Prime was hopeful that somewhere beneath the anger and betrayal of Blackarachnia, there was still something left of Elita-1. {{storylink|Black Friday (episode)|Black Friday}}

When Bulkhead was kidnapped by Megatron, Bumblebee brought home [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]], an Elite Guard intelligence agent who had been assigned to monitor the Decepticons and investigate Optimus Prime's crew (good odds on [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|the one]] who gave Blurr his orders). When Blurr revealed where the Decepticons were, and that they were building a space bridge with Isaac Sumdac's help, Prime ordered Ratchet and Sari to get the ship back online, while he and the others went to rescue Bulkhead and stop the Decepticons. Before he left, he admitted that he wasn't sure if Professor Sumdac was willingly cooperating with the Decepticons, but promised Sari that he would bring him home alive. Heading to the mines, they were ambushed by Blitzwing and Lugnut, who were incapacitated by Blurr. Reaching the control room, the Autobots were incapaciated by the [[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]]. Fortunately, the Decepticons were too busy with the sudden arrival of Starscream and [[Starscream clone (Animated)|his clones]] to immediately kill them. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part I}}

Managing to free himself, Optimus found himself in the odd position of fighting side by side with Megatron. But the battle went against the Autobots, with Blurr and a pair of clones sucked into the space bridge and the other Autobots incapacitated. In typical Decepticon fashion, Megatron used Prime as a human shield against the clones. After the battle, Megatron decided to use Prime as a test to see if the space bridge worked, where Prime would eliminated by [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] if it did. Fortunately, Prowl managed to get free from his stasis cuffs and shatter Optimus Prime's, allowing him to grapple Megatron. However, the power cut out, forcing Megatron to use the severed head of Starscream to further power the bridge, causing an overload. Prime managed to slap stasis cuffs on Megatron, taking him into the bridge, but the Autobots were nearly sucked in when [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] arrived and sacrificed himself to save them. As the bridge self-destructed, the Autobots managed to escape before the mountain came down on top of them. Though mourning the losses of Omega and Blurr, Megatron's plot was foiled, and the Autobots could breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Sighs of relief which turned to gasps of shock and horror when Sari noticed that the skin of her arm had been torn...revealing robotic circuitry underneath! {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part II}}

Leaving the mine, Optimus carried Sari and Isaac with him as the Professor explained what he knew of Sari's origins: years ago, Sumdac found a body of liquid metal, which he touched, and Sari emerged. Remembering all too well the horror story of human manufacturing, Optimus pointed out several flaws in Isaac's story. Optimus provided the necessary muscle to prevent Porter C. Powell and Henry Masterson from trying anything funny when Isaac returned to Sumdac Tower and fired the two, and was on hand to witness Sari activated some sort of weapons system to eject them. Horrified, Sari decided she was better off with her "fellow machines", and Optimus promised to keep her safe until she was ready to talk. Realizing that she wasn't going to talk, Optimus tricked Sari into going to [[Burger Bot]], alerting Sumdac that they were heading there. Unfortunately, the Headmaster had found his Headmaster unit and Starscream's body, and attacked the trio. After a short battle, Optimus tricked Masterson into transforming, saying that a "n00b" like him couldn't do it. The attack managed to reconcile Isaac and Sari, and Optimus took them home, where Prowl revealed his theory that Sari was a protoform merged with Sumdac's DNA.

Later, Ratchet turned up with an unconscious Bulkhead and claims of a missing Bumblebee. Bulkhead theorized that Bumblebee had activated the [[plasmadynamic thruster]], sending him across the universe, and used a [[recall beacon generator]] to bring him home. Unfortunately, Bumblebee was swallowed by a [[rock creature|rock-like alien]]. As the Autobots tried to figure out how to stop the creature without harming Bumblebee, Sari used the Key to upgrade herself into a more powerful mech. She defeated the monster, but overloaded and was unable to control her movements, seriously injuring Bumblebee. The Autobots were able to remove the Key, only to discover Sari kept going and the Key had been drained. Ratchet was forced to deactivate Sari with his EMP generator.

Returning to the plant, Optimus informed Isaac of Sari's condition, deciding that this family was done keeping secrets from each other. Unfortunately, Megatron arrived, commanding Omega Supreme. Optimus and the others led Megatron out of the city, where he and Prowl boarded Omega, removing Megatron's influence. Unfortunately, Starscream took over Omega Supreme, and decided to conquer Cybertron. Optimus latched aboard the departing vessel, and shoved the plasmadynamic thruster into Omega, sending him warping across the galaxy randomly, ending the threats of Megatron and Starscream for a while. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

After reprimanding Bumblebee for playing video games while on monitor duty, Optimus led the Autobots out on a search mission when they detected a Cybertronian energy signature. While Optimus was away, he received an emergency call from Bumblebee, revealing that Wasp was at the plant. By the time the Autobots returned, Wasp had switched places with Bumblebee. Unable to convince his teammates of the ruse, Bumblebee fled, and just as Optimus and his remaining Autobots gave chase, Sentinel Prime and Jazz cut them off. Sentinel was unwilling to listen to Optimus's claims that Wasp was innocent and Longarm Prime was the real traitor, and he took off for Wasp. Optimus had their group split up to try and find Wasp first, ordering Ratchet to come with him while Bulkhead and Prowl went to check another section of the city. While searching, Optimus and Ratchet discovered two Cybertronian fliers and assumed they were Decepticons. Only after fighting with the pair did they learn that [[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] and [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] were Elite Guard members who had been upgraded with flight protocols duplicated from Starscream.

As Optimus, Ratchet, and Jazz watched Sentinel flail about on the wet roads, still ignoring pleas to warn Cybertron about Longarm, Optimus asked how Jazz was able to stand the obnoxious Prime, and was surprised to learn that the Elite Guard ninja ignored "only half" of what Sentinel said. When the jet twins reported to Sentinel that Bulkhead and Prowl were working with Wasp, Sentinel ordered all of Optimus's crew arrested, despite Optimus putting it as simply as possible: Wasp wasn't a double agent, so Bulkhead and Prowl couldn't be his fellow double agents. Once they reached the others, Optimus had to deal with Sentinel's insistence on arresting them all to let Ultra Magnus sort them out, despite Prowl and Bulkhead now believing that Wasp and Bumblebee had switched places. Overruling Sentinel's demands, Optimus had everyone return to the plant, as that's where Wasp had to be if 'Bee's story was true. By the time they returned, Wasp had read up on Bumblebee's files and so was able to relate a number of 'Bee's adventures to prove he was the real deal. When Bulkhead had Bumblebee and Wasp play ''[[Ninja Gladiator]]'' to see who the real one was, Prime had no better suggestion. Wasp choked and escaped, and Jazz finally realized that Optimus had been telling the truth about Longarm being a double agent. An oblivious Sentinel asked why they hadn't told him this in the first place, and Optimus sighed in exasperation. {{storylink|Where Is Thy Sting?}}

With the Elite Guard remaining on Earth, the Autobots began a search for the rest of Megatron's Decepticons. During one search, Optimus saw an unfamiliar shadow with a strange helmet. Following it, Optimus, Prowl, and Jazz discovered Sentinel Prime had captured [[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] without making a sound. Despite his notorious ego, Sentinel refused to elaborate on the capture, and even bolted the clone's mouth shut when he started to talk. Returning to the Elite Guard ship, Optimus discovered that Sentinel had also captured Blitzwing and Swindle, as well, and was equally vague on the details. After helping Prowl investigate the mysterious helmeted figure, Optimus returned to the ship where he, Jazz, and Prowl were shocked to discover that Sentinel had captured Lugnut. Now convinced that Sentinel was lying to them, Optimus and the others eventually followed him to [[Tigatron Stadium]], where they discovered a stasis-cuffed Sentinel, the [[Ramjet (Animated)|Liar Starscream]], Lockdown (wearing the mysterious helmet), and that Sentinel had been having Lockdown capture the Decepticons in exchange for parts of the Elite Guard ship. After a battle, the clone was captured, but Lockdown escaped. Returning to the Elite Guard ship, the Autobots made contact with Cybertron, learning that Shockwave had attacked Ultra Magnus and stolen the [[Magnus Hammer]] in the process. Optimus decided not to inform Cybertron Command of Sentinel's misconduct, but instead gave Prowl all the credit for the captures. Sentinel expressed annoyance that he didn't get any credit for the captures, and Optimus told his former friend that when the smoke cleared, there would be a reckoning between the two Primes. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}

[[Image:PredaconsRising-BASentinelOptimus.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Hail hail, the gang's all here!]]

However, Sentinel remained on Earth, convinced that Wasp knew something about the attack on Ultra Magnus. Efforts to locate Wasp were hampered by Sentinel's refusal to recognize Optimus's authority on Earth, claiming he was the ''primer'' Prime. However, things came to a head when the Dinobot Swoop captured Wasp and took him to Dinobot Island. Realizing that Blackarachnia might be involved, Optimus tried to warn Sentinel about her, but he refused to listen, as usual. Reaching the island, Optimus found Blackarachnia draining Sentinel of his powers, and offered himself in Sentinel's place. Blackarachnia didn't care; as far as she was concerned, she had every right to slag them both for abandoning her. She also revealed that she had made Wasp into the technorganic Waspinator in the hopes that if she could change him back, she could change back into Elita-1. However, Waspinator heard this, and tried to attack Blackarachnia. Reaching critical mass, Blackarachnia wrapped herself and Waspinator into a cocoon to contain the transwarp explosion. The Autobots were barely able to avoid the blast radius, which appeared to destroy most of Dinobot Island. Optimus concluded that Blackarachnia sacrificed herself to save them, but Sentinel thought that she sacrificed Waspinator to escape. Although Sentinel did not press the issue, Optimus could see that he was deeply hurt by what he had experienced.

A short time later, the Elite Guard were preparing to leave, and Optimus Prime's crew were seeing them off. Optimus actually defended Sentinel when the twins poked fun at him, saying that for all his flaws, Sentinel was a good bot at spark. Sentinel later came out to talk to Optimus privately, and Optimus apologized, both for not telling Sentinel about Elita's survival, and for not letting Sentinel go back to try and rescue her. In turn, Sentinel apologized for coming up with the idea to go to the planet, but admitted that the time was past for apologies. Optimus ended the conversation on a lighter note, saying that Cybertron needed a leader, and for better or worse, Sentinel Prime was that leader. Sentinel agreed, and the two Primes finally appeared to bury the hatchet. {{storylink|Predacons Rising}}

Optimus Prime's mood soon soured as the [[Christmas]] season rolled in, and the latest must-have product from Porter C. Powell was advertised all over the city—the all-singing, all-dancing [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]]! After following a lone Soundwave and almost getting decapitated by a train, he decided he was obsessing over nothing and rejoined the other Autobots for some [[oilnog]]... not realizing it had been spiked by another Soundwave, forcing Optimus and the others into taking an early [[Stasis lock|stasis nap]].

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part 1 Optimus Human.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Worst. Hangover. ''Ever!'']]

As Optimus woke up the next morning, he discovered, to his horror, that he and the others had inexplicably become human. Despite his hopes, Ratchet could find no rational explanation for their transformation. Deciding the best course of action was to head to Sumdac Tower, the Auto''men'' set off into the city. A quick stop at the Burger Bot turned to them fleeing from an attacking Decepticon armada, followed by Optimus and Prowl saving a woman and [[Gary|her son]] from a burning building, to (badly) fighting off an attacking Starscream and finally—perhaps worst of all—having to take public transportation to Sumdac Tower. However, no sooner had they arrived at their destination then they witnessed the tower blasted to ruins... by a Megatron-controlled Cybertron!

But just as the Autobots seemed on the brink of destruction, Optimus came to a realization—none of what they had experienced was real, but a virtual reality simulation! They took out the Decepticons together with superhuman feats, Optimus destroying Megatron himself with a well aimed axe into his cannon. As the dust settled and the Decepticons disappeared, they "imagined" themselves into their real forms once again. But as soon as they had made the transformation, a giant Soundwave scooped them up into the sky, blasting them all with energy.

In the real world, Optimus and his crew were all prisoners of the real Soundwave in the basement of the Autobot hideout, as part of the sonic warrior's plan to reprogram them into being Decepticons. As their captor started to accelerate the reprogramming, Optimus opened his eyes to reveal them glowing red... {{storylink|Human Error, Part I}}

[[Image:PrimeReadyToRock.jpg|thumb|left|200px| "I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!"]]

A wire from an attack Sari had made on Soundwave disrupted the connection, but after a failed escape attempt by Prowl, Soundwave reverted all the Autobots to their human forms and used his toy replica drones scattered around Detroit to begin hypnotising the human population.

Looking for a way to interface with Soundwave to escape and locating it in the form of his vehicle mode, Optimus gave the order to pursue the Decepticon utilizing the conveniently placed vehicles on which their own alternate modes were based. Unfortunately, Optimus didn't know how to drive extremely well. He still was able to pursue Soundwave, albeit with the fire hose out of control.

When Optimus and his group finally cornered Soundwave, it was revealed to be a trap: Hundreds of Soundwave's vehicle modes surrounded the Automen, and when the Autobots attempted to escape, their vehicles' seat belts wrapped around them as Soundwave began to reprogram them again.

Controlling the reprogrammed Autobots like puppets, Soundwave used them in a battle with Sari and the [[Substitute Autobot]]s, whom at first they soundly defeated. When Sari ordered the Substitute Autobots to attack all the Autobots at once, however, Soundwave began having trouble multitasking, until he decided to use just Optimus against them. Optimus soundly defeated the Substitute Autobots again and was about to kill Sari when the freed Prowl used his shuriken to blast Ratbat out of Soundwave's hands, liberating the rest of the Autobots. Optimus then grabbed Laserbeak, forced him into guitar mode, and engaged in a brief (''epic'') Battle of the Bands scenario before using Laserbeak to slice Soundwave and Ratbat in half, destroying the Decepticon's control over the citizens of Detroit. He and Sari then exchanged mutual new appreciation of each other's daily difficulties, Sari better understanding the stresses of command, Optimus now realizing the rigors of being human. {{storylink|Human Error, Part II}}

[[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air Swindle Optimus Hand.jpg|thumb||180px|right|"GIVE ME YOUR FACE!"]]
Optimus later congratulated Professor Sumdac and Bulkhead for completing a space bridge terminal in record time, and he was amazed when Sari single-handedly and expertly recalibrated the transwarp sequencers. However, he soon received a message from Sentinel Prime, who had accidentally freed several Decepticon prisoners on the Elite Guard ship, which decrypted to "Broken Lance", the coded distress call Sentinel used to use in their Academy days. Using the space bridge terminal to get to the ship, Optimus promptly emerged from Swindle's chest, having arrived in the pocket dimension which Swindle used to hold all his stock. Taking an elevator to the ship's energon storage chamber, Optimus slightly destabilized some energon cubes by perforating them with his axe, then put them in the elevator car and sliced the cables, so it exploded near the bottom just as the Decepticons pried open the doors. Slightly charred from the backblast, Optimus entered one of the service ducts and worked his way back to the brig area, grumbling as he did so.

Soon after, Prime freed his fellow Autobots and told Jazz to rewire the decontamination unit on the bridge as a freezing chamber to trap the Decepticons. At the same time, taking a cue from Sentinel's coded transmission, he made his Autobot symbol blink in [[Cybertronian optical code|Cybertronian Optical Code]] to tell Jazz that the decontamination chamber would be the only part of the bridge ''not'' to get frozen. After convincing the Elite Guard to surrender to the Decepticons (but not before using Sentinel as a slingshot against Lugnut), he endured Blitzwing locking them in the decontamination chamber and gloating all the while—until Blitzwing pressed the button and all the Decepticons on the bridge were frozen. Sentinel offered Optimus the Elite Guard spot that would be left when Sentinel became Magnus, but Prime declined, saying that he still had plenty to do on Earth. Optimus then returned to Earth on the Elite Guard's ship, and he and Sentinel traded salutes before they went their separate ways.
{{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

[[Image:EndGamePart1-Autobotscantfly.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Optimus cannot fly!! What is [[To sell toys|happening?]]]]
When Bulkhead detected Omega Supreme on the Moon, Ratchet tried to convince Optimus to use the [[Magnus Hammer]] against Megatron to rescue Omega and Arcee. Optimus felt unworthy due to his discharge from the [[Autobot Academy]] and ban from the Elite Guard, and instead requested that Ratchet build him a modification to [[#Wingblade|let him fly]]. As part of a counter to Ratchet's protest that "Autobots don't fly", Prowl volunteered his boosters to use as a basis for Optimus's mods. When Ratchet ran into trouble on the jetpack, Sari used her Allspark powers to find the problem, and Ratchet soon had an attachable winged jetpack for Optimus to test out. Optimus loved the new ability to fly, shouting "Yessssss!" as he slipped the surly bonds of Earth, but he was shot down by [[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]]. With a jetpack that didn't even give him an advantage over a Starscream clone, and with Megatron's [[Lugnut Supreme]]s fast approaching, Optimus decided he no longer had a choice and picked up the Magnus Hammer, ready to stand up in this [[darkest hour]]. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

Though hesitant about taking to the air given his previous performance, Optimus took to the skies with Prowl to drive the Lugnut Supremes away from Sumdac Tower while Ratchet, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Sari went to the Moon to sever Megatron's access to Omega Supreme. After a little trouble, Optimus was able to use the Magnus Hammer to cause a tornado that threw the clones to Dinobot Island, damaging one and rendering the other two unable to fly. However, they were still online and resumed their march to Sumdac Tower. Optimus instructed Prowl and Jazz to enter the clones and remove their AllSpark fragments while he himself fought Megatron. Unfortunately, when Omega was severed from the clones, it activated their hidden function as ''Starscream'' clones, complete with bombs capable of destroying everything within one hundred square miles. Omega returned in time to destroy one clone, and Prowl and Jazz used processor-over-matter to assemble stray AllSpark fragments and power a shield strong enough to contain the remaining clone. Meanwhile, Optimus and Megatron continued to duke it out, eventually being encased in the shield with the third clone. As the final clone's bomb began to detonate, a flash of light removed Optimus from the blast. He was found minutes later by the Autobots, and they were triumphant until they saw the price of victory: Prowl had merged his spark with the AllSpark fragments to save them all. As Optimus ran toward his fallen comrade, Megatron appeared and blasted the Autobot captain. Ratchet tossed the Magnus Hammer to Optimus, who beat the Decepticon leader down. Megatron goaded Optimus to finish it, but Optimus instead destroyed Megatron's fusion cannon, saying that killing him would be too easy. Instead, Optimus Prime and his crew, along with Sari and Omega Supreme, returned to Cybertron with Megatron, Shockwave, and Lugnut as prisoners, before cheering crowds (and a not-so-cheery Sentinel Prime) who hailed them as heroes. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

===Toy bios===
Optimus Prime prefers to fight fairly and in the open. At the same time, he knows bad guys ''don't'', so he utilizes his "night mode" to sneak up on them without being seen. Good lesson, there. {{storylink|#BumperBattlerNightwatch|Nightwatch Optimus Prime}}

===Titan Magazines===
[[Image:SPROK%21.JPG|left|200px|thumb|No Country for Old Toys.]]
Optimus was swiftly overpowered by Starscream and [[Starscream clone (Animated)|his army of clones]], as were all the Autobots. The Dinobots arrived to save the day in return for lodgings during a rainy spell, leaving Optimus to desperately ask Ratchet for the weather forecast ''every day''. (The forecast being rain, rain, rain...) {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 17#Dino-MIGHT!|Dino-MIGHT!}}

Later, Detroit was hit by severe earthquakes and Optimus led the Autobots in a rescue operation, himself holding up a collapsing bridge all by himself. These earthquakes turned out to be the work of the supervillain [[Quake-Maker]]. Optimus fought him but was easily beaten up—but forget Optimus, because the ''awesome'' Elite Guard operative [[Afterburn]] arrived, swiftly taking control of the Autobots and taking the villain down. Optimus was left a bit upset that Afterburn was so much better than him. {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 1|Burnout}}

He appears to have been so upset that he didn't bother turning up afterwards, letting Afterburn dominate things. Prime's big contribution was to give everyone the day off. {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 3|Crossroads!}}

Later on, he ran afoul of the angry and impressively-moustached General Macadam, who was throwing a fit over Swoop buzzing a [[United States Air Force|USAF jet]]. Optimus gave the Dinobot a grilling over this... realising too late that Swoop, having been booted from Dinobot Island, had come for a job. Later on, Prime got ''very'' amused when Macadam angrily asked for help stopping the hijacked [[Wraith-X]], and had Bumblebee bring in Swoop for it.

There was no time to celebrate though, as ''Megatron'' assaulted their headquaters! {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 23|Divebomb}} It turned out Afterburn, who Megatron slaughtered, was a Decepticon infiltrator and a sparkless drone one at that, and he'd given their location away! Optimus and the gang held off a full Decepticon assault. In the aftermath, Optimus tried to boost Bumblebee's spirits by telling him he'd been a true hero in fighting Megatron, and that Afterburn hadn't been a ''real'' Transformer so his death was no biggie. It was quite dodgy how easily Optimus wrote the guy off, to be frank... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 24|Megatron's Revenge}}

Optimus would go on to watch the race at [[Crazy Coyote Canyon]] to find the "King of Speed", and told Bulkhead he could join in if he wanted. He probably regretted this when Bulkhead won and Prime had to carry him in a victor's lap... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 25|The Race}}

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==Toys==
===Animated===
[[Image:TFAnimated Deluxe CybertronPrime toy.jpg|right|300px|thumb|"I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay. I sleep all night and I work all day."]]
*'''CYBERTRON Mode Optimus Prime''' (Deluxe, 2008)
**''Accessories'': Ion-axe

:Based on his pre-[[Earth]] Cybertronian look, the first version of ''Animated'' Optimus Prime transforms into a half-track Cybertronic truck which resembles the [http://www.fleetwatch.co.za/magazines/Feb2005/78-WW-Feb05.htm Mitsubishi Fuso Hybrid concept truck] with some heavy sci-fi influences. As a half-track, instead of rear wheels, he has molded, caterpillar-linked tracks with smaller wheels inside for rolling along smooth surfaces. The hitch assembly becomes his axe, which can be wielded with one blade (for the rocket-boosted look) or have the single blade split to form a double-bladed axe. The truck roof can be mounted on his left arm as a shield or spread apart and attached to the axe to become giant energon blades.

:Prime's axe weapon is stored by partially folding the axe at the grey hinge near the handle peg, then placing the handle peg in a hole on the back of the cab (actually his two fists' holes, thus helping them hold it in position) with the blade facing down and a grey peg facing up, acting as a "fifth wheel" (known as a trailer hitch among fans), should one find a suitable trailer to attach onto it. The peg also resembles the rocket thruster on the back of Prime's axe in robot mode. The figure's superb range of articulation and long axe-handle actually allow Optimus to wield his weapon two-handed. This is sheer awesomeness.

{{-}}{{anchor|DVDpack}}
[[Image:TFAnimated Deluxe BattleBegins Prime toy.jpg|right|300px|thumb|[http://youtube.com/watch?v=OHxyZaZlaOs And he "axed" him for help...]]]
*'''Optimus Prime vs. Megatron: The Battle Begins''' (Entertainment Pack, 2008)
**''Accessories'': Ion-Axe

:The Deluxe-class Earth Mode Optimus Prime has a very similar engineering design to the Deluxe-class Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime figure. He has a battle-damaged deco and comes with a Deluxe-class Cybertron Mode Megatron figure as well as [[Transformers Animated (cartoon)/DVD#Pack-in disc|a DVD]] featuring the first episode of ''Transformers Animated''. He has a distinctively more "[[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]]" look than other ''Animated'' Primes, given the addition of smokestacks (a detail absent from the animation model) and a lack of black beneath the silver stripes. Like deluxe Megatron, he features a punching/axe slashing gimmick, where twisting his spring-loaded waist will make it snap back for a "robot punch." There are actually 4 wheels on his legs, so that the tires are always on the outside. Unfortunately, he can't skate on them like in the show. His axe (which is the most show-accurate out of all of his toys) stores in his aft section. As with Cybertron Mode Optimus, this figure even has enough articulation to hold his long-handled axe two-handed and raise it over his head for a massive chop. ''Brilliant.''

:If you want to be pedantic about it, the battle implied by the battle-pack pairing is technically a timeline impossibility, insofar as it depicts Earth Mode Optimus versus Cybertron Mode Megatron. It is also [[Scale|scaled]] incorrectly, as Megatron was shown as being notably larger than Optimus in ''[[Transform and Roll Out]]''

: This toy was later re-released without changes in a [[#2packBlackarachnia|2-pack with Blackarachnia]].

{{-}}{{anchor|Activator}}

[[Image:TFAnimated Activators EarthPrime toy.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Domo-arigato, mister roboto!]]
*'''Optimus Prime''' (Activators, 2008)

: Part of the second wave of [[Activators]], this toy is a smaller-scale Optimus Prime with a push-button, spring-loaded [[autotransformation]] from vehicle to robot mode. He has no axe accessory. Aww...

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[[Image:Animated-toy_ArmorUpOptimusPrime.jpg|right|250px|thumb|]]
*'''Armor Up Optimus Prime''' (Activators, 2009/10)

: A redeco of Activators Optimus, this Optimus is an homage to [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity#The Battlestars story pages and comic|Star Convoy]].
{{-}}{{anchor|Voyager}}

[[Image:TFAnimated Voyager EarthOptimusPrime toy.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Hey, whatever happened to that [[mouthplate]]?]]
*'''Optimus Prime''' (Voyager, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-01'''
**''Accessories'': Ion Axe/backpack, water cannon

:Part of the second wave of Voyager class toys, this Optimus transforms into a futuristic Earth-mode fire truck (well, the front half of one, at least). His rear portion includes a giant extinguisher cannon, which can become a hand weapon and [[Water-squirting gimmick|really squirts water]]. His trailer also transforms into a giant, very non-[[Show-accuracy|show-accurate]] double-bladed ion axe. These weapons can store on his back, giving the appearance of wings and a jet pack. Like his deluxe-class toys, Prime can also hold his axe two-handed, albeit not as easily achieved compared to the deluxe versions. The toy features a mouthplate which can slide up to cover his face or retract down below. He also has an [[Automorph Technology|Automorph]] feature: Pressing a button on his...butt...flips down and rotates his...crotch...into the proper position for robot mode. Please, Hasbro, no more features in those areas.

:Voyager Optimus is the most [[Show-accuracy|show-accurate]] of the various ''Animated'' Optimuses (apart from his weapons, although his fist-holes are the same size as the Deluxe versions, so he can "borrow" their more accurate axes), and certainly the most [[Scale|scale-accurate]] when displayed alongside other figures that only exist in one primary [[size class]] like [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] or [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]]. The original release of this toy was notable amongst ''Animated'' figures for its lack of a faction symbol in either mode; later waves of the figure, however, have included a silver-on-white Autobot sigil on the robot mode's left shoulder to more closely reflect the animation model's detailing.

{{anchor|Wingblade}}
*'''Wingblade Optimus Prime''' (Voyager, 2010?)
**''Accessories'': 'Wingblade' jetpack, Magnus Hammer

: Wingblade Optimus Prime is a [[Retool|retool]] of Deluxe ''The Battle Begins'' Two-pack Optimus Prime in much the same style as [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Hydrodive Bumblebee]] and [[Prowl (Animated)|Samurai Prowl]]. This retool is designed to represent Optimus as he appeared in "[[Endgame, Part I]]" and "[[Endgame, Part II|II]]", and as such has his jetpack, and instead of the character's signature axe, a slightly scaled down version of the [[Magnus Hammer]]. In vehicle mode, the Wingblade jetpack folds down to become Optimus' firetruck trailer, but it is currently unknown how the hammer is stored. One can guess that it stores the same way as the two Deluxe Optimus' axes do—in between his legs. His Wingblade jetpack and Magnus Hammer are compatible with the original Voyager Class toy in robot mode, but obviously the vehicles are distinctly different shapes.

{{uncertaintoy}}

{{-}}{{anchor|Supreme}}

[[Image:TFAnimated RolloutCommand OptimusPrime toy.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Be sociable, have a [[Pepsi Convoy|Pepsi]]!]]
*'''Roll-Out Command Optimus Prime''' (Supreme, 2008)
**''Accessories'': Ultra-Axe

:This super-sized Prime figure is sculpted around one major gimmick: Rolling the toy forward in vehicle mode causes the cab to spin around, slowly unfolding into the robot mode torso. The legs are subsequently transformed manually, completing the robot mode. Pressing the Autobot [[insignia]] between Prime's windows and the lights on his roof both activate assorted electronic effects, including red LEDs in his lightbar, yellow LEDs in his headlights and eyes, and sound effects including engine revving noises, a siren, and four speech clips featuring the voice of David Kaye. In robot mode, Prime's (non-retractable) [[mouthplate]] jiggles up and down in time with his speech.

:Prime is armed with a particularly cartoon-accurate axe, which can be held in either hand, but which specifically interacts with his right one. Placing the axe in his fist and pressing the button on the back of his hand triggers the axe's pop-out translucent blades and rocket jet. Pushing down on the tab built into the back of his right shoulder extends the arm out fully, and releasing it lets Prime swing his axe down, accompanied by an electronic slashing noise. The left arm has a similar effect, except pushing the tab thrusts his arm forward in a punch, with accompanying sound effect.

:While Prime's legs have a high range of articulation like most ''Animated'' toys, his torso is heavily beholden to its gimmicks and features no effective articulation whatsoever; the only manipulable part of his body above his waist that isn't part of a gimmick is his right elbow.

:Many (all?) copies of this figure have the moving mouthplate default to the "down" position when not moving, rather than "up" or "at rest" as the box photography would indicate. This leads to the unfortunate impression that Optimus is either always mid-sentence...or a slack-jawed yokel.

:This mold was used to make the first prize of the [[Hasbro UK exclusive limited Edition Handmade Samples]].

{{anchor|BumperBattler}}

[[Image:BumperBattlers OptimusPrime toy.JPG|right|300px|thumb|]]
*'''Bumper Battlers Optimus Prime''' (Bumper Battlers, 2008)

:Like all Bumper Battlers is a simple one-step Transformer aimed at younger kids. He transforms by pushing the front bumper of his truck mode, which flips up a robot torso and upper thighs. Yup, that's right—if you smash him into a wall or other toys he will transform. Good luck finding a loose, mint version of this toy when you're on your nostalgia trip 10 years from now.

:In robot mode he actually has some limited articulation in his wrists, and his neck. Plus he's holding an adorable little axe in one hand.

:The toy has a sound chip that can be activated in either mode. It has two massive strings of phrases, battle sounds and voice effects, actived by either pressing his Autobot insignia or pressing his bumper (which also transforms him). Some phrases are recombined for more variation.

{{anchor|McD}}
*'''Optimus Prime''' (McDonald's Happy Meal toys, 2008)

:A simple version of Optimus Prime with a very simple transformation sequence. You transform him by pulling down the legs, pulling out the arms from his back and flipping up the head. Rather unusual amongst the ''Animated'' McDonald's toys, which typically have one show-accurate mode and one non-show-accurate mode, Optimus manages to pull off both modes with reasonable show-accuracy. He too is deprived of an axe, as is generally the case with McDonald's toys lacking accessories.

{{anchor|Legends3pack}}
*'''Stealth Lockdown''' (Animated 3-pack, 2008)

: A ''Universe'' Legends-class Optimus Prime came packaged with this version of [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]], as well as a Legends [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]. The only difference from the ''Universe'' release is that this Prime has a silver Autobot insignia.

{{anchor|BumperBattlerNightwatch}}
[[Image:Ani-toy BumperBattlers NightwatchPrime.JPG|right|250px|thumb|Able to enter the Gloom at will.]]
*'''Nightwatch Optimus Prime''' (Bumper Battlers, 2008)

:A redeco of the original Bumper Battlers toy in dark purple and black with [[Neon|lime green]] windows and accents. The sound effects are new, and seemingly utilize an actor who is not David Kaye.

{{-}}

{{anchor|2packBlackarachnia}}
*'''The Revenge of Blackarachnia''' (Deluxe 2-pack, 2008)

: This two-pack features an unchanged Battle Damaged Deluxe Optimus, from the ''Battle Begins'' two-pack, and an unchanged Deluxe [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]].

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===Universe (2008)===
[[Image:Universe2008-toy LegendsAniPrime.JPG|right|250px|thumb|]]
*'''Optimus Prime''' (Legends, 2008)

: Part of the [[Universe (2008 franchise)|2008 ''Universe'' series]], this [[Legends Class|Legends-class]] version of Optimus is a simple version of the larger Earth-mode Optimus design. He is part of the third wave of Legends-class figures. He joins Activator Optimus and McOptimus in the axeless Primes club.

: This toy can also be found as part of the ''Animated'' [[Lockdown (Animated)|Stealth Lockdown]] three-pack with Legends [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], and as part of a ''Universe'' three-pack with Legends Bumblebee and Legends [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]].
{{-}}

==Merchandise==
===Animated===
[[Image:Ani-toy OptimusBattleBlaster.JPG|right|250px|thumb|]]
*'''Optimus Prime Battle Blaster''' (2008)

: This toy is a simple fire truck which transforms into a thing with a nominal resemblance to a hand holding a gun and can be fitted around one's hand. It has recorded sounds activated by pressing the Autobot logo on the truck, or by pulling the trigger in gun mode. It features sounds voiced by David Kaye, varying engine sounds and the transformation sound effect.

{{-}}

==Notes==
* The twin cylinder-shaped protrusions connected to Optimus's small antennae are inspired by the head design of the [[Transformers (2007)|2007 movie]] rendition of [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], as opposed to the [[Optimus Prime (G1)|traditional]] single cylinder.

* Optimus Prime features design elements from two different incarnations of [[Optimus Primal]]. The "skin" color of his face (and to a lesser extent, the presence of a retractable faceplate) is taken from Primal's first [[Beast Wars (franchise)|Beast Wars]] body, while the way his lips are drawn is inspired by Primal's [[Beast Machines (franchise)|Beast Machines]] body. [[Derrick Wyatt]] thought since Prime is more of an inexperienced leader, he wanted to infuse some elements from Primal's design, who had a similar role in his series. <ref>[http://community.livejournal.com/tf_animated/271043.html#cutid1 Derrick Wyatt Q&A at the tf_animated livejournal community]</ref>

* Optimus was killed off after only [[Transform and Roll Out|one episode]] (three if you want to get technical) ''and'' revived 1 minute and 15 seconds later. That's gotta be [[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|a new record]].

* At the end of "Transform and Roll Out", Prime's spark is contained in the same place ordinarily reserved for the [[Matrix (disambiguation)|Matrix]] in other continuities.

* Despite nominally being a fire truck, Prime's alt mode features a detachable cab that can mount a number of different trailers, such as [[Headmaster (episode)|a lookalike of Generation 1 Optimus's trailer]] and a [[The Elite Guard|dump truck]]. Presumably, this would make his alt mode not a fire truck, but a semi-truck ''outfitted'' as a fire truck. Score one for the old fans!

* Like his Generation 1 counterpart, this Optimus's trailer almost invariably disappears COMPLETELY when he transforms, assuming it's there to begin with. This even happens when it isn't his trailer, such as in "[[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]". Even Prime himself is just as confused as to where it goes, as evidenced by "[[Career Day]]" [[Subspace]] shunting? [[Unicron Singularity]]? Or...something more?

* Optimus Prime's bio on his Happy Meal toy at McDonald's says he is a '''FIRE TRUCK CAB'''.

* To date, none of Optimus' toys come with his trademark 'grappler launcher' weapons.

* According to the packaging call-outs for Cybertron Mode, DVD two-pack and Voyager Optimus Prime, his weapon is an "Ion-Axe" (or "Ion Axe"). However, on Roll Out Command Optimus Prime, Optimus's weapon is an "Ultra-Axe". The ''[[AllSpark Almanac]]'' labels it a [[Solitarium]] weapon.

*[[TakaraTomy]] marketing director, [[Masahiko Yamazaki]], has claimed that the Japanese version of ''Transformers Animated'' takes place within the continuity of the [[Transformers (Movie)|2007 feature film frachise]], thus making ''Animated'' Optimus Prime the same character as Movie [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]. Some of Yamazaki's other statements regarding this have been contradicted (primarily regarding [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]]), so take with a grain of salt.

==External links==
* [http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/CybModeOptimusPrime/optimusprime.htm Optimus Prime at TFU.info]

==References==
<references />

[[Category: Animated characters]]
[[Category: Autobot leaders]]
[[Category: Autobots]]

Optimus Prime (Animated)

2010-04-09T21:14:23Z

89.214.136.179: Optimus Prime (Animated)

Optimus Prime (Animated)

2010-04-09T20:46:33Z

89.214.136.179: Opt