Editing Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Come read the incredibly complex, convoluted, and competing accounts of '''[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]''''s massive amount of appearances in the [[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]!


===Generation 1 cartoon===
:''Voice actors:'' [[Peter Cullen]] (Optimus Prime, English), [[Laurie Faso]] (Orion Pax, English), [[Tesshō Genda]] (Japanese), [[Francis Lax]] (French), [[Hubert Gagnon]] (French Canadian), [[Willi Röbke]] (German), [[Thomas Rau]] (German ''Generation 2'')

[[Image:Orionpax.jpg|right|225px|thumb|Ariel spends a lot of time hanging around the docks.]]

Optimus Prime began his life as an Autobot named '''Orion Pax''' during the [[Golden Age]] of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] nine million years ago. Together with his girlfriend [[Elita One|Ariel]] and his best friend [[Dion]], Orion was a dock-worker who had the simple job of unloading and storing shipments of energy that came from a power planet up-river. But the times in which Orion lived were strange ones: a new breed of robot had recently appeared on the planet, with strange robot-mode [[flight]] powers that led Orion and Dion to idolize them. Ariel wasn't so sure, having heard rumors that the flying robots' leader had recently perpetrated an attack on an outer city.

[[Image:Wardawn_orion_dies.jpg|left|210px|thumb|Better get used to dying horribly, buddy.]]

One day, Orion was going about work as usual when an unfamiliar group of [[Aerialbot (G1)|five robots]] arrived on the docks, and Orion, wondering if they were new workers, introduced himself and his friends. At that moment, all attentions turned skyward as a group of the flying robots soared by overhead. Both Ariel and the newcomers urged caution in dealing with the fliers, but Orion waved off their concerns, and returned to work. Before long, Orion was shocked when he was approached by [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], leader of the flying robots, who claimed to be looking for a place to store his wares. Overcome, Orion showed Megatron around the warehouses and explained that they were used for story energy... at which point Megatron ordered his followers, the [[Decepticon]]s, to attack and steal it all! When Orion took a shot to the shoulder from the Decepticon leader, Ariel rushed to his defense, but was hit by another blast from Megatron. The enraged Orion lunged at Megatron, but was shot down by yet another blast from the Decepticon's cannon.

[[Image:Sfat prime and elita fb.jpg|right|thumb|"No girls allowed"]]

While Megatron and the Decepticons set about pillaging the warehouses, the five robots Orion had met earlier carried his body away, in hopes of finding someone to repair him. They came upon the Cybertronian machinesmith [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], who reluctantly decided to subject Orion to a new reconstruction process he had developed, which would rebuild the Autobots' frail bodies into battle-hardy configurations so that they could battle the Decepticons on even footing. Thus is was that Orion Pax became Optimus Prime, the new leader of the Autobots, and was given the [[Matrix of Leadership]], which Alpha Trion had kept safe since Megatron had killed its [[U-Haul Robot|previous holder]]. While Alpha Trion set to work on rebuilding Ariel into "[[Elita One]]" using Prime's schematics as a basis, Prime confronted Megatron, introducing himself as the Decepticon's "worst nightmare". A mighty battle ensued, which came to an end when the warehouse's fuel stockpiles were blown up by the five enigmatic Autobots, who disappeared. {{storylink|War Dawn}}

Over the following five million years, Optimus Prime led the Autobots in a steady war of attrition that gradually drained Cybertron of almost all of its energy. In order to continue the fight, Prime arranged for an interstellar expedition to search for energy on other planets. Loading his best and brightest aboard a huge [[Ark (G1)|spacecraft]], Prime was the last to board, but was stopped by a cry from Elita One, who came running up to the launch platform. Prime told her that he would return for her as soon as he could, but Elita was intent on joining Prime on the mission. No debate was to be had, however, as a Decepticon attack on the platform caused an explosion that seemingly destroyed Elita. Crestfallen, Prime boarded the spacecraft and ordered a take-off, unaware that Elita had, in fact, survived. {{storylink|The Search for Alpha Trion}}

[[Image:Mtmte1 prime controls.jpg|left|thumb|The Transformers spent four million years in stasis lock because Prime never learned to turn INTO the skid.]]

The Autobots' spacecraft had a troubled flight. After navigating a treacherous asteroid field, the ship was caught in a tractor beam from a [[Nemesis (G1)|Decepticon space cruiser]] that had been shadowing them, under the command of Megatron himself. Megatron's forces swarmed the Autobot ship, and the two leaders grappled until the G-force of the nearby planet [[Earth]] took hold of the craft, and dragged it down. Although Prime tried valiantly to pull the ship up, it collided with a [[Mount St. Hilary|mountain]] so violently that all the Autobots and Decepticons were knocked offline.

[[Image:Mtmte2_witiwickys_saved.jpg|215px|right|thumb|Water-boarding is unconstitutional]]

Four million years later, in 1984, a volcanic eruption jarred the ship's computer, [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], back online, and it set about reviving the Transformers indiscriminately, beginning with the Decepticons. The evil robots soon departed the Ark, but thanks to tremor caused by a petty parting shot upon the ship from [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], the inactive form of Optimus Prime was jostled into the path of Teletraan I's restoration beam. Reconfigured by the computer to transform into a tractor trailer, Prime thanked Teletraan for its efforts with a thumbs-up, and quickly saw to the reactivation of all his fellow Autobots. Wasting no time, Prime led the Autobots in pursuing the Decepticons, who were in the process of attacking an oil rig. Prime and Megatron faced off, but Prime was promptly set upon by [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]], allowing Megatron to break off the fight and collapse the oil rig with a few well-placed blasts. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 1}} Prime quickly rescued a pair of rig workers—[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] and his son [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]]—and introduced himself and the Autobots to the two grateful humans, who volunteered to help the Autobots learn more about Earth.

[[Image:Mtmte2_shermandam.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"Hey, Megatron! Lemme axe you a question!"]]

Next, the Decepticons targeted [[Sherman Dam]], and Prime led the Autobots in an attempt to stop them, battling Megatron atop the dam with his retractable [[energon-axe]]. Distracted by a cry for help from Spike, Prime was knocked off the dam by Megatron, and the Decepticons escaped to carry out their next raid, this time on the [[Ruby Crystal Mines of Burma]]. When the Autobots arrived at the mines, Sparkplug and [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] were sent in to plant an explosive charge that would entomb the Decepticons. When the pair did not return, Prime drove up to the mineshaft and deployed [[Roller]] to investigate. No sooner had Roller entered the mine, however, than the charge went off, and Prime was caught in the blast and hurled off the cliff. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 2}} Prime and Roller both survived the explosion, but unfortunately, so did the Decepticons, who blasted their way free of the collapsed mine took to the air. Prime tried to stop [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] from pursuing the villains, but his old friend would not listen and was shot down. Prime was happy that Ironhide was okay, but reminded him that there was a thin line between being a hero, and being a memory.

[[Image:Mtmte3_prime_combatdeck.jpg|right|225px|thumb|In mere moments, the gun would be destroyed, but the finger would keep right on firing.]]

After the Autobots' attempt to use a phony holographic rocket base to dupe the Decepticons failed, Megatron stood poised to return to Cybertron. Prime called for volunteers for the dangerous mission to stop the Decepticons' blasting off in their new [[Decepticon Headquarters|space cruiser]], and all the Autobots stepped forward, including Spike and Sparkplug. With all his soldiers behind him, Prime led the Autobots into battle once more, and once again faced off with Megatron, this time using the additional firepower of his [[Combat Deck]] against his enemy. When the combat shifted to hand-to-hand, however, Prime was blindsided by [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]], affording Megatron the opportunity to call of the fight and instruct the Decepticons to board the cruiser. As the craft took off, emotion got the better of Prime, and in a rare display of short-temperedness and anger, he roared at [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] to hand over his rocket pack. With the pack's additional boost, Prime achieved escape velocity and followed the cruiser into space, but a blast from its artillery hatch sent him plummeting back to Earth. His anger fading to despair, Prime declared that the Decepticons had won... before noticing that [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] was missing. In fact, the invisible Autobot had stowed away aboard the Decepticons' cruiser and sabotaged it from within, causing it to crash back to Earth, into the ocean. Believing the Decepticons aboard destroyed, Prime ordered the Autobots back to the ship, so that they could continue rebuilding it and return to Cybertron themselves. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 3}}

[[Image:Too_prime_truckmode.jpg|left|thumb|225px|The smokestacks were filed down for your safety, kids.]]

One night, months later, before rebuilding was complete, Prime and Ironhide stood looking out at the ocean, and Prime confessed he was not entirely convinced that the Decepticons were gone for good. And he was right: before long, Teletraan I reported an emergency at a solar power plant, and Optimus discovered to his horror that Megatron still lived. Prime led a team of Autobots to drive the villains off, and while they were successful, the Decepticons escaped with a large quantity of energy to send to Cybertron with their new intergalactic "[[space bridge]]" transport system. Spike was captured and nearly sent across the bridge with the energy, but at the last moment, Prime blasted him free of the transport pod and then hurled Megatron into the bridge in his place. {{storylink|Transport to Oblivion}} Megatron was not gone for long, however, and when Prime next faced his eternal enemy, it was for possession of an [[antimatter]] energy formula. {{storylink|Roll for It}}

[[Image:Divide and conquer.jpg|right|225px|thumb|He was recovering nicely until Bumblebee tripped while carrying his dynamite collection.]]

While searching for any trace of where the Decepticons' space bridge would next materialize, Prime received word of a Decepticon attack on a weapons factory and sped to the scene. In the battle that followed, Prime was badly injured by an exploding computer bank when he shielded the human workers with his body, and was taken back to Autobot Headquarters for repair. Alas, Laserbeak followed the Autobots back to their base, and while Prime was lying on a medical table with his internal mechanisms exposed, the crooked cassette struck, destroying Prime's vital [[cosmotron]] component. A team of Autobots were dispatched to Cybertron recover a replacement cosmotron, but in their absence, the Decepticons initiated an all-out attack on the Autobots. At the last moment, the cosmotron arrived, and the repaired Prime made a dramatic entrance onto the battlefield, challenging Megatron to one-on-one combat and soundly defeating him. {{storylink|Divide and Conquer}}

After leading the Autobots on a mission to the Arctic to stop the Decepticons from draining the energy of the Earth's core, {{storylink|Fire in the Sky}} Optimus Prime okayed [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]]'s project to create robotic dinosaurs to bolster their forces. Unfortuantely, when the three "[[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]" turned out to be dangerous, simple-minded monsters, Prime ordered them destroyed. Wheeljack was able to talk him down to merely deactivating the Dinobots and sealing them in a cavern in their volcano headquarters... and a good thing, too, since soon after, when Prime and the Autobots were defeated in battle with the Decepticons at the [[Great Falls]], Wheeljack was able to bring the Dinobots back online to save the day. Realizing that "even the wisest of men and machines can be in error", Prime overruled his previous order, and allowed the Dinobots to remain part of the Autobot ranks. {{storylink|S.O.S. Dinobots}}

[[Image:War of the dinos 7.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"Someday, my large friend, [[Grimlock (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|the tables will be turned]]."]]

Following a mission to Peru, {{storylink|Fire on the Mountain}} Prime was so impressed with the Dinobot trio's improved performance that he ordered the creation of two more. Unfortunately, Prime would soon learn that the Dinobots were not perfect; left alone to guard a strange energy-rich meteorite, the Dinobots were approached by Megatron, who exploited their simple brains to turn them against Optimus Prime. Soon after, when Prime discovered that the meteorite was unstable and set to explode, he rushed out to warn the Dinobots, only to be attacked by them and taken to Megatron. The Decepticons had also stolen the meteorite, unaware of its impending detonation, and when the space-rock finally exploded, Prime dove into action and shoved the Dinobot leader [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] to safety. Realizing that Optimus Prime was on the side of the angels, Grimlock apologized, and he and Prime shook hands. {{storylink|War of the Dinobots}}

[[Image:SurfsUp.jpg|right|225px|thumb|There is no way it could be cooler than this...]]

When the Decepticons constructed a massive "space pyramid" in order to bring Cybertron into Earth's orbit, that they might exploit the energies released in the chaos that would ensue, Prime attempted to stop Megatron from activating the third and final pylon in the system. Megatron merely laughed, and informed Prime that ''he'' would be the one to activate the pylon – for if he did not, Cybertron would be utterly destroyed! {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 1}} Prime was forced to comply and brought the pylon online, but he did not linger on the moral repercussions of his decision, and instead led the Autobots in combating the environmental terrors that Cybertron's orbit unleashed. On top of all this mayhem, the Decepticons had also used [[hypno-chip]]s to mind-control human slaves into helping them gather energy, including Sparkplug Witwicky. Learning that Sparkplug had been taken to work on Cybertron, Prime felt that it would be best if Spike did not find out, only for the boy to overhear him discussing it. Prime permitted Spike to join a team of Autobots that were heading for Cybertron to investigate the source of the Decepticons' mind-control. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 2}} Prime then led another team of the Autobots on a mission to stop the construction of a Decepticon hydro-electric generator, cruising into battle on Transformer-sized surfboards. Things came to a head in a huge firefight on a tropical island, during which the Autobots returned from Cybertron with a device that undid the effects of the hypno-chips. Megatron cut his losses and fled with the energy he had gathered, but Prime then opened fire on his craft, blowing up the energy within and creating an explosion powerful enough to thrust Cybertron back out of orbit. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 3}}

[[Image:CountdownToExtinction.jpg|left|thumb|... I stand corrected.]]

In the wake of Cybertron's orbit, Optimus Prime and the Autobots set about repairing the damage done to Earth, when an even greater threat emerged: Starscream set an [[Exponential Generator]] to overlord and destroy the planet. For the first time – but not the last – Prime and Megatron were forced to team up for the greater good (or the lesser evil), as Megatron transformed into pistol mode and allowed Prime to wield him so that they could shoot the exponential generator into space and save Earth. {{storylink|Countdown to Extinction (episode)|Countdown to Extinction}}

[[Image:Tanker throw.jpg|right|225px|thumb|Eat your heart out, Superman.]]

Hearing reports of giant robotic insects in Bali, Optimus Prime led a team of Autobots to investigate. The team discovered that the insects in questions were a trio of "[[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]]" who had allied themselves with Megatron, and pursued them to an oil refinery the Decepticons were in the process of plundering. In one of his most impressive feats of strength ever recorded, Optimus Prime hoisted an entire oil tanker over his head and hurled it at Megatron. The Insecticons were so awed by this display of strength that they decided to consume the gathered energon and flee, earning them Megatron's ire. Although he considered the day a victory, Prime worried that the Insecticons would inevitable ally themselves with Megatron again. {{storylink|A Plague of Insecticons}}

[[Image:Primedefeated.gif|left|thumb|"I... fell on my keys.. ow."]]

When an unarmed Megatron appeared in front of Autobot Headquarters claiming that he had come only to talk, Optimus Prime agreed to hear him out, and found himself challenged to a one-on-one duel in accordance with Cybertron law. The loser of the duel and his troops would be forced to vacate Earth forever, but Prime confidently and honorably accepted the challenge. Little did Prime realize that Megatron had found a way to imbue himself with the different powers of all his Decepticon troops, and when the battle began, Prime was defeated with shocking speed. Believing that he had simply been unaware of the number of powers at Megatron's command, Prime sorrowfully agreed to leave Earth, much to the other Autobots' chagrin. When they returned to Autobot Headquarters to prepare for their departure, they discovered Megatron's newest warriors, the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]], in battle with the Dinobots, but Prime refused to get involved, citing the law despite Ironhide's protests. Spike friend [[Chip Chase]] had his suspicions about the battle and used Teletraan I to scan Prime's injuries, revealing Megatron's deception. As the battle had been unlawfully won, Prime was able to disregard the law and lead the Autobots into the battle raging outside. Prime was able to blast the Constructicons' merged form of [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] apart with his laser rifle, and the Autobots ganged up on the Decepticons and forced them into a lava-filled crevasse. Prime and Megatron faced off once more, and Prime sent Megatron to join his troops in the magma below. Spike asked if the Decepticons were gone forever, prompting Optimus to wonder aloud... in the vast universe, was anything truly forever? {{storylink|Heavy Metal War}}

[[Image:Autobotspike_prime_vs_autobotx.jpg|215px|right|thumb]]

As 1985 rolled in, Optimus Prime found himself on the receiving end of the fury of "Autobot Spike", as he struggled to bring the young Witwicky back to his right mind after his consciousness was implanted in a [[Autobot X|robot body]]. {{storylink|Autobot Spike}} Later, when Megatron threatened the stability of the [[sun]] with his [[Solar Needle]], Prime was caught off guard by the Decepticon leader and wound up staring down his fusion cannon. Megatron ordered the other Autobots to lay down their weapons, but Prime told them to leave him to his fate and destroy the needle. Refusing to risk their commander's life, the Autobots complied with Megatron's wishes, but Prime found a way out of the situation by requesting a last wish: he asked [[Gears]], who had been rendered totally subservient by the removal of one of his circuit cards, to destroy the Solar Needle for him, and the deed was done before Megatron could do anything about it. {{storylink|Changing Gears}}

[[Image:Cos prime disassembled.jpg|left|225px|thumb|"The seller promised he was mint!"]]

Responding to reports of Decepticon activity in New York City, Optimus Prime was captured by the evil robots and disassembled into his component parts by [[Hook (G1)|Hook]]. The Autobots were able to recover their leader's head, but the other parts of his body had been rebuilt into an [[alligatorcon]] that the Autobots were forced to defeat and disassemble in order to restore him. Even after his body was rebuilt, Prime was still missing his right arm, which had been mounted as a laser turret on the top of the [[Empire State Building]]. Luckily, Prime was able to remote-control his arm, and used it to blast Devastator off the building, after which the Autobots reclaimed and re-attached Prime's errant limb. {{storylink|City of Steel}} The Decepticons were not done trying to manipulate Prime for their own ends, however; for their next evil scheme, they attacked his mind instead of his body, using a [[personality destabilizer]] to turn Prime and his fellow Autobots to the side of evil. Sparkplug was able to rig up [[attitude exchanger]]s to restore the Autobots to normal, but Prime was able to avoid being tagged by the devices by splitting up into his three components and bedeviling the Autobots on three fronts. Finally, Bumblebee took it upon himself to charge into Prime, and succeeded in restoring his leader's mind. {{storylink|Attack of the Autobots}}

[[Image:Dotm_prime_vs_torq3.jpg|right|215px|thumb]]

Numerous crazy gadgets formed the backbone of Prime's next few adventures, as he battled the Decepticons for control of [[electro-cell]]s, {{storylink|Traitor}} had to convince Ironhide to remain with the Autobots when his old friend botched a mission involved Wheeljack's new [[Immobilizer]], {{storylink|The Immobilizer}} and found himself temporarily trapped in truck mode by the [[Transfixatron]] when he and the other Autobots participated in the "Autobot Run" charity race. {{storylink|The Autobot Run}} Later, when the Decepticons allied themselves with the [[Sub-Atlantica]]ns and attacked [[Washington, D.C.]], Prime was felled by a blast from an anti-Transformer disruptor ray created by the Sub-Atlantican king, [[Nergill]]. Prime's diodes were pulled out of the laser fire by the fortunate arrival of Grimlock and the Dinobots, and the Dinobot leader didn't hesitate to point out that fact. Prime then transported the Dinobots to Sub-Atlantica in his trailer, and unleashed them upon the fish-men with the order to "act prehistoric!" {{storylink|Atlantis, Arise!}}

When Megatron took control of the super computer [[TORQ III]], Prime gave a particularly good account of himself, duping and defeating the addled computer almost single-handedly, besting Megatron in hand-to-hand combat and destroying his remote control device, and saving [[Hound (G1)|Hound]], [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] and Spike from a sinking oil platform. {{storylink|Day of the Machines}} The Decepticons struck back with another plot that involved controlling an Earth machine; even Optimus Prime found himself outmatched by the robotic ninja [[Nightbird (G1)|Nightbird]], and his attempts to reason with the lifeless construct fell on deaf ears. {{storylink|Enter the Nightbird}}

[[Image:Primeproblem prime and clone.jpg|left|215px|thumb|"Oh noes! If only there were some way to tell them apart! [[Matrix of Leadership|Sacred lifeforce]]? What?"]]

As part of a plot to lead the Autobots to their doom in a crevasse of [[korlonium crystal]]s, Megatron created a [[Optimus Prime clone|perfect clone of Optimus Prime]], which he could remote control from a distance. Despite the Prime clone's blatantly odd behavior, the Autobots were unable to tell the difference between the two Primes, so they staged several contests in hopes of identifying the true Prime through his skills. Unfortunately, a sharp-shooting test and a race yielded no results, and the Autobots were forced to table the debate and go into battle against the Decepticons with both Primes. To fully complete the illusion, Megatron proceeded to create a clone of Starscream, which his Prime clone then destroyed, convincing the Autobots that it was the genuine article. Unfortunately, Megatron promptly blew his ruse by dismissing Spike's safety as unimportant, and all of the Autobots immediately turned on the clone and blew it to smithereens. {{storylink|A Prime Problem}}

[[Image:Dinobotisland jetpacks.jpg|right|215px|thumb]]

Next, Prime found himself allying with Megatron on two separate occasions, first to prevent the destruction of the Earth with a Decepticon attempt to drill to the planet's core went awry {{storylink|The Core}}, and then again when the Insecticons drained the [[Nova Power Core|power core]] of the [[Nova Power Station]] and grew in size and power. In the latter instance, Prime again wielded Megatron in gun mode to shoot capsules of antidote into the Insecticons, shrinking them back to normal before they exploded. {{storylink|The Insecticon Syndrome}}

After another disastrous Dinobot rampage in Autobot Headquarters, Optimus Prime ordered the Dinobots to relocate to [[Dinobot Island (G1)|Dinobot Island]], a strange prehistoric paradise the Autobots had just recently discovered. Unfortunately, the Decepticons followed the Dinobots there and began draining the island's rich sources of energy, disrupting the fabric of space and time and causing humans and other creatures from throughout time to materialize in the present day. {{storylink|Dinobot Island, Part 1}} Prime put his trailer to use as a holding pen for a herd of woolly mammoths, and after the prehistoric pachyderms were returned to their home time, he donned a jetpack and led a team of Autobots to Dinobot Island to stop the Decepticons' plan. {{storylink|Dinobot Island, Part 2}}

[[Image:Master builders prime basketball.jpg|left|215px|thumb|Red bots can't jump.]]

In the midst of some basketball lessons from Spike, Prime was approached by [[Grapple]] with a design for a solar power tower, but was forced to forbid its construction on the basis that it had no means of defense against a Decepticon attack. Consumed with a desire to build the tower, Grapple and [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] wound up allying with the Constructicons to construct the tower, only to be promptly turned on and entombed within it once it was complete. Prime and the Autobots rescued them, and while Prime accepted their apologies, he still had them clear up the wreckage of the tower as punishment. {{storylink|The Master Builders}}

Optimus Prime later helped test Wheeljack's new [[Negavator]] weapon and had to deal with a paranoid [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]], {{storylink|Auto Berserk}} then found himself faced with a super-powered Megatron when the Decepticon leader boosted his systems with the [[Heart of Cybertron]]. {{storylink|Microbots}}

[[Image:Masterplan2_autobots_on_trial.jpg|right|215px|thumb|A collection of G1 Transformers toys, sold to the [[Megatron (G1)|psychotic robotic madman offscreen]].]]

After helping to save [[Central City (G1)|Central City]]'s new solar energy facility from Decepticon attack, Optimus Prime and the Autobots were honored at city hall, but the ceremony turned sour when the mayor's rival, [[Shawn Berger]], framed the Autobots for raiding an oil field using a video tape faked by the Decepticons (which featured a costumed Starscream playing the role of Prime). Prime and the Autobots were called to trial and found guilty of crimes against Earth, and Prime reluctantly accepted the court's ruling that they leave Earth and return to Cybertron aboard a craft supplied by Berger. {{storylink|Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1}} Prime soon regretted his decision and ordered [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] to turn the rocket around, only to discover that Megatron had set it to collide with the sun and destroy them all. Thanks to [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]]'s force field, Prime and the Autobots survived the explosion of their rocket, and returned to Earth to clear their names. {{storylink|Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2}}

When Optimus Prime attended [[Professor Greene]]'s demonstration of his new [[Ultra-Plane]], the Decepticons attacked and destroyed the new weapon. In the battle that resulted, the Autobots and Decepticons began to suffer sudden system malfunctions that were quickly deduced to be a result of the [[cybertonium]] in their systems degenerating after four million years on Earth. {{storylink|Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1}} Spike and his girlfriend [[Carly]] braved a perilous journey to Cybertron, recovering enough cybertonium to repair the Autobots, and were appointed honorary Autobots by Prime for their efforts. {{Storylink|Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2}}

[[Image:Goldenlagoon_prime_perceptor.jpg|left|225px|thumb]]

Optimus Prime was particularly exasperated with Blaster when he broadcast a rock concert back into the Autobot base, partially because of the ungodly noise, but mostly because it meant that the Autobots failed to receive a distress call from [[Professor Haley]], whose [[Voltronic Galaxer]] device had been stolen by the Decepticons. It was with Blaster's help, however, that Prime then bested Megatron in a battle on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], and so he allowed Blaster to turn Megatron's moonbase into a radio station that he could broadcast from. {{storylink|Blaster Blues}}

Prime later led the Autobots in battle for control of the [[electrum|golden lagoon]], {{storylink|The Golden Lagoon}} then found himself playing the role of tech-support as he talked [[Talaria]] through the activation of [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]]'s signal beacon via a communications channel when the space-faring Autobot was stranded on [[Titan]]. Prime intended to go to Titan and rescue Cosmos himself, but Red Alert urged against it, and [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] wound up going in his place.{{storylink|The God Gambit}} Prime later agreed to help the NYPD bust a carjacking ring headed up by the [[Geddis brothers]], leading to another confrontation with the Geddis's secret allies, the Decepticons. {{storylink|Make Tracks}}

[[Image:Childsplay_aron_and_prime.jpg|right|thumb]]

When the Decepticons attempted to turn a baseball stadium into a new space bridge, the mechanism malfunction, teleporting Prime, Bumblebee, [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]], [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]], [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] and a quartet of Decepticons to an alien planet inhabited by giants. Prime took the diplomatic approach, introducing himself and the Autobots to [[Aron]], the alien boy into whose room they had been transported, and Aron then helped his new friends evade capture and dissection by the planet's authorities. Following a riotous sewer-surfing journey back to Aron's house, the Autobots departed the planet in a toy rocket ship Perceptor had rewired. {{storylink|Child's Play (episode)|Child's Play}} On the return journey to Earth, however, the Autobots were captured by the alien gambler [[Bosch]], who brainwashed them all, save Smokescreen, and sold them to [[Lord Gyconi]] on the asteroid resort of [[Monacus]]. Prime was pitted against an [[animalian]] in a gladiatorial battle for Gyconi's patrons' amusement before Smokescreen and Bosch secured the Autobots' freedom and restored their minds. {{storylink|The Gambler}} Upon his return to Earth, Optimus Prime faced the menace of the [[Morphobot]]s. {{storylink|Quest for Survival}}

When reports came in of the Constructicons mining an asteroid out in space, Optimus Prime requested that Omega Supreme investigate. The asteroid proved to be an egg containing an [[asteroid bird alien|alien bird monster]], which emerged and began attacking [[San Francisco]], but Omega ignored Prime's orders to intervene and shut off his communicator in mid-battle, preferring to seek revenge against the Constructicons. Prime was forced to intervene, getting between Omega and his quarry and finally convincing the giant Autobot to help dispose of the alien, on the basis that there were more important things in life in than revenge. {{storylink|The Secret of Omega Supreme}}

Outfitted with a special coating of insulation to protect himself, Prime led a small team of Autobots to Japan to stop Megatron's latest creation, the demented energy imp known as [[Kremzeek]]. When the Autobots finally got the better of the crazy creature, Prime had to regretfully order his destruction. {{storylink|Kremzeek!}}

[[Image:Primetarget_beast_of_borneo.jpg|left|thumb|Bad touch!]]

After receiving a distress signal from the planet of [[Tlalakan]]s, Prime ordered a team of Autobots to investigate, but was unable to go himself as he was too large for Cosmos to carry. {{storylink|Sea Change}} Later, when Megatron, Starscream, [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] and [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] began feuding for Decepticon leadership, Prime was greatly amused by the whole thing, calling it a "domestic squabble" and taunting Megatron by dismissing him so he could fight the "real" leaders of the Decepticons. Prime kept the other Autobots from getting involved in the battle, and sure enough, the Decepticons wound up knocking the fight out of each other. The other Autobots agreed there was only one leader for them, and formed a throne out of their bodies for Prime to sit upon, but Prime said he preferred to roll. {{storylink|Triple Takeover}}

Optimus Prime's fame and prowess loon led him to become the target of the demented big-game hunter, [[Lord Chumley]], who sought Prime's head to go along with his other rare trophies. Chumley captured several Autobots in order to lure Prime to his estate, and of course, the Autobot leader no choice but to comply. Battling his way through a mock-up of Cybertron itself against all kind of bizarre traps and creatures, from a ferocious [[dragon]]-like beast, to several robotic arachnids, to the interfering Astrotrain and Blitzwing, Prime succeeded in freeing his Autobot comrades, capturing Chumley, and delivering him to the authorities. {{storylink|Prime Target}} 

[[Image:G1 Prime Elita energy transfer.JPG|right|220px|thumb|Oh look.  Optimus Prime is having robo-sex with his sister.  Better get used to seei- whoa, wait a minute.]]

Prime received the shock of his life when Megatron contacted him to inform him that Elita One was still alive, and had been captured by his Decepticons on Cybertron. Prime immediately departed for Cybertron to rescue her, but walked straight into the trap that had been laid for him, and was trussed up by the Decepticons and dangled above a vat of acid. Just as Prime was dropped, Elita used her secret power to stop time, freezing Prime in mid-air and pulling him to safety. Unfortunately, the use of her power drained almost all of her life-force, leaving her on the brink of death, so Prime loaded her aboard his trailer and set out in search of Alpha Trion, in the hope that the ancient Autobot could heal her. In the process, Prime rediscovered his own forgotten connection to his creator, when Alpha Trion shocked him with intimate knowledge of his and Elita's systems by telling him that only his own power supply could properly interface with Elita's. Prime gave Elita the power transfusion necessary to save her life, and the two lovers then joined the other Autobots in fighting off the Decepticons. Prime regretted that they had to part ways again, but Elita knew that she had to continue the fight against the Decepticons on Cybertron. {{storylink|The Search for Alpha Trion}}

[[Image:Ktvs_prime_and_trion.jpg|left|215px|thumb]]

Optimus Prime had little to do in the mission to rescue [[Astoria Carlton-Ritz]] from the Decepticons, merely offering theories and passing along information to Powerglide, {{storylink|The Girl Who Loved Powerglide}} but took to the fore again when Megatron created the [[Stunticon]]s to combat the Autobots on the roads. Realizing that Megatron would have to use the Cybertronian mega-computer [[Vector Sigma]] to bring the Stunticons to life, Prime took a team of Autobots to Cybertron, where they sought the aid of Alpha Trion in navigating the planet's catacombs to find the way to the computer. {{storylink|The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1}} Unfortunately, Megatron made it to the computer first and brought the Stunticons online, so Prime proposed the creation of a team of jets known as the [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] as a countermeasure. With Vector Sigma's [[Key to Vector Sigma|activation key]] in Megatron's clutches, Alpha Trion proposed that he merge with Vector Sigma to bring the computer back online. Prime refused, knowing it would mean the end of his creator's life, but Alpha Trion insisted that he be allowed to sacricice himself so that the Aerialbots could live. The Autobots and Aerialbots returned to Earth, where they stopped Megatron from using the key to Vector Sigma to convert the planet into a metal sphere. {{storylink|The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2}}

[[Image:Cosmicrust_prime_and_perceptor.jpg|right|215px|thumb]]

When Megatron attempted to send the Aerialbots back to the dawn of time using the [[kronosphere]] time machine, Optimus Prime blasted the device before it could complete its evil work, depositing the Aerialbots nine million years in the past. Prime and the other Autobots fended off a Decepticon attack while Wheeljack rebuilt the kronosphere, and the five airborne Autobots were returned to the present just in time to turn the tide of battle. In the aftermath of the conflict, when the Aerialbots were able to refer to him with his old name of Orion Pax, Prime realised that it had been the time-tossed Aerialbots who have saved him from Megatron and brought him to Alpha Trion to be rebuilt all those millions of years ago. {{storylink|War Dawn}}

When Perceptor was kidnapped by the Decepticons and infected with the contagious [[Cosmic Rust (disease)|Cosmic Rust]] , Prime risked his own safety to single-handedly rescue the scientist, and wound up being infected in the process, just as Megatron had planned. Even infected, Prime met Megatron in battle while the Autobots retrieved the cure to the disease, and the Autobots won the day yet again. {{storylink|Cosmic Rust (episode)|Cosmic Rust}}

[[Image:RevengeofBruticus Primefiringguns.jpg|left|thumb|Being a hero is all about dramatic lighting. And two-fisted violence.]]

When another power struggle between Megatron and Starscream erupted, Prime was once again quite happy to ignore the whole messy affair until Starscream and his newly-built [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] attacked the unveiling ceremony for a [[Optimus Prime Memorial|memorial]] to Optimus Prime himself (rather oddly being built while he was still alive) and kidnapped Jazz and Cliffjumper. In the midst of a battle between Megatron and Starscream's force, Prime led the Autobots in rescuing their teammates. Starscream and the Combaticons were subsequently defeated and exiled from Earth, {{storylink|Starscream's Brigade}} but that just made matters worse, as they headed for Cybertron, conquered the planet, and used the space bridge to alter Earth's orbit and send it spiralling towards the sun. Both Autobots and Decepticons needed to use the space bridge to travel to Cybertron and stop Starscream's plan, but the Insecticons damaged the control panel, requiring Prime to donate some of his own circuitry to the repair effort, on the condition that Megatron did the same. With the bridge restored, Prime and Megatron lead a united team of Autobots and Decepticons to stop Starscream and the Combaticons and save the Earth. Prime was led to believe that he had destroyed the Combaticons at the battle's end, but in reality, had been duped by a holographic projection so that Megatron could reprogram the new Decepticons to serve him. {{storylink|The Revenge of Bruticus}}

[[Image:Masquerade_prime_vs_mmaster.jpg|right|230px|thumb|You re-enacted this scene countless times as a kid. You know you did.]]

After leading a team of Autobots to save the Aerialbots from a Combaticon attack in the Middle East {{storylink|Aerial Assault}} Prime led another effort to stop the Stunticons from stealing the components Megatron needed for his latest super-weapon. Prime survived a head-on collision with [[Motormaster]] (although he definitely decided it was something he would prefer not to go through again) and then disguised himself as the Stunticon leader in an effort to learn what Megatron's plan was. Accompanied by a team of four other Autobots disguised as the other Stunticons, Prime was able to infiltrate the Decepticon camp, but had not counted on the real Stunticons escape Autobot capture and exposing their deception. The Autobots abandoned their disguises when Megatron assembled the components into his new laser weapon, but it turned out that Optimus had sabotaged the device, and it blew up in Megatron's face. {{storylink|Masquerade}}

In his final recorded adventure in the 20th century, Prime dispatched Ironhide, Gears and Bumblebee to investigate a disturbance at [[Benjamin Franklin Pierce High School]], where a group of students had stumbled onto a Decepticon plot to attack the Autobots with a gravity disruptor beam. Prime rallied the Autobots to fight off the Decepticons, and thanked the humans for their help. {{storylink|B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.}}

[[Image:Tftm_prime_megs_finalblow.jpg|left|260px|thumb]]

Over the course of the next twenty years, the Decepticons turned their attentions away from Earth, and succeeded in seizing control of all of Cybertron. The Autobots were forced off the planet and founded [[Autobot City]] on Earth, in addition to two staging bases on Cybertron's moons. At some point during this period of time, Prime was known to have battled Megatron in a laboratory on Earth, causing an explosion that scarred scientist [[Gregory Swofford]]. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1}}

In the Earth year 2005, Optimus Prime was stationed on [[Moonbase One]], and dispatched troops to Earth to acquire energy for an upcoming strike to take back Cybertron. The Decepticons, however, got wind of the plan and attacked the shuttle, killing its occupants. Their scheme was to use the shuttle to stage a [[Battle of Autobot City|surprise attack on Autobot City]]; an attack which would have succeeded, if not for a distress call which summoned Optimus Prime and support troops to Earth. Declaring that Megatron would have to stopped, "no matter the cost", Prime bravely plowed through the remaining Decepticon ranks before confronting Megatron in a climactic one-on-one battle. Despite a gash being torn in his side, Prime gained the upper hand in the battle and was poised to deliver a killing blast when the young Autobot [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] leapt into the middle of the fight, having spotted that Megatron was reaching for a gun. Unfortunately, Megatron overpowered the youth and used him as a shield, preventing Prime from taking his shot, and opening fire with the gun, blasting Prime in his wound. Prime fell, and Megatron stood over him, about to deliver the final blow, but at the last moment, Prime summoned up all his strength and hurled Megatron off the platform on which they battling. With Megatron bested, the Decepticons fled, as the other Autobots flocked to the side of the wounded Prime.

[[Image:Optimusg1passingthematrix.jpg|right|thumb|"Oh, hey, I have this in me now, by the way."]]

Despite the efforts of Perceptor, Optimus Prime's wounds were fatal. Knowing his time had come, Prime passed the Matrix of Leadership, and with it leadership of the Autobots, into the hands of his old friend, the city's commander, [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]]. With his last ounce of energy, he muttered "[['Til all are one]]", then died, his lifeforce becoming one with the ancient wisdom contained in the Matrix, joining the other formers bearers within it. Soon after, when Hot Rod opened the Matrix within the body of the planet-eater, [[Unicron]], Prime 's voice was heard once more, dubbing the transformed Hot Rod "Rodimus Prime", new leader of the Autobots. {{storylink|The Transformers: The Movie}}

When Rodimus Prime voyaged into the Matrix in search of answers to the mysteries of the alien [[Quintesson]]s, Optimus Prime was among the "spirit guides" who appeared to him and led him on his journey through the origin and history of the Transformer race. {{storylink|Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4}}

[[Image:Optimusg1zombie.jpg|left|215px|thumb|"WHERE IS SARAH CONNOR?"]]
Optimus Prime's body was entombed in a massive deep-space mausoleum with the many other fallen Autobots, but his corpse was desecrated by the [[Quintesson]]s in 2006 when they reanimated it as part of an attempt to destroy the Autobots. Pursued by the Decepticons through space, a team of Autobots led by Rodimus Prime took refuge in the mausoleum, where they were confronted by the seemingly-reborn Optimus Prime. Optimus dispatched the pursuing Decepticons, and Rodimus – never truly comfortable with the burden of leadership – happily relinquished the Matrix to his predecessor. At that point, the reprogrammed Optimus turned on the Autobots, stranding them on the mausoleum and blowing it up. The zombie Prime returned to the main Autobot force and reassumed command, intending to lure the Autobot space fleet into a trap that would destroy them all. Hot Rod's Autobots, however, were revealed to have survived the explosion of the mausoleum, and Hot Rod engaged Prime in battle. In the course of the fight, the Matrix began to overpower the Quintesson influence in Prime's mind, and he returned the talisman to Hot Rod, then ordered the rest of the Autobots clear while he piloted his flagship into the Quintessons' trap. As the Autobots watched from a distance, the flagship collided with the booby-trap detonator the Quintessons had placed on an asteroid, triggering the explosion of a nearby sun that apparently took Optimus Prime from them once more. {{storylink|Dark Awakening|Dark Awakening}}

Prime's lifeforce returned to the Matrix, and he was among the spectral figures whose ethereal forms emerged from the talisman when it was stolen by [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]], warning him to return it to its rightful holder. Galvatron was suitably convinced. {{storylink|The Burden Hardest to Bear}}

[[Image:Roop1_prime_revived.jpg|right|220px|thumb|Optimus Prime was reborn in the electric chair for our sins.]]

While the other Autobots believed that Prime's body had been destroyed in the supernova, in actuality, just before the flagship impacted with the detonator, his remains had been recovered from the craft by two human scientists, [[Jessica Morgan]] and Gregory Swofford, who still blamed Prime for the explosion that scarred him years beforehead. Jessica's father, [[Mark Morgan]], shared Swofford's loathing of the Autobots, and his hatred only grew when, some months later, an attempt by the Decepticons to steal a heat-resistant alloy he had developed resulted in Jessica being paralyzed. Seeking revenge, Swofford and Morgan reconstructed Optimus Prime's body in an attempt to use it as a delivery system for the mysterious spores that had been released from the exploding sun, which induced hatred and madness. However, when they could not reanimate Prime, they used his body as a lure instead, bringing the Autobots to their lab, where they were infected by the spores directly. Rodimus Prime was able to escape infection and made off with Optimus Prime's body, then ordered [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]] to find him a Quintesson to fully restored Prime to life. Rodimus succumbed to the "[[Hate Plague]]" before Sky Lynx returned, but the airborne Autbot succeeded in his mission, recovering a Quintesson who finally brought Optimus Prime back to life. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1}}

[[Image:Roop2_prime_vs_prime.jpg|left|210px|thumb]]

The resurrected Prime led a team of Autobots to the Decepticons' base on [[Chaar]] to recover the heat-resistant alloy they had stolen, so that Prime could coat his body in it and make himself impervious to the Hate Plague. Thus protected, Optimus confronted Rodimus and defeated him in battle, reacquiring the Matrix so that he could consult the lifeforces of the ancient Autobots within it for a way to defeat the Hate Plague. Informed by "[[It]]" that the only way to cure the disease was with wisdom, Prime unleashed the concentrated wisdom of the Matrix itself to wipe out the plague. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2}}

In 2007, Optimus Prime began to suffer visions following the release of the Matrix's energy, which foretold a great transformation for Cybertron. Prime realized that the events he had foreseen had begun when the Decepticons' theft of the key to the [[Plasma energy|Plasma Energy Chamber]]. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 1}} Prime was forced to consult the spirit of Alpha Trion within [[Vector Sigma]], who informed him that the mega-computer had set these very events in motion in order to restore Cybertron's Golden Age. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 2}} When the Plasma Energy Chamber was opened and threatened to drive Earth's Sun supernova, Spike Witwicky and the other organic [[Nebulos|Nebulans]] who had become involved in the conflict as a result of these events were able to drain off the excess solar energy and revitalize Cybertron. {{storylink|The Rebirth, Part 3}}

[[Image:Puppetpmprime.jpg|right|thumb|Prime's legal troubles began after he gave Tommy "the Touch". Strangely, the prosecution never even noticed the double entendre.]]

At an undetermined point in time, through unknown circumstances, Optimus Prime was upgraded into a [[Powermaster]] body, and began associating with a human boy named [[Tommy Kennedy]]. Tommy, apparently a resident of Autobot City, interviewed Prime on a variety of topics related to Cybertronian history and lore, sometimes for school assignments, sometimes for historical reference, and sometimes simply for the heck of it. Prime regaled young Tommy with tales of the Autobots' greatest battles; [[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1|their arrival on Earth]], [[The Transformers: The Movie|Prime's own death and the struggle against Unicron]], [[Five Faces of Darkness|the return of Galvatron and the Quintessons' role in Transformer history]], Prime's [[Dark Awakening|brief revival at the hands of the Quintessons]] as well as his [[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1|return during the Hate Plague crisis]]. He also recounted the [[The Rebirth|the origins of the Headmasters and Targetmasters]] and, inexplicably, a tale of [[Surprise Party|Ultra Magnus's birthday]].

At this point in his career, Prime 's role seemed to be more of a goodwill ambassador, as he spent much of his time aiding fellow Autobots with minor tasks, like helping [[Joyride (Autobot)|Joyride]] repair a space bridge, refueling [[Sky High (Pretender)|Sky High]], and helping [[Cloudburst]] redesign his retro-rockets.

At one point, a problem with Prime's [[Memory chip|memory chip]] left him incapable of recalling specific details of various historical events. This issue was short-lived, as Tommy Kennedy managed to fix it with a small amount of effort and encouragement. Once, before leaving to attend an intergalactic peace conferences, Prime showed Tommy an informational [[The Touch|music video]] depicting the events surrounding the battle with Unicron. {{storylink|The Transformers (cartoon)|Season 5}}
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===Madman ''The Transformers'' comic===
[[Image:Madman comic PrimeHotrod.jpg|left|200px|thumb|-Or maybe you're just hepped-up on goofballs, kid.]]
In 2001, Optimus Prime led the Autobot evacuation from the Decepticons' successful conquest of Cybertron, standing as the unflinching rearguard for his fleeing Autobots. Before he left, he secretly met with Ultra Magnus at the site of the future Autobot City to discuss hiding the Matrix of Leadership, against the possibility of Prime's capture or death. Unfortunately, Soundwave had secretly recorded this clandestine meeting and moved to capture the powerful Autobot relic. To the surprise of all, the young Hot Rod managed to defeat Soundwave and secure the Matrix. When the Autobots arrived back on Earth, Optimus Prime learned of Hot Rod's deeds, and as he was handed the Matrix, a mysterious energy from the artifact passed through both Autobots. However, Prime only cryptically stated that perhaps Hot Rod's destiny was greater than the young 'bot himself knew. {{storylink|The Transformers (Madman)|The Transformers}}
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===Japanese cartoon continuity===
{{note|The events of the American animated series occur in Japanese continuity as noted above, except that the events of Season 3, which took place in 2006 in America, were moved back to 2010, and "The Rebirth" and subsequent events do not occur. Japanese animated continuity inserts a large number of additional storylines, told through various different media, into the timeline (in particular, between Season 2 and the movie, and between the movie and Season 3), as detailed below.}}

====''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' comic====

[[Image:FightSuperRobotLifeTransformersManga.JPG|right|275px|thumb|From ''AMERICA!'']]

When the Decepticons turned their attention to pillaging the energies of Japan in the late 1980s, Optimus Prime and the Autobots met up with a young Japanese boy named [[Kenji]], whose inventive mind helped them to defeat [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] during an energy raid on [[Tokyo]]. As a token of thanks, Optimus Prime granted Kenji a special communications helmet and made him an official Autobot ally. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 1|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #1}}

During a Decepticon attack on Autobot Headquarters, Ratchet noticed that Soundwave and his cassettes were nowhere to be seen, so Prime dispatched a unit to Japan to search for them. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 2|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #2}} Not long after, Prime oversaw the early stages of the construction of the Autobots' new transforming battle fortress, [[Metroplex (G1)|Scramble City]]. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 3|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #3}}

While showing Kenji around the Autobots' new Tokyo base, Optimus Prime lamented that he wished his "kid brother" [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] would hurry up and arrive with his trailer upgrade. As he pondered the whereabouts of his sibling, the Decepticons attacked Yokohama. The Autobots hurried to the scene only to encounter an over-powered Megatron in his newest form: the Super Megatron Gun. The Autobots' defeat seemed assured until Magnus arrived with Prime's trailer upgrade, the [[Scramble Power Buster]]. The Scramble Power Buster trumped the might of the Super Megatron Gun, leaving Prime and Magnus to vanquish the Decepticon forces with their combined attack: the Double Cross Kick (basically, them jump-kicking the Decepticons in the spine at the same time). {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 4|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #4}}

When the Decepticons created their own counter to Scramble City, [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]], Prime ordered the Aerilabots into battle against the monster on an island utopia. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 6|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #6}} Later, Prime and Magnus again teamed up again to battle the Stunticons and [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] when the two Decepticons teams posed as Autobots and besmirched the two commanders' good names. Although Menasor and [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]]'s [[Decepticon Trailer Brigade|Decepticon Great Wheel]] attack proved a challenge, Prime and Magnus's "Finish Double" attack (suspiciously similar to their Double Cross Kick) soon won the day. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers issue 7|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers #7}}

====Scramble City cartoon====

[[Image:Prime_magnus_scramblecity.jpg|left|thumb|"I'm a white you under here."]]

As the 1980s rolled on, the Autobots began an initiative to construct a new battle fortress known as [[Metroplex (G1)|Scramble City]]. The facility to construct the fortress was concealed within a cavern and overseen by Ultra Magnus, but when it was discovered by Decepticon spy [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]], Megatron ordered the Decepticons to destroy it. Prime led an Autobot counter-offensive, and helped to blast [[Wildrider]] free when the evil Stunticon managed to link up to Superion in an attempt to disable the Aerialbot combiner, but things were looking bleak for the Autobots until the construction of Scramble City was completed. Ultra Magnus activated the battle fortress, which transformed into its robot mode of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] to send the Decepticons fleeing. As Prime thanked Ultra Magnus for his quick work, however, Megatron unleashed Trypticon upon the assembled Autobots. {{storylink|Scramble City}}

{{note|This storyline was never concluded, as a second installment of "Scramble City" was never produced.}}
{{-}}

====Full Throttle Scramble Power!====
[[Image:MegatronMangaEnergonMace1.jpg|right|200px|thumb|This is why you have that axe, Prime, remember?]]
After Megatron and the Decepticons threatened humanity with their latest death ray, the [[Omega Whip]], Optimus Prime dispatched [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] and his human partners, [[Toru]] and [[Jenny (G1)|Jenny]] to follow the electromagnetic trail and find the Decepticons' hidden base. Hound, Toru and Jenny were then swiftly captured.

Contemplating what to do next, Prime reluctantly dispatched the still-wet-behind-the-ears [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] to deal with the [[Stunticon]]s, who were trashing a power plant. The burning justice of [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] ensured his victory.

Prime and a small unit of Autobots then stormed the Decepticon base to rescue their friends. As Hound, Toru and Jenny destroyed the Omega Whip and escaped, Prime and Megatron squared off yet again (with Megatron unleashing his seldomly seen [[energon mace]]). Megatron quickly gained the upper hand in battle...until [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] and ''every single Autobot soldier'' arrived as back-up. Megatron and the Decepticons immediately fled.

Toru and Jenny celebrated their success with a public display of affection. Curious, Optimus began to ask them embarrassing questions, swatting Toru in the bottom with his mighty robot finger. {{storylink|Full Throttle Scramble Power!}}
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====''The Stargate Battles''====

[[Image:Stargatebattles_prime_cx_slice.jpg|left|thumb|225px|right]]

In the late 1990s, continued interaction between the Autobots and humankind led to a formal alliance being forged with the American government. Using technology supplied by the Autobots, the government funded the creation of "[[Warp Gate|The Trigger]]", a huge interstellar teleportation system, and Prime participated in a goodwill press conference to announce the creation of the Trigger to the world. Unfortunately, the Trigger soon became a target for the Decepticons, who had allied with a foreign power and used a human agent to gain access to the station. The Autobots were quick to repel the Decepticon attack, but only one member of the Trigger's crew survived. This man, [[Makoto (Stargate Battles)|Makoto]], offered to help the Autobots in any way that he could, and Prime told him that his kind of strength was what the Autobots needed the most. {{storylink|First Contact}}

[[Image:Stargatebattles_prime_megs.jpg|right|225px|thumb]]

Three months later, Optimus Prime helped [[Professor Adle]] test his new [[C-X]] drone, which were designed to resemble Prime himself, by sparring with the remote-controlled robot so that the Professor could gather data on its performance. In the midst of the test, however, the C-X ran amok (in actuality, it had been possessed by the time-tossed ghost of Starscream), and Prime was forced to crush it beneath his trailer and sever its head with his energon-axe to stop it. The grisly scene did little to dissuade the mass of anti-Transformer protestors that had sprung up in recent months, but Prime attempted to placate the crowd by telling them that he did not ''want'' the power he wielded—he ''needed'' it, in order to protect those that could not protect themselves. {{storylink|Divided Views}}

When the Decepticons terrorized Japan with a series of powerful earthquakes, Optimus Prime confronted Megatron amdist the chaos caused by the most powerful tremor yet. The battle ended when a blast from Megatron's fusion cannon sent Prime plummetting to the depths of the ocean, apparently destroyed. {{storylink|Activation}} Subsequently, Starscream's ghost fused with the rebuilt Trigger in an attempted coup, and it was during the monumental space battle that resulted that Prime returned from his seeming demise, borne into space on [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]]'s back. After saving Makoto's escape pod from burning up in re-entry, Prime was forced to join when Megatron to defeat the greater threat posed by Starscream, channelling the power of the Matrix through gun-mode Megatron to destroy Starscream and the Trigger in one mighty blast. The Transformers were all caught in the backwash of the explosion, and their flaming bodies were sent tumbling back down to Earth. Although they were not heard from again for many months, Prime and Megatron survived the experience, and their war continued. {{storylink|The Stargate Battles (issue)|The Stargate Battles}}
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====''Binaltech''====
In 2003, the Decepticons attacked the Autobots on Earth with a plague of [[Cosmic Rust (disease)|Cosmic Rust]], leaving many of them injured. Consequently, Earth was all but defenseless when Megatron made his big push to fully take over Cybertron in 2004, and Optimus Prime found that he could not spare any troops currently fighting by his side on the Transformers' home planet to send to Earth. To resolve this situation, the Autobots on Earth worked closely with the governments of the world and various car companies on the Binaltech Project, creating advanced new "Binaltech" bodies for the various Autobot warriors damaged by the Cosmic Rust.

In the midst of the Binaltech conflict, the time-travelling [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] attempted to alter history by using the [[Kronosphere]] to teleport Megatron and the Decepticon armada outside of time during a turning-point battle with Prime and the Autobots. This left the Autobots to face the looming threat of [[Unicron]] alone, but as Prime and Ultra Magnus coordinated a last-chance attack against the chaos bringer, Prime dispatched [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] into the past to undo the change made to the timeline. Although Skids was successful in his mission, and the original timeline was restored, the intervention of a mysterious time-travelling entity known as "[[Optimus Primal|the Protector]]" led to the altered, "Binal-Time" timeline also being preserved, as an alternate universe. This, the Protector attested, was due to the fact that the existence of the Binaltech warriors was necessary to preserve the future from which he came. 

Unfortunately, this meant that the Autobots of this parallel timeline still had to deal with Unicron, and during the final showdown with the chaos-bringer, Optimus Prime was badly injured. Fearing that he would die, he passed the Matrix to Ultra Magnus, who used it to destroy Unicron, but as chance would have it, Prime recovered from his injuries and resumed leadership. Under the Protector's direction, the Autobots began conducting experiments that would ultimately lead to the future the Protector spoke of, where Transformers would evolve into multiversal-spanning abstract entities known as the "[[Alternity (species)|Alternity]]". When the Protector's spark was stolen by the new Decepticon leader—an evil clone of Optimus known as [[Nemesis Prime (G1)|Nemesis Prime]]—Prime engaged his evil doppelganger in battle in Australia. During the fight, the Protector's spark fused with Prime—an experience that Prime found [[Optimal Situation|strangely familiar]]—giving him the power to destroy Nemesis Prime.

====''Robot Masters''====
[[Image:Robotmasters_four_great_commanders.jpg|left|thumb|275px]]

Also in 2004, the Scramble City project was expanded through the use of the newly-discovered element [[Solitarium]] to involve the construction of a fully-fledged Autobot City on Earth. This coincided with the opening of a dimensional fissure known as the [[Blasty Zone]], which transported the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] through time to the present day. This "Beast Megatron" seized control of the Decepticons, left leaderless by the mysterious absence of the original Megatron, and went up against Optimus Prime and the Autobots for control of the world's solitarium. Uniting with a team of Autobot and Maximal leaders from throughout time and space who also came through the Blasty Zone, Optimus Prime gained the power of an [[Energon Matrix]] and eventually returned all the Transformers to their home time.

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{{note|''Robot Masters'' is explicitly placed in the Japanese cartoon continuity by [[Generation 1 cartoon timeline (Japan)|Takara's 2007 Transformers timeline]]. However, none of the three pieces of actual ''Robot Masters'' fiction tells the story of the line in its entirety, and each of them relate certain events in notably different ways. Precisely ''which'' of the three—covered individually below—should be considered the [[canon]] one for the cartoon timeline is unknown.}}

=====Pack-in comic=====

[[Image:Starsaber robotmasters minicomic.jpg|right|thumb|225px]]

When a creature that seemed to be a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' appeared just outside Autobot City, Optimus Prime and Mirage investigated, and were shocked when the dinosaur transformed into a robot mode and introduced itself as "Beast Megatron". Almost immediately, [[Optimus Primal]] appeared through the Blasty Zone, and he and Optimus Prime charged into battle against Megatron side-by-side. {{storylink|The New Battle Begins!}}

Later, the two Optimuses found themselves in battle against the huge Decepticon warrior, [[Gigant Bomb]], but were unable to hurt him because he had supercharged his armor with Solitarium. The two heroes were flattened by a powerful punch from Gigant Bomb, at which point [[Star Saber (Victory)|Star Saber]] and [[Victory Leo]] appeared to join the fray. The two future heroes merged into Victory Saber and defeated Gigant Bomb, after which Prime and Primal welcomed him to the fold. {{storylink|The Victory Warriors Enter!!}}

=====Online comic=====

When a mysterious purple dinosaur led the Decepticons in an attack against the Autobots, Optimus Prime demanded to know the identity of the foe he was facing. The creature transformed into robot mode and introduced itself as "Beast Megatron", but Prime did not falter, and bombarded the new villain with heavy fire. Declaring Prime to be "quite the monkey", Megatron announced that the battle had merely served as a introduction, and promptly departed. {{storylink|Robot Masters (online comic)|Robot Masters online comic #1}}

Optimus Prime, Optimus Primal and [[Road Rocket (G2)|Road Rocket]] were later exploring a large crevase filled with Solitarium when they were attacked by Megatron and [[Sideways (RID)|Sideways]]. The two villains detonated the crystals around the Autobots, and while Primal was able to shield them with a huge slab of rock, they were unable to stop the Decepticons escaping with a huge load of Solitarium. {{storylink|Robot Masters (online comic)|Must Defend the Solitarium!}}

[[Image:Robotmasters_prime_vs_megses.jpg|left|thumb|300px]]

When new arrival [[Lio Convoy]] was tricked into battling Victory Saber by Megatron, it was Optimus Prime who got between the two combatants and convinced Lio Convoy that they were all on the same side by revealing his Energon Matrix, which glowed in tandem with Lio Convoy's own. The four great commanders teamed up to dispose of the Decepticons lurking nearby, and then they all welcome Lio Convoy to the team. {{storylink|Robot Masters (online comic)|Gathering, 4 Great Supreme Commanders}}

Discovering an unconsious robot outside Autobot City, Prime and the Autobots brought the enigmatic newcomer inside for medical attention. The robot introduced himself as [[Reverse Convoy]] of the planet [[Vehicon (planet)|Vehicon]]. {{storylink|Robot Masters (online comic)|Strategic Meeting: The Mysterious New Warrior}} Before long, however, Prime's goodwill proved to be misplaced when "Reverse Convoy" captured him, Mirage and Optimus Primal, and revealed himself to actually be the original Megatron, inhabiting Reverse Convoy's body by means of his black hole interlink system. Although the Autobots were saved from the clutches of "Rebirth Megatron" by Victory Saber and Lio Convoy, Prime's greatest enemy had returned. {{storylink|Robot Masters (online comic)|Revive, Dark Emperor of Destruction}}

Prime led Primal, Victory Saber and Lio Convoy in a mighty battle against the two Megatrons, Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker, during which he had much of his right forearm torn off by Beast Megatron. As both Megatron rushed the injured Prime, he summoned his energon-axe to take the place of his lost fist and slashed the two Decepticons, claiming victory. {{storylink|Robot Masters (online comic)|Robot Masters online comic #13}}
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=====Cartoon=====

:''Voice actor:'' ? (Japanese)

[[Image:Robomasters g1convoy.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Check out my taint!]]

Optimus Prime sped into action to help Victory Saber in battle against Starscream and [[Wingstun]], blasting Wingstun with a sneaky shot from below. Prime then transformed into robot mode and opened fire on Starscream, but was shocked when the plummetting form of the Air Commander was snatched out of the sky by a ''tyrannosaurus rex''. Transforming to robot mode, the dinosaur introduced himself as "Beast Megatron", and revealed that he came from a different dimension, causing Optimus Prime to fear for the integrity of the space-time continuum. Before he could fret any more on the subject, Prime came under attack from Gigant Bomb and [[Smokesniper]], but quickly took refuge in a nearly canyon while Victory Saber handled the twin troublemakers. Prime then engaged Megatron in battle, but was quickly laid low by the newcomer, who called for Gigant Bomb and Smokesniper to finish him off. Instead, however, another strange new Transformer descended from the sky: Optimus Primal! Following Primal's lead, Prime united his energy with Primal's own, and together, they created the powerful "Double Convoy Tornado", which sent Megatron flying. In the aftermath of the battle, Prime thanked Primal for his help, and told him that they would definitely need his power when the Decepticons next attacked. {{storylink|Fight! The Group of the Strongest Commanders!}}

Beast Megatron would not relent, and eventually discovered a massive deposit of solitarium beneath [[New York City]]. The Decepticons razed the city in search of the element until Prime and his forces arrived to save the day, this time aided by Lio Convoy and the enigmatic Reverse Convoy. Prime battled Gigant Bomb, Smoke Sniper and Megatron once more, with a little extra firepower courtesy of Victory Saber's V-Lock Cannon, and things were going smoothly until Reverse Convoy revealed himself to actually be the ''real'' Megatron in disguise. Now going by the name Rebirth Megatron, Prime's nemesis teamed with Beast Megatron to conquer their mutual foes. Again, Prime and Primal united their power in the Double Convoy Tornado, but the Megatrons countered it with a tornado of their own. It seemed that the Decepticons' power would overcome the heroes, until Lio Convoy added his energy to the mix, becoming a shining "Lio Typhoon Arrow" that took down the two Megatrons. While the battle was over, however, the war raged on... {{storylink|The Lio Convoy Typhoon Enters (episode)|The Lio Convoy Typhoon Enters}}

====''15 Go! Go!''====
[[Image:TGGStarConvoy.jpg|right|180px|thumb|"Hot Rod?! Did you shrink in the wash?"]]
[[Image:TGGLaserPrime.jpg|left|180px|thumb|"How do you think I'd look in black?"]]
Shortly before the [[Battle of Autobot City]] in 2005, an unknown saboteur badly damaged [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]]'s databanks. Optimus Prime notified his Autobots of the attack and issued a command that the information be recovered as soon as possible. "[[Ravage (G1)|Black Panther Man]]", stationed on the artificial Earth satellite [[Nana]], volunteered for the important task and assigned [[Teletraan 15]] to the case.

Teletraan 15 proceeded to travel through time and space on her mission, and encountered future incarnation of Optimus Prime on several occasions. First, she travelled into the future, where [[Micromaster]] [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] saved her from a [[Novaroid]]. As Dark Nova and Ultra Megatron prepared to merge, Prime, in his "Star Convoy" form, arrived and asked Hot Rod to aid him in the coming fight. But before they could start the battle, an interruption came from an unexpected source: [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] emerged from a [[Transwarp]] portal and attacked!

On another mission even further into the future, Teletraan 15 and her companion [[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]] were aboard [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] as he was attacked by the [[Decepticon]] jets [[Smokescreen (G2)|Smokescreen]] and [[Dreadwing (G2)|Dreadwing]] on his way to his commander. Fortunately for them, Optimus Prime—now in his [[Laser Rod]] body—appeared and severed Dreadwing's wing with a single mighty slash of his sword. Teletraan 15 thought that he looked sad and wondered if he had learned his sword skills during his [[Kiss Player]] days.
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====''Kiss Players''====
{{note|[[Kiss Players (franchise)|Kiss Players]] takes place between ''The Transformers: The Movie'' and the third season of the animated series. While there is no particularly large time-gap between these stories in American animated continuity, in Japan, since the third season was moved to 2010 but the movie remained set in 2005, there was a five-year milieu that made room for plenty of new stories to be told.}}

[[Image:Illust.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Optimus is the one on the left. With the dignity.]]

Following Optimus Prime's death in the Battle of Autobot City, Tokyo was devastated when [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] crash-landed on the city after being hurled out of Unicron's body by Rodimus Prime. The death and destruction that resulted caused a massive anti-Transformer sentiment to spring up, epitomized by the formation of the government organization known as the [[Earth Defense Command]], who forced any remaining Transformers on Earth off the planet. Dissatisfaction with the EDC's extreme actions resulted in the formation of an underground resistance group for whom the death of Optimus Prime was a rallying point. Among these commandoes was a young woman [[Marissa Faireborn]], who had been rescued by Optimus Prime back in 1996 when a mission that her [[Flint (G.I. Joe)|soldier father]] had been on had gone bad. Marissa had formed a great friendship with Prime in her childhood, and came to see him as a surrogate father figure, and perhaps a little bit more.

[[Image:Marissa convoy stack.jpg|right|150px|thumb|She prefers the Japanese version's longer stacks.]]
When Prime's corpse was covertly flown to Japan by the EDC, Marissa's commandos attacked the convoy transporting the Autobot leader's body. Believing that they had secured Prime's body, the commandos were taken by surprise and slaughtered by the [[Ne squad]] [[Kiss Player]] [[Ringo Chikuma|Ringo]] and her [[Autrooper]] partner, who burst out of the torso of the decoy Prime body that had been atop the flatbed truck. As the sole surviving member of the squad, Marissa discovered that the true body was being transported within Prime's own trailer nearby. Slicing the trailer open, she was too late to prevent an EDC Autrooper from partially fusing with Prime. Reflecting on her childhood memories of playing with the kindly Autobot leader, Marissa lovingly kissed his faceplate. In an explosion of energy that destroyed the trailer, the two [[ParasiTech|fused]] and Prime was reborn in a new, living body. The pair had become Kiss Players! {{storylink|Kiss Players issue 2|Kiss Players #2}}

As fugitives from the EDC, Prime and Marissa spent their days on the run and their nights hanging out at the beach. He longed for the day when he would be able to see her bathing in the sun, rather than the moonlight, although he also thought that all the soft-serve ice cream she was eating was making her a little fat. One night while Marissa was surfing, she had a squid latch onto her. Then a [[Legion]] that had infused itself with both an octopus and shipwreck attacked her. With tentacles. Prime fought it off and saved Marissa, but the EDC [[Autrooper]]s were soon dispatched to the scene, and the two had to beat a hasty retreat. {{storylink|List of Kiss Players radio drama episodes|Someday, Under the Sun}}

[[Image:PrimeKP.jpg|left|225px|thumb|"And THIS is for TRAILBREAKER, who DESERVED to have GOTTEN this MOLD INSTEAD!"]]
Over the months that followed, Prime and Marissa battled Legions, led Legions (due to the Galvatron-infused cells inside Prime's new body, which sometimes overcame him with nightmares about his old enemy Megatron), fled from Hot Rod, who believed Prime to be an impersonator of his dead commander, and both fought and fled from the EDC.

[[Image:KPPrimeGoldbug.jpg|right|thumb]]

Finally, teaming up with Hot Rod and his Kiss Player partner [[Shaoshao Li]] (who had adored Marissa since childhood and hated Prime for "stealing" her friend's affections), and the EDC Kiss Player [[Atari Hitotonari]] with her Autrooper partner, Prime and Marissa entered the secret experimental facility beneath the Tokyo headquarters of the EDC and discovered the sinister truth behind the shadowy organization. Everything that had occurred was part of an attempt by EDC commander [[Hitoshizuku Amaō]] to resurrect her daughter, who had been killed in the 2005 catastrophe. Finding Galvatron's headless corpse imprisoned in the facility, the Kiss Players realized that the only way to repair things was to return the [[Unicron]]-created Decepticon's cells. Galvatron's body absorbed the Legions, the Autroopers, and the cells inside Prime and Hot Rod, who were returned to their former forms... which meant that Prime was once again dead. {{storylink|List of Kiss Players radio drama episodes|You, I, and the Spinning Earth}}

Marissa did get a few chances to see her friend again. In 2007, she, Shaoshao and Atari were transported back through time by the [[Sparkbot]]s to 1984 where they witnessed Prime's battle with Megatron atop [[Sherman Dam]]. Although invisible to residents of the past, Marissa was instructed by the Sparkbots to kiss Prime, and when she did so, a piece of what the Sparkbots claimed was the "[[Allspark]]" emerged from within him. {{storylink|List of Kiss Players radio drama episodes|Kiss Players radio play #40}} While travelling on through time to search for more pieces of the Allspark, the girls accidentally crashed in 2010 and wound up in the clutches of the [[Quintesson]]s. Prime (and [[Bumblebee (G1)|Goldbug]]) helped Marissa once more by rescuing her and her friends from death in the fangs of the [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]]s. {{storylink|List of Kiss Players radio drama episodes|Tokyo Toy Festival 2007 live script-reading}} Later still, Shaoshao embarked on a marathon Prime-kissing session (much to her own disgust), quickly jumping through time to kiss Prime in his Star Convoy, "Nucleon Quest," [[Action Master]] and [[Laser Rod]] bodies successively.  {{storylink|List of Kiss Players radio drama episodes|Kiss Players radio play #44}}
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====''The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers''====

[[Image:2010_manga_primes.jpg|left|thumb|275px|And eat your greens or no dessert!]]

After boarding a Decepticon spaceship, [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] became trapped by the schemeing Galvatron. Galvatron quickly bested him in combat and Rodimus, badly injured, was ready to give up. Lucky for him, the spirit of Optimus Prime reached out to him from within the Matrix and encouraged him to get up and keep fighting. Inspired by his predecessor, Rodimus Prime outwitted Galvatron, escaped and destroyed their spaceship. {{storylink|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 1|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #1}}

When the Quintessons reactivated Optimus Prime as a rampaging zombie {{storylink|Dark Awakening}}, they made it a point to copy his schematics while they had the opportunity.  Teaming with the Decepticons, they then obtained the schematics of Megatron.  Combining the best aspects of both, they created the Colossal Cannon Soldier [[Guiltaur]]. {{storylink|Transformers 2010 (story page)|Transformers 2010 Part 4}}

Guiltaur was then unleashed upon Rodimus Prime and, eventually, Galvatron.  The two enemies teamed up and defeated the powerful warrior, with Rodimus swearing to do it in the name of Optimus Prime's honor.  With Guiltaur destroyed, it was revealed the behemoth had been controled by the ghost of [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] all along. {{storylink|The Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers issue 4|Story of Super Robot Lifeforms: The Transformers #4}}

====''The Great Transformer War''====

Following his resurrection, in the year 2011, Optimus Prime and [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] engaged in a battle against [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] and the Decepticons in deep space. Galvatron fled the battle, leaving Hot Rod to request pursuit. Optimus told him not to, and instead to regroup back at [[Athenia]], as he suspected the Decepticons had a much greater scheme in mind. Indeed, Optimus was correct, as Galvatron was preparing for his full-blown invasion of planet [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. {{storylink|The Great Transformer War issue 3|The Great Transformer War #3}}

====''The Headmasters'' cartoon====

[[Image:Headmasters_prime_death.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Rodimus finally receives his Nemesis Prime RealDoll.]]

One year after Prime's resurrection, in 2011, the Autobots had entered into an even closer relationship with Earth and began the colonization of other worlds, the first of which was the planet [[Athenia]], where Optimus Prime was stationed. It soon became apparent, however, that when Prime had released the energy of the Matrix to cure the Hate Plague, the consequences were more far-reaching than he had anticipated—without the energy of the Matrix to act as a balancing factor, [[Vector Sigma]] had become destabilized, and the Decepticons suddenly returned to exploit this, assaulting Cybertron in order to seize control of the mega-computer. {{storylink|Four Warriors Come out of the Sky}} Prime took a squad of troops to aid in the battle on the planet, and when the arrival of the Autobot [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]] tipped the battle in their favor, Prime broke off from the main attack and headed down into the depths of the planet, planning on stabilizing Vector Sigma at any cost. {{storylink|The Mystery of Planet Master}}

Guided through the dangers of the planet's catacombs by the spirit of Alpha Trion while the other Autobots searched for the Matrix on Earth, Prime eventually arrived at the computer, only to find his way barred by [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]]. Hot Rod then arrived with the Matrix, with which Alpha Trion merged, re-energizing it and transforming Hot Rod back into Rodimus Prime; for the first time, the two Primes fought side-by-side and defeated Galvatron. Before Rodimus could implement the Matrix to stabilize Vector Sigma, however, Optimus Prime sacrificed himself to perform the task, merging with the computer and restoring its balance to save the planet. {{storylink|Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime}}

====''Super-God Masterforce'' and ''Victory'' cartoons====

[[Image:Ginrai_1stapp.jpg|thumb|left|"Well tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be..."]]

Once they had defeated the Decepticons, the Autobots had planned to somehow resurrect their fallen leader, using the technology developed on the planet [[Master (Headmasters)|Master]] to give him a new body. However, shortly after it had been built, the [[Transtector]] intended for Optimus was among those stolen by the self-proclaimed "Decepticon god" [[Devil Z]]. It was then hidden on Earth where it was eventually found by, and [[Godmaster|bonded with]], a human named [[Ginrai]]. {{storylink|You Too Use the Masterforce to Transform|Shūta and Grand's Masterforce Super Secrets}} The Transtector later gained sentience of its own, which meant that it ultimately could not be used for its intended purpose, {{storylink|A Battle... and Then...}} and later went on to be rebuilt into [[Victory Leo]]. {{storylink|Fight!! Victory Leo}}
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====''The Battlestars'' story pages and comic====
[[Image:PrimeZodiak.jpg|right|225px|thumb|''You got the--'' No, hang on... Nevermind.]]

Over 15 years after his merging with Vector Sigma, Optimus Prime's lifeless body was spirited away in a sinister plot to destroy the Autobots by [[Dark Nova]], the big bad guy du jour. Nova duplicated Prime's body, using the copy to create the evil [[False Convoy]]. {{storylink|The Battlestars (story page)|The Battlestars story page #3}} The elite Autobot team, the [[Battlestars]], defeated False Convoy and retrieved the real Prime's body from Planet [[Lucifer]], and then used the mysterious energy source known as the [[Zodiac]] to restore Prime to life. Transformed into '''Star Convoy''', Prime was also reunited with [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]], who became his [[Micromaster]] partner. {{storylink|The Battlestars (story page)|The Battlestars story page #4}}

[[Image:Starconvoy magami.jpg|left|thumb|"Occasionally you meet a nice one—Star Convoy, E.T. ... but usually they just turn out to be some kind of big lizard!"]]

After Star Convoy and [[Sixliner]] defeated a swarm of Dark Nova's [[Novaroid|Great Novaroid]] drone warriors, {{storylink|The Battlestars (story page)|The Battlestars story page #5}} the mysterious creature decided to resurrect Prime's oldest nemesis, and plucked [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] from the icy grave he had been cast into years beforehand by the Autobot Headmasters, recreating him as [[Megatron (G1)|Super Megatron]]. {{storylink|The Battlestars (story page)|The Battlestars story page #6}} The two old foes clashed in battle at the North Pole, with Star Convoy emerging victorious {{storylink|The Battlestars}} but Super Megatron soon returned with an army of [[Galaman|Great Galaman]] drones to back him up. {{storylink|The Battlestars (story page)|The Battlestars story page #7}} Defeated by the "[[Triple Combination Battlestar Attack]]" that combined all the power of Star Convoy, [[Sky Garry (G1)|Sky Garry]] and [[Grandus (ROC)|Grandus]], Super Megatron was again upgraded by Dark Nova into Ultra Megatron. Star Convoy and the Battlestars met him in battle once again, and again, they claimed victory. {{storylink|The Battlestars (story page)|The Battlestars story page #8}}

His pawn having failed him, Dark Nova absorbed Ultra Megatron into his body, transforming them both into the gargantuan "Star Giant". {{storylink|The Battlestars (story page)|The Battlestars story page #9}} Star Giant proved to be virtually indestructible from the outside until Star Convoy got the bright idea of giving the villain [[Furmanism|the worst case of indigestion he'd ever had]]. Holding Star Giant's massive mouth open, he ordered Sky Garry and Grandus to move in. After all three were swallowed, they began taking Star Giant down from the inside while simultaneously fighting off his various defensive systems. As soon as the trio escaped from Star Giant's interior, the monster exploded, leaving only his head slightly intact. As it happens, Megatron was housed inside Star Giant's noggin and survived the attack. {{storylink|The Battlestars (story page)|The Battlestars story page #10}}

====Nucleon Quest Convoy bio====
Following the defeat of Star Giant, the restoration of Cybertron (following its devastation in 2011) began, but the planet was in the throes of a chronic energy shortage. In order to re-energize the struggling planet, Optimus Prime upgraded himself into a Powermaster by fusing with the Nebulan scientist Hi-Q. Protecting his body with a Phase Modulation Shield, Prime ventured into a black hole to obtain the super-energy Nucleon, which was used to restore Cybertron to its former glory.
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====''G-2'' story pages and pack-in comic====
[[Image:BlasterG2.jpg|right|225px|thumb|The alliance would have lasted if they'd gotten more than one chair.]]
With Cybertron restored, Optimus Prime upgraded himself into a new [[Action Master]] body. Megatron eventually recovered from his defeat and with his sanity circuit fully restored at last, joined with Prime to form the [[Cybertron Alliance]]. Things were good for a little while, as Megatron's attempts at peace were genuinely sincere, and the alliance ushered in what would be called the Second Generation of the Transformers. However, after human soldiers killed one of his dearest comrades, Megatron adopted a new tank body and started the war anew, believing he could bring a more stable peace to the galaxy by ruling it with an iron fist. {{storylink|G-2 (story page)|Autobots vs. Decepticons: Combat Secrets }}

[[Image:G2 manga hero prime.jpg|left|thumb|225px]]
To counter Megatron, Optimus Prime upgraded his body into a new Missile Trailer mode. Rallying a new wave of Autobot warriors, Optimus diligently repelled Megatron and the Decepticons. In one early encounter, Prime managed to rescue [[Electro]] and [[Volt]] from Megatron by firing his "Matrix Saturn" attack. He immediately recommended that Megatron and all his Decepticons leave the area at once. {{storylink|G-2 (pack-in comic)|G-2 #1}} Megatron, of course, refused, and continued his attack. Prime, Electro and Volt combined their firepower, leaving Megatron in a smoke-filled crater. As Electro moved in to administer the killing blow, Megatron emerged from the smoke unscathed, effortlessly plucking Electro up by his head. {{storylink|G-2 (pack-in comic)|G-2 #2}} Against Prime's orders, Volt immediately rushed Megatron from behind to free his captured friend. {{storylink|G-2 (pack-in comic)|G-2 #4}} 

At one point, the secrecy of the Autobot field base became a priority, leaving Megatron to order warriors such as [[Jolt (G2)|Jolt]] to tail other Autobots and locate Prime. {{storylink|G-2 (pack-in comic)|G-2 #5}} Prime's location was eventually compromised when [[Skyjack]] slipped past all Autobot radar. Astonished at the Decepticon's stealth, Prime was unable to stop Skyjack from returning to Megatron with his location. {{storylink|G-2 (pack-in comic)|G-2 #7}} Meanwhile, [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]], [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] began to study the [[Matrix of Leadership]] and discovered a new property within it called the [[Reconfiguration Matrix]] which could grant Autobots new powers. {{storylink|G-2 (story page)|Optimus Prime of the Autobots has Fallen!}}

[[Image:G2PrimeJustice.jpg|right|thumb|225px|"SHALOM!"]]
Prime and Megatron eventually met to do battle, with Prime coming out on top as Megatron slowly ran low on fuel. Prime offered Megatron one last chance to surrender, but was caught off-guard by [[Hooligan (G2)|Hooligan]], who blasted him in the back with his missile attack, destroying Prime's back-mounted weaponry unit. {{storylink|G-2 (pack-in comic)|G-2 #9}} Megatron then ordered [[Dreadwing (G2)|Dreadwing]] and [[Smokescreen (G2)|Smokescreen]] to swoop in and finish Prime off before he could recover. The pair of Decepticons proceeded to bomb Prime mercilessly before turning him over to Megatron for the kill. {{storylink|G-2 (pack-in comic)|G-2 #10}} With a surprising lack of satisfaction, Megatron blasted Prime to pieces, killing his ancient foe at last. Victorious, Megatron offered Prime a final prayer, only to be interrupted by...Prime! The essences of the previous Autobot Supreme Commanders within the Matrix of Leadership activated the Reconfiguration Matrix to forge him a new body. Optimus Prime became '''Battle Convoy''' and easily trumped Megatron's power. {{storylink|G-2 (pack-in comic)|G-2 #13}} {{storylink|G-2 (story page)|Birth of the New Supreme Commander Battle Convoy!}}

Prime and Megatron then agreed to a one-on-one duel following the "Law of Cybertron": total banishment to the defeated and his forces. After a lengthy and painful battle, Prime narrowly managed to best Megatron, forcing him and the Decepticons to retreat into deep space. Prime was last seen wounded, being aided off the battlefield by Volt and Electro. {{storylink|G-2 (story page)|The Autobots Triumph in the Battle of Good Vs. Evil!}}
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====e-Hobby ''Generation 2'' storyline====

[[Image:Black_hybrid_prime_manga.jpg|left|thumb]]

When the universe came under threat from an [[Galvatron II|alternate-reality incarnation of Galvatron]], Prime used his [[Reconfiguration Matrix|Reconfiguration Matrix]] to once again transform his body into a form resembling his original. Armed with powerful solar-powered missile launchers created by the Decepticons that were so energy-consumptive that Prime required a sunlight-absorbing [[wikipedia:Black_body|black body]] coating to operate them at full power, Prime put his new body to use rescuing Laser Ultra Magnus from Galvatron's clutches. {{storylink|Hybrid Style Convoy Black Version}}
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