Sentinel Prime (Animated)

The name or term "Sentinel Prime" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Sentinel Prime (disambiguation).

Sentinel Prime is a jerk an Autobot from the Transformers Animated continuity family.

"Where's the jerk who calls himself Sentinel Prime?"
"I am that jerk!"

Many times, brash, leap-before-you-think types learn a lesson from their misadventures, and use that knowledge to grow into more mature, well-rounded fighters, even into leadership roles.

And sometimes, they learn the wrong lesson (or the right lesson the wrong way), and turn out like Sentinel Prime.

Sentinel was once the impulsive type, until a disastrous "unsanctioned" mission he'd suggested with his best friends Optimus Prime and Elita-1 ended in the loss of Elita. Though both bots carried the grief, Sentinel blamed Optimus for abandoning her. When Optimus officially took the blame for the mission (and Sentinel failed to speak up for his part of it), Sentinel placed all his anger on his former friend, and drove himself to climb the Autobot ranks into the Cybertron Elite Guard through strict adherence to military protocol.

The end result is an Autobot who could be one of the Autobots' greatest assets, but he's such a jerk that it's hard to see how. His expandable Skyboom Shield is virtually impenetrable, and he's a strong combatant and utterly tenacious hunter. And he seems to have Cybertron's best interests at heart... but his perception of "best interests" is definitely skewed.

To his core, he's still the same smug, act-first-think-later-maybe bot he was before, only far more focused. Despite the "stickler for the rules" aspect of his personality that has come from the loss of Elita, he seems to use the rules largely to bully his way of doing things on others. He really can't handle the unexpected, thanks to a distinct lack of genuine field experience and inability to improvise like others in the Guard. Thanks to that one fateful trip to Archa Seven, he has a severe phobia of organics, and a burning desire to further humiliate Optimus. To his credit, he would never actively sabotage another Autobot... but he sure will make their lives a living hell if he thinks he can get away with it.

Don't mention his chin. He's a little touchy about it.

“	[Sentinel] is a glitch-head. All due respect.	”
—Bumblebee sums up Sentinel Prime, "The Elite Guard"

Fiction

Animated cartoon

Events from IDW Publishing or Fun Publications books are in italics.

Voice actor: Townsend Coleman (English), Junichi Suwabe (Japanese), Peter Reinhardt (German)

"You're gonna need tickets to—THE GUN SHOW!"

Sentinel took Optimus and Elita-1 on a mission to Archa Seven looking for an old Decepticon warship, hoping to get all the energon stored within. However, they ran into a pack of massive arachnids. Sentinel tried to hold them off long enough for Optimus and Elita to escape. When he came across a ship that Optimus and Elita had found, Optimus had to drag him away from the exploding energon, forcing them to leave Elita-1 behind. Optimus's radar couldn't find Elita's energy signature, and he assumed that she was dead. A furious Sentinel blamed Optimus for what happened, even though this whole disaster had been his idea. Jerk. Along Came a Spider When Ultra Magnus brought the two up on a military tribunal, Optimus gallantly took the fall — while Sentinel just stood there smirking. Jerk.Endgame, Part I

After graduation from the Academy, he received an official rank as Sentinel Minor, the drill officer for an Autobot training camp. Obviously compensating for being a jerk, he took out his frustrations on recruits like Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ironhide, Longarm and Wasp. Busting their transistors at every turn, he liked to conduct surprise inspections and force the recruits to chant that they were worthless grease stains. Of course, in Bumblebee's case, the extra attention was not exactly unmerited, as the little glitch-head managed to get Sentinel's feelings on whether Ultra Magnus should retire from command broadcast across the camp. In the end, he commended Bumblebee for his role in discovering a seeming Decepticon traitor. Then Bumblebee admitted to accidentally knocking a tower on him (actually covering for Bulkhead), and Sentinel gave him the boot. Jerk. Autoboot Camp

Years later, he was still a jerk, but a jerk with prestige, having been promoted to Sentinel Prime. When Optimus Prime rang up the Cybertron Elite Guard to tell them of the Decepticons in pursuit, he sneered that a screw-up like Optimus wasn't worth the attention of Ultra Magnus. Seeing a piped-through visual of the AllSpark from the cargo hold of their ship shut him up quickly enough. Transform and Roll Out

After the ship was lost, Sentinel found himself the only one who knew Optimus well enough to give him a eulogy. However, while his words were reasonably civil, his thoughts were not. Later, when Longarm pressed him to continue the search, Sentinel acted like an old man and told him some things are best left buried. Jerk. Dispatches

When the snow starts a-falling, There's a man you should be calling...

Later, the Elite Guard visited Earth to reclaim the AllSpark. When Jazz decided to take a closer look at the humans, Sentinel warned that organics could spew out slime that melts through armor plating, deliberately goading Optimus Prime with memories of Elita-1's fate. He decontaminated Optimus Prime's crew after setting a force field around the ship. When he heard that they'd defeated Megatron and the Decepticons, he didn't believe Optimus, almost causing a fight between him and Bulkhead. Sentinel boasted to Ultra Magnus that he had taken the initiative and scanned some "typical" Earth vehicles so they would not draw undue attention. He had, in fact, scanned massive, destructive vehicles for them both.

En route to Dinobot Island, Sentinel further evidenced how subtlety obviously isn't his strong point by driving through a blockade and off an overpass still under construction. When he, Optimus and Magnus arrived, they encountered the Dinobots, and Sentinel began to attack, believing their technology was primitive. Grimlock's subsequent transformation caught him off guard. They then went back to the city to take care of malfunctioning police drones. Sentinel started to act like a jerk again, more worried about organic contamination, and vowed to see Optimus arraigned on charges of high treason, but Optimus had got enough of Sentinel's mouth and finally told him off, asserting that his former friend was on his turf now and should respect Optimus's decisions. Unsurprisingly, Sentinel was unmoved. Even when shown proof of the AllSpark not being destroyed, Sentinel's attitude did not change. He was thus rather surprised when Ultra Magnus said that Optimus had characteristics that Sentinel himself could stand to learn. The Elite Guard

Come one, come all! Join the merriment at the Cybertronian Renaissance Faire!

He's here to eat giant turkey legs and kick butt...and he's all out of giant turkey legs.

Not taking the criticism to heart at all, he continued to be a general jerk to Optimus, the local police, humans, and pretty much everyone. His comeuppance would soon come in the form of a humiliating body-jacking by the Headmaster. Putting his reputation (and his noggin) in Optimus Prime's hands, he trusted his comrade to help him get his body back without letting anybody else find out. In this state, he was slightly less condescending to Optimus, but it was hard to talk down to someone when reduced to a tenth his size. He still had choice words about Optimus's actions in the process of saving his body, however, such as ripping its arm off and using his head as a soccer ball. Deep down, Optimus was enjoying himself.

After recovering his body, Sentinel had to face the embarrassing prospect of reporting to Ultra Magnus, but surprisingly enough, Optimus covered for him. It took every ounce of effort for the big guy to utter a "thank you" to his comrade later.

While in the Headmaster's possession, Sentinel's body's weapons were upgraded into more powerful forms. At the moment, it's not clear whether Sentinel got to keep the upgrades when the Headmaster Unit was separated. The Return of the Headmaster

Unfortunately, the whole Headmaster debacle still failed to purge Sentinel of even a dram of his jerk quotient. When Optimus protested Ultra Magnus's decision to have his crew join the rest of the Autobots off-Earth, Sentinel was quick to jump on Optimus, saying that no sign of Decepticon activity had been detected (failing to consider that the Decepticons had been dampening their signals). He even went so far as to bribe Optimus with an offer of reinstatement in the Elite Guard if he went along with the official story. Through all this, he was more than slightly keen to slap stasis cuffs on Optimus in order to get him to comply with Magnus's orders. Jerk.

Will get owned again...

When the Elite Guard's ship detected an AllSpark fragment in a runaway passenger train (actually a trap set by Starscream), Sentinel was irritated to find that he had to stay behind and nursemaid "Maintenance Prime" while Ultra Magnus and Jazz set off to investigate. The situation got worse when, discovering Decepticon presence, Optimus goaded Sentinel into a blind attack and took the opportunity to slap the stasis cuffs on him. Poor sap... (snicker)

Sentinel eventually worked his way out of the cuffs and pursued Optimus to where the AllSparked train had stopped, threatening to have him tried and blacklisted for assaulting an Elite Guard, dismissing out of hand Optimus's justification of Decepticon involvement. Fortunately for Optimus, Megatron and Blitzwing chose that moment to blast Starscream to the ground in front of the Autobots.

"You're a jerk!"
"No, you!"
"No, YOU!"
Ummm... bad guy?"

Sentinel had to take more time than the other Elite Guards to rally; unlike Magnus and Optimus, he had never seen a Decepticon before. Initial dismay aside, Sentinel did manage to last longer than the other Autobots against Starscream's onslaught, but the only reason he didn't fall was that Optimus took the stasis cuffs Sentinel had brought with him (anticipating Optimus's formal arrest as he was) and slapped them onto Starscream. Sentinel still thought Optimus drew out that battle on purpose. Jerk.

Afterwards, Magnus expressed admiration over Optimus's willingness to disregard what were clearly ill-informed orders—praise to which Sentinel, predictably, objected. This just earned him another chastisement from Magnus about how sometimes the right thing was to trust one's gut over the book. Shortly afterward, the Elite Guard departed for Cybertron. Sentinel could probably sigh in relief—no more looking worse than the "washout". Mission Accomplished

Unfortunately, while the Elite Guard was in deep space, Starscream managed to escape his stasis cuffs and get out of the their ship. Being the jerk he is, Sentinel probably thinks Optimus is responsible for that happening. A Fistful of Energon

Things only got worse for Sentinel, as his former trainee and convicted "traitor" Wasp escaped from prison. Pursuing the former Autobot across an asteroid field, Sentinel had a standoff with Wasp at a space bridge relay point. The escapee activated the space bridge, and, blinded by its energies, Sentinel assumed Wasp had gone through it to parts unknown. In reality, Wasp had mustered what little cunning his shattered mind had left and faked out the Elite Guard member by hiding behind the archway. As usual, Sentinel's deductive skills left something to be desired, so he returned to base. Autoboot Camp

Later, Sentinel, Magnus and Jazz took the Elite Guard's flagship to back up Rodimus Prime's team, who were defending space bridge 687-030 from a Decepticon raiding party. As the Elite Guard arrived, however, Megatron ordered all of his troops to withdraw, having changed his plans thanks to a recent acquisition. After returning to Cybertron, Sentinel and Jazz were ordered back into space to hunt down the "traitor" Wasp. TransWarped

Upon arriving in Earth orbit, Sentinel was contacted by an agitated Longarm Prime. Now head of Autobot Intel, Longarm was upset that Sentinel's ship had entered Earth Sector when Longarm had ordered that all contact with Earth be filtered through him first. Sentinel was annoyed, since Longarm had sent them to intercept Wasp in the first place. After Ultra Magnus cut in to explain, Sentinel confirmed for Longarm that no one had heard from Optimus Prime's crew in at least a decacycle.

Upon touchdown near Detroit, Sentinel was disgusted with yet another aspect of Earth: rain. He quickly proved he had no ability to handle rain-soaked pavement in vehicle mode, further bruising his ego. With their other crew members already dispatched to hunt for Wasp, he and Jazz arrived at the Earth Autobots' base just after Wasp (actually Bumblebee in a forced disguise) had departed from there. Sentinel was all for chewing out Optimus for not answering his comlink, and he didn't care about Optimus's "excuses", as he had a fugitive spy to catch. It didn't help that Optimus pointed out said spy had just slipped past Sentinel, then claimed that Longarm was the real spy. Disgusted with such a brazen, baseless accusation, Sentinel ordered Prime's group to stay out of his way, then he and Jazz departed. Jerk.

Eventually, he found Prime and Ratchet battling his new recruits, Jetstorm and Jetfire, whom they'd mistaken for Decepticons since the new pair could fly. Sure, he hadn't told Prime about them before, but that was Prime's fault for butting in on Elite Guard business. Prime still insisted Wasp wasn't a double agent, but Sentinel would hear none of it and ordered the jet twins to find Wasp again. While he struggled to avoid skidding on the pavement and keep pace with Jazz, Optimus and Ratchet, he got word from Jetstorm that he and Jetfire had found Wasp, but that Bulkhead and Prowl were apparently his cohorts. Prime continued attempting to persuade him that he was on the wrong track, but Sentinel was all for arresting everyone and letting Ultra Magnus sort it out. Jerk.

Back at the Earth Autobots' base, "Bumblebee" tried to prove his identity by recounting the various ways he'd inconvenienced Sentinel during 'Bee's stint in boot camp—most of which Sentinel didn't remember. Sentinel quickly got fed up and ordered "Wasp" wheeled out, but then Bulkhead hit upon a sure-fire way to tell who was who: a versus round of Bumblebee's latest video game passion, Ninja Gladiator. Despite Sentinel's doubts, the real Wasp quickly revealed himself, taking 'Bee hostage and escaping. Jazz realized the full import of this revelation: The true Decepticon double agent was the head of Autobot Intel. Sentinel protested that Prime should have told him this in the first place. Jerk. Where Is Thy Sting?

If only he had been kicked a little lower...

Remaining on Earth, Sentinel made contact with the bounty hunter Lockdown for a mutually beneficial arrangement: if Sentinel supplied him with parts from the Elite Guard ship, Lockdown would turn over Decepticons to Sentinel and let him take the credit. His ego overriding his sense of superiority, Sentinel agreed, bringing the captured Decepticons and taking all the credit. Only the twins believed that Sentinel was really making the captures alone, especially as Sentinel was both vague and defensive about how he captured the Decepticons. Finally, Lockdown needed a gyrostabilizer from the ship, in exchange for the Liar Starscream. Prowl followed Sentinel, and discovered the arrangement, but was betrayed by Lockdown and the clone, and placed in stasis cuffs. Despite using Sentinel as a hostage, the Autobots showed little restraint in attacking, even though they only succeeded in hurting Sentinel. The battle ended with Sentinel being driven into the ground head first. After establishing contact with Cybertron, the Autobots learned that Ultra Magnus had been attacked by Shockwave, but was recovering. Optimus decided not to inform Cybertron Command of Sentinel's misconduct, but instead gave sole credit for the captures to Prowl. Even though he wasn't going to be court-martialled, Sentinel was still displeased that he didn't get a single ounce of credit. Annoyed, Optimus reminded him that there were more important things than his ego, but gave Sentinel fair warning: when smoke clears, there will be a reckoning. Five Servos of Doom

Jimmy cracked corn and I don't care!

Even knowing Wasp was innocent, Sentinel continued to pursue the 'bot, leading to a chase through the streets of Detroit as Optimus and Bumblebee attempted to reach him first. When they did, a jurisdictional argument between Optimus and Sentinel allowed Wasp to slip away... only for him to be flown away by a a Dinobot. Despite Optimus warning Sentinel off, Sentinel pursued them to Dinobot Island under Safeguard in his own... unique... manner.

DIE MUTANT FREAK DIE!!!

Bulling past the Dinobots, Sentinel entered the laboratory inside... to be confronted by what Elita-1 had become, and the experiment she was undertaking on Wasp. Blackarachnia's existence as a technorganic disgusted him to the deepest core of his spark, and he wished she had gone offline on Archa Seven. In return, after the emergence of the technorganic "Waspinator", she attempted to drain him dry. He was saved by a pursuing Optimus, and shortly afterward Blackarachnia was transwarped to apparent oblivion by the exploding Waspinator. Sentinel walked off without a word.

As he was set for departure to Cybertron to take his place as acting Magnus, he discussed what had happened with Optimus, and admitted that they should never have gone to the spider-planet in the first place. Predacons Rising

"Jazz old friend, I don't know which disgusts me more: Your cowardice or your stupidity! We'll simply set a new course for that empty region over there. Near that blackish, holish thing."

On the trip back to Cybertron, after a failed interrogation of the Decepticon prisoners, he was contacted by Perceptor, Alpha Trion and Cliffjumper, to inform him that the Autobot High Council intended to make the news of the attack on Ultra Magnus public. Sentinel was unhappy about this, but they reminded him that the decision was for the full Council to make, and that his "taking control" as acting Magnus was premature, since Ultra Magnus was still online, albeit on spark support; and Cliffjumper wound him up further by reminding him that Prowl, not SP, had been given credit for the capture of the Decepticon prisoners. As a result, he took his frustrations out on Jazz, ordering him to take the ship to full power—even after Jazz reminded him it would use up all their energon—and to steer through a stormy nebula. Jerk.

The effect of the electrical storms on the ship then caused Swindle to be freed of his transformation lock, and in turn he freed the other prisoners. They then attacked the bridge, and with Sentinel refusing to contact Cybertron and let them know what his mistake had wrought, he sent a coded message to Optimus Prime, asking for help shortly before they were all captured. Optimus then transwarped in through Swindle's personal storage dimension, refused to obey a single order from Sentinel, thought up a plan to defeat the Decepticons and set Jazz to it, used Sentinel as a bludgeon to knock Lugnut away, and saved the day. Chastened, even Sentinel had to admit Optimus had done a good job, and offered him the position on the Elite Guard he would have to vacate to become Magnus, although Optimus declined. He then dropped Optimus back on Earth, and they mutually saluted in goodbye.

Finally arriving at Cybertron, Sentinel proceeded to lead a parade across Cybertron in his own honour, urging the cheering throngs to accept him as their Magnus. Decepticon Air

He's the Decider!

Sentinel Prime immediately began putting out propaganda warning Autobots that anyone they knew could be a Decepticon spy, began shutting down facilities like Maccadam's Old Oil House as a security measure, and started viewing any challenge to him as treason. When the Decepticon-occupied Omega Supreme appeared in the skies above Cybertron, Sentinel immediately advocated firing on it, ignoring a displaced Ratchet's warnings that Omega was so transwarp-saturated that this would take out the planet. Jerk.

Ratchet's opposition led to Sentinel having him hunted down for treason. Jerkier still, Sentinel prepared to fire on Omega while the Council were still discussing the matter, and he lied to them about his intentions. Luckily, when he did have the Elite Guard's Fortress Maximus fire on the titan, the Decepticons transwarped away. Sentinel brushed off the Council's ire and tried to take Ultra Magnus' salvaged hammer from Ratchet, attempting to pursue and arrest the medic when Ratchet simply took the hammer with him back to Earth. Jazz volunteered to go instead, taking the opportunity to get out from under Sentinel's command. This Is Why I Hate Machines

The end of an error.

Soon, Sentinel would have to swallow his pride when Optimus Prime returned to Cybertron with his crew, with captured Megatron, Shockwave, and Lugnut, and with three reclaimed stasis pods—in Omega Supreme, no less! He stood glowering as the cheering throngs unwashed masses surrounded his rival.

History would vindicate his actions! Endgame, Part II

Jerk.

Toys

Animated

We called the jerk store, he's shortpacked.

• Sentinel Prime (Deluxe, 2008)
  • Accessories: Lance, shield

Sentinel Prime transforms into a metallic blue monster-truck snowplow, and is armed in robot mode with his trademark shield and lance. Either item can fit in either of his hands, and the shield has a ring mount to allow the lance to attach to it for transporting on the back of the vehicle mode. Surprisingly for an otherwise pointy object, the lance is actually cast in hard plastic. The weapons are also painted blue rather than cast in translucent plastic, an unusual choice for modern "energy" weapons". The toy also has an abandoned light-piping gimmick: not only are the eyes painted over, but the eye-piece is cast in black plastic, making it useless.

Unfortunately, due to being released in the Deluxe size class, the Sentinel toy is technically incompatible with the Headmaster accessory, which is only designed to work with Leader-class toys. You actually can wedge it on to him quite snugly, though..

Due to a quirk of the transformation process, the plow on the front of the truck can be angled left or right, just as on real-world snowplows. Also, if you're the type that really goes for show accuracy, the antenna on the left side of Sentinel Prime's robot mode head can be tilted back and forth, just like he did in the episode Predacons Rising. That's some mighty fine scannin', Sentinel!

• More information on Sentinel Prime at TFU.info

Notes

Spooooon!!

• Sentinel Prime's blue coloration and especially pronounced chin (even by normal Animated standards!) really make him look like the Tick. He's even voiced by Townsend Coleman, who provided the voice of the Tick in his 1990s animated series. At the Cartoon Network panel at BotCon 2008, it was confirmed that Sentinel's design was created after Coleman was cast for the role. It's pretty evident that the writers are running with it, having him utter silly, Tick-esque lines like "Energon-y goodness!"

• As for personality, Marty Isenberg said during an interview in the Transformers Collector's Club magazine that his love of M*A*S*H* was the big reason Sentinel Prime is a jerk. He believes that the Transformers universe "needed a Major Frank Burns."

• At BotCon 2008's Cartoon Network panel, Derrick J. Wyatt confirmed that originally the character of Sentinel Prime was going to be named Rodimus Prime, but the idea of casting Rodimus as a big jerk didn't sit well with some people. But they'd eventually find some use for Rodimus somewhere, to be sure!

• Wyatt also related some previously unknown design trivia at BotCon 2008: At the time "Transform and Roll Out" went into production, the only part of Sentinel Prime that had been fully designed was his head. However, this turned out to be a non-final design; in his subsequent appearances, Sentinel's head is shorter and squatter, with a more bulbous chin and dark grey instead of white. Also, in "Transform and Roll Out", he has a set of extra smoke stacks/antennae on his shoulders, which would vanish during his first full-body appearance.

• Sentinel Prime is the first incarnation of the character to possess an Earth-mode.
  • He is also the first to have a toy of him released .

• He is the only incarnation of the character to not die at all during his appearances.