Optimus Minor

Optimus Minor is a Maximal from the Beast Wars portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Monkey, check. Kung-fu, check. Well, Monty Fiske should be interested by now...

Optimus Minor is an upbeat and lively warrior. He has a tendency to make jokes even when the situation is rather grim and not to always think things through in advance, but he's always up for a mission, even when the odds of success (or even survival) are low. Sounds like fun.

What relationship, if any, he has to Optimus Primal (or, for that matter, Optimus Prime) has never been discussed.

Fiction

Toy bio

A result of Megatron's cloning experiments, Optimus Minor possessed many traits commonly attributed to monkeys: agility, speed, intelligence, and a superior ability to climb stuff. His animal instincts served him well in battle, where he was a savage fighter. However, like many Transmetals 2, he had rage issues and trouble controlling the resulting violent urges. Optimus Minor bio

Dreamwave Summer Special

On their way back to Cybertron after the conclusion of the Beast Wars, Rattrap had a dream from his time back on Earth:

Optimus Minor, Bonecrusher, and Wolfang rescued Rattrap from Dinobot II. Minor said that they couldn't return with Rattrap. Although they were "once" Maximals, they had gained a purpose which did not include fighting. Ain't No Rat

IDW Beast Wars comics

File:Optimus Minor IDW.jpg

I'm having flashbacks to Marsupilami...

Razorbeast was ordered by Magmatron to wake the remaining Axalon stasis pods on prehistoric Earth as Predacons. Thankfully for Optimus Minor, Razorbeast was working undercover and inserts a viral code into the protoform-awakening process. This virus caused many of the protoforms to retain their Maximal status. This included Optimus Minor, who was among the first to join up with Razorbeast. The Gathering #2 Razorbeast and Minor were responsible for fouling Magmatron's attempt to send Megatron back to the Tripredacus Council. The Maximals thwarted Magmatron's plans to conquer Cybertron, but they were stranded on ancient Earth as a result. The Gathering #4

Optimus Minor fought alongside his fellow Earthbound Maximals against Ravage's Predacons and later the Blendtrons. The Ascending #1 The Ascending #2 The Ascending #3

Cuz' that's what friends are foooorrrr!

When Razorbeast was infected by Rartorata with Angolmois, Minor stuck with him, encouraging his friend to fight the madness-inducing effects of the poisoning. But in the end, Optimus Minor was forced to shoot Razorbeast in the head to prevent him from turning the Angolmois-rage on other Maximals. Minor was deeply distraught at this turn of events, and was consoled by B'Boom. The Ascending #4

Toys

Beast Wars

It's a felony to sell alcohol to Optimus Minors!

• Optimus Minor (Basic, 1998)

Transforms into a black, red, and gold-chromed Transmetal 2 monkey by changing his legs into arms, and his arms become legs. In robot mode his tail becomes a whip, grabbed by a pin in his right arm. Along with fellow Transmetals 2 Scarem, Sonar and Tigerhawk, Optimus Minor has an odd feature with allows him to have extra limbs; his robot mode arms (his legs in beast mode) can split down the middle to the elbows. This feature is particularly noteworthy in Optimus Minor, as it is not due to his transformation process, unlike the others, showing that it was more than an afterthought. Oddly enough, he has never been portrayed utilizing this ability (not even on his package art, like the other two were.) His spark crystal is located in the side of his midsection.

• More information on Optimus Minor at TFU.info

Unreleased

In 2002, a carded specimen of a blue-instead-of-black Optimus Minor appeared among many Transformers prototypes that Whiz Bang! Toys auctioned on Ebay. Although these colors more closely match his card art, it may have actually been intended as a "running change", since the "Transmetals 2" logo on the bubble is the non-roman numeral version.