Rodimus Prime (Animated)

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

Rodimus Prime is an Autobot from the Transformers Animated continuity family.

Three suns aligned / Pour forth their light / And fill the archer's bow with MIGHT!

To call the commander of Team Athenia a prodigy is an understatement. Though his drill sergeant Kup took him for a turbo-revving punk at first, Hot Rod, the young bot who would one day be called Rodimus Prime, distinguished himself during a live-fire exercise by throwing himself in front of a grenade to save his mentor. From there the higher-ups took special interest in him, and he was accepted into the Autobot Academy a full decade before his boot camp peers. In the Academy he continued to dazzle command, mastering servo-to-servo combat and a wide arrange of weaponry, as well as designing the energy bow that became his signature weapon. Some even began to refer to him as the "chosen one" after seeing him in action, and when he became the youngest Autobot to be assigned his own command, many felt he was on the fast-track to becoming Magnus.

Japanese name (tentative): Rodimus Minor (ロディマス・マイナー)

Fiction

Animated cartoon

Voice actor: Judd Nelson (English)

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

Aww, but I'm too cool to rust!

Rodimus Prime and his team, Red Alert, Hot Shot, Brawn, and Ironhide, defended space bridge 687-030 from Team Chaar. Rodimus ordered Brawn and Ironhide to fall back so they could protect the bridge, but a combo attack from Oil Slick and Cyclonus took down both Autobots. Rodimus managed to evade Spittor's tentacle-attack and incapacitate the monster, but he was quickly knocked aside by Blackout's power-stomp attack.

As the Decepticons moved in, Rodimus defiantly growled that they'd have to go through him. In response, Oil Slick threw a vial of Cosmic Rust at Rodimus' feet, which quickly spread across his body and paralyzed him. TransWarped The infection ravaged his body, and he was slow to recover, earning the pity of his old trainer, Kup. Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2

Toys

Animated

Also capable of shooting an energon cube off Ironhide's head at 20 paces.

• Rodimus Minor (Deluxe, 2010)
  • Accessories: "Energy Bow", 2 missiles

Available exclusively at Toys"R"Us, Rodimus Minor transforms into a futuristic car that highly homages the vehicle mode of Generation 1 Hot Rod. A panel on the car's hood, which is also the figure's chest, can be flipped to either show an engine block or the figure's Autobot insignia. The figure comes with an Energy Bow, capable of firing two missiles.

• Sons of Cybertron: Optimus Prime and Rodimus (Deluxe 2-pack, 2010)
  • Accessories: "Energy Bow", 2 missiles

• Rodimus (Deluxe, August 2010)
  • Japanese ID number: TA-33
  • Accessories: "Energy Bow", 2 missiles

Notes

• Rodimus shares his Generation 1 counterpart's original voice actor, Judd Nelson. He's also the first new incarnation of Rodimus to share the original Generation 1 cartoon character's burgundy coloration, instead of a red one.
• In an answer to a question at TFCon 2009, Derrick Wyatt stated that Rodimus is recovering from the Cosmic Rust attack. He had no definitive subsequent appearances; a very brief cameo may or may not have been him.
• Originally, Rodimus was going to be the jerk character of Animated. This means his team is roughly 60% scrapped ideas, although 40% of those are because of the live-action movie.
• Despite being credited by the show's creators as having the Prime rank and clearly being the leader of a team like another bloke, his toy is listed as 'Rodimus Minor' for the fact that, as revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2009, 'there were already too many Primes in the toy line.' Within the series, he is only ever called or credited as "Rodimus" (like another bloke.)