Sentinel Prime (G1)
| The name or term "Prime" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Prime (disambiguation). |
- Sentinel Prime was an Autobot in some Generation 1 continuities.
Sentinel Prime was Autobot leader for the first 500,000 years of the Great War, and Optimus Prime's immediate predecessor.
More physically massive than Optimus Prime, Sentinel Prime's armor is made of trithyllium alloy impregnated with irradiated carbon fibers, unbreakable short of a precisely-aimed point-blank shot.
Sentinel Prime's primary weapons are his swiveling shoulder cannons, capable of firing a variety of specialized payloads including concussive and shrapnel-needle shells, and gyro-inhibiting and magnetic inducer shells. (Disruptive warheads which foul an opponent's systems.) He is also armed with a solar-energy rifle and an energon-charged sword.
Sentinel Prime uses an electro-disrupter, a device capable of projecting several copies of his image, to disorient his opponents in battle. When interrupted, electro-disrupter images de-rez, leaving a visible path back to the real projector. Because using direct attacks would reveal which image was the real Sentinel Prime, he must limit himself to indirect weapons like shrapnel shells when using it.
Sentinel Prime's only physical weakness is his shoulder-cannons. A direct hit down their barrel can cause the ammunition inside to explode, causing catastrophic damage. To minimize that risk, he swivels the cannons to his back except when about to fire.[1]
Sentinel Prime's biggest shortcoming is that he leads with his head, a peacetime leader in a time of war. His successor, Optimus Prime, leads with his heart, backed by his fists— a much more suitable combination.
Fiction
Marvel Comics Continuity
Sentinel Prime is mentioned frequently in the recitation of Primes before Optimus, but little or nothing is known of him.
The retelling of Unicron's origin in the UK comics included a brief glimpse of a dying Template:Tooltip passing the Matrix of Leadership to Optimus Prime.
Dreamwave Comics Continuity
Sentinel Prime's Template:Tooltip in Dreamwave continuity is noticeably different from the look of his single-panel Marvel appearance; blue, gold and silver with a serrated mouthplate like Optimus Prime's, and a helmet that forms visored lenses guarding his eyes.
The War Within
8.2 million years BG1
Sentinel Prime went to reason with Megatron, seeking to reach him sermon and doctrine, he failed and was tortured and destroyed by Megatron.
But, Megatron was chagrined to discover, Sentinel Prime (suspecting he may be killed) had not brought the Matrix with him into battle.
The Matrix used a vision of Sentinel Prime to strengthen Optimus Prime's resolve during a battle with Megatron by confronting him with the claim that Megatron had chosen Optimus to be Prime, knowing that he was weak.
Megatron's alleged influence over the Prime selection process was never substantiated.
The Keepers subsequently created a robotic duplicate of Sentinel Prime to confuse Optimus and undermine his confidence. Though possessing all of Sentinel Prime's considerable abilities, Optimus eventually realized that the duplicate had been created from his own memories of Sentinel Prime, and was incapable of doing anything new. Optimus destroyed the duplicate of Sentinel Prime, having largely overcome his own doubts about his fitness to be Autobot leader.
Footnotes
- ↑ Nearly all of his technical specifications come from descriptions found in the Keepers Trilogy.
