Hot Rod (G1)
| The name or term "Rodimus" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Rodimus (disambiguation). |
| The name or term "Hot Rod" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Hot Rod (disambiguation). |
This article is a featured article, and considered to be one of the most informative on this wiki.
- Hot Rod is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family. He has also been known as Rodimus Prime, Rodimus, and Rodimus Major.
Hot Rod is brash and headstrong, with an overwhelming self-confidence that borders on arrogance. Kup has assumed the role of mentor and advisor to the impetuous young Hot Rod, offering him wisdom and advice when he needs it (though Hot Rod rarely feels that he does, much to Kup's annoyance). Arcee also serves as a calming influence on Hot Rod, and tends to either worry about him when he is not around, or deride and tease him when he is. Their relationship is antagonistic, but friendly. Exactly how deep Hot Rod's feelings for Arcee might run is unknown, whether they be friendly, romantic, or otherwise.
In contrast, his Rodimus Prime persona—while still headstrong and stubborn—seems to suffer from a severe lack of confidence, often doubting his own decisions and expressing distress over his position as an Autobot leader. Of course, much of this comes from comparisons with his former commander Optimus Prime—and let's face it, shoes-to-be-filled just don't get much bigger than that.
One thing that both sides of this Autobot's identity have in common is their impatience—neither Hot Rod nor Rodimus Prime can stand to wait around when they could be doing something instead. He is also very self-reliant, rarely sending others to do anything when he could be doing it himself. His Targetmaster partner is Firebolt. As Rodimus Prime, his vehicle sometimes splits between his robot and Mobile Defense Bay.
| “ | I knew you had potential, lad. | ” |
—Kup on Hot Rod's transformation into Rodimus Prime, The Transformers: The Movie | ||
Fiction
Generation 1 cartoon continuity
At some point before 2005, Hot Rod became stationed at Autobot City and so was present during the Battle of Autobot City. This was a turning point in the life of the turbo-revving young punk, because the Matrix of Leadership chose him as its next bearer following the death of Optimus Prime. As Rodimus Prime, his first accomplishments were the defeat of Unicron and the return of Cybertron to the Autobots.
During his time as Prime, Rodimus not only had to deal with the Decepticons and their new leader, but also the political complexities of the planetary alliance Cybertron joined, the return of the Transformers' cruel masters from long ago, the Quintessons, the possible revival of Unicron and the arrival of Unicron's "little brother" Tornedron.
During the Hate Plague outbreak in 2006, Optimus Prime was brought back to life and Rodimus gave up his rank of Prime, becoming Hot Rod once more. He would live to see the next Cybertronian Golden Age.
Marvel Comics continutiy
Initially serving under Fortress Maximus on Cybertron, Hot Rod travelled to Nebulos where he became a Targetmaster and then on to Earth where he joined Optimus Prime's forces aboard the Ark. Returning to Cybertron, he survived the battle against Unicron and formed part of the shaky Autobot-Decepticon alliance under the leadership of Prime's successor Grimlock. Betrayed by Bludgeon's Decepticons, Hot Rod was killed during the ambush on Klo but revived shortly afterwards by the power of the Last Autobot.
In some splinter timelines Hot Rod went on to become Rodimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, and took part in further battles against Unicron and his minion Galvatron, albeit with mixed results. In others, he has yet to fulfil this part of his destiny.
S.T.A.R.S. pack-in flyers
Unicron just might consume the universe, and the Autobots need to determine who the Chosen One is so that he may rise from their ranks, unlock the Matrix of Power, and save all from Unicron! Unfortunately, not even the Chosen One himself knows his identity, and his discovery may come too late. The Autobots Have a Special Mission for:
There was a legendary conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons when Optimus Prime led Rodimus Prime and a large team of Autobots in a search for the future site of Autobot City. They were ambushed by Megatron and Thundercracker, and this became known as the Transformers' greatest battle on Earth. Rodimus Prime dubbed it "Digital Doom on the Highway to Destruction." Rodimus Prime remembers the Transformers greatest battle on Earth. Some of the Autobots were forced to retreat due to Thundercracker's "force shield," and Optimus Prime told Rodimus and the others that their only hope was to call in for additional troops. Transformers Combat Data
Later, Rodimus Prime remembered the Transformers' greatest battle on Earth. Rodimus Prime remembers the Transformers greatest battle on Earth.
Big Looker Storybook continuity
Kup and Hot Rod traveled to the coliseum to check out a robot car the humans had built that could respond to voice commands. They heard about it on their car radios! But when they arrived at the coliseum, Kup spotted Decepticons flying about. As some entered the back door, Kup shooed Hot Rod away, telling him to warn the others. If Hot Rod stayed, he would just get into trouble!
When Hot Rod returned with the Autobots, Kup had been captured and held prisoner, so the others entered the coliseum in vehicle mode. Meanwhile, Hot Rod snuck up behind Kup and freed him. Yelling "Geronimo!" they jumped from the control room onto the coliseum floor, taking the Decepticons by surprise. Galvatron and the others escaped, but Kup and Hot Rod agreed that they'd be ready for him when he returned. Car Show Blow Up
Later, Kup led Hot Rod, Arcee, and the Dinobots on a special mission to take supplies from Earth to a space station on Cybertron's second moon. Despite Kup's warnings, the Dinobots loaded too many supplies onto the ship, and in the middle of their journey, the ship began to have problems. Hot Rod reassured Arcee that everything would be okay, but the ship was going down! It crashed on a planet which Kup recognized. It was the planet Quintesson! They were interrupted by a tribal scream and a flurry of firestones. However, the boy who made his presence known was not aiming at them, but at the Quintessons behind them. The boy's name was Wheelie, and he had been abandoned on the planet when his ship crashed their earlier.
Wheelie led them through the jungle, battling Quintessons along the way, until they reached Wheelie's crashed ship. Hot Rod was able to fix it, and everyone left the planet Quintesson, Wheelie included! The Story of Wheelie, the Wild Boy of Quintesson
Ladybird Books continuity
Hot Rod was one of several troops stationed on Earth when Ultra Magnus was in charge and the Transformers' war was still a secret one. He got along well with Spike Witwicky, the two spending their downtime looking at car magazines together, and was quite pleased to receive some snazzy gold wheel-trims from the boy. Decepticon Hideout
In the time following this campaign, Hot Rod would mature into a more sensible warrior and even a team leader. During the early stages of the war on Nebulos, Hot Rod was Autobot commander against Cyclonus's Decepticons before the return of Optimus Prime. At one point, he prevented the Decepticons causing Nebulos' destruction via cosmic radiation. Decepticons at the Pole
Sticker Adventures
Out searching for a missing shuttle, Hot Rod and Kup spied it crashed on the Junk planet. They landed to find their friends engaged in battle with the natives, but Kup cautioned Hot Rod not to rashly jump in and join them. Kup's use of the Universal Autobot Greeting resulted in the Junkions abandoning the fight and making friends with the newcomers, and causing Hot Rod to exclaim "Holy cow!" The Junkions helped repair the damaged shuttle before the Autobots left. Battle on the Junk Planet
The Transformers Adventure Game Books
Hot Rod had himself delivered by freight to the planet of Nebulos, where he and his Targetmaster partner Professor Sparks suspected the Decepticons were attempting reinforce their position in spite of a treaty in place to limit their numbers. With your help they traced the Decepticons to the Wolf at the Door nightclub, an oil bar for Nebulan miners run by Monzo, and discovered that Weirdwolf, Skullcruncher and Mindwipe were importing Attack Squad robots from Cybertron and awakening them from cryogenic suspension with a catalytic stimulant disguised as Sirian brandy.
After a confrontation with the Decepticons that left Skullcruncher and Mindwipe out of action, Hot Rod faced off against Weirdwolf and Monzo. Weirdwolf was defiant, but Monzo wasn't feeling lucky and surrendered to the Autobot. Though the Headmasters had to be released under the terms of the treaty, the Attack Squad robots were destroyed. Desert of Danger
Transformers PD Type comic
Clutching a Blackball, Rodimus Prime found himself being attacked by Galvatron. As the Decepticon leader attempted to throttle him, a light shone from Rodimus's chest, making Galvatron think it was the power of the Blackball. After Galvatron had fled, Rodimus revealed it was just a torch, and reflected on what an idiot his foe was. Take a Stand! Rodimus Prime!
As Fortress Maximus and Mega Zarak clashed violently, Rodimus reminded Optimus that he had said never to let those two fight. Watch Out! Mega Zarak!
Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime enjoyed many victories against the Decepticons, but who was that in the background? No One Knows When he's Come or Gone. Greatshot...
Together with Ultra Magnus, Rodimus engaged in battle against Sixshot, but was terrified when the Decepticon ninja unleashed the fury of his "Six Shadow Selves"! Luckily for Rodimus, Sixshot's doppelgangers were actually other Decepticons whom he'd painted black (and weren't very happy about it). The Ninja of Space, Sixshot!!
In a later altercation with Sixshot, Rodimus attempted to use his Photon Eliminator gun to strike down the fleeing ninja. Though he managed to shoot every other Decepticon on the battlefield, he failed to hit his intended target. Rodimus sat pouting in the corner as the other Autobots convened to register their disappointment that Rodimus let Sixshot get away. Photon Eliminator
Joining God Ginrai and Ultra Magnus in an assault on Mega Zarak, Rodimus was terrified when the mammoth Decepticon unleashed his titanic Anti-Gravity Rifle. Fortunately for the Autobots, the gun jammed and Mega Zarak was left fiddling with it while they opened fire. Anti-Gravity Rifle
Transformers in 3-D
As Ultra Magnus left for a mission to find an Energon source, Hot Rod assured him that everything would be fine on Cybertron, and if there was any hint of trouble "Rodimus" would pop up and save the day. When Magnus later checked in, Hot Rod reported that they'd made some process on Headmaster technology. Though Magnus was more concerned about the threat of war, Hot Rod told him not to worry, unaware that Sixshot was planning to throw him a surprise. The Test
Hot Rod was pleased to have Optimus Prime back. Then Monitorus arrived with the news that Tau-Ursa had been attacked and leveled by Decepticons, and Hot Rod got to point out that the Tau-Ursans had refused the Autobots permission to build a defense base there. He shortly took part in an attempt to repel a Decepticon attack on Cybertron, finding himself fighting against Sixshot, who seemed more interested in goading him than fighting. This turned out to be a diversion, while Galvatron used his new Nullification Cannon on the planet's Energon supplies.
Hot Rod and Blurr next visited Tau-Ursa to check for Decepticons, and encountered Ape Face, who had found a Logicon warning beacon. The two Autobots wrestled it from him and returned to Cybertron, where the beacon was found to hold the coordinates to Metascan Alpha, a major Energon storehouse. Prime placed Hot Rod in charge of one of two teams to search for the planet, though the operation was hampered slightly by the discovery of the two Decepticon Clones spying on them. The War Against the Destructons, Chapter 1 of 3
Dreamwave Generation One comics
Hot Rod joined an underground Autobot cell led by Kup after Shockwave (G1)Shockwave's takeover of Cybertron. Among the members of the cell was Arcee, whom Hot Rod became attached to. From the Wastelands, Hot Rod, Blurr, and Springer observed an incoming Decepticon shuttle carrying the Dinobots. Cold War Shortly afterward, the cell rescued Optimus Prime from Runamuck and Runabout, and took him to their base. After awakening, Prime attacked Gnaw, Blurr, and Wheelie, forcing Hot Rod (who didn't recognize him) to hold the Autobot leader at gunpoint. After receiving a corrective slap from and being admonished by Kup, Hot Rod apologized. Passive Aggression
After Shockwave unleashed the Guardian robots on Iacon, Prime organized the resistance cell and other Autobot forces on the planet in an assault on Shockwave's citadel. Fighting alongside the Autobot leader, Hot Rod was amazed that the stories Kup had told him about Prime's courage and heroism had all been true. As an injured Prime breached the citadel, Hot Rod, Ironhide and Springer provided cover fire, taking down a number of Guardians in the process. Along with the rest of Iacon, they witnessed the divine light of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership when Shockwave activated it. Countdown to Extinction
As Prime and Ultra Magnus battled Shockwave within the citadel, Hot Rod and Grimlock took down Astrotrain and Blitzwing. Immediately afterward, they were confronted with the looming threat of a remaining Guardian robot—a threat that was soon neutralized by the arrival of the Wreckers, the Autobot High Council, and Defensor. The unified Autobot group soon breached the citadel. Revelation
Some time later, Hot Rod ran a simulation combat scenario against Kup, and won using tactics that, in Kup's opinion, would have killed them both had it been real. Only after his victory did Hot Rod remember that he'd promised to take Arcee to see an Earth-bound shuttle launch—a duty Springer was happy to relieve him of. Lost and Found Soon afterward, he was assigned to perimeter guard duty at Autobase with Gnaw and Wheelie, separating him from Arcee. The Route of All Evil
Universe: Featuring the Wreckers
A few months after the destruction of Unicron in 2005, Rodimus Prime spearheaded an effort to establish multiple recon posts to watch for advancing threats... even though some of his scientists said he shouldn't. When only two of the five launched ships were ever heard from again, Rodimus felt like a schmuck. Guy can't catch a break. Betrayal
After the Great Wars ended and the Pax Cybertronia was signed, he changed his name to simply "Rodimus" and decided to check out the new "Maximal Upgrade". His relationship with Arcee effectively ended shortly after, as the latter went through dark gripping emo depression over the death of Daniel Witwicky and vanished.
Rodimus joined the Wreckers at some undetermined point afterward. After Megatron took over Cybertron with his Vehicon drones, Wrecker leader Apelinq got stranded on prehistoric Earth, leaving Rodimus in charge. True to form, he ditched leadership duties to Primal Prime as soon as possible.
After Primal Prime got his marching orders from the Oracle, he met Rodimus deep inside Cybertron's caverns, where an even more gothy-emo Arcee—in a new Maximal body—lurked and stewed in her depression. Realizing he couldn't convince her to give a damn about anything, he left, rejoining the main Wrecker force in battle. Making it onto an ancient Autobot shuttle, the Wreckers blasted off... with late-arrival Arcee. Departure
Rodimus recognized the homing beacon emitting from Archa Nine as one of those missing exploration parties mentioned before. When the shuttle landed, Rodimus stayed behind to help repair the damage the ship had suffered. The entire Wrecker team later gathered in an Akalouthan village, where Rodimus was reunited with Glyph, who took them to see the artifact known as the Divine Light. The Wreckers' analysis of the item was cut short, as it was stolen by the traitor Cyclonus. Rodimus saw the back-in-his-old-body Devcon off, who was sent to chase after Cyclonus, while the Wreckers made for their next destination... even though several of them were now leery of the visions Primal Prime had been getting. Because they'd really done so well by the Wreckers so far. Betrayal
Upon landing on the frozen planet, Rodimus was part of the search party immediately dispatched to look for... something. Primal Prime wasn't too specific. They came across Al-Badur, an exiled Quintesson, who gave them a little history lesson. They were then promptly attacked by a school of Sharkticons, but the Wreckers made short work of them. They made their way back to the ship, with Al-Badur in tow, and made for their next destination... Disclosure
...Cybertron. As Primal Prime took some Wreckers after their true foe, Cryotek, Rodimus tried to get their injured to a safe place. Unfortunately, the planet was under a full scale Quintesson invasion, and some anti-aircraft fire inevitably clipped the ship and sent them plummeting downwards. After they made it to safe ground, Rodimus and the crew hooked up with his fellow Matrix Templar, Cheetor, and followed his insight to the battle. They confronted Cryotek's underling, Cyclonus, and his purloined squad of Sharkticons. With casualties mounting on both sides, Cyclonus beat a safe retreat, collapsing the tunnel behind him to prevent pursuit. Rodimus was quick enough to dive through the falling debris, however, leaving the two old enemies alone to do battle. Centuries of bad blood carried them through the conflict, until both drew their weapons at point blank range, and fired.
Horribly damaged by this last attack, Rodimus struggled to keep up with the other Wreckers and the running conflict between Sentinel Maximus and Cryotek. The fighting came to an end at a Quintesson banishing chamber, where the treacherous Al-Badur had attempted to toss Sentinel and Cryotek into a formless void. The two warriors were trapped behind an energy dome, barely able to fight off the portal's pull using their flight systems. Once Fractyl pointed out that Cryotek was empowered by the Divine Light, a fraction of Primus's own power, Rodimus realized that as Matrix Templars he and Cheetor could drain that power away from the Predacon. They managed to extract most of it before Cryotek cut off their siphoning effect. In the end, Sentinel Maximus sacrificed himself to pull Cryotek into the void with him. Rodimus finally expired from his wounds from fighting Cyclonus, quietly passing on into the Matrix. Wreckers: Finale Part II
G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers
Hot Rod was one of Teletran 3's unfortunate victims when the computer malfunctioned and transported a random number of Transformers to random points in Earth's timeline. Along with Jazz and Bumblebee, Hot Rod ended up in mid-1970's San Francisco, where he was locked into the form of a Ford Mustang muscle car. The dormant Autobot was soon stolen by a car thief, but was chased down by a group of G.I. Joes and Cobra members sent to retrieve the Transformers. Discovering Blitzwing in the process, the humans equipped both vehicles with disruption unit that awakened the Transformers and sent them back to present-day Cybertron seconds after Hot Rod commented about feeling "really weird." G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #1 Back on Cybertron, they were stuck waiting inside the force field Ultra Magnus had erected to prevent Shockwave from capturing Teletran 3. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers II #2
Some time after his time travel adventure, Hot Rod reported to Optimus Prime that Grimlock's team on Earth had been sidetracked by a Cobra attack. The Art of War #2 When said team ended up disappearing in Cybertron's Gladiator Zone, Hot Rod convinced Optimus to stay behind and take care of an Autobot peace ceremony instead of going out and searching for them. Hot Rod then assembled his own search party, but they failed to find the missing Autobots. The Art of War #3 Unfortunately, Serpent O.R.'s forces attacked the peace ceremony and captured Optimus Prime, leading to Hot Rod assembling a new team intent on rescuing him. The Art of War #4 They fought Serpent O.R.'s Decepticon army together with reinforcements from G.I. Joe, and during the battle, Hot Rod paused in horror as he saw the light of the Matrix being opened inside the Decepticon base. The Decepticon army eventually defeated, and by the time Hot Rod reached inside their base, Serpent O.R. had been killed as well. The Art of War #5
A few months later, Hot Rod questioned Optimus Prime's choice to go to Earth again, accusing his leader of feeling guilty about Bumblebee's death at Serpent O.R.'s hands and doing everything by himself just to prevent more people from dying. Prime just looked at him sadly before leaving, causing Ultra Magnus to tell Hot Rod that he really needed to learn when to stop talking. Black Horizon, Part 1 of 2
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Just before the war, Hot Rod was an unaffiliated Cybertronian from Nyon who stood up against Zeta Prime and the corrupt Senate, though he refused to join the growing Decepticon terrorist movement. He and the other insurgents knew that Autobot captain Orion Pax was also unhappy with the Senate and wanted him on their side, but first they had to show him Zeta Prime's evils firsthand. Ruins To attract Orion's attention, Hot Rod attacked his team with a plasma-charge during one of their missions. Law and Disorder Before long, Zeta Prime ordered the same team to find and arrest him. Cause and Effect When Orion Pax and his Autobots found Hot Rod at the Acropolex, he took pot shots at them to get them to follow him to the heart of the building, where they discovered tanks full of energon that Zeta Prime had drained from Nyon's citizens. Hot Rod then approached them, explaining that this kind of thing was happening all across Cybertron, and asked Orion to join the insurgents. Ruins Their talk was interrupted when Zeta suddenly attacked Nyon, and while this did push Orion Pax into turning on him, he couldn't do anything to save the city from Zeta's marauding Omega Destructors. As their homes burned, the insurgents saw no other option but to go with their contingency plan: having Hot Rod destroy the entire city with hidden explosives rather than let Zeta Prime use its population to fuel his war machines. Purge
As Orion's Autobots were brought to Kaon to discuss an alliance with the Decepticons, Rodimus tagged along and confessed to Orion that he deeply regretted having to destroy Nyon. Orion reassured him that he did what he had to do and that making difficult decisions and carrying the burden afterwards was all part of being a leader. Choices After Zeta Prime had been assassinated and Orion Pax had been majorly injured and discarded into the Undergrid, Megatron took over Cybertron and the Autobots went into hiding along with Hot Rod, who was growing apathetic and seeing factions as irrelevant since the violence would never stop anyway. When they were discovered and arrested by the Decepticons, Hot Rod was separated from the Autobots by Starscream who suggested he become a Decepticon. Transformation He was taken to see Megatron himself, who lauded his actions in Nyon, saying that a true leader acts decisively and without regret. Upon witnessing Megatron callously ordering the execution of Bumblebee, however, Hot Rod realized that Megatron was an even worse dictator than Zeta Prime and made his decision to become an Autobot. He quickly broke the other Autobots out of prison and followed them to the ruins of Nyon, where they were shocked to find that Orion Pax had become Optimus Prime and awakened Metroplex, the true identity of the Acropolex. Rise
Once Optimus Prime had formed an army to stand against Megatron, Hot Rod marched with them to the Citadel where they would fight for control of Cybertron. Broadcast Prime engaged Megatron in a one-on-one battle, but at a pivotal moment, Hot Rod observed that Megatron was feigning defeat in an attempt to reach a fallen weapon. Hot Rod tackled Megatron, only to be seized by the Decepticon leader and used as a human (well, robot) shield while he prepared to shoot Prime... only for Hot Rod to transform straight out of his grip, allowing Prime to defeat him. After the battle, Hot Rod turned away Optimus Prime's thanks for saving his life, claiming that he didn't deserve gratitude after Nyon's destruction. Prime retorted that he should be proud for taking a stand and following his heart, telling him to hold his head up since someday, he could be holding the one holding the Matrix. Endgame
Some time later, Hot Rod joined the Autobots officially through the Act of Affiliation ceremony, during which Optimus Prime told him... something profound which he ended up forgetting. You, Me, and Other Revelations
Years ago, Hot Rod was put in charge of a mission to the planet Ki-Aleta to obtain a powerful artifact named the Magnificence so as to keep it out of the hands of the Decepticons. The mission started off smoothly enough, with Gizmo using a holomatter generator to distract the defense systems while the rest of the team went after the Magnificence. Unfortunately, after that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. First, the generator malfunctioned, then Download tripped the security lasers around the Magnificence itself. Gizmo, Download, and Backbeat were destroyed by the security systems while Hot Rod and Dealer fled. Hot Rod, nearing the exit tunnels they had previously drilled, got a call from Dealer—he had been ambushed by a Decepticon attack squad and needed help. Unfortunately, Hot Rod had been given his own, top secret orders: the Magnificence was to be the top priority of the mission, and placed before all else. With a heavy heart, Hot Rod abandoned Dealer to his fate as he left Ki-Aleta with the Magnificence.
Years later, Hot Rod learned that Dealer had not died that day; he was being held prisoner at the Decepticon penal colony known as Styx. Hot Rod stealthily infiltrated the prison complex, using a holomatter generator to disguise himself as a guard and then short-circuiting the power grid to cause all the cell doors to unlock. During the chaos he snuck in, extracted Dealer, and took off while the Decepticons were busy getting the prisoners under control. Spotlight: Hot Rod
Recently, Hot Rod was called to Earth to aid the crew of the Ark-19 in procuring a Decepticon facsimile construct from Brasnya, a former Soviet state in eastern Europe. Escalation #3 He and Hardhead went down to Earth from the Ark-32 against Nightbeat's wishes, and proceeded to join the battle unannounced. As Hardhead went to support the main battle, Hot Rod went after the facsimile... which led to him colliding with Prowl as they both tried to stop the Georgi Koska facsimile from letting himself get gunned down by Soviet soldiers. Escalation #4 Prowl and Hot Rod managed to defuse the situation and secure the facsimile in the end Escalation #5, but before he could return to his ship he was attacked by Thundercracker and Skywarp, unable to defend himself because he had to keep the facsimile alive. After returning to the Ark-32, he had to be put in a CR chamber to recover. His injuries were for nothing, as the facsimile melted during the bounce. Escalation #6
After Hot Rod was repaired and reformatted into a Dodge Viper, his "friend" Dealer tried to convince him to pull some strings to get him to Earth, but Hot Rod and Wheeljack had the more important task of rescuing Ironhide. Devastation #1 They ran into a bit of trouble with the Machination's Headmasters. Devastation #2 They managed to escape temporarily, but were found and Wheeljack was incapacitated. Hot Rod easily held his own with the Headmasters Devastation #5, and noted that for some reason they had lost their "edge". He received a little help from Hardhead, who was mainly there to take Hot Rod and the others back to the Ark-32 for evacuation to Garrus-9. Hot Rod refused to go, wanting to see the Headmaster mystery through to the end. Hardhead reluctantly let him go. Devastation #6
Hot Rod's search was interrupted by Dealer's arrival on Earth, with orders for Hot Rod: find the Magnificence and use it to learn what they could about the Expansion. Hot Rod took Dealer to his hiding spot, which turned out to be the planet where they first found the device. As Dealer and Hot Rod closed on the Magnificence, he went over his first visit to the planet in his mind, and how things could have gone so wrong. Eventually he began to have suspicions, and upon locating the Magnificence, asked it the question that haunted him: had Dealer betrayed him? Sadly, it revealed the truth, and Hot Rod was forced to kill Dealer as the traitor attacked. Looking down on his remains, Hot Rod realized the truth had been staring him in the face, he just hadn't wanted to accept it. He then used the Magnificence to find out all he could about the Expansion, and relayed the information to the Autobots. Spotlight: Doubledealer
Returning to Earth to continue his search, Hot Rod arrived at the gates of the Machination's complex, and Scorponok prepared himself to deal with the intruder. Maximum Dinobots #1 Unfortunately, Hot Rod found himself fighting well out of his weight class as he was man handled by Scorponok, who cheerfully bashed his face in, put out one of his optics and snapped his leg. The Headmasters dragged him into Scorponok's control room where, with absolutely no prompting, the big man explained his entire plan for the Dynobots, Skywatch and the Machination. Maximum Dinobots #2
Hot Rod seemed less than impressed with this rather mundane approach, which ticked Scorponok off enough for him to point out that it was obviously just the first stage in his master plan. He was also warned to remained awed or he'd be of no further interest. When the Dynobots and newly-arrived Monsterbots seemed to turn Scorponok's plan on its head, Hot Rod burst out laughing, at which point, Scorponok ordered him taken out and shot. In the lift to the surface, Hot Rod suddenly erupted in flames, killing his captors, but draining his power supply. Weakened and with a crippled leg, he collapsed on the floor. Maximum Dinobots #3
He made it out of the building and ran into the real Sunstreaker, who blasted the two clones following Hot Rod. Sunstreaker ignored Hot Rod's warning about Scorponok's army and stormed into the building so Hot Rod painfully wired himself to send a distress signal. When Sunstreaker's real head was later disabled by Hunter, the Headmaster clones shut down, which Hot Rod explained to Grimlock. The group was surprised by the arrival of Shockwave, but Ultra Magnus had heard Hot Rod's distress call and was on his way to Earth. Maximum Dinobots #4
After Scorponok knocked out Sludge and Grimlock tended to him, the remaining Dynobots offered Hot Rod a lift aboard the Monsterbots' ship. He refused though, and made it back into Machination HQ to take care of something "personal". He eventually found Scorponok's real head (and remarked how ugly it was). Hunter also showed up and let Hot Rod know how to disable it, but before he could do so, Scorponok grabbed him. Before Scorponok could crush Hot Rod's head, the Dynobots showed up and began to battle Scorponok. Hot Rod told Swoop which wires to sever, and he did just that, reducing Scorponok to a catatonic state. Ultra Magnus arrived took everyone back aboard his ship, which later docked with the Ark-32. Within 3 days, Hot Rod was fully repaired, with a new body form design. Maximum Dinobots #5
Some time later, while traveling through space by himself, Hot Rod found himself under attack by the Torment, a Decepticon warship crewed by Bludgeon and the Pretender Monsters. He was shot down, but managed to transmit a distress call to the Autobot starship Trion, which came to his rescue. After the Decepticons were chased off, Hot Rod joined the crew of the Trion. Lost & Found
When the Decepticons' galaxy-wide assault hit, the Trion was shot down over Cybertron. Hot Rod sent out a distress signal and was ecstatic when he ran into some other Autobots. They must've come specifically to save his team and... wait, why do you all look surprised about my signal and appear beaten up and resourceless and... oh arsebiscuits! All Hail Megatron #4
Hot Rod was taken back to base and relayed the story of how he and his other crew-mates from the Trion arrived on Cybertron, having been diverted there by Decepticon ships and forced to crash land. Once on the surface, Hot Rod sent out his distress signal and was so sure someone heard it. Kup arrived with the rest of the Trion's crew at that point, just in time to tell Hot Rod of course no one heard his message. All Hail Megatron #5
After the Autobots narrowly avoided the Insecticon swarm and Sunstreaker sacrificed himself, Hot Rod jumped to Drift's defense when he was being insulted by Bumblebee. All Hail Megatron #9 When the Autobots were later rescued by Omega Supreme, Hot Rod was glad that he sent out the distress call. He was then ferried to Earth with the other Autobots aboard Omega. All Hail Megatron #10
For the next two years, the Autobots would remain on Earth as Prime feared the return of the Decepticons. Unfortunately, this led to the capture of a number of Autobots by Skywatch, including Windcharger, Gears and Prowl. Hot Rod, already frustrated, lashed out at Optimus, accusing him of keeping the Autobots on the planet because he needed someone to protect and demanding he be allowed to lead a team to rescue Prowl. An admonished Prime agreed to a covert operation, but with Ironhide along to watch over things. While Prowl was freed, it turned out the humans had used him as bait to draw the other Autobots in. However Wheeljack's new shielding protected Hot Rod's team from Skywatch's inhibitors and in a panic the soldiers switched to lethal measures. Hot Rod was targeted and Ironhide was killed protecting him. An enraged Hot Rod turned on the humans, damaging their equipment and machinery.
After returning with Ironhide's body, Hot Rod was shocked as Optimus Prime resigned his position as leader. ...For All Mankind Disgusted with Prime's decision and unimpressed with the indecisiveness of the others, Hot Rod decided to make his own way. He announced his intention to leave planet Earth behind, and invited any of his fellow Autobots to follow him in pursuit of that goal. After leaving the Autobot caves with a half-dozen recruits, Hot Rod went looking for Omega Supreme, in the hopes of convincing the massive Autobot to use his interstellar rocket mode to get them all off-planet. Omega remained resolutely loyal to Optimus Prime, however, and refused to abandon the Earth. At that moment, a small squad of Decepticon stragglers led by Swindle staged an attack on Omega Supreme. After some fast and smooth-talking, Swindle convinced Hot Rod that they all wanted the same thing...to go home. The Autobots put it to a vote, and the majority decided to work with the Decepticons to get off of Earth. New Arrivals, Old Encounters
The first thing Swindle asked of Hot Rod was help in reviving their incapacitated "brothers"...several Decepticons mode-locked by the humans. Hot Rod convinced Jetfire to work on the problem, as there "were no sides anymore", and these other Decepticons were brought back on-line to help with the construction of a new space cruiser. A Rude Awakening
Hot Rod wasn't completely foolish — when Swindle started suggesting they find and revive all the Constructicons, he remembered how deadly Devastator could be, and rejected the idea. Ever the smooth-talker, though, Swindle convinced Hot Rod to let the Stunticons go after Breakdown, the last missing member of their unit. He did so by lavishing a ridiculous amount of praise on Hot Rod, calling him Rodimus Prime, the herald of a new age.
The alliance was soon tested when Ultra Magnus arrived on the scene, attempting to investigate the death of Ironhide for Autobot Command. When he saw Hot...saw Rodimus working with Decepticons, and Swindle of all mechs, he freaked out and tried to take the Decepticon ringleader into custody. Rodimus and the other Autobots stood up for Swindle, though, and told Magnus he had to be prepared to fight all of them if he wanted to take one of them. Stunned that they did not respect his authoritay, Magnus retreated and work continued on the star cruiser. Seasons in Flight
What everyone failed to realize, even Ultra Magnus, was that Swindle was not only trading in combiner technology, he knew how to make it work. By the time Magnus came back for Swindle with a posse of Autobots, the Decepticon was prepared to end his alliance with Rodimus. He had forged the Stunticons into Menasor, and turned the giant loose on the assembled Autobots. Enemies of the System
Rodimus fought alongside Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and the others against the renewed Decepticon threat. They finally managed to bring down the titan, but the alliance was finished and Rodimus's own comrades turned against him for his poor judgment. Looking to escape his own bad decisions, Rodimus hijacked Ultra Magnus's ship and fled out into space. Earthworks
Since trying to talk and reason with people had only led to betrayal Rodimus decided that it was best to simply act on his own. He had a plan to regain the respect he had lost by taking back the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, stolen by Starscream years earlier. Using the ship's advanced tracking equipment, Rodimus found the Decepticons' asteroid base and hid in one of Ultra Magnus's thickly armored weapons lockers. When the ship was shot down, he emerged from the wreckage unscathed, took out several Decepticon guards and even put Razorclaw under his control by improvising with one of Bombshell's cerebro-shells. Rodimus first sent Razorclaw to attack Starscream, but after that failed, he confronted the self-appointed Decepticon leader himself.
Starscream himself was nigh-impervious to damage, but Rodimus improvised again and fired at the Matrix around his neck, having no idea what would happen. The blast caused some sort of energy discharge from the Matrix that knocked Starscream unconscious. Triumphant, Rodimus took the artifact and went looking for an escape craft... only to run straight into Megatron himself. He panicked and waved the Matrix threateningly at the massive Decepticon while warning him to "stay back!", but Megatron was unphased and shot him at point blank range, blowing a huge hole in Rodimus's torso and sending him flying into space. With the Matrix still around his neck, Rodimus's lifeless body could only drift through the void... Heart Like a Wheel
Eventually, Rodimus crash-landed on the desolate LV-118. Fortunately for him, the Matrix had somehow bonded/interfaced with his body and kept him alive. However, he wasn't alone. An Ilxian warship had also crashed there a long time ago, leaving only three survivors: a lab technician calling himself "The Admiral" and two custodians. "The Admiral", desperate for a way off the planet, attempted to use the Matrix as a power source for his ship, which he had fully repaired but was lacking sufficient fuel. But when he informed Rodimus that his plan to use the Matrix to power the ship might put him offline permanently, Rodimus broke free from his bonds and surprised the Ilxians by transforming and driving off.
Having escaped from the "The Admiral", Rodimus found a cave to hide in and figure out what to do next, only to be attacked by a hostile native creature, the Chaosteros. Suddenly, strange music began to play, causing the Chaosteros to run off, and Rodimus was surprised to find himself face-to-face with Wheelie, who had been missing for centuries. Wheelie and Rodimus devised a plan to seize the Ilxian warship. This plan succeeded and the two Autobots, along with one of the Ilxian custodians, Garnak, who had agreed to help them, took off in the warship using the Matrix as a power source. The Stars My Destination
Rodimus planned to return to Earth and rejoin the other Autobots, however, Wheelie misunderstood his instructions to navigate the warship "home" and took them to Cybertron instead while Rodimus was unconscious from the takeoff (It was implied that the Matrix could not accommodate both the ship and keeping Rodimus' spark alive at the same time; hence the risk when "The Admiral" wanted to use it to power the ship. Fortunately for Rodimus, Wheelie managed to fix him up enough that he could survive without it). Rodimus and Wheelie were reunited with Ironhide and Sunstreaker on Cybertron. Sunstreaker informed Rodimus that Cybertron's atmosphere had been processed and the Swarm eliminated, rendering the planet habitable once again. The group was then attacked by one of Galvatron's Sweeps, but Rodimus and Wheelie followed the Sweep and spotted Galvatron preparing his army. Having realized that Galvatron had seen them, Rodimus and Wheelie rushed back to the others and took off in the stolen Ilxian warship before the Sweeps could attack. Out of the Silent Planet
As Rodimus, Sunstreaker, Wheelie, Ironhide and Garnak returned to Earth and joined the other Autobots, he made it his first task to return the Matrix to its rightful owner, Optimus Prime. Seeing that the young Autobot's recent experiences had changed him for the better, Prime declared that he had left his past as the reckless Hot Rod behind him and officially christened him Rodimus, which Rodimus saw as a great honor. After hearing of Galvatron's recent activity on Cybertron, Prime elected to return to his home planet on Omega Supreme, and take any of the other Autobots along who volunteered to accompany him, including Rodimus. Orphans of the Helix
During the journey back to Cybertron, Rodimus was disturbed when it appeared that Optimus was getting a little too "cozy" with Megatron, and voiced his concern during a discussion about the imprisoned Megatron's fate. Later, Optimus asked Rodimus what it felt like to interface with the Matrix. Rodimus revealed that it felt wonderful, in contrast to the pain Optimus felt when he bonded with it. However, Optimus chose not to tell Rodimus this. Chaos Theory #2
When Omega Supreme arrived in Cybertron's orbit, Rodimus spotted a message from Galvatron sent using binary by ordering his soldiers to shoot off their weapons in a certain order and pattern. The message indicated that Galvatron wanted Optimus to send a landing party with which he could have a civil discussion. Optimus obliged, and Rodimus, along with several other Autobots including Drift, Sunstreaker, and Ironhide, accompanied Optimus to the meeting with Galvatron. Galvatron revealed that he was preparing an army to fight against "a threat that could destroy us all", and offered to allow Optimus and his army to join his ranks, but would not relinquish any further details. Rodimus complained that Galvatron's soldiers had attacked him before he'd rendezvoused with the others simply for setting foot on Cybertron, but Galvatron claimed the attack was a mistake. However, Optimus declined Galvatron's offer, and the latter attacked. A battle ensued, but Galvatron eventually retreated to the Kimia Facility, which he had stolen and seized control of earlier. Rodimus and the other Autobots were discussing whether Galvatron should be trusted or not when they were taken by surprise by Galvatron transforming Kimia into a massive laser cannon. Lamentations
As Galvatron began firing on Cybertron using Kimia, Optimus ordered the Aerialbots to launch an attack on the facility. Rodimus volunteered to take Omega Supreme into orbit, along with Trailbreaker, in order to oversee the Aerialbots' attack and gather intel on what Galvatron was up to. Rodimus ordered Trailbreaker to attempt to stop the beam from firing by projecting a force field into the barrel of the laser, but this did not work and Trailbreaker suffered significant damage from the feedback. Rodimus then endeavored to ram the facility with Omega Supreme in an effort to disable the laser and/or knock the facility out of orbit. However, he was not aware that the Autobots who remained trapped within Kimia after Galvatron seized control had a plan of their own: Lightspeed blew up the facility from the inside before Omega Supreme could strike it, damaging the latter enough that he could no longer maintain orbit. Besides that fact, Trailbreaker was in need of repairs that only Ratchet could perform. Rodimus and Omega landed at the base that Sunstreaker had set up on Cybertron. He then asked Sunstreaker where Prime had gone, and when Sunstreaker told him that he and Ironhide had suddenly run off toward the blast crater created by the laser, he and Drift went off to search for them. Numbers
Drift and Rodimus found Optimus with Ironhide at the blast crater. Confident that Galvatron was headed toward the core of the planet through the hole the laser had made, the four of them went down there after him and confronted him. Galvatron claimed that if he didn't succeed at destroying the core of Cybertron, the universe would be doomed. At that moment, D-Void began to take control of all the Decepticons and Sweeps, forcing them to fuse together and form a single giant monstrosity, except for Galvatron and Megatron (who had broken out of his cell on Omega Supreme). The standoff ended and Galvatron slipped past as Optimus, Rodimus, and Ironhide became distracted with Drift, who stabbed himself with his own blade to keep from becoming overwhelmed by D-Void's mind control.Kings
Through his link to the Matrix, Rodimus realized that Galvatron was planning on fusing Vector Sigma with the Heart of Darkness in order to destroy it, as well as the fact that he was delusional because the Heart of Darkness' influence had fooled him into believing that such an action would destroy Cybertron and prevent D-Void from creating a giant portal to the Dead Universe at the core of the planet when in fact it would allow him to do just that. He then convinced Ironhide to take an injured Drift back up to the surface for repairs while he and Optimus attempted to stop Galvatron. However, they were too late. Galvatron had already succeeded in fusing the two just before they'd arrived on the scene. Just when it all seemed hopeless, Arcee and Hardhead crashed an Autobot battlecruiser into Galvatron, temporarily distracting him and buying Optimus and Rodimus some time. Rodimus knew that using the Matrix was the only way to save Cybertron; however, Optimus was reluctant to risk losing it. Despite his initial hesitation, he finally took Rodimus' advice after Galvatron recovered from being hit by the ship and attacked them again. While Galvatron was again temporarily distracted by Cyclonus (who had somehow escaped D-Void's control and now fought on behalf of Cybertron), Optimus opened the Matrix into Vector Sigma. Genesis
After the Heart of Darkness was purged, Cybertron came alive again in a primordial state. Rodimus and the Autobots set up High Command in the remains of the Kimia crash just as Cybertron's long lost civilian population returned to repopulate the planet. A new political landscape began to unfold, with the Autobots coordinating with the captured Decepticons and surly returnees, dubbed Non-Aligned Indiginous Lifeforms (or NAILs) by Prowl. Worse, the Matrix was now hollowed out and empty, its power apparently lost forever. Inside its shell, however, Perceptor and Rewind found a curious inscription and a photonic starchart...a map. Rodimus and Drift seized upon the idea that the map led to the legendary Cyberutopia of the Knights of Cybertron. Despite the objections of Bumblebee and Prowl, Rodimus believed that finding the Knights of Cybertron was the best hope for reuniting their fractured people. As he began making plans to pursue the map, Rodimus was bequeathed half the Matrix's shell by Orion Pax, formerly Optimus Prime, who left for deep space in exile to signify the end of the war. The Death of Optimus Prime
With Ultra Magnus at his side, Rodimus sent out word to all Autobots and Cybertronians that he planned to search for the Knights, and rallyed more than 200 'bots to join the crew of his new ship, the Lost Light. Things went wrong from the very start, though. The Lost Light suffered a freak quantum jump in the upper atmosphere as it launched, catapulting the ship halfway across the galaxy. Roughly 40 crew members fell out into open space as they rematerialized, and fell down to the planet below. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It
Rodimus arranged a search and rescue force to recover the fallen Autobots, but nonetheless three crew members were dead almost before the mission had begun. Just as Rodimus was giving news of the casualties to the rest of the crew he got word from Red Alert, who had found another crew member dead. Hangers On Rodimus later found a Sparkeater was on board and ordered all crew members to their quarters. He then secretly ordered Ultra Magnus to lock them in. Rodimus, Chromedome, Rewind, Trailbreaker, Drift,Ratchet, and Ultra Magnus examined Shock's body and Ratchet revealed that a Sparkeater had done the damage. Rodimus later uses Rung and Skids to lure the Sparkeater into the engine room. Rodimus then grappled with the creature and positioned it into the engine block and told Perceptor to initiate quantum jump. This merged to creature into the engine block and killed it but Rodimus lost his arms in the process. After Ratchet built him some new ones, he had a tense conversation with Ultra Magnus. The Chaos of Warm Things
Rodimus was informed by Ultra Magnus that Tailgate wanted to be a Decepticon after what he heard from Cyclonus about the Great War. Ultra Magnus stated he was tired of keeping the crew together and when questioned why was he on the Lost Light, he said he had no idea. Rodimus then ordered Rewind to show Tailgate video footage of the Great War from the Autobot side, after which Tailgate became ashamed of his previous announcement about wanting to sympathize with the Decepticons. Life After the Big Bang
After Fortress Maximus went on a shooting spree onboard the ship and locked himself in Rung's office with both Rung and Whirl, Rodimus was briefed in, and placed a security team near the doors if the need arose. He watched as the situation unfolded but was deprived of audio and had to make decisions based on guesswork. He eventually sent Swerve and Rewind, who were on rivet duty, to take out Maximus using their rivet gun through the porthole. This ended badly, as Swerve missed and hit Rung instead. Afterwards, Rodimus delivered a speech that marked Rung's passing, and was complimented on it by Drift. Interiors
When a Nanocon infestation within Ultra Magnus became active, Rodimus and a small team were shrunk to microscopic size to go in and deal with them. Afterwards Rodimus attempted to conduct Tailgate's Act of Affiliation ceremony, only for it to be interrupted when Rodimus unconsciously scrawled "Let me out" in Old Cybertronian on the other Autobot instead of drawing an insignia. As more strange events cropped up, the Galactic Council ship The Benign Intervention arrived to protest the Lost Light's incursion into the sector, however Captain K'gard agreed to let Rodimus and select others visit Crystal City on Theophany. Though Rodimus and his team found the city in ruins and the Circle of Light missing, they also discovered a Metrotitan trapped under the ruins. They succeeded in freeing it, in return for which it transported them all to safety. Following the adventure, Rodimus became determined to stop winging it and concentrate on finding the Circle of Light. Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations
Rodimus was quick to blame Cyclonus when Red Alert's headless body was found in the ship's oil reservoir. Post Hoc Though he had Drift attempt to interrogate Cyclonus, Patternism Rodimus was disturbed when Red Alert broke the news that it was actually a suicide and at first angrily rejected the idea. At Ultra Magnus's suggestion, he put Red Alert in cold storage to hopefully be revived later. An Intimate Beheading
Following recon work by Ultra Magnus indicating that the Circle of Light might be being held on the planet Temptoria, Rodimus took a shuttle full of Autobots there to rough up the occupying Decepticons. A bracing battle was had by all, even if Drift did steal one of Rodimus's kills, but rather than the Circle, all they found was that the Decepticons were using pink alchemy on the natives. Rodimus and his men returned to the Lost Light to tend to their wounded. Before & After
Henkei! Henkei! pack-in comic
While the other Autobots were busy dealing with a rampaging Astrotrain, Rodimus disrupted Megatron and the other Decepticons' attack on a power plant by engaging them solo. Henkei! Henkei! volume 2 Unable to tackle Megatron in hand-to-hand combat, he was able to get Starscream to accidentally blast his leader instead, but this did little more than annoy Megatron, who flattened Rodimus with a fusion cannon blast. With Rodimus defeated, the Decepticons pulled out, but the Autobot cavalier didn't let the defeat get him down, and he sped off to join the other Autobots in battling Astrotrain. Henkei! Henkei! volume 3 Soon after, Rodimus helped defend another power plant against a Decepticon attack, shielding the human workers from Starscream's blasts with his own body. Henkei! Henkei! volume 4
When the mysterious new Decepticon warrior Cyclonus provided Megatron with the means to transform himself into the monstrous Galvatron, Rodimus, Ironhide and Mirage trailed Cyclonus's Targetmaster partner Nightstick to the volcano in which Megatron was carrying out his transformation. Despite resistance from Starscream and Cyclonus, Rodimus and his team were able to collapse the volcano's cone in on itself. They believed they had sealed Megatron within, and were about to focus their attack on Starscream when they were sent scattering by the explosive emergence of Galvatron from the remains of the caldera. Henkei! Henkei! volume 9
Henkei! Henkei! Bun Bun manga
Following the defeat of Galvatron on Earth, Rodimus was among the Autobots that Optimus Prime summoned to the planet. Together with Ironhide, Hound and Skyfire, Rodimus was to protect the planet while Optimus's team set off for Cybertron in pursuit of the fleeing Galvatron. To the Sea of Stars
Wings Universe
In the year 2009, Hot Rod, Kup and the Dinobots experienced deja vu all over again when a horde of Decepticons attacked their shuttle. Cyclonus, Scourge and 35 of his Sweeps chased them into a nebula where the Autobots lay low to finish repairs. When the boarding party finally found them, Kup's experience helped Hot Rod and the others drive off their attackers. Wings of Honor
Games
3D Battle-Card Game
Hot Rod was one of Optimus Primal's many Autobot allies in a fight against Megatron's Decepticon forces. Energon Wars Expansion Set
The Transformers: Battle to Save the Earth
Along with their fellow Autobots, Hotrod[sic] and Rodimus Prime protected Earth from the menace of the Decepticons. Hotrod was ostensibly under the command of Rodimus Prime. The Transformers: Battle to Save the Earth
Transformers: Mystery of Convoy
When Optimus Prime went missing under mysterious circumstances, Ultra Magnus was given the task of battling hordes of Decepticons in order to solve the mystery of his whereabouts. The Decepticons had also stolen a collection of seven energon cubes belonging to Rodimus Prime, which Magnus strove to recover during his fight. When all seven were successfully obtained and the battle was won, a new challenge rose its head, but with his energon cubes back, Rodimus was able to take up the fight! He had a funny habit of looking like an orange Ultra Magnus if you looked at him sideways. Transformers: Mystery of Convoy
Transformers: The Headmasters
Rodimus Prime was kidnapped by the Decepticons and held captive on Cybertron by Galvatron. He was rescued by Chromedome and his other comrades, and in turn helped rescue those who were still imprisoned. Once they had reunited, Rodimus Prime and the others met with Fortress Maximus for the last battle against Scorponok. Transformers: The Headmasters
The Transformers (PS2)
- Voice actor: Peter von Gomm (English)
Autobot story
When Shockwave gained the incredible power of the Zel Quartz in the year 2010 and began cutting a swath of destruction across the galaxy, Rodimus Prime, Kup and Arcee resolved to prevent this devastation by traveling back in time and eliminating the quartz in the past, thereby altering their future. Using a Transwarp-equipped ship supplied by the Quintessons, they traveled to the world of Zel Samine in the year 2003, where they ran across teams of present-day Autobots and Decepticons led by Optimus Prime and Megatron, who were carrying out investigations on their own on the planet.
Making matters worse, Galvatron, Cyclonus, and Scourge also followed them back in time, and the two teams allied themselves with their respective present-day factions in order to locate the Zel Quartz. It wasn't necessarily an easy alliance to make: Rodimus was barely able to keep his cool when Jazz, not believing that he and his team were really Autobots, demanded to know if Rodimus was Autobot leader in the future, what happened to Optimus? Fortunately, Optimus calmed his lieutenant down and welcomed the trio of future Autobots into his forces.
Working with the present day Autobots was not easy for Rodimus, as he was well aware of the fate that awaited them. On a number of occasions, he struggled with his knowledge of the future, knowing he could prevent a great tragedy but could also cause untold damage to the timestream by doing so. He also showed some interest in Arcee when he attempted to give her a precious stone he'd found during a mission to a mine, only for the female Autobot to scold him for taking something that didn't belong to him. Luckily for him, Optimus stepped in and settled things by ordering Rodimus and Arcee to return the stone. That Optimus makes one heck of a wingman.
After several false leads, the quartz was eventually located, serving as the power source of the ELTA power transmission array. After fighting their way through the likes of Cyclonus, Scourge, Starscream and both Soundwave and his future counterpart Soundblaster, Rodimus and Optimus engaged Megatron and Galvatron in a two-on-two battle over ELTA, using the power of their twin Matrices to stop the computer from self-destructing. Once the dust from the fight had settled, Starscream reemerged and snatched up the Zel Quartz, only to promptly take it off-planet, where it disintegrated without Zel Samine's atmosphere and electromagnetic properties to sustain it. With their future thus averted, Rodimus and his Autobots began fading away to rejoin the timestream. Before they disappeared, Rodimus attempted to warn Optimus of the coming dangers in the future, including his Optimus's death (for which Rodimus continued to blame himself), but Optimus silenced him, telling him that he did not need to know what the future held. Rodimus told Optimus that he would always be the greatest leader in Autobot history, but Optimus told him that he was merely a soldier who loved justice, and that that was all Rodimus needed to be too.
Decepticon story
Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave encountered Rodimus Prime while investigating the presence of unknown craft over Zel Samine. Rodimus was stunned to see the Decepticon Emperor of Destruction before reminding himself of the era he was in. For his part, Megatron thought he was facing Hot Rod, but quickly realised his mistake. After a short, sharp fight that saw Rodimus defeated, Megatron was distracted enough by the appearance of Galvatron to allow the future Autobot to escape.
Rodimus would again battle Megatron as well as Galvatron at the ELTA power transmission array, this time alongside his hero Optimus Prime. He was shocked that despite the fact the two Primes were working together, they were still defeated. When Megatron and Galvatron resolved to destroy the ELTA array Rodimus pleaded with them to stop, pointing out that the array generated a massive amount of energy, the same energy the Decepticons so loved. Sadly, the two Emperors of Destruction felt that with the Zel Quartz now in their possession, they no longer needed the array and proceeded to destroy it with their combined power. The wounded Rodimus barely escaped.
He presumably returned to the future alongside all the future Transformers when Starscream unwittingly rendered the Zel Quartz powerless. The Transformers
Toys
Notes
- Like the rest of the 1986 movie's original characters, Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime had early designs by Floro Dery which the toys were based on, and then final models were drawn from the toys. Both designs had revised heads that made it into the Transformers Universe profile books and subsequent Marvel comic book appearances.
- Rodimus Prime's early model appears to carry the trailer of the truck on his back, plus additional kibble on the back of his forearms. If only there were art of the back of this design. We'd plotz.
- Both Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime's character models suggest that the windshield and roof of their respective vehicles form the pelvic area, including little side windows on their hips. The animation studio AKOM even colored his crotch like his windshield. Unsurprisingly, this has never been duplicated on any toy, although the Masterpiece version makes a nod to it with a transparent groin plate with indentations underneath denoting two seats and a steering wheel.
- Meanwhile, both sets of wheels are on Hot Rod's arms in his character model, as they are intended to span the entire length of the vehicle. His wristcuffs are intended to become the vehicle's taillights. This also has never been duplicated on any toy.
- Much of Hot Rod's early model seemed to form the basis of Rodimus Prime's finished model. (Though given that nearly everybody else from the movie had a totally redrawn finished model, we wouldn't be surprised if there's a more-final-er model out there.)
- According to earliest materials (also the source of the earliest Hot Rod head seen in this section's first image), Rodimus Prime's original name was Hot Rodimus.
- Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime look very similar in fiction, but there are ways to distinguish them by sight.
- Rodimus Prime's character model has extra lines on his face that go from the bottom of his nose and connect to another line forming a triangle shape. Hot Rod's cheeks are more clear and youthful.
- Despite their toys being the same color of red, the cartoon series rendered Hot Rod as magenta, and Rodimus a dark shade of burgundy (the movie, however, made Rodimus the same color as Hot Rod). In addition to repeatedly getting the two character models mixed up, sometimes the animation would depict one model colored as the other.
- In Marvel stories, Hot Rod was also colored almost entirely magenta, with a yellow spoiler and flame deco, but with silver thighs instead of orange. Whoever did the Marvel deco sheet seems to have been looking at the original toy photos and colored the thighs like the toy's silver stickers. While Marvel Hot Rod was stark magenta, Marvel Rodimus was colored in the reds, oranges and yellows of his toy. Future comics and toys would ignore any differences in color between the character's two forms, presenting them both in the original toy colors (see the image at the head of the article for a good example).
- The Japanese The Headmasters cartoon, in addition to featuring the coloration differences of the American Generation 1 cartoon, also added some extra lines around the perimeter of Rodimus's eyes to further distinguish him from Hot Rod. These odd-looking lines appeared only intermittently, thankfully so—they made Rodimus look like he was wearing robo-mascara. The Headmasters Rodimus Prime character model also moved the wheel kibble from the back of the arms to the front, to better approximate their position on the toy.
- Rodimus Prime's toy followed the model set by Optimus Prime before him by having a trailer that disconnected and transformed into a battle station (in this case, called the "Mobile Defense Bay"). Unlike Prime's Combat Deck, however, Rodimus's Defense Bay failed to make the leap to fiction, with the cartoon simply depicting his trailer as somewhat unfeasibly folding up into his legs and body [1] (barring a few animation errors that depicted it as a separate unit). This transformation scheme was realized in toy form with Rodimus's 6" Titanium Series action figure.
- A lot of early secondary material uses Hot Rod and Rodimus in ways that don't fit the main Movie-established dynamic. As with stories from the same era that portrayed Megatron and Galvatron as separate beings, this was likely to avoid spoiling the Movie's ending.
- Hot Rod might be the Transformers character with the most names in the US. From "Hot Rod" to "Rodimus Prime", to "Rodimus Major" to just plain "Rodimus". Varieties of "Rodimus" appear to be how he will be for a while, as Hasbro appears to be unable to secure the trademark on "Hot Rod".
- Side Burn's powered up form has a color scheme which resembles Hot Rod's. The reference came full circle with G1 Side Burn, who was a redeco of a Rodimus toy.
- Aside from the Energon namesake character, Hot Rod has also been homaged twice (or possibly thrice depending on how you look at it) in the Unicron Trilogy. For Armada, the "Powerlinx" upgrade of Hot Shot was given a very Hot-Rod-inspired deco. In Cybertron, Takara made a redeco of Hot Shot (well, "Exillion"), who already had some Hot Rod homage elements in his toy design, with Hot Rod deco as a DVD-pack-in exclusive. Hasbro then took this deco, altered it, and released it in the US line at mass retail as the new character Excellion.
- This Rodimus Prime, along with the original Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime, and Jazz makes a cameo appearance as one of the four elders who began the space bridge project in the Cybertron episode "Balance".
Foreign names
Hot Rod
- Japanese: Hot Rodimus (ホットロディマス Hotto Rodimasu), Hot Rod (ホットロッド Hotto Roddo)
- English: Roadimus Prime (Omni Productions dub)
- French: Météorite (Canada)
- Hungarian: Nagyágyú ("Hot Shot"), Peca (The Movie, "Fisher")
- Indonesian: Hotrod (홑롣 The Hot One)
- Italian: Folgore
- Mandarin: Rod (Taiwan, 羅德 Lúo Dé), Rè Pò (China, 热破, "Hot Break")
- Portuguese: Roda Quente (Portugal comic)
- Russian: Patron (cartoon, Патрон, "Cartridge")
Rodimus Prime
- Japanese: Rodimus Convoy (ロディマスコンボイ Rodimasu Konboi), Rodimus Prime (ロディマスプライム Rodimasu Puraimu)
- French: Rodimus Primo (Canada toy, "Rodimus First"), Rodimus Primus (Canada cartoon)
- Hungarian: Rodimusz Fővezér ("Prime Commander Rodimus")
- Indonesian: Rodimus Prime (로디뭇 패리므 Rodimus Prime)
- Italian: Captain
- Mandarin: Rhodie Jr-tsūn (Taiwan, 羅迪至尊, "Rodimus Prime"), Bǔ Tīan Shì (China, 补天士, "Soldier Who Repairs the Sky")
- Portuguese: Rodimus Supremo (Portugal comic)
- Russian: Rodomes Prime (cartoon, Родомес Прайм)
- Ukrainian: Rodimus Najkrashhyj (cartoon, Родімус Найкращий, "Rodimus The Best")
References
External links
- Featured articles
- Pages with broken file links
- Autobot leaders
- Beast Machines Autobots
- Classics Autobots
- Generation 1 Autobots
- Generation 2 Autobots
- Henkei! Henkei! Autobots
- Kiss Players Autobots
- Matrix bearers
- Micromasters
- Primes
- Return of Convoy Autobots
- Rulers of Cybertron
- Targetmasters
- The Headmasters Autobots
- United Autobots
- Universe Autobots
- Wings Universe Autobots
- Wreckers
