The History of Optimus Prime

When it comes to great leaders, there's one name that comes to mind. Optimus Prime. Probably one of the most recognizable characters in recent history. Since his inception to the world from Cybertron from 1985, Optimus has been through various changes. Some for the better and some very over exaggerated. Regardless no matter what version, Optimus has kept the same face we all know and love. So let's go through the changes Prime has gone through.

This is the Prime we have grown to know and love. This is the leader of all leaders of the Autobots. They've kept it real simple with the first incarnation of Optimus Prime. Nothing too exaggerated or anything. This one will be know as the mecca of all Primes. He's been through the entire Generation One, killed in the animated movie only to be resurrected a few years later. You can never keep a good Prime down.

This Prime is a rare one. He's similar to the original, with a new twist and new partner. You might as well call him the original with an addition add-on, a special engine powered by a human named Hi-Q. With Hi-Q, he would transform from and engine and would insert himself into Prime where he would go on and evolved into Powermaster Optimus Prime. Although he has been an action figure, his only appearance in a cartoon would be in the Super God Masterforce series from Japan.

Optimus Prime has now taken a form we've all least expected. The form of a gorilla. In the series Beast Wars, Prime (along with the other Autobots) has taken the form of animals. In the show, he was seen a majority of the time in that form. But in robot form, he stays true to the face he has known to have for so many years.

During a freak accident after the Beast Wars, some of the Autobots (known as Primals), have evolved into an advanced mechanical version of their previous animal forms. In this case, Optimus Primal have taken a change in his gorlilla form.

During the Japanese run of Beast Wars, they have taken a different approach as far as the forms were concerned. Although Prime did turn into an animal, it wasn't the gorilla that we've seen on Beast Wars. He was in the form of a lion and not only that, his name was changed from Optimus Primal to Leo Prime. This is a rare character from the series and can only be seen in the Japanese Beast Wars series.

During the reboot of the series, the people that created The Transformers have brought them back to their original car forms. Optimus Prime have taken a different form since the original series. A Fire truck. Although it's not the truck that we most recognize, at least the series have gotten Prime out of the gorilla form and back to the one that most fans want.

Straight from the Transformers Armada series comes a different Prime for a new generation. This was the first of three Primes from the new 'Unicron Trilogy' series. The creators have finally brought back the original form but with an extreme upgrade. Not only does the trailer turn into a giant fortress, but it also serves as an add-on to Prime, which transform him into Super Optimus Prime. Probably the biggest Prime ever made.

This was second Optimus Prime from the 'Unicron Trilogy'. This Prime was one of my favorites for it has taken a pagein the classic Voltron book. Within Prime's trailer were 4 vehicles known as the Prime Force. Not only did they serve as helpers for him during battle, but they would also combine with him to form a super version of Prime. Also with this Prime, we could also combine with another super Autobot, Omega Supreme to form the ultra form of Optimus Supreme.

Also known as 'Galaxy Force', this Optimus Prime is similar to the Armada Prime, but with more of a space-themed look and with more weapons. What's so great about this Optimus was that he could form with another Autobot called Wing Saber, where he can become a more enhanced version of Prime. Another ability this Prime could do was combine with another Autobot called Leobreaker and go into Savage Claw Mode where he has this powerful claw as a weapon. This was the final Optimus Prime from the 'Unicron Trilogy'.

What is there to say about this Prime. He's a cartoon-ish version of the original. Some fans may think that this one was the worst version ever, but this Prime was actually catering to the young crowd so hopefully they would understand how they had designed him. It's not a bad design at all. Just different and not as big as the rest. They made him simple as in not combining him with other Autobots to form anything.

Now this is a very rare version of Prime. Paying homage to The Transformers, Disney and worked with Takara of Japan to make this version of Optimus Prime, but with the face of Mickey Mouse. This is rare and hard to find in America. If you find one for a decent price, this shouldn't be missed for any Transformers collector.