Optimus Primal is one of the most prominent and well recognized Maximals in Transformers history. He has saved theMaximals,Earth,history,humanity, the universe, theAutobots,Cybertron, theTransformers, and theAlternity, starting from humble beginnings as an exploratory starship captain.
Optimus Primal was the captain of the exploration shipAxalon.Beast Wars (Part 1) He and his crew were ordered to dispose the experiment gone wrong, Protoform X,Bad Spark who was brought in by Primal's coworker,Depth Charge. Depth Charge wanted X destroyed, but the High Council ordered Primal's crew to dump Protoform X someplace far away and with minimal life. Depth Charge became resentful against Primal for this.Deep Metal
On the way, they were tasked with pursuing thePredacon criminalMegatron, who had stolen the Golden Disk and atranswarp-capable ship. In pursuit, theAxalon passed though a transwarp portal to astrange world. During the ensuing space battle, both ships were damaged and Primal ordered thestasis pods carrying the rest of the crew to be ejected into orbit before theAxalon crashed.
The planet was rich with rawenergon—so much that prolonged exposure would short out their bodies—so the Maximals and Predacons were forced to take organic forms from local creatures. Primal took the form of a silverback gorilla, remarking that his new form was "interesting" upon exit from theCR chamber. During their first skirmish with the Predacons, Optimus orderedRattrap to retrieve the pinned-downCheetor. Rattrap refused, resulting in Optimus having to rescue Cheetor himself—as he later said, he wouldn't give someone an order he wouldn't be able to carry out himself.
On their return to base, Optimus was challenged to a duel by the estranged PredaconDinobot for leadership of the Maximals.Beast Wars (Part 1) When talking sense to Dinobot didn't work, Optimus engaged him in combat. The other Predacons took this as an opportunity to attack, and Optimus risked his own life to save Dinobot from falling to his death. Dinobot repaid the favor during a later battle atop a mountain, by deflecting a missile fired at Primal by Megatron. Although the huge energon cache on the mountaintop exploded, everyone survived, and Optimus announced the start of the "Beast Wars".Beast Wars (Part 2)
Optimus's men would often try his patience, such as when Cheetor's impulsive actions lead to an experimental comlink being destroyed. When the young Maximal left base in secret to try to put things right, the other Maximals covered for him when Primal asked where he was.The Web This perhaps led to Optimus scrubbing another of Cheetor's missions to install monitoring devices, though, again, the cat went out anyway. When lightning struck one of the devices and set up a two-way teleport between the Maximal and Predacon bases, Dinobot was able to persuade Optimus to send a bomb through, though Primal insisted on setting the timer to give the Predacons enough time to get to safety. Cheetor, meanwhile, had discovered that a common energon vein ran beneath both bases—an explosion at one would destroy both—and quickly got rid of the bomb. Optimus later lectured him on obeying orders, but Cheetor didn't seem too concerned.Equal Measures
After a battle at theStanding Stones resulted in an alien signal being broadcast into space, analien probe absorbed Primal's form. Optimus was still functional and aware, and able to contact theAxalon to cut off the Maximals squabbling over selecting a new leader, nominating Rattrap to be in charge. An attempt byRhinox to build a device to free Primal failed, butWaspinator inadvertently caused the probe to expel the Maximal leader. Optimus later commended Rattrap on his leadership.Chain of Command
Terrorsaur's discovery of aflying mountain laced with high-energy energon resulted in Optimus facing the super-powered Predacon in combat, and almost lost before Terrorsaur had to recharge. As Rattrap's bombs destroyed the mountain, Optimus leapt to safety with the rat on his back.Power Surge When the first stasis pod crashed to the ground, Optimus set out first, being the Maximal's only flier, but no sooner had he left theAxalon than he was ambushed and badly damaged by Waspinator and Terrorsaur. Ensconced in a CR Chamber, Optimus'score consciousness was accessed by Dinobot, who took Primal's advice to set up a laser link. Dinobot was disabled by a Predacon attack, but Optimus himself was able to use the laser to link to the pod and command it to reformat theprotoform inside. Repaired, Primal flew to the battlefield and greeted the new Maximal,Tigatron.Fallen Comrades
After a particularly nasty ambush, during which Primal was shot down and the Predacons escaped with another stasis pod, Optimus hit on a new plan—faking Rattrap's defection in order to find out how the Predacons had been constantly warned of their plans in advance. Later, Optimus explained the plan to the other Maximals, who'd been left in the dark.Double Jeopardy After the unveiling of Rhinox'snew defense system, Optimus and Tigatron went hunting for some Predacons it had detected. While chasing Waspinator, Primal became aware something was up back at base, and returned to find that a "malfunction" had caused the defense system to chase the Maximals out. As it later appeared that Rattrap's attempt to disarm the system had resulted in his death, the Maximals eulogized him, but it turned out he was still alive, after all.A Better Mousetrap
Out on a specimen-gathering mission with Dinobot, Optimus took the opportunity to give the ex-Predacon a lesson in not underestimating flora. Unfortunately, they were soon attacked byScorponok, who managed to attach aCyberbee to Optimus before being driven off. The Cyberbee injected Optimus with a virus intended to turn him into a coward, but resulted in the opposite effect, turning him berserk with rage. Rhinox quickly determined that removing it would kill Optimus and cause it to explode, removing that option from consideration. Optimus ordered himself locked up, as he was a danger to himself and everyone around him. With time to think, he came up with a plan to take the Predacons by surprise, persuading Cheetor to release him. He then fell into a craze, leaving theAxalon and making a beeline for the Predacon base. After ripping through the rest of the Predacons, he confronted Megatron, who attempted to bargain but ended up instead with the Cyberbee stuck to his back. Cheetor was able to administer the anti-viral to Optimus in time to save him, and Megatron and Scorponok were caught at ground zero during the Cyberbee explosion.Gorilla Warfare
During an attempt to contact a passing Maximaltemporal probe, Optimus was locked in hisbeast mode byTarantulas'sTransformation Lock Lens and almost killed by Megatron, but Rhinox saved his life. As Optimus was poised to enter the code to signal the transwarp probe, the Predacons finally succeeded in destroying the communications array, dashing the Maximals' hopes for a rescue.The Probe After a spycam planted in the Predacon base showed the result of an apparently disastrous mutiny had wiped out the Predacons, the Maximals salvaged atranswarp cell from the Predacon ship. Although theAxalon was made ready to launch, Dinobot, who had elected to stay behind, stumbled on the concealed Predacons. The launch unable to be aborted, Optimus ordered the Maximals take off with or without him, and went to rescue Dinobot. As it turned out, Optimus was unable to get aboard before takeoff, being shot from the entry port by one of Scorponok's missiles. TheAxalon was subsequently sent crashing again when Megatron trashed the controls. Optimus used his jetpack to slow the plummeting ship and allow it to land relatively safely.Victory
After another Predacon defeat, Rhinox was kidnapped by Tarantulas and turned into a Predacon by Megatron'sTransmuter. Though the other Maximals wanted to rescue their friend, Optimus had them hold back, knowing that Rhinox would wreak havoc in the Predacon ranks. He only gave the order to attack once Megatron discovered that Rhinox had been undermining the Predacon cause. During the ensuing battle within the Predacons' ship, he managed to slice off one of Megatron's arms.Dark Designs Afake Dinobot sent Optimus out on a wild goose chase to find Rattrap. By the time the Maximals got back, the real Dinobot had eaten the fake one, much to their disgust.Double Dinobot When Rhinox and Cheetor broughtAirazor online, they took her back to base to meet Optimus and the others.The Spark
Optimus headed out to rescue Tigatron, after the Maximal was ambushed while radioing base, only to find Tigatron had gone missing. The Maximals soon received a Cyberbee, reprogrammed with a message from Tigatron showing theflying island he'd found.The Trigger, Part 1 Optimus headed for the island with Rattrap on his back, the pair scuffling with Terrorsaur and Waspinator on the way. On the island, the Maximals desperately tried to head offBlackarachnia, but were unable to prevent her from taking over the island's control center. Fortunately, Tigatron's destruction of the island's power source saved both theAxalon and the Maximals.The Trigger, Part 2
Optimus was running a strategic simulation when amagna pulse triggered by Tarantulas knocked out theAxalon's power systems. He headed out to warn the others and was in time to save Tigatron fromInferno by blasting the new Predacon to pieces.Spider's Game Another gambit saw the Predacons stealing therectifier coil from the Maximal base, effectively trapping the Maximals in their beast modes. Overcome by bestial instincts, the Maximals wandered off into the jungle, and it was only through Tigatron's intervention that they were able to delete the blocks separating their robot and beast psyches.Call of the Wild
After a group of Maximals were blinded by an energon explosion and trekked most of the way back to the base, Optimus arrived shortly after they'd fought off Terrorsaur and Waspinator, and gone into status lock. He was able to take them back to base for repairs.Dark Voyage During a storm, theAxalon was badly damaged, leaving it open to attack, and attack the Predacons did. With the aid of aStarscream-possessed Waspinator, they drove the Maximals out into the jungle. As Starscream was left in charge of theAxalon, the Maximals surrendered as part of a plan to retake the base. Optimus easily escaped his bonds and recovered the Maximals' weapons, before defeating Starscream in combat and allowing Blackarachnia to deliver thecoup de grâce.Possession
Rattrap and Dinobot's habitual bickering finally came to a head when it resulted in Rhinox being hit with a new Predacon weapon, anenergon discharge virus. Optimus sent the pair out to find an antidote, hoping that they would learn to work together. When this didn't get immediate results, he announced a frontal attack, and the Maximals arrived at Tarantulas's lab in time to help Dinobot and Rattrap recover the antidote.The Low RoadSnowstalker's death as the result of a battle motivated Tigatron to abandon the Maximal cause. Optimus lectured him that while they were on the planet, they had a duty to protect it from the Predacons. Dinobot and Optimus were subsequently defeated by the team of Terrorsaur, Waspinator and Inferno, leading Tigatron to lend a hand and rejoin the Maximal team.Law of the Jungle
WhenInferno discovered evidence of theVok's imminent arrival, Megatron called a truce, to which Primal reluctantly agreed. Curious as to what was up, Optimus had Tigatron invade the Predacon base and find out what Megatron knew, and they discovered that the aliens behind the strange anomalies were on their way.Before the Storm While investigating anewly created Vok installation, Primal was tortured and captured by the aliens, who spoke to him in the form ofUnicron, and told him of their plans to "sterilize" the planet. He was barely able to escape before the construct sent a signal to one of the planet's moons, triggering an activation sequence.Other Voices, Part 1
Returning to theAxalon, Primal found that Tarantulas and Blackarachnia has turned a stasis pod into an escape ship in order to flee the doomed planet. As the planet's second moon was converted into aPlanet Buster, Primal took the ship to do battle with the superweapon, against the objections of his crew. Primal planned to detonate the ship'stranswarp cell when in range of the weapon, after ejecting to safety. The plan worked—with the exception of the "ejecting" part. Megatron remotely seized control of the vessel, overriding Primal's ejection commands. The Predacon commander taunted Primal as he futilely beat his fists against the pod, until the detonation obliterated the pod, the Planet Buster, and Primal, reducing them all to so much space junk.Other Voices, Part 2
Rhinox used a device to guide his core consciousness through theMatrix, retrieving Optimus Primal's spark and implanting it into ablank protoform. Reborn with a newTransmetal body, Optimus came to the aid of his troops as they were on the verge of defeat.Silverbolt, a newly onlineFuzor, took the opportunity to apply for the Maximal ranks by taking out Megatron just as the Predacon leader was about to destroy Optimus. Once the greetings were done, Optimus turned to Rattrap and requested the rodent remove his stuff from the commander's quarters.Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)
Optimus would later submit himself to a battery of tests, as Rhinox attempted to find out the limitations of the new Transmetal forms.Tangled Web After an attempt by Dinobot to switch sides back to the Predacons, Optimus accepted his apology and left the final decision of whether Dinobot would stay with them to Rattrap, who agreed to let him stay.Maximal, No More When Rhinox worked out that another alien site was located in an area Tigatron and Airazor were patrolling, Optimus set out to warn them, but was too late to prevent them being apparently shot into space. The plants in the area subsequently grew into anotheralien construct, which knocked out everyone present with an energy wave.Other Visits (Part 1) Though the Transmetals recovered quickly, Megatron was able to use theGolden Disk to take control of the construct, taking Optimus as a prisoner. Rattrap managed to get on board and free Optimus, allowing the Maximal leader to engage Megatron in a violent combat while Rattrap sabotaged the ship. Everyone was able to get clear before the ship exploded, and Optimus resolved that they would get Airazor and Tigatron back somehow.Other Visits (Part 2)
After the discovery of a stasis pod containingProtoform X, Optimus explained the background of the Maximal experiment to Cheetor. The pair were damaged when a fight with the Predacons ignited an energon deposit beneath the pod and the Maximals were forced to return to base. Repairs were made, and the pair were able to return to the field in time to rescue Blackarachnia and Silverbolt from Protoform X, who was later named Rampage.Bad Spark Optimus and all of the Maximals mourned the loss of Dinobot, after he was killed defending a valley ofanthropoids from the Predacons.Code of Hero The discovery of astrangely-mutated Transformer was tainted when it was subsequently destroyed in a fight between Silverbolt and Rampage.Transmutate
Thetranswarp wavefront from the Planet Buster's destruction finally reached Cybertron and help arrived, but in the unexpected form ofRavage, who had come to arrest Megatron for his crimes against thePax Cybertronia. Despite Rattrap's misgivings, Optimus agreed to assist Ravage, and after storming the Predacon base, they captured Megatron.The Agenda (Part 1) Primal was forced to chastise Silverbolt for his dangerous relationship with Blackarachnia, sending Cheetor out to retrieve the arachnid. After Silverbolt decked Cheetor and went out in his stead, Optimus and Cheetor went to fetch some energon from one of Tarantulas's stashes, only to be ambushed by Inferno. The fight effectively ended when Inferno ignited the energon, blowing himself and the cave up. On their way back to theAxalon, Optimus and Cheetor received some unpleasant news—Ravage had changed sides and teamed up with Megatron.The Agenda (Part 2)
The Predacons began an assault on the Maximal base, with Primal and Cheetor pinned down outside. The assault failed, thanks mainly to the efforts of Rattrap, and the Maximals set off in pursuit of Megatron. As it turned out, Megatron had found theArk, the then-resting place of theAutobots andDecepticons and, despite their efforts, Megatron was able to gain entry and shootOptimus Prime in the head. As Megatron gloated, atimestorm raged, threatening to erase the Maximals from existence.The Agenda (Part III)
In a desperate gambit, Optimus Primal took Optimus Prime'sspark into himself to protect it while repairs were effected on his body. The presence of the extra spark caused Primal's body to mutate and grow larger, gaining new jet and groundvehicle modes along with his gorilla form. Megatron sardonically dubbed his new body as "Optimal Optimus". Despite the new power, he was unable to stop the Predacons from trashing theAxalon. Optimus Prime's spark was returned to its rightful home, preserving history, but Primal retained his new form. With Megatron now desperate to end the war at any cost, Primal was forced to move his Maximals into the volcano where the Ark lay.Optimal Situation
Depth Charge arrived on the planet in search of Rampage, encountering Cheetor. By the time Optimus reached their position, Rampage had thoroughly beaten the new arrival, and Optimus took him back to base for repairs. Depth Charge rebuffed Primal's offer to let him join the Maximals, making it clear he wasn't impressed with the mess Optimus had made of things.Deep Metal Primal came up with a new plan to salvage Sentinel from the wreck of theAxalon by sending Rattrap down in asubaquatic stealth vessel. Depth Charge's interference resulted in the Predacons gaining Sentinel instead. After Primal chewed him out, Depth Charge said he'd consider the offer to join the Maximals.Changing of the Guard
AfterChak andUna were separated from their tribe, Optimus assigned Cheetor and Blackarachnia, by now part of the Maximal ranks, to return them. Optimus and Silverbolt provided reinforcement when the group ran into a squad ofCyber-Raptors engineered by Megatron, but Tarantulas's newcyber venom disabled the Maximal leader for the duration of the battle. He did prove to have a lovely singing voice when Rattrap contacted him, though.Cutting Edge Optimus was injured again during another battle to save a stasis pod, and was forced to return to base. Cheetor, despite Optimus's orders to wait for backup, went in alone, and was apparently destroyed while retrieving aTransmetal driver from Megatron's cloning machine. Anguished, Optimus blamed himself for Cheetor's death.
Cheetor, however, was not dead, and stumbled back to base.Feral Scream Part 1 After Cheetor was apparently spirited away by a savage feline monster during the night, Primal demanded the truth as to what happened from Depth Charge. Cheetor again returned to base, claiming that he'd destroyed the monster, but Optimus, suspecting the truth, insisted on viewing the remains. Cheetor was finally forced to admit that the monster was himself—the surge from the Transmetal driver had altered his form. Cheetor's new beast form turned out to be feral, and it was only through Optimus's coaxing that he was able to tame it.Feral Scream Part 2
Optimus and Rhinox discussed the possibility of removing Blackarachnia's Predaconshell program, causing her to flee when she overheard them talking. When they caught up to her, Primal explained that the decision to remove the shell program would always be hers to make.Proving Grounds After Una was kidnapped by Waspinator, Optimus instructed Cheetor to return to base for repair and sent Rattrap and Depth Charge to mount a rescue.Go with the Flow Blackarachnia attempted to use the Transmetal driver to upgrade herself, but only ended up beginning the degradation of her shell program. While Rhinox worked to separate the Predacon shell program, Optimus and the rest of the Maximals defended the Ark from a Predacon attack, but to no avail—the power was interrupted and Blackarachnia apparently killed. Luckily, she was resurrected as a Transmetal 2 and Primal later pointed out that out that her immediately rushing out to save Silverbolt wasn't a very Maximal thing to do.Crossing the Rubicon
Drawn out of the Maximal base by Waspinator, Optimus was hit by a dart fired by Tarantulas, which burrowed inside him and allowedQuickstrike to take control. Primal was forced to watch helplessly as his body was used to subjugate the Maximals and allow Megatron to take the originalMegatron's spark in emulation of Primal's feat with Optimus Prime's spark. Blackarachnia was able to free Optimus from Quickstrike's control, and the Maximal leader subsequently fought at length with the newly upgraded Megatron. The rest of the Maximals were released from their imprisonment in time to help him drive the Predacon off.Master Blaster
The tide was finally turned when the Vok combined Airazor and Tigatron into the mightyTigerhawk, who obliterated the Predacon base. Optimus immediately traveled to the site, concerned that the destruction of the original Megatron's spark would endanger history. While attempting to reason with Tigerhawk, the Vok emissary plunged Optimus into the ground before being captured by Tarantulas. Following Tarantulas's destruction, Tigerhawk accepted Optimus's offer to rejoin the Maximals.Other Victories
Pursuing Megatron, Optimus discovered what Tarantulas had found—the ancient Decepticon warship, theNemesis. He and Tigerhawk headed for the ship's location by air, encountering a massive explosion caused by Depth Charge terminating Rampage. Optimus believed that theNemesis had been dealt with, until the ship itself rose out of the ocean.Nemesis Part 1 At Tigerhawk's instruction, Primal left him to face theNemesis alone, and returned to the Ark to start a new plan to try to get the ship online. The Maximals were unable to do so before theNemesis arrived and turned a tractor beam on the Ark, so Primal himself flew up to the ship, pulling off his own wing and jamming it in the gears of the ship's pulverizer so that he could get aboard. He began duking it out with Megatron on the bridge of the Nemesis, despite the knowledge he was no match for two Megatrons.
By continuing the hopeless battle, Optimus managed to buy the Maximals the time they needed, and Rhinox took out Megatron by flyinga borrowed Autobot shuttle through the bridge of theNemesis. As the ship began its descent, Optimus reached out toDinobot, who had regained some measure of his old self, but the warrior insisted on satisfying honor by going down with the ship, and so Optimus left before the ship crashed.
With the captured Predacon leader strapped to the roof of the Autobot shuttle, the Maximals at last headed home. Leaving the planet and memorializing his fallen comrades, Optimus Primal declared that the Beast Wars were over.Nemesis Part 2
The flight through transwarp space was not a smooth one though, the shuttle encountering shockwaves in time that allowed Megatron to break free. After this caused one last shockwave, the shuttle emerged in orbit ofCybertron where it was immediately shot down by the orbiting satellites. Finding the planet overrun byVehicon drones, Optimus ordered a retreat only for he and Cheetor to be bombed by a gaseous form of thetransformation virus. By virtue of being aTransmetal, Primal was able to resist the full effects of the virus, though at the cost of his upgrades. Devolved back to the body he'd held at the start of theBeast Wars, unable to assume hisrobot mode and now having amnesia, Optimus continued his escape alone.Descent As he leapt through an industrial complex, Optimus began experiencing visions, which led him one-by-one to Rattrap, Cheetor, and Blackarachnia, before leading them to a chamber deep within Cybertron, the access point for the powerful and legendaryOracle. As the other three Maximals watched, Primal entered into the bowels of the computer, within which he was granted visions he could not yet comprehend, including the prophetic statement that "the seeds of the future lie buried in the past".Reformatted by the Oracle, Primal emerged in a new,technorganic beast mode and urged the other dying Maximals to complete their "reformatting" as well. Shortly after this was achieved, the group was attacked by an underground army of Cycle Drones. During the ensuing fight, Primal plunged into a deep pit, but as he fell, was able to master the "art" of transformation and regain hisrobot mode. Flying out, Primal grabbed the nearest drone and demanded answers, but lost his concentration, causing him to revert to beast mode.The Reformatting
Primal began to teach the three other Maximals the lost art of transformation, which was mastered by achieving an inner calmness and finding their spiritual centers. Though Cheetor and Blackarachnia were successful right off the bat, Rattrap was unable to transform at all. The search for answers lead them to theCouncil Citadel, where Optimus encountered the mastermind behind the empty Cybertron—Megatron! Megatron claimed he had united Cybertron into one unified machine controlled by his mind, and purged his beast form from himself, however the combination of the Maximals besting hisVehicon drones and Optimus's goading increased Megatron's rage until he involuntarily transformed into his dragon mode. Recovering quickly, Megatron gloated that he had done away with the millions ofTransformers inhabiting the planet, and Optimus demanded to know what he'd done with them all. Primal had to be dragged physically from the Citadel by the other Maximals, yelling Megatron's name as he went. Later, Optimus told the others that he blamed his own failure to stop Megatron for the downfall of Cybertron.Master of the House
Investigation of theCybertron Archives revealed that they'd been erased clean. Optimus was so furious, he singlehandedly trashed an entire phalanx of tank drones, and later lectured his troops for their poor performance in combat. When Rattrap and Blackarachnia risked their own lives consulting the logs on the shuttle they arrived in, only to be attacked by Megatron's newVehicon Generals, Optimus came to their aid with Cheetor, but was even more furious at the loss of the ship and the fact they'd endangered themselves.Fires of the Past With the memories of Silverbolt and Rhinox reawakened, Optimus promised to find their lost friends. Sensing aspark, Optimus led his men on a search, only for them all to be captured when Rattrap used a transformation enhancer to transform, alerting the Vehicons to their location. Taken to the Citadel, the Maximals were able to break free. Primal reached out toTankor's spark, turning the Vehicon General to their side so that he helped them escape the building. Unfortunately he didn't remain their ally for long, as Megatron was subsequently able to erase his memory and lock Optimus out. Optimus told the others that he had sensed something... familiar about the Vehicon's spark.Mercenary Pursuits
The Maximals discovered that someone had survived Megatron's planet-wide purge, a Maximal namedNightscream who seemed to suffer from the same transformation lock virus that the Maximals had upon arrival. Nightscream led them to an underground tree he had been living off. Optimus told the other Maximals they should eat the fruit, but the fruit caused their beast instincts to overtake them. Complicating things,Jetstorm picked this moment to attack. The Maximals snapped out of it when Cheetor destroyed the tree. Following the battle, Primal showed a new talent granted by the Oracle, reformatting Nightscream into a new, technorganic body. Optimus was critically weakened by the effort and requested the over-eager Cheetor to take command in his absence.Forbidden Fruit
During his rest, the other Maximals managed to drive Rattrap to Megatron's side. Optimus later convinced Rattrap to rejoin his friends, and reminded the others not to underestimate their comrade's strength in the face of adversity.The Weak Component The hunt for what happened to the inhabitants of Cybertron took another step when the Maximals discovered the empty shells of hundreds of Transformers, their sparks torn out. Inevitably Vehicon drones arrived and a battle began. The other Maximals became separated from Blackarachnia and were forced to search for her, even as it became obvious that the factory they were in was on the verge of exploding. After the found her, Optimus froze at the sight of the desparked bodies, anguished at all he'd allowed Megatron to do, and Cheetor was forced to take command from him in order to mount a retreat. As they fled, Blackarachnia revealed that the Vehicon Generals contained the sparks of their missing comrades.Discovery
Optimus became increasingly withdrawn, demanding the other Maximals leave him alone and spending all of his time with the Oracle, experiencing visions.Descent Confused by what the Oracle was showing him, he nonetheless persevered, and was rewarded with a meeting with Rhinox in a vision. Unfortunately their talk did not go well, Rhinox siding with Megatron's ideal of a technological Cybertron and openly hostile to the idea of reintroducing the organic. Optimus awoke and rejoined his fellow Maximals, who had awakened Rhinox's spark within Tankor, only to find the same thing Optimus had—their old friend had changed. Primal confided to the others that he had realised the true mission which the Oracle intended for them to carry out: to make Cybertron wholly organic once more.Apocalypse
While they were in search of the fruit tree Nightscream had originally lead them to, the Maximals were attacked by the Vehicons and Nightscream kidnapped. During the rescue, Nightscream discovered a cave lined with fossils, and Primal realised this proved that Cybertron was once organic.Survivor Optimus and Cheetor would continue to butt heads over what course of action they should take. The discovery of agreen goop from Cybertron's core which caused plants to spontaneously sprout appeared to justify Optimus's opinion they should concentrate on restoring the organic to the planet. When a subsequent attack by Tankor left Nightscream in atechnomatter state, more disagreement over the proper course of action ensued. They eventually stole a mole drone at great risk, and Optimus was able to guide it downwards, unleashing a torrent of green goo which cured everyone. Following the victory, Cheetor told Optimus that he refused to be treated like a kid any more, but grudgingly accepted Optimus's leadership.The Key
Believing Tankor to be dead, the Maximals were finally able to hold a memorial for Rhinox. Tankor, however, still functioned and plotted to have Megatron use theKey to Vector Sigma to purge all organic life from Cybertron. Hoping to force Megatron's hand, Tankor surreptitiously provided Rattrap with a catalyst to increase the plant growth, and Optimus and the other Maximals subsequently had to rescue Rattrap from the marauding vines. Though Optimus turned down Cheetor's suggestion that they use the rapidly-growing vines as a weapon, Cheetor went ahead and tried it anyway, almost spelling doom when the plan backfired. Quick work by Optimus saved the orchard, and he scolded Cheetor before breaking the news that he believed the Oracle had been tampered with.The Catalyst
Despite the apparent tampering, Optimus continued to follow the Oracle's visions, leading the Maximals to thePlasma Energy Chamber, capable of wiping out everything technological on the planet. The Oracle had bestowed on Optimus the power to open the chamber, however Cheetor managed to talk him out of opening the chamber outright, and the Maximals set about finding a way to deactivate the Keys instead. Rattrap, hacking into Megatron's computer, was disabled by Tankor. Optimus sensed something was wrong and rushed in to confront Megatron directly. As the pair fought, Megatron revealed the defeat of the other Maximals, but Optimus wouldn't yield, attempting to reformat his opponent. Tankor arrived in time to use a Key to turn Optimus into technomatter, lecturing the Maximal on sporting behavior, only to be promptly captured by Megatron, who took the opportunity to gloat over Optimus. In desperation, the Maximal leader finally opened the Plasma Energy Chamber. At the same time, Megatron ordered his Tank drones to fire the Key, the energies released creating a planetwide storm. Optimus's body began to crumble before his eyes.End of the Line
Though his body was destroyed, Primal's spirit was transported into the Matrix, the Transformers' afterlife. As he and Megatron fought in the void, he pondered if this was his destiny, to fight his nemesis for eternity. Before him, he saw the faces of his comrades, the Maximals, berate him for his poor leadership and near-genocidal behavior. He then found himself back on prehistoric Earth, where a red-eyed copy of Primal attacked him, scolding him for his fanatical behavior. Floating in space, he saw the collective sparks of Cybertron, who similarly warned him of the consequences of his choices. Awakening back in the maelstrom of energy, Primal used himself as a power conduit, taking advantage of his techno-organic body by channeling both plasma and key energies through himself and back into their respective sources before being blasted into atoms.
Meanwhile, the other Maximals journeyed downwards once more, speaking to Optimus via the Oracle. Primal refused to lead the Maximals, asking only for their forgiveness, but they merely told him there was nothing to forgive—without his guidance, they'd never have made it this far. Preparing to become one with the Allspark, Optimus realized his mistake: his mission was not to create an organic Cybertron, but to restore the balance between the technological and the organic. As he chose life and was returned to the other Maximals, the Oracle congratulated him for passing his greatest test. A forest of technorganic trees sprang up in the chamber around the Maximals, as the Oracle vanished.
Believing their next task was to find the missing sparks, the Maximals headed for the Council Citadel, only for agiant head with the likeness of Megatron to hove into view.Fallout When the giant head failed to do anything, Optimus attempted to contact Megatron's spark directly, but received only confused images which didn't even come from a sentient mind. Meanwhile, the other Maximals had discovered two more beings roaming the city—an intelligent and sensitive wolf namedNoble and a bestial dragon dubbedSavage. With Primal's help, they trapped Savage, only to discover that Savage and Noble were one and the same—a Transformer with two beast modes. Optimus vowed to do all he could to help their new friend.Savage Noble
Optimus ordered Noble and Nightscream remain outside the Council Citadel while he and the others ventured inside to look for clues to the lost sparks. His orders were, of course, disregarded, and it soon transpired that Noble was actually Megatron, attempting to access his control harness. After using a spark extractor on himself, Megatron took control of giant floating head, reactivating the drone armies and forcing the Maximals underground.Prometheus Unbound While rescuing Nightscream, who'd gone to try and find Noble, Optimus and Cheetor were pulled up to the floating head with a tractor beam. Megatron demanded information on the Oracle, attempting to take it from them by force, but they were rescued by Silverbolt, who has been reformatted from Jetstorm by Blackarachnia.In Darkest Knight
Though the Maximals were happy to have Silverbolt back, Optimus was reminded of the loss of Rhinox. Their introspection was interrupted by an attack—Megatron unleashed a variation of theHate Plague on them, infecting all of the Maximals but Optimus, who was scooped up by the Megatron's floating head. Inside, Optimus and Megatron argued at length on the topic of free will versus the harmony of one mind. Seeing his Maximals furiously infighting, Optimus returned to them to try to quell their anger, only to be infected himself. Still, with his help, the Maximals were able to overcome the effects of the virus. Despite their success through teamwork, Primal believed that the virus had only magnified existing tensions in the group.A Wolf in the Fold
Down in thetechnorganic orchard, the plants were faring poorly and beginning to wither. Worried, Primal wondered if the orchard was to be in vain. When an extraterrestrial shuttle crashed into Cybertron, Optimus led the Maximals toward the site. Discovering organic matter inside, the team was attacked by a strange plant-creature which headed for the orchard. Following it there, Optimus reformatted the creature into a techno-organic plant. The plant introduced itself asBotanica, a fellow Maximal scientist, and revealed that the only problem the orchard had was incorrect lighting.Home Soil
Optimus's depression about their inability to locate the missing sparks was interrupted by a vision, cluing him in to the fact that something was amiss. In fact, Megatron had taken two of the sparks and created two new Vehicon Generals,Obsidian andStrika, who subsequently almost bested the Maximals in combat. The timely intervention of Botanica allowed the Maximals to escape, but Optimus vowed not to let Megatron violate any more sparks.The Strike Another vision lead Optimus to believe the sparks were being moved. He and Nightscream ventured deep underground to the lost great city ofIacon. There Optimus encountered a giant hologram of Optimus Prime, however it turned out to be a trick on the part of Megatron, who forcibly extracted the Oracle access codes from Primal. As Primal later revealed, he had allowed it to happen so that he could access Megatron's systems and find out the location of the missing sparks.The Search
The Maximals infiltrated the Megatron's giant head, finally finding the lost sparks. They found themselves bound by metal tentacles as Megatron's spark began consuming their prize. Horrified, Optimus implored the sparks to resist, but to no avail. When Megatron killed Noble, Nightscream was moved to turn his sonic attack on Megatron, stopping their foe as he was on the verge of ripping the sparks from the Maximals' bodies. Megatron thus defeated, Rattrap managed to switch the plummeting Grand Mal to manual control, allowing Optimus to halt its descent. The Maximals later held a memorial for Noble and Primal gave a eulogy.The Siege
The Maximals celebrated Megatron's defeat, with Optimus assuring the others he could confirm Megatron was definitely dead through virtue of the link to the Oracle which the two shared. However Megatron was not dead, existing as a free-floating spark and though Primal initially welcomed Obsidian and Strika to the Maximal team, they abandoned the cause when Megatron turned up, trapped in aDiagnostic Drone thanks to Rattrap's handiwork.Spark of Darkness
In control of the Grand Mal and the sparks within, the Maximals failed to convince Optimus they should give the sparks new bodies. He was worried it would leave the spark vulnerable to recapture by Megatron, and they needed to reformat Cybertron first. With Megatron back in control of the drone armies, the Maximals soon found themselves under siege in the giant head anyway. Rattrap's gamble to save Botanica's life backfired, leaving them vulnerable to the drones, who managed to penetrate the head's shields. Despite the best efforts of the Maximals, the ship plunged to the ground.The Downward Spiral Down, but not out, the Maximals began preparing their defenses for the impending Vehicon assault. The shields did not hold long, and the Maximals found themselves fighting against hordes of drones. Outnumbered, the Maximals used spark power bestowed on them by the Oracle to decimate the drones, until Megatron took the Oracle from them. Finally, Optimus was confronted by Megatron in a new form—a replica of Primal's own "Optimal Optimus" body—while the other Maximals had their sparks ripped from their bodies.When Legends Fall
Enraged, Optimus struck out at Megatron, and their battle raged across the city. As the moved from location to location, Optimus found the bodies of his Maximal friends, and found the technorganic orchard ravaged. Returning above ground, Megatron unveiled a huge throne, drawing all of the sparks into himself, despite Primal's protests. Megatron began to reformat Cybertron's core using the Key to Vector Sigma, but Optimus managed to distract him long enough to throw him off balance. Together, the two enemies plunged into the heart of Cybertron and ushered in the reformatting that returned the deactivated population to life and gave birth to the new, technorganic Cybertron. As the surviving Maximals looked out over their new home, Primal and the Oracle spoke toCheetor, and Primal departed with the words "Transform, and Transcend", as his Spark joined the Matrix.Seeds of the Future
Optimus Primal, unbeknownst to him, had "Allspark fragments" (in actualityAngolmois Energy) at various stages of his life. The invisibleAtari Hitotonari andStar Dust attempted to retrieve it while Optimus was locked in battle with Waspinator, but it was snatched away byPrimus before the two could get a decent grip on it.Sparkbots Volume 2 This sequence of events would happen every time Atari would kiss other forms of Optimus to acquire the different fragments.Kiss Players #45
While investigating an energon mine with the other Maximals in the 9-BW Spacetime, Optimus Primal encounteredHot Rodimus andSARA, lost denizens ofCloud World who allowed most of the Maximals to believe they were from outer space and huntinga criminal. With their two new friends, the Maximals were about to reach the energon mine when they were ambushed by thePredacons. Hot Rodimus's battle withShockwave caused an energon eruption that sent the Predacons fleeing and almost consumed the Maximals who were trying to save the local wildlife. Fortunately, SARA was able to convert the eruption into less dangerousenergon crystals and the visitors returned to their proper spacetime.Wild
During a later battle with the Decepticons, Hot Rodimus thought back to his time with the Maximals, including Optimus Primal.TFC-A03
Some time after Starscream fled from prehistorical Earth, Optimus Primal and a group of Maximals, includingCheetor,Dinobot,Rhinox, and a time-displacedColada, battled a contingent ofPredacons comprisingMegatron,Waspinator,Blackarachnia,Archadis, andWolfang in a forest. After all the Transformers transformed into robot mode, Megatron attacked Optimus Primal with the jaws of hisT. rex head-hand. Primal blocked the attack with his dual Cyber Blades and then fought Megatron off with his Mega Blasters.Optimus Primal Chapter Though Primal blocked his "Tyranno Fang" attack, Megatron was able to counter by shooting a "Laser Buster" from the mouth of hisT. rex head-hand.Megatron Chapter
Some time into the battle, a warp opened, bringing with itJazz,Ironhide,Starscream,Optimus Prime, andRatchet, who were all from anotheruniverse.Tigatron andGimlet also joined the battle, and the Autobots and Maximals teamed up against the combined Predacon and Decepticon forces. Primal and Prime punched Starscream at the same time and then shook hands to commemorate their accomplishment of teamwork. The Maximals and Ratchet looked upon with approval.Tigatron ChapterBlackout later appeared and battled Optimus Primal during the next infraction. As the battled raged, theMegatron from the other universe came in through the warp.Gimlet Chapter
Megatron brought alongBrawl, and the two Megatrons combined their troops into a fearsome force against the Autobots and Maximals. Optimus Primal battled the Predacon Megatron and then Blackout in the ensuing skirmish. The Maximals' savior came in the form ofMotorarm, who then went on to battleTarantulas. Primal battled Megatron and Blackout again, and the two factions then took formation against each other with the intention of combining their energies to attack the opposing side. With Motorarm leading the charge, the Maximals and the Autobots attacked first.Motorarm Chapter
Later, through the power of energon, both Optimus Primal and Megatron attained the giant "Energon Power Mode". The energies coursing in their bodies granted both improved abilities and the two battled.TM-SP Character Data File
In order to counter the threat ofMajin Zarak, the injuredMagnaboss activated an alien teleport gate and transported Optimus Primal fromEnergoa toGaia. Upon arriving, Optimus helped the injured Maximal to his feet and immediately issued a challenge to the PredaconEmperor of Destruction,Galvatron: "You think you've won, but we won't be defeated. Let us settle this. Come to point B-2."
As the enraged Galvatron headed to point B-2 to meet the challenge, Optimus Primal found what was left of the soundly defeatedLio Convoy, buried beneath tons of rock and debris after a crushing battle with Majin Zarak. Communicating to him via cyberspace, Primal encouraged his companion to muster up the fighting spirit needed to dig himself out and face Majin Zarak down a second time. Spurred by the words of the strange glowing stranger, Lio Convoy broke free from his tomb to be greeted by Magnaboss, who had dug out the other injured Maximals who had also been defeated.
Optimus Primal then made his grand, melodramatic entrance from atop a cliff with the sun to his back, bathing him in a holy glow. The Maximals stood in awe, regarding him as a "legendary commander". Joining forces with Lio Convoy, the pair ofSupreme Commanders then went about developing a strategy to defeat Majin Zarak.
Point B-2 happened to be a narrow canyon, making Zarak's massive, bulky body useless in battle. With the beast trapped Optimus and Lio Convoy made their presence known, enraging Galvatron greatly to see two commanders, and Magnaboss swiftly defeated Zarak. After disarming Zarak Optimus commended Magnaboss but suddenly, Zarak began to transform on his own. Scuba then discovered that Majin Zarak is alive and Galvatron never had control of him to begin with. WhileDiver and Scuba researched for his weakness Optimus, Lio Convoy, Magnaboss,Bighorn,Apache attacked him head on but their weapons were almost completely ineffective. However Diver and Scuba eventually learned that their foe had a third eye where all its nerve endings were clustered; a good hit in the eye would destroy the behemoth for good.
As Majin Zarak closed in on them, Optimus Primal and Lio Convoy held hands, synchronized theirEnergon Matrices and transformed themselves into Flash Lio Convoy andBurning Optimus Primal.[1] Transforming to monkey mode, Burning Optimus Primal jumped onto Flash Lio Convoy's lion mode's back and rode his buddy up to Majin Zarak's face. Leaping off his back, he then transformed back to robot mode and landed a mighty robot punch into Zarak's third eye. Weakened by the blow, Zarak was rendered immobile. Burning Optimus Primal and Flash Lio Convoy then hovered together and with the power of their twin Energon Matrices unleashed the "Double Matrix Blaster". The absurdly powerful attack blew straight through Zarak's head, causing the monster to explode and die.
With the battle won, Optimus Primal returned to the alien teleport gate and asked to be sent home. The Maximals didn't want him to leave, but he insisted that he still had a Beast War on Energoa to win. He then assured them that they were all such good soldiers, they didn't need his help to win their war, ensuring them they were more than capable of winning their war on their own. As Optimus went through the gate, the Maximals then destroyed the device behind him so that its power could never be used to destroy the universe ever again.Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!
After a suspicious period of inactivity during the Beast Wars, Optimus Primal personally went out to seekMegatron and found theBlastizone, which took him to Earth in the year2004. Emerging from the time-space distortion, Primal foundR-Blade under attack fromDecepticons. Their banter revealed to Primal that Megatron was in this time period, and the Maximal scared the Decepticons away.To War! Optimus Primal Optimus Primal and Optimus Prime would soon meet up, facing Beast Megatron in the meantime.The New Battle Begins! Optimus Primal later teamed up withBound Rogue and helped defendVictory Leo fromStarscream and other Decepticons. At the end of the battle, Primal joinedOptimus Prime's Autobots.Bonds Stronger than Steel
Later, Optimus Primal and Optimus Prime attempted to push Gigant Bomb and Smokesniper away from Bound Rogue and Mirage. Their efforts did little, as Gigant Bomb was powered by a piece of solitarium in his chest. Star Saber and Victory Leo soon came to the rescue, slicing the solitarium piece into two and sending the Decepticon duo into retreat. The two new Autobots then joined the Optimuses in their struggle against Megatron.The Victory Warriors Enter!!
The Autobots developed the "black body" upgrade, which would allow them to safely absorbsolitarium as a power source. Optimus Primal volunteered to be first in line for the process, but Optimus Prime would not have his soldiers take the risk before he would. Something did go wrong with the upgrade, as the Decepticons had managed to replace some of the process's data. This led to Optimus Prime needing to isolate himself so as to not drain his soldiers dry of their energy.
When the Predacon Megatron, also empowered by a "black body" upgrade, attacked the Autobots, Optimus Primal puzzled out that the corrupted version of the black body upgrade had no ill effects on transformers with "beast" physiology such as him and his rival. He applied the upgrade to himself, and took off to rescue Optimus Prime from his volatile state. Optimus Primal siphoned the excess solitarium from Prime's body, allowing the Autobot leader to return to his troops. Optimus Primal and Optimus Prime then defeated the Predacon Megatron together.Black Body
On a tip fromSideways, Optimus Primal and Optimus Prime were led byRoad Rocket to asolitarium horde onChaar. However, Double Face turned out to be with the Decepticons and had set up a trap for the Autobots at the solitarium. The Autobots survived, but the Decepticons ran off with the solitarium.Defend the Solitarium! Later, in2005, Optimus Primal joined R-Blade andDelta Seeker in an aerial patrol. They came across Starscream,X-Gunner, andWingstun, who challenged the Autobots to a race. Optimus Primal proved to be the slowest competitor, but the race was won by R-Blade.Through Sea and Sky: The World's Fastest Race Optimus Primal later intervened with Optimus Prime when a confusedLio Convoy attackedVictory Saber. Once Lio Convoy was convinced of the good nature of the Autobots of the time, the fourSupreme Commanders used the power of theMatrix of Leadership and theEnergon Matrices to attack and send the Decepticons fleeing.Together, the 4 Great Supreme Commanders
WhenReverse Convoy was rescued by the Autobots and claimed to have been attacked by theoriginal Megatron atSherman Dam, Optimus Primal joined Optimus Prime, Reverse Convoy,Mirage, and Victory Leo to Sherman Dam to confirm Reverse Convoy's story.Strategic Meeting: The Mysterious New Warrior It turned out to be a Decepticon trap, and the five were incapacitated. To lure the other Autobots to the Dam, Reverse Convoy sent out an SOS call, whichStar Saber and Lio Convoy answered. Reverse Convoy shortly revealed himself to be Rebirth Megatron, the original Megatron reborn! Nevertheless, Star Saber freed the bound Autobots and Rebirth Megatron destroyed the Dam to cover his escape.The Dark Emperor of Destruction, Reborn Rebirth Megatron joined with Beast Megatron and the two led a force to make one final attack on the Autobots for more solitarium. The battle went on for three days and three nights till the Megatrons were finally defeated. With the power of solitarium, Optimus Primal and Beast Megatron returned to their rightful time.And Then
In thePrecursor World, Star Convoy did battle withKing Poseidon. Through the power of theSilver Matrix, he connected with the future Supreme Commanders he had met during thesolitarium conflict—Lio Convoy, Star Saber, and Optimus Primal. With their strength feeding his own, Star Convoy healed his wounds and was revitalized.Seacons comic 5
Before his death in the core of Cybertron, Optimus Primal somehow learned that Rhinox's spirit had moved into theLegends World and shared this information with Cheetor, who would send a search party after the war was over.
At some point, theArcee ofanother universe retold the story of Primal's final battle with Megatron.Bonus Edition Rattrap
After their death in the core of Cybertron, both Megatron and Optimus Primal awoke inside a bizarre temple-like spaceship which was hurtling through space. Neither had any memory of who they were or how they got there, only of their own names and a feeling of discomfort between one another. The pair went about investigating the ship in search of answers. While Megatron's memory was lost, his personality remained mostly intact: he was more concerned with seizing control of the ship before Primal did in order to gain the upper hand.
They eventually found a data log and discovered that their sparks had been taken and they were reborn into new bodies (unbeknownst to them, bodies identical to their original forms). However, their memories were intentionally not uploaded into their new bodies. While searching the log they discovered that the ship's main power source was aGolden Disk lodged within a giant pillar. Megatron immediately raced to obtain the Disk and Primal followed him. The closer they got to the disk, the more the ship attempted to thwart their advance by manipulating its atmospheric conditions.
Once they reached the chamber, the ship's environment suddenly morphed to that of a decaying planet littered with the corpses of robots. The corpses came to life and began shambling toward them, intent on eating their sparks. They made short work of the zombies, leaving Megatron to obtain the Golden Disk and Primal with a feeling that he shouldn't entirely trust Megatron. This was confirmed quite quickly when Megatron discovered a part of the ship capable of turning anything—or anyone—into pureantimatter and announced his intention to use it as a weapon. (Also, Primal somehow gotthe Laser body ofhis predecessor after Megatron started fiddling with the ship's computer.) As the two of them prepared to fight, a strange Transformer interrupted them, causing the entire ship to shut itself off (and giving Primal his old body back in the process). This Transformer introduced himself asSoundblaster, announcing that the ship's power over space and time was his own—and that he wished to pass it to Megatron.
From another dimension beyond time and space,Primus recognized that something was amiss and sentVector Prime to meet Primal and Megatron within the spaceship.The Mysterious Temple in Space He arrived just in time to confront Soundblaster. Referring to him by his true name of Logos Prime, Vector Prime questioned the Ancient's motives, only for Soundblaster to repeat his intention of passing his powers to Megatron.Master of the Game
Optimus tried to take down Soundblaster in response, only for his attack to prove ineffective against his opponent's infrasonic wave counter-attack. Soundblaster then declared that a rite of succession would take place in order for his power to be passed on. The details of the rite were contained on the Golden Disk, which Optimus snatched away before Soundblaster could finish his explanation. Soundblaster then restored both Optimus and Megatron's memories, and warped the two competitors down onto anorganic planet. Optimus first mistook the place for Earth, but the appearance ofScourge duking it out with aBear Transformer changed his mind on the matter. Optimus readied himself to join the tussle, only to be slammed away by Scourge's tail. Fighting unconsciousness, Optimus was approached byBackstop.Planetfall
After explaining his origins to Backstop, Optimus Primal was brought to theRectangular Valley temple, where he analyzed the Golden Disk with the attending priests' technology. Megatron would make an appearance a few days later in a new body adapted to their new universe'sproperties. Primal had a plan for himself, borrowing Animatron'sCyber Planet Key from the local viceroy, Optimus Primal used its power to evolve into a new Animatronian form that could access theZeonomicon left behind for Soundlaster's successor. The two nemeses rushed to the obelisk where the successor would have to lay the Golden Disk to become the inheritor of the Ancient's powers. Both vanished from sight of the others in the battle, but Backstop believed that the dawn of a new day signaled who won out.The Extraordinary Reformat
Upon meeting the lostShaoshao Li on his universe'sCybertron,Safeguard noted thatLogos Prime had brought two Transformers from Shaoshao'sworld to this universe a long time ago. It was prudent for Shaoshao to find how they may have returned to their native universe, as she needed to return the"Allspark" fragments she collected to ensure its future.Kiss Players #50
Some time after Optimus Primal's rebirth as a Transmetal,Antagony arrived on prehistoricEarth in search for an artifact. Optimus was called in to assist the other Maximals in subduding the Predacon. She eventually ran out of power and collapsed. Before he could have a look at the mysterious assailant, Optimus was knocked out by Megatron, who abducted Antagony.Visitations
When another traveler from Antagony's time came, Megatron engineered a battle between his Predacons and Optimus Primal's Maximals so that he could personally investigate. Realizing Megatron's intentions, Optimus followed him into a cavern that containedUnicron'sDark Essence. The time traveler,Windrazor, was soon possessed by the Dark Essence, and it used its powers to play with both Maximal and Predacon alike. However, thanks to theCub and theVeteran within Windrazor, the Dark Essence was expelled, but the future possessor of the Dark Essence,Shokaract, arrived right after from the 32nd century.Paradox The Maximals' efforts against Shokaract were of little consequence and Optimus Primal in particular had a hole blasted in his chest, although he survived. Optimus watched as many warriors from various timelines and dimensions, such asApelinq and theCovenant, arrived toPoint Omega to battle the threat. While the Covenant battled the Dark Essence within Shokaract, Optimus Primal joined the others on the physical plane in distracting the demigod; with Shokaract's attention elsewhere, the Covenant were successful at separating the Dark Essence from Shokaract, destroying the warlord's timeline and erasing the battle and its build-up from existence in the process.Terminus
Some time after his return to Cybertron and his subsequentreformatting, Optimus Primal recovered theDeployer combat drones withNightscream. They were cornered byTank Drones, but were saved with the intervention ofRamulus, who had a dislike of Optimus for "abandoning" him on Earth, andPrimal Prime. He soon met with Apelinq, whom he felt a familiarity with and who explained Point Omega and their presence to Optimus. They all went before theOracle, and Optimus Primal met theDinobots and theMutants. He was elated at the existence of more free Cybertronians, but the Oracle deemed that he had seen too much and wiped Optimus Primal and Nightscream's memories of the others. The Oracle ordered Apelinq to return them to their base, which he did so.Departure
As the denizens of post-VehiconCybertron just began to settle into their peaceful,technorganic world that Optimus Primal had given his life to create,Unicron unexpectedly struck from afar. He teleported severalTransformers into himself, a handful of the countless victims across themultiverse whom he pitted against each other in order to harvest theirenergon radiation and, eventually,sparks. Damaged in some unknown battle and trapped between dimensions, Unicron sought to revitalize himself in this fashion.
Deep within Cybertron,Primus andAlpha Trion summoned Optimus Primal back from the dead and sent him on a raid to free Unicron's captives.Abduction Once inside the Chaos-Bringer, he found allies in the form of aGrimlock and even aMegatron from variant timelines.OTFCC Live-Action Drama He also found himself discolored by sinisterradiation that threatened not only his body, but also his spark. Nevertheless, he was quite successful in his mission, battling Unicron'sMinions until he had freed dozens of abductees. Then, still within Unicron, he sent them back to their home dimensions by the power of prayer.
Returning to Cybertron, Primal was glad for his victory, but he wondered if his own resurrection could bring about Megatron's return as well.Escape More pressingly, Primal was unable to convince theMaximal High Council that any of this was actuallyhappening, so he ended up turning to the dead for new troops. Primus gave him a selection of fallen warriors to choose from, and he pickedRhinox andDepth Charge. They were to launch more raids within Unicron while an orbital defense platform was being constructed above Cybertron. But Depth Charge refused to take part in more violence, so Alpha Trion took a cue from Unicron and transportedOmega Prime into their universe to fight in his place.Homecoming
Optimus Primal took Omega Prime and others on raids within Unicron's internal "prison cities", freeing more captives. Primal then embarked on an even more proactive venture, leading teams to other universes in anticipation of Unicron's strikes and setting up defensive measures before the Chaos-Bringer could gather more victims. Despite gaining more followers in this process, Primal and other veterans were being worn down by Unicron's corruptive influence. Certainly, those who had been abducted and reformatted by Unicron were affected, but some (such as Primal himself) who had been exposed to Unicron's nanotech virus and its accompanying radiation were also suffering. In order to avert madness and death, Primusreformatted Primal and several of hiscomrades. Not only was his new form immune to the virus and radiation, but it also possessed theMatrix of Purification, which could heal others of Unicronian corruption.
Months passed as the competing armies grew, their battles raging on a level comparable to theGreat Wars. Cybertron itself remained stable, but only for a time. The planet fell victim to a massive invasion, later called "theCulling", in which Unicron's Minions swept across the globe in a killing frenzy, with the sparks of their victims feeding the Chaos-Bringer. Primal's army fended the invaders off, but, in the chaotic aftermath, Primal's earlier fears were realized asMegatron returned to lead thePredacons back to glory. He initially fought Primal, but he eventually called a truce to better face their common foe.Optimus Primal's profile in Club magazine #9
Continued raids saved many more captives and brought the Minions to near-defeat. Then as one raiding party including Primal and Omega Prime battled their way out, Unicron suddenly began to disappear. The raiders rapidly teleported away, but Omega Prime did not materialize with the rest. He was pulled in mid-teleport byOver-Run into the Cybertron of theUnicron Singularity, which had been the cause of the Unicron-war Unicron's disappearance. Presumably Optimus Primal made it back to his own universe safely, but this is unconfirmed.Revelations Part 2
Inanother universe, anotherApelinq had visions of the great battle known asPoint Omega. He saw Optimus Primal, whom he did not recognize.Apelinq's personal logs
In one splinter timeline which diverged fromPrimax 496.22 Alpha shortly after Optimus Primal's death, Primal was not resurrected, and his remaining Maximals except for Tigatron and Airazor were killed by the Predacons.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/07 This timeline'sTigerhawk, who later became the evilRazorclaw, hated the memory of his constituents' commander, and this carried over to theUniverse War wherein he foughtanother universe's Optimus Primal.Universe Razorclaw profile
Optimus Primal was part of anAutobot force helping in construction atAthens in preparation of theOlympics.Gigant Bomb andSmokesniper, sent byMegatron, attacked, but the twoDecepticons soon discovered that they were outnumbered. After turning themselves over to the Autobots for mercy, they were put to work in helping out Athens.Robotmasters Vol. 1
While on a mission in theCongo, Optimus Primal received a message fromOptimus Prime about a strange frequency detected in the jungle. Investigating, Primal foundStarscream building a Decepticon airbase. After using vines to tie up Starscream, Optimus Primal used his Blast Jet Pu~nch on him, thwarting his dastardly plot.Robotmasters Vol. 2
Primal borne witness toReverse Convoy's arrival at the Autobot base andStarscream chasing after him to stop him from revealing the location of the secret Decepticon base. Primal joined in the fight against Starscream, but it was Reverse Convoy who ultimately sent him fleeing. At the conclusion of the battle, Reverse Convoy agreed to lead the Autobots to the Decepticon base.Robotmasters Vol. 9 It turned out that Reverse Convoy was the reborn G1 Megatron and that he led the Autobot leaders to a trap that sapped them of their energies. Thankfully, they were saved by the intervention ofLio Convoy and anotherOptimus Prime. Together with the new Optimus Prime's Galaxy Cannon, G1 Optimus Prime, Lio Convoy,Victory Saber, and Optimus Primal blasted away the Decepticons.Robotmasters Vol. 11
I want to tell you about the Transformers! Robotmasters Vol. 5This character article is astub and is missing information on theirfictional appearances. You can helpTransformers Wiki byexpanding it. |
Optimus Primal chased Megatron into a time warp to Earth in 2004. There, he met and joined forces withOptimus Prime during a battle against Megatron and his Decepticons. Together, the Optimuses performed a special attack, a massive energon whirlwind called the "Double Convoy Tornado" to force the malevolent robots away.Fight! The Group of the Strongest Commanders!
Optimus Primal was later part of an Autobot force battling the Decepticons in a city. When he was assisted by a new arrival,Reverse Convoy, Optimus Primal met him for introductions, and the Convoy explained that he wanted to assist in the fight against Megatron. However, Reverse Convoy soon shotStar Saber andVictory Leo out of the sky and revealed himself to beRebirth Megatron. Optimus Primal was shocked, and Rebirth Megatron joined forces with Beast Megatron, creating the Double Megatron Tornado to counter the Double Convoy Tornado. But the Autobot tornado emerged victorious with the addition of Lio Convoy's Lio Typhoon Arrow, creating the Triple Convoy Tornado Link attack and sending the Megatrons into retreat.Lio Convoy Storms In
On the trip back to Cybertron at the conclusion of the Beast Wars, Optimus Primal dozed off, but was woken up by Rattrap talking in his sleep. Primal asked Rattrap if he was okay, and he replied that it wasn't anything to be concerned about.Ain't No Rat
Optimus reflected on the events that had taken them through the Beast Wars to their current situation, riding aboard an Autobot shuttlecraft through transwarp, and made a speech to his Maximals about sticking together. Little did he know that a Transwarp agitator had been placed on the shuttle by a new team on Predacons hiding on Earth. The device caused Optimus and the rest of the Maximals to act aggressively towards one another. The only one unaffected was Rattrap, who was experiencing troubles of a different sort; he was being plagued by visions of Maximals he had supposedly "abandoned" on Earth. In response to the rodent's own unusual behavior, Optimus tried to force him in the C.R. Chamber with excessive force. Rattrap got away from him and managed to deactivate the ship's Transwarp drive, annulling the effects of the Transwarp agitator. Unfortunately, this also returned their ship to prehistoric Earth. Worse yet, Megatron took advantage of the situation and escaped his bonds from atop of the shuttle, and melted a hole into its bulkhead to attack the Maximals within.Shell Game #1
Following the explosion of the Planet Buster, Optimus Primal found himself inMaccadam's Old Oil House, where he encounteredOptimus Prime, anOptimus Prime from adifferent universe, and a future version of himself. The four of them were able to overcome the alternate Prime's doubts about his leadership, before they all returned to the time streams from whence they came. Optimus Primal repeated the whole thing again much later, after his destruction facing Megatron in theCouncil Citadel on Cybertron.Prime Spark
Much later, while angsting over the way the Predacons had used him to access the Ark, Optimus Primal failed to noticeQuickstrike flying overhead to deliver a device to the Maximal base. He was alerted a short time later when the device whipped up tensions in the Maximal ranks, causing them to fight amongst themselves. Primal fell prey to it for a brief period of time, but his recent experiences with mind control enabled him to overcome it and he was able to free his fellow Maximals from its grip before leading them in fighting off Megatron.A Meeting of Minds
While Megatron was being guided through the afterlife by Rhinox, he beheld a vision of himself slaughtering his allies and foes alike, Optimus Primal among them.Singularity Ablyss
The 'bot that would one day call himself "Optimus Primal" was aboard theAxalon, along with the rest of its original crew, tasked with performing orbital scans of Cybertron. All the while, he had to put up with teasing from one of hissubordinates, who took to razzing him about his "Optimus Primey" look and behavior. The crew's survey yielded Transmatter energy signatures coming from the head ofUnicron, in orbit around the planet. Upon their approach, they detected a whole lot of activity within the satellite; several units evacuating a concealed base. The ship's captain had just enough time to order his crew to activate their shield before a Transmatter bomb erupted out of the satellite, and the Axalon accidentally came to meet its path. The ship avoided damage thanks to its shields, and the bomb was deflected away from the planet. Some Transmatter debris did reach Cybertron however, and all those touched by it were reduced to protoforms. A few of these unfortunates were later entrusted to the crew of theAxalon.Dawn of the Predacus
Though theAxalon's onboard computers originally suggested that Optimus Primal take on a bat as analternate mode, he knew that such a form would be insufficient to combat Megatron. Optimus Primal chose a more powerful gorilla form instead.Beast Wars Sourcebook
AsMagmatron surveyed various events of the Beast Wars, he witnessed several key moments involving Optimus Primal. Among them was Optimus's duel with Dinobot on the stone bridge leading to the Maximal base, and the events leading to Optimus's transformation into the Optimal Optimus body.The Gathering #1
Some time after Depth Charge arrived on Earth, Optimus somehow felt the presence ofRazorbeast,Optimus Minor, andSnarl as they sneaked aboard the Ark, even though they werechronically displaced. Optimus explained to Rhinox and Cheetor that he felt something familiar, yet wrong... Unable to feel the presence as Optimus did, Rhinox convinced him that he was simply "chasing ghosts".The Gathering #3
InPrimax 208.06 Zeta, Megatron's Predacons were aided by theStarscream fromPrimax 206.15 Gamma, resulting in all the Maximals, including Optimus Primal, being defeated.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/16
Optimus Primal was a veteran of the lastGreat War, one waged between the Maximals and the Predacons. He was a distinguished graduate of theMaximal Military Academy, where he was a diligent student of the accomplishments of past generations, both militaristic and scientific.Optimus Primal's bio
Captain of the shipAxalon, Optimus Primal and his crew had been stuck on a space station for weeks while awaitingadditional cargo. Finally, they were leaving and ready to return to embarking on their mission of exploration, but theMaximal Defense Command Center had a different idea. TheGolden Disk had been stolen byMegatron and a group of roguePredacons, and Optimus Primal's ship was closest to intercept.
They closed in on Megatron's stolen ship, theDarksyde, but theAxalon suddenly came under attack by asecond Predacon ship. The odds were evened again by the arrival of another Maximal ship, theChromia 10, which was crewed by itsMaximal owner andUnit 2, a member of theMaximal Command Security Force. Both of these ships were ultimately destroyed, but Primal ordered the Maximals on board theChromia 10 bedownloaded intoblankstasis pods to save their lives. TheAxalon subsequently resumed its pursuit of theDarksyde.
Via transmission, Megatron taunted Optimus Primal and his crew. TheDarksyde opened atranswarp portal and jumped through. TheAxalon followed.Dawn of Future's Past
Later, once the Beast Wars were underway, Optimus Primal was accompanied by Airazor on a mission to stop the Predacons from launching an orbital weapon that could attack anywhere on the planet's surface. The pair rendezvoused with Cheetor and Rhinox, and took on Megatron and his Predacons. Thanks to Airazor, the launch of the satellite failed.The Razor's Edge
After Primal's death and the Great Transformation, Cheetor felt lost and meditated hard in an attempt to reach his leader via the Oracle. Cheetor instead metAlpha Trion and became Alpha Trizer.Alpha Trizer's profile In2984 as Alpha Trizer was engaged in combat against theStar Seekers, the face of his mentor Optimus Primal flashed through his mind.Hoist the Flag
After the conclusion of theBeast Wars inPrimax 496.22 Alpha, while on their way back to their home time, the Maximals' shuttle was struck by temporal interference waves caused by the time-displacedRavage's alteration of history in the year 2005 ofPrimax 785.06 Alpha. Caught in the disruption, the shuttle and its crew were essentially "split" in two—one version of them continued home to Cybertron and battled Megatron for all the sparks of Cybertron, but one version wound up in the "BT World", the parallel universe Ravage's meddling had created. In this parallel world, the ship was observed byUnicron and blown to pieces, scattering Optimus, his crew, and Megatron into Transwarp space—temporal anomalies without a home.Outlier
Megatron found himself in the future time period ofViron 102.0 Beta, where he joined forces withCryotek to conquer that timeline's Cybertron. The guardians of causality known as theAlternity, a race of hyper-evolved Autobots from 900,000 years in the future, sought to give the lost Primal a purpose, and secretly directed him, Rhinox, Rattrap, and Silverbolt to Viron 102.0 Beta. There, they communed with him through the Oracle and guided him in stopping Megatron's schemes. In the war against Megatron that followed, Optimus took numerous forms; his final upgrade was into a flight-capable "Air Attack" body, so that he could battle the airborne "Megahead" form his arch-enemy had taken. Primal and his Maximals ultimately triumphed over Megatron, but Cryotek then took up his ally's ambition, seeking not just thedomination of all sparks, but their outright destruction.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/30
Horrified to witness the results of Cryotek's horrendous experiments to replace sparks with physical operating systems, Primal—having already realized that there was a greater power behind the Oracle—petitioned the Alternity directly to send him after Cryotek, who had used Transwarp technology to escape to 21st century Earth and joined forces with the native Predacon leaderGalvatron. The Alternity agreed to his request, if he would join the ranks of their elite agents, theProtectors, in return. Primal accepted, and was sent to Earth with the former SpychangerMirage GT to serve as his guide. To reduce the risk of a time paradox, however, the Alternity had made it so that Primal's form while in the past was incorporeal, able to assume a physical aspect only to direct engage Cryotek. In this ghostly form, he served as a "spirit guide" to the nativeOptimus Prime and helped him defeat the Megatron Megabolt-controlledFortress Maximus, before the pair finally succeeded in defeating both Megatron and Cryotek.Air Attack Optimus Primal toy bioAsk Vector Prime, 2015/09/30
His personal mission complete, Primal ascended into the ranks of the Protectors, and began combating threats to time and space all across the multiverse. For his first mission, he helped hunt down the Beast of Time, theHytherion.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/30
The Alternity dispatched Optimus Primal andElita Five to observe the trial of the ancient alien geniusPrimacron inPrimax 785.06 Alpha.Controverse The Alternity suspected Primacron of having created the Hytherion, though this theory was proven incorrect.
In the course of the trial, Primacron became aware of dimensions unlike his own, where robotic life was supposedly created by adivine being. After studying several such universes, Primacron concluded that such a thing could not possibly be true, and started attacking them instead. Primal and his fellow Protectors raced to stop the experiment, standing against Primacron's assault, but the power of the alien'sSolduron exo-armor was too much for Primal to bear, and his body was destroyed completely. Fortunately, having had some experience as a non-corporeal being after his own "death" during the Beast Wars, Primal was able to maintain the cohesion of his consciousness, and succeeded in talking Primacron down.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/30
It was as a disembodied spark that Primal was charged with his most important mission: to ensure the very existence of the Alternity itself. The BT World, he learned, was the world from which the Alternity originated, but its existence was in danger as a result of the native Autobots of 2005 attempting to use the chronal energy ofDinobot Island to undo the alteration of history that Ravage had wrought. The result was the unravelling of space and time itself—a maelstrom through which Primal's spark materialized, arriving inDoctor Arkeville's laboratory, where he immediately possessed a blackBinaltech body frame created by the doctor in the image of Optimus Prime. Primal proceeded to teleport to Dinobot Island, where he used the enhanced powers the Alternity had provided him to manipulate its chronal energy, accomplishing both objectives simultaneously: the restoration of the original timeline, and the preservation of the "BT World" as its own distinct parallel universe. In the wake of this great event, Primal met up with Optimus Prime's Autobots, and was able to drop a few cryptic hints about the future that awaited them before the personality data Arkeville had programmed into the black Prime body shell finally asserted itself, forcing Primal's spark out of the body.Binal Time
Some time later, at the same time as the Autobots were trying to shut down the rogue Binaltech projects happening around the world, they also began a series of experiments under Primal's direction that would eventually lead to their evolution into the Alternity. Chief among these was theTimaeus Project, which would generate theAlternium the Alternity's bodies were composed of. WhileArcee was participating in that project, the Autobots prepared to transfer Primal's spark into a Binaltech body to restore him to mobility. Unfortunately,Shockwave remotely took control of theAutosoldier frame before Primal's spark could be downloaded into it, and the Autosoldiers began to run amok insideAutobot City. Arcee attempted to come to Primal's aid, but when she exited the Timaeus Project's high-speed racetrack without initiating proper slowdown procedures, her body was crushed by the kinetic energy. In her unconscious state, Primal spoke directly to her spark, telling her to forget about him and to instead protect the project and its scientists, so vital were they were to the future. Reluctantly, Arcee did so, allowing the Shockwave-controlled Autosoldiers to make off with Primal's spark.Unfinished Business, Part 3
The Autobots regrouped and went after Shockwave's agents, tracking Nemesis Prime and the Decepticons to Australia. Optimus Prime faced off against Nemesis Prime. but Prime found himself outmatched by Nemesis Prime's power, augmented by a synthetic Matrix he had created. During the battle, Arcee liberated Primal from the Decepticons, and he then merged his spark with Optimus Prime—something Primehad vague memories of experiencing previously. The power resulting from this fusion enabled Optimus Prime to deflect Nemesis Prime's attack, ultimately destroying the clone.Unfinished Business, Part 4
In the aftermath of the battle, the Protector was given a new Binaltech body, a replica of Nemesis Prime's form. He joined the Autobots in defending theEarth Defense Command Space Center when it came under attack byDecepticharge andBlackarachnia. Optimus Primal, recognizing his friend, attempted to stop the battle between her andGrimlock. However,Carly came to the rescue by using thePsychedevice to evolve into a telepathic entity that cured Grimlock and Blackarachnia's mental afflictions. Reacquainting with Blackarachnia, the Protector explained that he felt a responsibility to her to reunite her with their friends, since he helped maintain the timeline she was trapped in.Outlier
Following the Decepticons' defeat in Australia, the alienQuintessons placed aquadrant lock on Earth'ssolar system in order to trap the powerful Binaltech Autobots. This lock left Primal unable to leave the dimension, and he remained on Earth for the next 900,000 years (though only a few months passed inside the quadrant lock), watching as the Autobots steadily evolved into the Alternity and then broke the lock.
When the Alternity became aware of thePlanicrons, a race of two-dimensional beings who were attempting to become higher-dimensional life-forms, they concluded that the gateway through which they needed to pass in order to evolve themselves was located somewhere on the BT World. Primal and Grimlock met the Alternity envoys who arrived on the planet, and informed them that they had located the doorway: it was the circuit diagram for theCritias Gate, a super-dimensional reactor the Autobots had been experimenting with at the same time as the Timaeus Project. With a little help fromVector Prime, the gate was set up and the Planicrons passed through it, evolving into higher-dimensional beings and taking the Alternity's place as the defenders of time and space.Alternation
The last that Vector Prime knew, the Flaternity and the Protectors were still adapting to their new circumstances. Vector Prime believed that Optimus Primal would rise to whatever duty fate gave him.Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/30
AfterMegatron attackedOptimus Prime and was thrown out of theArk whenBlackarachnia activated the ship's defense systems, Optimus Primal and the other Maximals attempted to heal the wounded Autobot. However, Megatron was not thrown far enough and the Predacon managed to reenter the Ark and blast the Autobot leader, decisively erasing the Maximals from the timeline.A Change to the Agenda Inthe wildly different timeline that followed, Optimus Primal's life would takea very different track.
The Beast Wars seemed over, but the captured Megatron had prepared for such a situation and was able to send a message to his past self via transwarp, causing history to be altered! These rewritten Beast Wars came to an end when Optimus led a final strike against the Predacon forces. The battle was hard-fought, resulting in tragic casualties on both sides, but ended with Megatron's capture.
After Megatron was secured to the outside of an Autobot escape shuttle, the remaining Maximals were on their way to return to Cybertron. Unfortunately, the captured Megatron had prepared for such a situation and was able to send a message to his past self via transwarp, causing history to be altered! These rewritten Beast Wars came to an end when Optimus...Beast Wars Transmetals
| Beast Attacks | |
|---|---|
| C-Right | Drumming Fury |
| C-Up | Primal Body Crush |
| C-Left | Primal Lariat |
When theAxalon came under heavy Predacon fire, Optimus saw the attack as an opening they could use to retake the Golden Disk. He quickly formulated a plan and led a team in chasing the Predacons back to theDarkside, successfully retaking the Disk. However, though Megatron appeared cornered, the group learned that the Predacons had managed to infiltrate theAxalon in their absence. As Megatron took off, Optimus ordered everyone to hurry back to base.Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)
Optimus led an attack on theDarkside, but this was revealed to be part of a plot by Megatron, and he and the other Maximals were swiftly overtaken, being beaten all the way back to theAxalon. Left battered on the ground of the ship's bridge, Primal remained defiant even as Megatron prepared to finish him off. Fortunately, Rhinox arrived and activated Sentinel's defenses, forcing the Predacons to retreat and saving Primal's life.Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)
| Robot Mode | Beast Mode | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Special attack | Prime Blaster | Special attack | Drumming Fury |
| Super attack | Prime Gun Barrage | Super attack | Primal Launch |