The Intergalactic Highway

I know I asked a similar question to this before, but I started a new thread since this is much more specific to Optimus. I was curious to know who Optimus was before he left Cybertron.....for instance:

1. Was his name always Optimus Primal? Or was it just Optimus?
2. What did he do? He obviously wasn't always the maximal leader? Was the title of "Maximal Commander" just an pertinent to the crew of the Axalon? What was his official position?

I just am in the process of creating a fanfiction including Optimus and was interested in knowing more about his character.....

Thanks!!

Well.. you probably already checked but.. when in doubt, wiki it!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Primal#section_1

Thanks. Yes, actually I did already read that. I read everything about Optimus Primal, but I didn't find anything. I thought maybe OOP would have some more insight into this, but I guess everyone knows as much as I do.

He took the name Optimus Primal in reverence, but he doesn't appear to have a name before that. Maybe he just always was Optimus Primal. I don't know. And he was a Starship Captain.....but was he a part of the military? I mean, he always says he wasn't a military leader, but that doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't a part of the military.

From what I've seen:

- His name was just Optimus which he picked cuz he was a fan of the original Optimus Prime (apparently, he wasn't alone on this).
- His rank in Dawn of Future's Past was Captain. According to his toy bio, he fought in the previous Great War so he could've had a differently military rank prior to his stay on the Axalon. However, once the Beast Wars started, Primal became the de facto leader of the Maximals on Earth which also grants him rank of commander. However, if he were to return to a non-Megatron affected Cybertron, the Maximal Council most likely would have referred to him as Captain Optimus.
- He was part of the military chain of command, but heavily involved with its science department. We know this since he was involved with X's creation and was tasked to lead a science exploration crew with the hidden agenda to dispose of X's protoform. Optimus has been shown to have a high level of curiosity and an insatiable appetite for researching new things. However, he's definitely not a normal scientist due to the fact that he's armed to the teeth.
- In all of the source materials given to us, there is no indication that he had a love life (or at least a recent love life) on Cybertron.
- Rhinox seems to be the closest and oldest friend that Optimus has. Both are scientists, heavily armed, have known each other prior to the Axalon's journey, and were fully aware of Protoform X's existence. With at beings said, we can take a step further and assume that Rhinox was also a military scientist who could possibly have had some relation to the project.
- Optimus had some sort of relationship with Depth Charge back on Omicron since they were fully aware of each other's identities in Season 3. The TF wiki states that they were co-workers although this is something that is implied more than explicitly stated.
- Like Rhinox, Optimus seems to be religious to some extent, although this was taken to the extreme in Beast Machines.

Well!! Thanks! You definitely gave me a lot to think about!

Impressive, Alak. Thank you!

Yeah, no, Blackrosefencer, what I know about him is pretty much what was on the show. I know nothing! I'm just wingin' it in the RPG. XD

And I refuse to play him the way he was in BM. I was very disappointed with his characterization.

I'm attempting to write a fanfic about his biggest secret....his involvement in the protoform x experiments. I'm having the hardest time with his characterization.

I'm trying to portray him as a bit naive. He's young so his ideas about right and wrong are probably not fully developed yet. He may have ideas about right and wrong, but maybe has never met with an idea that he can kind of see both sides of. While he feels in his spark that the experimentation is wrong, he knows the intel gained from it could be valuable. Not to mention this is the first time he feels like the Maximal High Council is wrong about something. What does that say about his status as a Maximal? The goal is for these new experiences to help him....for lack of better words....develop a backbone. But I'm having trouble pulling it off.

I don't want his character change to be too drastic. I'm just kind of looking for one fault that I can have others take advantage of, but then there's some sort of turning point that makes him over come that. He learns that he can be himself without trying to live up to Prime....maybe that's kind of what I should be trying for instead of naive and meek....

To make a long story short (I know I know....too late). I'm trying to go from Optimus pre-Axalon and then develop him into the Optimus we see on the Axalon in the beginning of season one. I guess it's a believable Pre-Axalon Optimus that I'm having trouble developing. It's not an easy task that's for sure. I have several pages that I've written over the span of about a month, but I think I'm going to scrap it...I'm not sure I like where it's going....

Do you guys think Optimus has tried to live up to his namesake? I heard a lot of people reference that lately, but I myself had always imagined him as someone who wasn't a prime and was ok with that. He really seemed too humble to try and put himself on the same pedestal, and despite his involvement with the military Optimus is only a captain. In the Beast Wars era, we have Big Convoy and Lio Convoy who seem to fit the "Prime" bill more with their uber leader skills and experience in the combat field.

I always pictured Optimus Primal as the guy who never had big aspirations and didn't mind being told what to do. He was forced into the commander role with the Beast Wars, and due to his relenting sense of justice he just so happened to save all of the G1 Autobots, humanity, revive Cybertron, and usher in a new era of technology for that society. Sure, that may sorta mirror what happened with Orion Pax, but I don't think Primal did those things because he thought "that's what Prime would do". To me, he's the average bot with a very big spark that led him to become the biggest hero Cybertron has ever had.

Hope my opinion helps

Wasn't it Megatron who first referred to Optimus Primal as "Primal"?

I think it was Dinobot who was the first to call him that... or just call his name in general. Optimus was the only Maximal not to introduce his name to the crew. Although, it does seem like Predacons are prone to naming him something aside from just "Optimus". Maximals tend to call him by just that, but Dinobot and Megatron refer to him as Primal and in Season 3 Megatron is the only one to refer him to Optimal Optimus.

Alak wrote:Do you guys think Optimus has tried to live up to his namesake? I heard a lot of people reference that lately, but I myself had always imagined him as someone who wasn't a prime and was ok with that. He really seemed too humble to try and put himself on the same pedestal, and despite his involvement with the military Optimus is only a captain.

I don't disagree, but this is a very mature perspective. Today, I would never worry about what someone else thinks of me. I don't go out of my way to get people to like me, but when I was younger, I would do just about anything to fit in including things that I am not so proud of today. One day I realized that the way to get people to like you was to just be yourself. If a person doesn't like you for who you are and you have to pretend to be something you're not, then that person is not worth your time.

What I'm trying to say is, the ideals we have now, the choices we make now, and the people we are now is different from ten years ago or even five years ago! We all are influenced by the things that happen to us and that drives how we think and act. So it wouldn't be implausible to believe that Optimus wasn't always the bot he was on Earth. Surely, he too, made some bad decisions and had some misguided views. Wouldn't there have been some sort of turning point that helped him to mature into the bot we all know from Beast Wars?

I'm not saying that right now, Optimus is trying to be like Prime. I'm saying that maybe at one time he may have had that desire. I mean, he took the name for a reason. He looked up to Prime and wouldn't that be the kind of stereotypical thing for a young Maximal to do is want to be like Prime? He's a legend. That's like a kid looking up to Michael Jordan or Shaq or Babe Ruth or Miley Cirus. Kids try to act like their idols, dress like them, sound like them, dance like them, etc. So, couldn't the same be said of the Maximals and Prime? Maybe he took his name to be like Prime, but realizes after a while that he isn't Prime. Maybe this embarrasses him or discourages him until he's faced with some sort of challenge that he finds himself able to step up to. Then, he realizes that he doesn't have to be like Prime. He just has to be like himself. And that is just the beginning of his maturing into the bot we see on the show.

I always pictured Optimus Primal as the guy who never had big aspirations and didn't mind being told what to do. He was forced into the commander role with the Beast Wars, and due to his relenting sense of justice he just so happened to save all of the G1 Autobots, humanity, revive Cybertron, and usher in a new era of technology for that society. Sure, that may sorta mirror what happened with Orion Pax, but I don't think Primal did those things because he thought "that's what Prime would do". To me, he's the average bot with a very big spark that led him to become the biggest hero Cybertron has ever had.

That actually is my current plot line at the moment. He's the average bot who does what he's told, goes where he's ordered, and rarely speaks out of turn. He's soft spoken and a bit timid and may not have aspirations to become a well-known leader and hero, but he does hope to have a successful career doing whatever it is he ends up doing. Then, something comes along that stirs him up inside. And he finds it in himself to stand up for himself and for what is the right thing to do.

I guess where this plot line is failing is the name Optimus. Why even take the name if you have no aspirations to do big things? And if you were content to just do what you're told, why not take another name....like Ironhide or Bumblebee? Why take the name Optimus and then not have any interest in living up to his namesake?

Hope my opinion helps

Yes! Thanks! I'm just trying to get an idea of what other people's interpretations are about Optimus' life on Cybertron. Who was he before he became the bot we knew? Surely there had to be some sort of growth and development. He was young once just like everyone else. Who was he as a young Cybertronian?

I couldn't agree more with your opinion, Alak, and that's why I love the character. It also makes him a little more human. I hope I've been doing a decent job aiming for that humbleness and modesty in the game. Ironclaw's been creating an interesting pull on it, too, which kind of helps.

Blackrosefencer, I would love to read that whenever you have it finished! Sounds intriguing. Tis my favorite Optimus, after all.

Blackrosefencer wrote:

Alak wrote:Do you guys think Optimus has tried to live up to his namesake? I heard a lot of people reference that lately, but I myself had always imagined him as someone who wasn't a prime and was ok with that. He really seemed too humble to try and put himself on the same pedestal, and despite his involvement with the military Optimus is only a captain.

I don't disagree, but this is a very mature perspective. Today, I would never worry about what someone else thinks of me. I don't go out of my way to get people to like me, but when I was younger, I would do just about anything to fit in including things that I am not so proud of today. One day I realized that the way to get people to like you was to just be yourself. If a person doesn't like you for who you are and you have to pretend to be something you're not, then that person is not worth your time.

What I'm trying to say is, the ideals we have now, the choices we make now, and the people we are now is different from ten years ago or even five years ago! We all are influenced by the things that happen to us and that drives how we think and act. So it wouldn't be implausible to believe that Optimus wasn't always the bot he was on Earth. Surely, he too, made some bad decisions and had some misguided views. Wouldn't there have been some sort of turning point that helped him to mature into the bot we all know from Beast Wars?

I'm not saying that right now, Optimus is trying to be like Prime. I'm saying that maybe at one time he may have had that desire. I mean, he took the name for a reason. He looked up to Prime and wouldn't that be the kind of stereotypical thing for a young Maximal to do is want to be like Prime? He's a legend. That's like a kid looking up to Michael Jordan or Shaq or Babe Ruth or Miley Cirus. Kids try to act like their idols, dress like them, sound like them, dance like them, etc. So, couldn't the same be said of the Maximals and Prime? Maybe he took his name to be like Prime, but realizes after a while that he isn't Prime. Maybe this embarrasses him or discourages him until he's faced with some sort of challenge that he finds himself able to step up to. Then, he realizes that he doesn't have to be like Prime. He just has to be like himself. And that is just the beginning of his maturing into the bot we see on the show.

I always pictured Optimus Primal as the guy who never had big aspirations and didn't mind being told what to do. He was forced into the commander role with the Beast Wars, and due to his relenting sense of justice he just so happened to save all of the G1 Autobots, humanity, revive Cybertron, and usher in a new era of technology for that society. Sure, that may sorta mirror what happened with Orion Pax, but I don't think Primal did those things because he thought "that's what Prime would do". To me, he's the average bot with a very big spark that led him to become the biggest hero Cybertron has ever had.

That actually is my current plot line at the moment. He's the average bot who does what he's told, goes where he's ordered, and rarely speaks out of turn. He's soft spoken and a bit timid and may not have aspirations to become a well-known leader and hero, but he does hope to have a successful career doing whatever it is he ends up doing. Then, something comes along that stirs him up inside. And he finds it in himself to stand up for himself and for what is the right thing to do.

I guess where this plot line is failing is the name Optimus. Why even take the name if you have no aspirations to do big things? And if you were content to just do what you're told, why not take another name....like Ironhide or Bumblebee? Why take the name Optimus and then not have any interest in living up to his namesake?

Hope my opinion helps

Yes! Thanks! I'm just trying to get an idea of what other people's interpretations are about Optimus' life on Cybertron. Who was he before he became the bot we knew? Surely there had to be some sort of growth and development. He was young once just like everyone else. Who was he as a young Cybertronian?

He could always choose it when the Beast Wars starts. Maybe his real name could be Primal.


WW