The Complete Transformers Movie Character Guide

Transformers (2007)

Barricade – Decepticon

Description: Barricade is the hunter/scout of the Decepticons, transforming into a Saleen S281E police car to easily hide among the humans as a symbol of authority. He wields spinning spikes known as blade wheels in his hands and uses them as close-combat striking weapons. He hates all Autobots but considers Bumblebee his rival.

Blackout – Decepticon

Description: Blackout is fiercely loyal to Decepticon leader Megatron and transforms into a Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low IV helicopter. He is the largest of the Decepticons serving as transportation for his comrades and most often carries Scorponok on his back. In addition to the ability to generate EMP blasts, he is armed with a missile launcher, 2 arm-mounted Gatling cannons and 2 energy cannons. In close-quarter combat he can also detach and wield his tail rotor blades as a weapon.

Bonecrusher – Decepticon

Description: Bonecrusher hates and despises everything – Autobots, Decepticons, even himself. He follows Megatron not out of respect but of fear.  He transforms into a Force Protection built Buffalo armored vehicle (MRAP). With wheels for feet, he “skates” instead runs and besides the machine guns in each arm, he touts an intimidating claw-like scoop at the end of a large telescopic arm which he can use to pull enemies closer with deadly force.

Brawl – Decepticon

Description: Brawl is often described as “a very pissed off Decepticon” who is always looking for a fight – especially with an Autobot. He transforms into a M1 Abrams tank with a secondary dual turret. His heavy armor allows him to take large amounts of damage but he can dish it out even more with the largest arsenal of any other Transformer – 8 missile launchers (4 on each shoulder), a quad-mounted 37mm cannon on his right forearm and a small dual ripper blade combined with a Gatling gun on his left forearm.

Bumblebee – Autobot

Description: Bumblebee is an Autobot scout and one of Optimus Prime’s most trusted lieutenants. What he lacks in strength, he makes up for with determination, bravery and loyalty – gladly giving his life if necessary to protect others and stop the Decepticons. When not transformed as a Chevrolet Camaro he enters battle with a plasma cannon on his right arm. He lost the ability to speak when his voice processor was damaged during a fight with Megatron, though he still communicates with Sam Witwicky – who he has sworn to protect – using various Earth radio frequencies.

Frenzy – Decepticon

Description: Frenzy, with his light weight small frame, is perfectly built for espionage. With only a small automatic weapon on each hand and CD-like shurikens that fire from his chest, Frenzy isn’t built for head-to-head combat. However, his lightening quick reflexes and ability to transform into a multitude of everyday items including a GPX boom box, a car radio and a cell phone enable him to blend in easily.

Ironhide – Autobot

Description: Ironhide serves many roles for the Autobots, not the least of which is weapons specialist. He is also Optimus Prime’s oldest friend, though they don’t always see eye to eye – often times pushing the Autobot code to achieve faster results. Ironhide’s vehicle mode is a GMC Topkick and his weapons arsenal consists of machine guns, plasma cannons and a devastating Gatling missile launcher, ensuring he is always the first into battle with the Decepticons.

Jazz – Autobot

Description: Jazz is the smallest Autobot and serves as Optimus Prime’s First Lieutenant. Generally good natured and not taking himself as serious as Optimus Prime or Ironhide, Jazz likes to talk…A LOT and usually gets some friendly ribbing for it. Despite his small stature Jazz can handle himself in battle with just about any foe though he usually sticks to opponents more his size. He is armed with a powerful Crescent Cannon and his vehicle form is a Pontiac Solstice.

Megatron – Decepticon

Description: Megatron is the cold and heartless leader of the Decepticons. As a civil war over control of their planet with the Autobots exhausted the resources of their planet Cybertron, Megatron went and searched for the All Spark. His search lead him to Earth where he crashed in the Arctic for over 10,000 years. Megatron doesn’t take an earthly form in his alternate mode but transformer into a Cybertonian jet and tank. He is armed with a powerful fusion cannon and can match Optimus Prime blow for blow though he will retreat when facing certain defeat.

Optimus Prime – Autobot

Description: Optimus Prime is thought to be the last in the long line of Cybertonian Primes. As the leader of the Autobots, he is a fearless and compassionate leader. He order the All Spark jettisoned into space and feels responsible for bringing the Decepticons to Earth. He has sworn an oath to protect the humans on Earth from the evil and destructive Decepticons. His alternate mode is a powerful Peterbilt 379 long-nose truck and he goes into battle with an Ion Blaster, Barrage Cannons and two massive energon blades that replace his hands.

Ratchet – Autobot

Description: Ratchet serves as the Autobots’ medical officer and transforms into a yellow emergency AM General Hummer H2. Even though he heals by design and dislikes violence, Ratchet is no passevist and will quickly jump into any fray with the Decepticons, fighting side-by-side with his best friend Ironhide.  He can convert his surgical tools into weapons and sports a nifty and deadly buzzsaw on one arm.

Scorponok – Decepticon

Description: Scorponok is Blackout’s deadly right-hand assistant and has what appears to be a symbiotic-type relationship with him. Taking the shape of a scropion, Scorponok can burrow through the ground with blinding speed which makes him great at ambushing his opponents – dispatching them with ease. Besides his deadly tail, Scorponok is armed with 6 six ion cannons – 3 each hidden behind his pincer like claws.

Starscream – Decepticon

Description: Starscream is Megatron’s second in command – though if given the opportunity he would betray Megatron for a chance to lead the Decepticons. He rules the air as a F-22 Raptor but prefers subtlety and deception to out-and-out brute force. He prefers picking on opponents smaller than himself and fights them with a missile launcher and machine guns.

All Spark Bots

Dispensor – Decepticon

Description: Dispensor was created by the All Spark as Sam Witwicky fled from Megatron. In alternate mode he is a seemingly harmless Mountain Dew machine but in robot form he is deadly serving Death Dew Bombs from his can shooting arm cannons.

Nokia Robot – Decepticon

Description: Once a simple Nokia N93i cell phone but brought to life by energy from the All Spark, this guy is small but with his Gatling gun tail he packs a big punch.

Steering Wheel Robot – Decepticon

Description: Another All Spark creation as Sam Witwicky ran from Megatron, this bot’s alternate form is a steering wheel from a Cadillac Escalade. Having no real weapons, the bot using it’s long spider-like legs to grip the face of it’s victims.

XBOX 360 Robot – Decepticon

Description: Just a simple robot granted life by the All Spark whose alternate form is a Microsoft XBOX 360. Not much is known about him because he is destroyed by the Autobots soon after creation.

The first generation Optimus Prime transforms into a Kenworth K100 cab over truck. Within his chest is a mystic talisman, known as the autobot matrix of leadership or the "creation matrix", carried by all autobot leaders.^[3]
When Optimus transforms, his cab becomes an ion blaster and his trailer disconnects, forming a combat deck. The combat deck supports a mobile battle-station and command headquarters armed with assorted artillery and beam weapons that fire automatically. The combat deck can also serve as a radio antenna for battlefield communications between the autobots. The combat deck also included "Roller", a mobile scout buggy meant to scout behind enemy lines. When Roller is deployed, Optimus can see and hear what Roller sees and hears.^[4] Injury to one component is felt by each of the others. If the combat deck or Roller were to be destroyed, Prime could survive. However, despite the slight degree of autonomy they possess, the combat deck and Roller would not be able to survive without Optimus.
In the animated series, Optimus is able to fire short-range optic blasts, project holographic maps, and deploy hydro-foils, designed by Wheeljack, to traverse bodies of water with ease. In the animated series, Optimus was also given the ability to retract his right hand unit and replace it with a glowing axe.^[5]
Across the assorted continuities of the original Transformers universe, there have been various interpretations of Optimus Prime. One of Prime's most notable characteristics over all continuities his unswaying commitment to leadership by example. The animated series' version of Optimus Prime is depicted as a straightforward, wise, and upbeat battlefield general. Additionally, the animated series' version of Optimus dislikes rap music, putting him at odds with music-loving characters like Blaster and Jazz.
In the Marvel Comics series, in addition to these characteristics, Prime is secretly plagued by self-doubt and a conflicted sense of pacifism that often makes him an extremely reluctant warrior.

Marvel Comics

Note: Stories from the U.K. Marvel Transformers series are in italics.
In the series released by Marvel Comics, before the Great War broke out on Cybertron, the robot who would be Optimus Prime, before he received the Matrix of Leadership from Sentinel Prime, was a Transformer of note, displaying his skills in the Infraformers Sharpshooting Competition. When the war began, Prime quickly made a name for himself as a combat leader of the Autobots.
On a mission with the Triggerbots to stop Megatron from claiming the Underbase, Prime was forced to jettison the massive databank into space to prevent anyone from acquiring its power. With this action, he proved his wisdom and skill to the Autobot Council of Elders. He continued to move up in rank, eventually becoming the field command over the Autobot armies.
Four million years ago, Cybertron, shaken from its orbit and drifting through space, became threatened when it floated into the path of an asteroid field. Prime led a group of elite Autobot warriors on the Ark, the Autobot starship, on a mission to destroy the asteroids. Although the mission was successful, during the aftermath of this mission, the Ark was attacked by Decepticons hoping to overpower their weakened foes. Intent on keeping the secrets of the Ark from the Decepticons, Prime set the craft on a suicide course, crashing it into the then prehistoric planet Earth.
In 1984, a volcanic eruption re-activated the Ark, which, in turn, brought the Transformers back on-line. Prime led the Autobots in their opening battles to prevent the Decepticons from plundering Earth's resources, but, following their initial victory, the Transformers were all deactivated by Shockwave. Shockwave killed Prime and leeched the energy of the Creation Matrix from his mind. He used this energy to give life to his creations, the Constructicons. Shockwave was unaware that the Matrix was not just a program in Prime's mind, but a physical object in his chest. Before Shockwave could give life to Jetfire, his next Decepticon, Prime transferred the Matrix energy into the mind of Buster Witwicky. Buster used the energy to turn Jetfire on Shockwave, allowing Prime to reclaim his body and retake leadership of the Autobots. As a reward, he gave Jetfire true life.
Meanwhile, the U.K. offices of Marvel Comics were producing their own storylines. Writer Simon Furman offered a different take on Prime, that he was weary of the war he had been forced to fight. In the "Prey" storyline, Prime arranged for Wheeljack to build a copy of himself and destroy it to see how the Autobots could cope without him. Unfortunately, the plan was derailed by Megatron and the Predacons. During the battle, Prime, Megatron, and Ultra Magnus were transported to Earth. There, Prime accidentally interrupted his own funeral service. The theme of war-weariness would again come to the fore in the U.K. strips detailing Prime's U.S. death.
After a period of effective leadership, which saw the activation of several new Transformers including the Aerialbots, who Prime infused with life using the Matrix, Prime engaged Megatron in a video game duel for possession of a super fuel. Prime was victorious, but Megatron implemented a cheat code that killed Prime later. Autobot surgeon Ratchet's subsequent efforts to restore him were unsuccessful, and his body was launched into space. The Autobots were unaware of the presence of the physical Matrix within the corpse. The funeral barge eventually crashed on a giant moon and, as it lay there for an untold time, the Matrix reached out to nearby living organisms, studying and recreating them.
Prime's personality had been copied onto a floppy disk by Ethan Zachary, the technician running the game. He employed Prime in various video game scenarios he developed. Prime's damaged mind led him to believe that he himself was a video game character and, in an attempt to bring him back to life, Goldbug, Joyride, Slapdash, and Getaway took the disk to the planet Nebulos. They built a new body for Optimus Prime and upgraded it with the ability to combine with the trailer to form a larger robot. In an effort to keep Transformers off their planet, the Nebulans had poisoned their fuel. The sensation of dying, however, convinced Prime that he was truly alive and not a game character. To save his life, the Nebulan scientist Hi-Q bonded with him, creating Powermaster Optimus Prime. A UK story set around the same time in UK #198, Prime returned to Earth and tried to rekindle his feeling for the planet. After a battle between his forces and an advance force from Cybertron ruined a small town's Christmas festivities, he realized that bringing the Transformers to Earth was far worse than anything his troops could have done and vowed to protect its inhabitants from Decepticon aggression.^[6]
Optimus Prime's first action as leader was to ally the Autobots with Scorponok's Decepticons to defeat Starscream, who had acquired the power of the Underbase.
Later, the Transformers were all transported to Cybertron by Primus to battle Unicron. Although Unicron had tainted the Matrix after killing Thunderwing, Prime managed to reacquire and purify the Matrix. Prime then sacrificed his life one more time to destroy Unicron by plunging the Matrix into his maw. The Powermaster process, however, had been working to fully bond Prime and Hi-Q. Prime's death completed the process, and the two minds and souls became one. Hi-Q's biomechanical body was stripped down and reconstructed by the Last Autobot, resurrecting Optimus Prime once more with the two minds now one. Prime rejoined the other Transformers on the planet Klo and routed Bludgeon's Decepticons.
The sequel series, Transformers: Generation 2, began an undisclosed period of time later. At the beginning of the series, Prime was restored to a form resembling his original body. He and the Transformers found themselves caught in the schemes of a new generation of Cybertronians, led by the icy Jhiaxus, who were colonizing and cyber-forming other worlds. Plagued by nightmarish visions of a life-destroying entity called "the Swarm", Prime looked into Cybertron's past and discovered that Jhiaxus and his kind were the result of an unintentional Transformer reproduction. Their nature and intent, he found, was distilled to the purest, most unemotional form of conquest and that the Swarm was the by-product of this process. To fight this new enemy, Prime and the Autobots entered into an alliance with the recreated Megatron's Decepticons. Though Prime was eventually consumed by the abomination and destroyed, he was able to unleash the energies of the Matrix into the Swarm, purifying it. In parting, the Swarm recreated Prime in a new form, and he and Megatron set out to lead the united Autobots and Decepticons into a new age.

Animated series

As seen in the episode "War Dawn", Optimus Prime began his life as a robot named Orion Pax, a mostly defenseless dock worker during the Golden Age of Cybertron nine million years ago, with a girlfriend named Ariel and a best friend named Dion. During this time, a new breed of robot with new flight capabilities appeared on the planet that Orion idolized. When Megatron, the leader of the new group of robots, approached him with inquiries about using one of the dock warehouses, Orion was swayed by Megatron. Both Orion and Ariel were severely wounded when Megatron and his forces attacked in order to claim the energy stored there. Searching for someone to help them, the time-displaced Aerialbots took Orion and Ariel to the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion, who used them as the first subjects for the new reconstruction process he had developed involving rebuilding the frail Autobot frames into more battle-hardy configurations. With this reconstruction, Orion Pax became Optimus Prime, the first of the Autobot warriors.
Optimus took the mantle of leadership as the civil war against the Decepticons erupted, and would remain in that position for the next nine million years. Ariel was rebuilt into Elita One, the commander of the Autobot resistance on Cybertron. The fate of Dion is left unrevealed. It has been speculated by fans that Dion might have become Ironhide or Ultra Magnus just as Orion and Ariel became Optimus and Elita, but this remains fan speculation only, and, his close friendship with Optimus notwithstanding, there is no evidence to support the idea.
As leader of the Autobots, Prime headed up their mission to search for new sources of energy to revitalize the depleted Cybertron. Optimus vowed to Elita that he would return from his mission for her, but just before the launch of the Ark, Optimus was mistakenly led to believe that Elita was killed. Shortly after its launch, the Autobots' craft was attacked by the Decepticons' space cruiser, the Nemesis, and boarded by Megatron and the Decepticons. In the ensuing struggle, the G-forces of a nearby planet pulled both craft down, and the Autobots' ship crashed into a volcano, thrusting all the occupants into emergency stasis. Four million years later, in the Earth year 1984 A.D., a volcanic eruption jarred the ship's computer, Teletraan I, back to life. The computer reactivated the Decepticons, programming them with new Earth-based disguise modes. As a parting gesture, Starscream fired upon the Autobot ship, creating a landslide. The vibrations from that landslide knocked Prime into the path of the computer's restoration beam, restoring him to life, thus beginning the war anew on Earth.
Prime was perpetually at the forefront of the action throughout the early years of the war on Earth, usually confronting Megatron, though in some rare instances, such as against the Insecticon-controlled Decepticons or the Combaticons, teaming up with him for the greater good. He has suffered his fair share of battlefield scrapes, almost meeting his end when his vital cosmotron component was critically damaged by the Decepticon jets and when Laserbeak had his body disassembled and turned into Decepticon trophies, such as a pet "alligaticon" and a defense laser.
Prime suffered a severe, though unfair, defeat when Megatron challenged him to one-on-one combat while imbued with the different abilities of all the Decepticons. Teletraan I, the Ark's computer, discovered the deception in time, and the Autobots were able to drive off the Decepticons. In "Prime Problem", Megatron created a clone of Optimus, which caused confusion with the other Autobots. Windcharger and Spike, however, were able to identify the clone before it led the Autobots into their demise.
In "Prime Target", Lord Cholmondeley, a big game hunter, set his sights on the ultimate trophy, the head of Optimus Prime. In order to lure Optimus in, Cholmondeley captured Tracks, Bumblebee, Jazz, Beachcomber, Grapple, Blaster and Inferno. Windcharger and Huffer were able to avoid being trapped. When Cosmos learned where Cholmondeley was keeping the captured Transformers, Optimus Prime accepted Cholmondeley's challenge to meet him alone. Although interrupted by Astrotrain and Blitzwing's attempt to ally the Decepticons with Cholmondeley, Optimus defeated the big game hunter and freed the Autobots. Cholmondeley and the stolen jet were handed over to the Soviets by the Autobots as punishment for his actions.
Throughout the first two seasons, Optimus Prime has led the Autobots to many victories, such as stopping Megatron from controlling the crystal of power, stopping the Dinobots' rebellion by saving Grimlock, defeating Devastator with his detach arm, helping capture Nightbird, rescuing Blaster and Cosmos from the Decepticons on the Moon with the help of Omega Supreme, and helping save Perceptor and the other Transformers from the cosmic rust disease.
Over the course of the next twenty years, the Decepticons succeeded in seizing control of all of Cybertron, forcing the Autobots to operate from their new city on Earth and two bases on Cybertron's moons. In the Earth year 2005 A.D., Prime, stationed on Moonbase One, dispatched troops to Earth to acquire energy for an upcoming strike on Cybertron. The Decepticons, however, got wind of the plan and used the shuttle run to attack Autobot City. A distress call summoned Prime and support troops to Earth. In the fearsome ensuing fight with Megatron, Optimus Prime sustained fatal injuries, but not before turning the tide of battle and forcing the Decepticons to flee. Despite the efforts of Perceptor, Optimus Prime went offline. The Matrix and role of leader of the Autobots fell into the hands of Ultra Magnus, Galvatron, and, subsequently, to Rodimus Prime. His last words were "Until that day... 'till all are one."
Prime's body was entombed in a massive deep-space mausoleum with the many other fallen Autobots. In 2006, his grave was desecrated and his body reanimated by Quintessons in an attempt to destroy the Autobots by using Prime to lure their space fleet into a trap. The Matrix was able to purify Prime of the Quintesson influence, and he ordered the other Autobots to clear out while he piloted his flagship into the Quintessons' detonator, triggering the explosion of a nearby sun. Prime was supposedly destroyed in the explosion. According to "The Return of Optimus Prime", Prime's body was recovered from the craft by two human scientists, Jessica Morgan and Gregory Swofford, just minutes before the explosion. As their ship departed, it was coated with solar spores, which induce rage and madness in any sentient being they came into contact with, released by the explosion of the sun. Jessica's father, Mark Morgan, loathed all Transformers, and his hatred only grew when an attempt by the Decepticons to steal a heat-resistant alloy he had developed resulted in Jessica being paralyzed. Swofford and Morgan reconstructed Optimus Prime's body, planning to use it as a delivery system for the spores in order to destroy the Transformers.
When they could not reanimate him, they used his body as a lure instead, bringing the Autobots to their lab, where they are infected. As this "Hate Plague" began to spread across the galaxy, Sky Lynx retrieved a Quintesson, who fully restored Optimus Prime to life. Coating himself in Morgan's heat-resistant alloy, Prime reclaimed the Matrix from Rodimus and unleashed its concentrated wisdom to destroy the Hate Plague.
In 2007, following the release of the Matrix's energy, Prime began to suffer from visions which foretold a great transformation for Cybertron. Events began with the Decepticons' theft of the key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, which forced Prime to consult Alpha Trion within Vector Sigma. Prime learned that the mega-computer had orchestrated events in order to restore Cybertron's Golden Age. When the Plasma Energy Chamber was opened and threatened to drive Earth's Sun supernova, Spike Witwicky and the Nebulans, who had become involved in the conflict as a result of these events, were able to drain off the excess solar energy and revitalize Cybertron. With the Decepticons driven off Cybertron and Nebulon free from tyranny, Cybertron enters into a Golden Age of peace and prosperity under the leadership of Optimus Prime and the Autobots.
The seldom seen 5th season re-airing of the show featured the G1 episodes retold by a stop-motion Powermaster Optimus Prime to the live-action youngster Tommy Kennedy. Although no back story was ever provided for how Prime became a Powermaster, the new sequences are said to take place after the four previous seasons. This indicates that Prime became a Powermaster in the original Sunbow continuity.
Although the animated series ended in the U.S. after The Rebirth, Optimus Prime continued to appear in animated sequences of Transformers toy commercials, progressing from Powermaster to Action Master. He even made an appearance as a computer-generated Combat Hero. Many episodes of the series were re-aired to promote Transformers: Generation 2. During these sequences, computer-generated scenes featuring key G1 characters are borrowed from Generation 2 commercials to serve as opening, closing, and commercial bumpers. Optimus Prime is shown in the opening and closing fighting Generation 2's Ramjet.
While the Transformers animated series came to an end in America in 1987 after The Rebirth, production was continued in Japan with three new, exclusive animated series spin-offs to continue the story. The first of these series, Transformers: The Headmasters, supplanted the events of The Rebirth, picking up one year after the events that saw Optimus Prime's return to life.
In the interim year, with the Decepticons defeated, the Autobots entered into an even closer relationship with Earth. The Autobots also began the colonization of other worlds, the first of which was the planet Athenia, where Optimus Prime was stationed. It soon became apparent, however, that the consequences of releasing the energy of the Matrix to cure the Hate Plague were more far-reaching than Optimus had anticipated. Without the energy of the Matrix to act as a balancing factor, Vector Sigma had become destabilized. The Decepticons suddenly returned to exploit this, assaulting Cybertron in order to seize control of the mega-computer. Prime took a squad of troops to aid in the battle on the planet. When the arrival of the Autobot Headmasters tipped the battle in their favor, Prime broke off from the main attack and headed down into the depths of the planet, planning on stabilizing Vector Sigma at any cost.
While the other Autobots searched for the Matrix on Earth, Optimus Prime searched for Vector Sigma, guided through the dangers of the planet's catacombs by the spirit of Alpha Trion. Prime eventually arrived at the computer, only to find his way barred by Cyclonus and Scourge. At that moment, Hot Rod arrived with the Matrix, the same with which Alpha Trion merged, re-energizing it. The Matrix transformed Hot Rod back into Rodimus Prime and, for the first time, the two Primes fought side-by-side and defeated Galvatron.
Before Rodimus could implement the Matrix to stabilize Vector Sigma, however, Optimus Prime merged himself with the computer, restoring its balance to save the planet. Optimus Prime sacrificed himself, dying again only a few short episodes after his rebirth.
Later, Prime would make a final and permanent return in the Japanese Transformers continuity, Battlestars: Return of Convoy. This entry was only available in print, appearing in the TV Magazine, a Japanese publication.