Optimus Prime

Autobots, which included Optimus and were led by one of the most prominent Cybertronian figures, Sentinel Zeta Prime. At one point in the war, he was captured by Megatron and imprisoned in Kaon. When Optimus's squad found Sentinel, he announced his complete renunciation of the Prime title in favor of the latter (to which Sentinel replied that he had never sought to take it from Sentinel) and informed his successor that the Decepticon leader had poisoned Cybertron's core - Primus's own Spark - with dark energon using a plasma energy chamber he had previously acquired. Heeding the cries of the core he could detect, he ordered Optimus to reach it and stop the infection, otherwise the planet and all the Transformers inhabiting it would not be able to survive. After this, Sentinel, seriously wounded during his entire time in captivity, died.[13] Optimus freed his body from its chains, took it with him, and, after breaking out of prison, brought it to the High Council. He offered to let the members assume leadership of the Autobots, but they explained that their job was to select a Prime to carry out that duty. Optimus stated that there were no more Primes, and the High Council urged him to stop denying his destiny, noting his unparalleled courage and wisdom, and reiterating Zeta's words about the poisoning of the core and the danger it posed to Cybertronians. Optimus then agreed to take on the responsibility; the High Council finally confirmed him as Prime and proclaimed him leader of the Autobots.[14]

Sentinel was interred in the Crypt of the Primes in Iacon, and during the funeral ceremony, Alpha Trion formally transferred the title of Prime to Optimus. On the way from the Crypt to the Archives, he spoke to Jazz about the Thirteen, and was surprised to learn that Jazz considered them to be nothing more than fictional figures serving as moral compass for Cybertronians.[8]

Optimus descended to the heart of the planet, to Primus' spark. Primus saw that the Autobot was worthy of his title and gave him the Matrix of Leadership[11].

After this, Optimus was forced to send the All-Spark, an ancient Cybertronian artifact, to a remote sector of the galaxy called Theta Scorpii to keep it safe from Megatron.[15]

During the war, when a squad of Decepticon saboteurs led by Megatron himself attacked the Iacon energon factory, Optimus set an ambush for them. When his gunners retreated under fire from the Decepticon leader, Prime personally took up the gun and shot Soundwave, who was left without cover. He was sure that the rebel leader would take advantage of the opportunity to escape, but to his surprise, he saw Megatron saving the damaged fighters and covering their retreat, risking himself. Unwillingly delighted by what he saw, Prime did not destroy the Decepticon, although he had the opportunity. Many Autobots considered this act treason, and Optimus was court-martialed.[16]

Before the Great War, Optimus was known as Orion Pax and was an Iacon Archivist, a student of Alpha. Triona later became the fourteenth True Prime, gaining the leadership matrix, the previous sentinel Zeta, who also held this title did not have the full right to it, however, Optimus is most likely the reincarnation of the thirteenth. Orion Pax was a simple worker in the city archive of Iacon. His job was to listen to messages transmitted over the information network for subsequent classification. The Cybertronian did this without a shadow of a doubt until he heard the messages of the gladiatorial arena champion Kaon-Megatronus, his statements made the young archivist think about the injustice of the existing class system and the corruption of the current authorities. And Orion began to communicate with him. Megatronus would later become a good friend and mentor to Orion when they both gained an audience with the High Council, Megatronus, by then taking the name "Megatron", offered him his vision of a just society and revealed his true nature, demanding the violent overthrow of the old order and wishing to be called the next Prime. However, Pax did not believe that order and justice could be achieved through violence; his words deeply touched the minds and sparks of the council members, who saw in him a noble Cybertronian. When Orion finished his speech, the High Council, having expressed the need in this difficult time to find a new leader who could lead the people of Cybertron to a new dawn, said that he deserved the matrix of leadership and placed on him the duty of finding it, simultaneously proclaiming him a new Prime named Optimus. Megatron's ambitious plans were destroyed, and he broke all ties with Optimus and the High Council, deciding to start a war against everyone who did not agree with his views, and vowing to get the matrix wherever it was. His supporters, who called themselves Decepticons, began to confront the Autobots.