Presumably, when he became Autobot Leader, the Autobot Matrix of Leadership was passed on to him from the previous commander.
Optimus Prime died in 2005 after a fierce battle with Megatron during a Decepticon invasion of Autobot City. The Matrix was passed to Ultra Magnus only seconds before Prime's death. He was reanimated temporarily by the Quintessons in 2006 for the express purpose of leading the Autobots into a trap. During this time, Rodimus Prime, the present Autobot Leader, returned the Matrix to him. Soon after, the Quintesson plot was revealed and Optimus, in an attempt to save the Autobots from the trap, piloted a ship to certain destruction after giving the Matrix once again to Rodimus.
Some time after, Optimus's body was discovered by a team of human scientists testing out a new form of shielding. His body was brought back to Earth, where strange spores were found on his body. The spores were soon found to cause madness and violence in those infected. One of the scientists, a man who blamed the Transformers for his daughter's need for bionic implants, infected the robots with the spores, but also inadvertantly caused every being in the galaxy to fall prey to the same illness, called the "Hate Plague" by those uninfected. After Rodimus was infected as well, Sky Lynx sought the aid of the Quintessons so they could reanimate Optimus Prime, whom they hoped could regain the Matrix in order to combat the plague. Prime, protected by the same shielding that was being tested when he was found, was revived and sent after Rodimus. After a brief battle, Optimus took back the Matrix and released its energy, causing the madness to dissipate. Optimus has remained Autobot Leader, and holder of the now powerless Matrix, ever since.
Article submitted by Francisco Cividanes.
Addendum based on submission by Nick Peron.
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| Vehicle mode of Lt. Optimus Prime |
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| Vehicle mode of Optimus Prime c.4 million BC |
With his cranial unit (head) separated from his body, Optimus could do little as Shockwave utilized the Matrix within him to create the Constructicons. However, Prime managed to transfer the Matrix temporarily to Buster Witwicky to thwart Shockwave. Following his rescue, Prime managed to create several more Transformers, including the Aerialbots and, unintentionally, the Stunticons.
In a simulated battle with Megatron, Optimus was forced to compromise his principles to defeat Megatron, who was cheating via a software "back door". As a result, Prime forfeited the victory, allowing himself to be destroyed as per the pre-arranged agreement. Unknown to anyone, the human who oversaw the simulation, Ethan Zachary, saved Prime's personality to a floppy disk.
Later, Zachary discovered that Optimus's personality survived the transfer to disk, but did not realize he was alive and sentient. The disk was taken to Nebulos, where Hi-Q, a scientist was able to create a new body for Optimus. Because Nebulan fuel had been made poisonous to Transformer life, Hi-Q underwent the Powermaster process and binary-bonded himself to Prime, thus creating Powermaster Optimus Prime.
Despite having lost the Matrix (now encased in a physical shell) in his old body, Optimus was still able to sense the approach of Unicron, the planet-sized demigod. He ordered a search for the Matrix, which, he was convinced, was the only force capable of stopping Unicron. The Decepticon Thunderwing was able to obtain the Matrix, which had been tainted by evil, for himself. Although driven nearly insane by the overwhelming power, Thunderwing was able to grasp his sanity just long enough to allow himself to be impaled by an Autobot harpoon and flung into space.
Prime, believing the Matrix to be destroyed in the battle, surrendered the Autobot Army to the Decepticon Leader Scorponok for the sole purpose of uniting the Transformer race against Unicron. Scorponok reluctantly agreed, and all the Earth-bound Transformers were teleported to Cybertron by Primus. There, they were almost immediately attacked by Unicron. Optimus, fearing the worst, released Hi-Q to escape the carnage. At this time, Thunderwing, who had been repaired by the Matrix, returned to Cybertron. Prime managed to take the Matrix from him, and then flew into Unicron to release its energy. The resulting explosion destroyed Unicron, but Prime's body was caught in the energies and ripped apart as well.
After the battle, Hi-Q was attacked by ancient Cybertronian creatures who were apparently brought to the surface by the death of Primus during the fighting. While the Dinobots protected him, Grimlock found himself paralyzed by the experimental Nucleon fuel in his body. Realizing that Grimlock's body was undergoing a metamorphasis, Hi-Q tapped into that power and unintentionally caused himself to merge minds with Optimus Prime. Eventually, he discovered the Last Autobot, a Transformer of immense age and power who was able to rejuvenate Cybertron and even bring dead Autobots back to life. He recreated Hi-Q/Optimus into a new body (Actionmaster Prime), who in turn convinced the Decepticons to leave and promise not to return.
Years later, Bludgeon (predictably) did return and ordered his Decepticons to attack Earth to lure Optimus into a trap. Facing another threat which required help from his enemies, Prime went to Earth to talk to Bludgeon. However, Bludgeon was destroyed by Megatron on Earth, who had been rebuilt with far more power than before. Optimus was torn apart by the far superior Megatron, who then took the Matrix from him.
Ironically, Optimus was eventually given back the Matrix by Starscream, who realized that whoever possessed the Matrix would eventually be turned to the side of good. Prime then allowed himself to be consumed by the Swarm, an offshoot of the Transformer race. In touching the Matrix, the Swarm became benevolent and recreated Optimus's body into his Combat Hero form.
Article submitted by Francisco Cividanes.
Article submitted by Francisco Cividanes.
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