Optimus Prime dies a lot, and has even met his maker several times in Michael Bay’s Transformers movie franchise. The Autobots’ leader is an iconic figure in the Transformers franchise, so killing him off was an easy way to take the story for a dramatic turn. Michael Bay made full use of this fact in the Transformers films by not only killing Optimus Prime but also faking his death, brainwashing him, and sending him into stasis lock.
Killing Optimus Prime is such a convenient way to advance the Autobots’ story that he has died frequently throughout Transformers media. He has a long history of dying in comics and television. Among his many deaths, he died three times in Marvel’s The Transformers comic books, and the enshrined body of an Optimus Prime from an alternate universe is seen in the Armada comics. He also died (and was resurrected) in the series Transformers Animated and Transformers: Prime. Director Michael Bay continued this tradition of killing off Optimus Prime in his live-action movies.
Optimus Prime also has a reputation for being resurrected on behalf of the forces of evil. He was brought back to life by the Quintessons in The Transformers TV series and Dark Nova in the Return of Convoy manga and story pages. Another alternate-universe counterpart was also cloned in the Universe comics to create Nemesis Prime. Michael Bay made use of this common plotline as well, although Optimus Prime was still alive when his transformation occurred. To help navigate everything that happens to the noble Autobot leader, here’s a guide to every time he was killed, incapacitated, or turned against his friends in Transformers movies.
Optimus Prime Died In The First Real Transformers Movie
Long before Michael Bay made his debut Transformers movie, Optimus Prime died for the first time in the 1986 The Transformers: The Movie after being shot multiple times by Megatron. He remained dead for the rest of the movie and would not be revived until the Quintessons brought him back to life in Season 3 of The Transformers. This was only a temporary resurrection before he sacrificed himself to save the Autobots, but he was revived again later in the season.
Megatron Killed Optimus Prime in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
Optimus Prime died in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen when Megatron stabbed him through the chest. After protecting Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky against Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor in a one-on-three battle, Optimus Prime was too distracted trying to find Sam to notice the Decepticon’s leader behind him. After Megatron struck the final blow, Optimus Prime’s fate was confirmed by the Fallen, who sensed his demise and declared “The Last Prime is dead.” Optimus Prime’s body was transferred first to the Autobot’s base at Diego Garcia atoll and then to Egypt, where Sam used The Matrix of Leadership to resurrect him.
The Autobots Faked Their Deaths in Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Optimus Prime and the Autobots appeared to die in space in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Sentinel Prime and the Decepticons took over Earth and ordered the Autobots to leave the planet, but the Decepticon Starscream destroyed their ship as they were departing. With no one left to stop them, the Decepticons invaded Chicago and began building a wormhole-based Space Bridge to transport their homeworld Cybertron into the Solar System. Optimus Prime and the Autobots returned to destroy the bridge and revealed that they had abandoned the ship before Starscream could destroy it.
Quintessa Turned Optimus Prime Into Nemesis Prime in Transformers: The Last Knight
After returning to Cybertron in Transformers: The Last Knight, Optimus Prime was captured by the Cybertronians’ creator Quintessa and brainwashed to become Nemesis Prime. Quintessa sent Nemesis Prime back to Earth to retrieve a staff given to Merlin by the Cybertronian Knights of Iacon. Although Optimus Prime did not technically die in this instance, he was no longer the leader the Autobots knew. He fought and almost killed Bumblebee until he was returned to his senses by Bumblebee’s long-lost voice.
Every Time Optimus Prime Went Into Stasis Lock In The Transformers Movies
Optimus Prime went into stasis lock twice in the Transformers movies. Transformers enter this coma-like state after sustaining heavy damage or massive power loss to preserve their remaining energy. While stasis lock is not the same as death, transformers are fully incapacitated in this mode until an outside force can restore them.
Optimus Prime first entered stasis lock when he was wounded by the Cemetery Wind organization and the Cybertronian bounty hunter Lockdown in Transformers: Age of Extinction. He remained inert as an over-cab truck until inventor Cade Yaeger reactivated him by removing a missile that was lodged in his systems. Optimus Prime entered stasis lock again in Transformers: The Last Knight when he ran out of power on his way to Cybertron. He revived upon entering Cybertron’s atmosphere and crashing to the surface.
Other Notable Times Optimus Prime Died In The Transformers Franchise
Optimus Prime has died so many times in the Transfomers all-media franchise that it's almost meme-worthy, including some partiuclarly haunting deaths in the comics. Notably, he died in Transformers: The Headmasters when he fused his essence with the Vector Sigma supercomputer at the heart of Cybertron to bring it back under control. This time, he stayed dead until Return of Convoy, when Dark Nova resurrected him as False Convoy. He was soon restored to his original heroic personality in his new form Star Convoy.
Optimus Prime was killed multiple times in the Beast Wars and Beast Machines shows, but his death at the end of the series was arguably the most important. He was pushed into Cybertron’s core as part of his sacrifice to stop Megatron forever, although he was revived in assorted supporting media surrounding the series. Another Optimus Prime death earlier in Beast Machines heavily mimicked his demise in Transformers: The Headmasters.
The controversial Kiss Players storyline brought Optimus Prime back to life after his death in The Transformers: The Movie with a kiss from Marissa Faireborn. Galvatron’s cells, which had scattered through the atmosphere and altered select humans after his defeat, allowed her to fuse with and resurrect Optimus Prime. Once the Decepticon Galvatron’s cells were extracted from her body, however, she was no longer able to keep him alive, and he died again.
Optimus Prime also died a particularly brutal death in the Decepticon mode storyline of Transformers: The Game. As the video game was based on the first film in Bay’s Transformers series, it stands out as one of the main pieces of Transformers media influenced by the movies. Optimus Prime was not resurrected in this case.
