To many Transformers fans, Optimus Prime is the face of the franchise.
Some have even compared him to Superman.
But since his toy was discontinued in 1986,
Hasbro and Sunbow took a daring move by having Optimus Prime die after
his final confrontation with Megatron.
Because of fan backlash,
the decision was made to revive the character at the end of the third season.
Optimus: Yes Sky Lynx. And this time no force in the universe can stop me.
However, the cartoon stopped producing new episodes in 1987,
and a new toy didn't reach the shelves until 1988.
In Japan however, three exclusive series were made taking
place after the U.S. cartoon ended but skipping the events of the Rebirth.
HEAD ON!!
It even featured the new Power Master Prime toy
with some alterations in Super God Masterforce.
Wait, that's not Optimus Prime?!
SUPER GINRAI!
GOD ON!
While the concept of killing and then reviving Optimus Prime is now a
commonplace in almost every Transformers series,
it was certainly a shocking experience for fans in 1986.
So much so that fan backlash pushed the makers of
the cartoon to revive Optimus Prime in a two-part episode in 1987.
while fans were happy to see him return,
Kup: I can't begin to tell ya how great it is to have ya back, Optimus!
Optimus: It's great to be back, Kup!
There was some continuity errors caused by it
which is something that I did cover in a previous Transformers Discussion.
Recognizing the importance of the character, Hasbro in Takara began
development of a new Optimus Prime toy that hit retail shelves in 1988
known as Power Master Optimus Prime.
A NEW Optimus Prime is here! I'll transform Optimus!
Power Master Optimus Prime. Greatest leader of his time!
Optimus: It's great to be back!
This upgrade featured a trailer that transformed into a battle station
while his Power Master partner, Hi-Q,
transformed into his engine, allowing his cab to transform into robot mode.
In addition he could combine with his trailer,
forming the first Transformers Super Mode for Optimus Prime.
Power Master Transformers. They've got the power to surprise!
Look, Optimus is becoming a Super Power Master!
Who will win? Find out in Marvel Comics.
In the Marvel Comics, Optimus Prime's death in issue 24
came with an interesting backdoor to bring him back.
His mind was literally stored on a floppy disk by Ethan Zachary.
Once the Autobots learned of this,
they tried and failed to revive him in a new body.
But Goldbug would lead a team of Autobots to the planet Nebulos
to ask their chief scientist, Hi-Q, to help them.
Hi-Q explained that the fuel resources on the planet were radiated to
become poisonous to Cybertronians after the Transformers battled there
previously as Headmasters and Targetmasters.
To revive Optimus Prime, Hi-Q built him a new body that could merge with his trailer.
To save Optimus Prime and the Autobots from certain death because of the poisoned fuel,
Hi- Q upgraded Joyride, Slapdash, and Getaway into Powermasters.
The Nebulans Hotwire, Lube, and Rev became their respective partners,
while Hi-Q partnered with Optimus Prime.
With the Powermaster process the Nebulan
scientists are modified to transform into the engines of the Autobots acting
as a fuel source for the Transformers.
Their engines the key that unlocks their Transformer energy
this would prevent them from dying of poison fuel and made the Transformers
temporarily more powerful, hence the name Powermasters.
However the side effects to their partners
increase their metabolism exponentially,
forcing them to eat large quantities of food.
The Decepticons, Darkwing and Dreadwind,
also teamed up with the Nebulans,
Throttle and High-Test as Powermasters as well,
as they terrorize the citizens of the planet.
While they could combine in jet mode as the powerful Dreadwing,
the Decepticons were eventually defeated by the revived Optimus Prime.
Returning to take command of the Autobots,
Optimus Prime continued the battle against the Decepticons
until Unicron attacked Cybertron.
The only weapon capable of destroying the Chaos Bringer was the Matrix,
which through a series of events was tainted by evil
and possessed by the Decepticon Thunderwing.
Once Thunderwing was torn apart by Unicron's power,
the machine hating human, Circuit Breaker
used her powers to stall Unicron long enough
for Optimus Prime to separate from Hi-Q and reclaim the Matrix.
Purging matrix of his evil energies,
Optimus Prime then flew into Unicron's maw
as he unleashed the power of the Matrix and destroyed Unicron.
In the aftermath, what was left Powermaster Optimus Prime
gave command of the Autobots to Grimlock
before dying once again.
However, Hi-Q was still on Cybertron
and since his mind was binary bonded to Optimus through the Powermaster process,
he was still merged with him.
Eventually, The Last Autobot, one of the original 13,
used his power to reform Hi-Q into Optimus Prime in his new Action Master body.
As for Optimus Prime's appearance in the cartoon, his revival was a bit too early
for his Powermaster upgrade to make an appearance in the show itself,
despite making several commercial appearances.
The box-office failure of Transformers The Movie
forced the cartoon to end in a three episode fourth season,
titled the Rebirth,
which introduced the Headmasters and Targetmasters.
However, in 1988
there was a pseudo fifth season of the cartoon that aired select
episodes from previous seasons including the More Than Meets The Eye pilot,
Five Faces Of Darkness,
The Rebirth,
and even Transformers The Movie split up into five parts.
To book on these reruns were live-action segments with a young boy
named Tommy Kennedy who meets with Powermaster Optimus Prime
outside of Autobot City to listen to the Autobot leaders stories of past adventures.
Tommy: Now I really gotta get back to Autobot City.
Optimus: Would you like a ride?
Tommy: You bet!
While it is unknown how the cartoon version of Optimus Prime
received the upgrade as a Powermaster,
Optimus: Okay what would you like me to tell you?
Tommy: Tell us the real scoop,
the behind the scenes super secret story of how you came back from the dead!
we can only assume it took place sometime after the Rebirth.
In the Japanese continuity,
Takara decided to ignore the events of the Rebirth and
continue the series with their first of three full-length anime series
titled the Headmasters.
Because Optimus Prime had released the energy within the
Matrix in the Return of Optimus Prime Part 2,
Hot Rod: The wisdom of the ages, it's lost.
Optimus: No, not lost. We're all a little wiser now.
Vector Sigma had begun to destabilize and the Decepticons began an
all-out assault on Cybertron.
Hot Rod eventually reclaims the Matrix
and has it recharged with the ghost of Alpha Trion,
as he becomes Rodimus Prime once again.
But instead of using the Matrix to stabilize Vector Sigma,
Optimus Prime used his own life energy
as he once again sacrificed himself.
Rodimus Prime: Commander! Commander Optimus!
In the following series, Super God Masterforce,
the Headmasters and Powermasters of that year were handled
very differently than their American counterparts.
Instead, humans were given bracelets to connect to lifeless Transtectors
and with the power of the Masterforce, they too could transform.
Shuta: TRANSFORM!
HEAD ON!
The Powermasters in the series known as Godmasters
were much more powerful than the Headmaster Juniors,
and both the Autobots and Decepticons had humans who transformed into the engines
of their Godmaster Transtectors.
The leader of the Autobot Godmasters
was none other than the Japanese native,
American truck driver named Ginrai.
Through a series of events he acquired the Transtector that was
originally intended to be an upgrade for Optimus Prime.
As such, when his truck cab transformed,
he clearly looks like Prime.
As the battles continued,
he eventually found the second part to his Transtector, the truck's trailer,
which combined with him to form Super Ginrai.
The added power allowed him to defeat King Poseidon,
or as he's known in the US, Piranacon.
However, Super Ginrai was no match for the Decepticon Overlord,
who came close to killing the Autobot Godmaster.
Super Ginrai: I....won't die!
I...
...CAN'T DIE!
Overlord then left for space to attack a human base on the moon
to pursue the Decepticons,
the Autobots constructed a drone named Godbomber
that transforms into an armored trailer.
Combining with Super Ginrai,
the two could merge to form God Ginrai,
which allowed the Autobot Godmaster leader to fly into space.
The added firepower in addition to a little help from Fortress Maximus's brother
Grand Maximus allowed God Ginrai to protect the Earth against Overlord
and the newly upgraded Scorponok, now known as Black Zarak.
In the final battle,
God Ginrai unleashed his ultimate attack
Fire Guts against Black Zarek
destroying the evil Decepticon as well as Devil Z,
who had been controlling the Decepticons.
Promptly after the battle, the Transtectors came to life,
discarding their human partners as the Autobots and Decepticons continued their
battle in space.
In the following series, Transformers Victory,
the now fully sentient Autobot God Ginrai,
would return to help Star Saber face off against Deathsaurus.
Unfortunately, he was critically wounded by the new Decepticon leader.
To save him from certain death, Wheeljack, Perceptor, and Minerva would
rebuild God Ginrai as Victory Leo.
But a side effect of his transfer into a new body
made him wild and uncontrollable in lion mode
as he ripped apart the Decepticon Breast Force.
But cries from Star Saber's human companion, Jan,
brought Victory Leo back to his senses.
Victory Leo: TRANSFORM!
Jan: Victory Leo!
His new and more powerful body could also merge with Star Saber to become
Victory Saber, who was powerful enough to defeat Liokaiser and Deathsaurus.
Another version of Ginrai was part of the Botcon 2014 set as a recolor of
Classics Optimus Prime in Ginrai's famous Fire Guts colors.
Set in the Wings universe,
Ginrai was commander of the Cybertronian Knights as they battled
against a Cybertronian pirates, the Star Seekers.
The legacy of Ginrai might have led have led to some confusion
as to whether or not he was actually Optimus Prime
since his body was intended for the leader of the Autobots in Japanese continuity.
A special edition all-black redeco of Super Ginrai was released in
Japan as Nucleon Quest Super Convoy.
But outside of his tech spec,
there's no fiction surrounding this version of Optimus Prime.
However Optimus Prime did return in the Japanese manga, Battle Stars,
with a new upgraded body named Star Convoy.
But that toy never saw release in the US.
The original God Ginrai toy was reissued in the US as
Powermaster Optimus Prime with Apex Armor.
God Bomber, now renamed Apex Bomber,
is a non-sentient drone that responds to Optimus Prime's orders during battle.
Their combined form gives
Powermaster Optimus Prime superior weapon blast deflection
in addition to flight.
The identity of Apex Bomber left fans confused since his tech spec
referred to him as Optimus Prime's roller drone.
One of Optimus Prime's original components with his G1 toy was Roller,
who appeared several times in the G1 cartoon.
Megatron: Stop that Roller!
It wasn't until years later in 2015, that an Ask Vector Prime entry confirmed that
Apex Bomber was in fact a rebuilt Roller.
Jazz: Down but not out. Roller's one tough lil' Autobot.
In Japan however,
a version of Roller was trapped in between dimensions after the death of Optimus Prime.
He was rebuilt by Unicron to combine with Cyclonus
as a limb for Grand Galvatron.
But when Optimus Prime was temporarily revived to become Optimus Maximus
in the fight against Unicron,
Roller became one of Optimus Maximus's limbs
to put an end to the Chaos Bringer.
Saddened that Optimus would die once again, Roller
Roller stood guard over his leader's body
until the Battlestars recovered an ancient
power source known, as the Zodiac, to revive Optimus Prime.
They also rebuilt Roller into Prime's upgraded trailer
to combine with Optimus Prime forming Star Convoy,
going along with a remolded Power of the Primes toy.
Outside of G1, several references have
been made to either Optimus Prime's Powermaster upgrade
or the term Apex Armor.
The first new super mode for Optimus Prime was in the anime,
Car Robots, or Robots in Disguise in 2001.
This Optimus Prime transformed into a fire engine
and the front section formed a familiar looking robot mode.
The rest of the fire truck could form a battle station,
and could separate into parts to become his battle mode.
In Transformers Armada,
Optimus Prime's trailer could transform into a battle station,
as well as provide him a Super Mode as well.
Instead of a Powermaster partner,
this Optimus Prime gained power from the Mini-con Sparkplug.
In Transformers Energon
Optimus Prime's trailer carried four battle drones
that could combine to create a Power Rangers styled Super Mode.
Optimus: Energon Blast!!!
In Transformers Cybertron, Optimus Prime again transformed into a firetruck,
and this time he was heavily armed for battle.
The back section of the truck became his winged Super Mode
that is clearly influenced by the design of God Ginrai.
Optimus: FIRE!!
In the IDW comics,
Sentinel Prime donned the Apex Armor to face off against Megatron
before being brutally beaten by the new Decepticon leader.
Megatron being victorious,
turned the armor into his personal throne.
In Transformers Animated,
Optimus Prime receives a jetpack upgrade during the final battle
that looked very similar to God Ginrai.
My name is
OPTIMUS PRIME!
In Transformers Prime,
Miko finds and uses a Cybertronian relic,
the Apex Armor, to help fight against the Decepticons.
Miko: Who's wrecking who now?
and Optimus Prime's upgrade in Season 3
bare's a striking resemblance to God Ginrai as well.
Optimus: Commander?
Ultra Magnus: Sir, you're looking robust.
the first new version of Powermaster Optimus Prime
came from the Titans Return toy line.
As a retool of Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus,
this version of Optimus Prime does not have a smaller cab robot mode,
but it does come with a Titan Master partner named Apex.
The toy was retooled once again in Japan as an upgraded Super Ginrai
to go along with a new version of God Bomber
to form God Ginrai.
Super Ginrai I was then released in the
US as part of the siege on Cybertron set
under the name of Magnus Prime for trademark reasons.
While there is a distinction between the Japanese character of God Ginrai
and Optimus Prime's upgrade as a Powermaster,
it has not stopped some fans from being confused about the two,
In fact, the hilariously bad dub from Omni Productions
even goes so far as naming
the human character Optimus Prime.
Diver: Well I think it's fate that you and I have met today Optimus Prime.
but these were the same people who called Blaster "Billy",
Spike as "Sparkle"
and Blurr as "Wally."
So it's best to avoid these dubs like the plague.
Daniel: Come on, Wheelie. Of course I want you to come, we're buddies aren't we?
Wheelie: Heh heh. You know how to please me don't you?
In addition, instead of Hi-Q,
Optimus Prime's Powermaster partner was named Ginrai
when he was reissued along with Apex Bomber.
Perhaps Hi-Q was injured or killed in battle,
and Ginrai took his place.
As far as canon is concerned, it all depends upon whether or not
you follow the U.S. or Japanese continuities.
Either you prefer God Ginrai who becomes Victory Leo
with Optimus Prime and Roller being rebuilt as Star Convoy
or that Optimus Prime is rebuilt as a Powermaster
and Roller becomes Apex Bomber
when Ginrai takes over for Hi-Q.
I hope this clarifies the difference between Powermaster Optimus Prime and God Ginrai.
Personally, I follow the U.S. cartoon timeline
with the Japanese series being a divergent splinter.
But what do you think?
Do you prefer God Ginrai and Star Convoy?
Or do you prefer Apex Armor Powermaster Optimus Prime?
Or do you like both?
Ultra Magnus: Did you get your questions answered?
Optimus: Yes. And every answer led to a bigger question.
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
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I have many more Transformers videos like this coming soon, so stay tuned.
...and as always, until next time. Till all are one!
Megatron: Here, have a ton of fun!
Rumble: Ahhh!!
Optimus: Ha ha ha ha!
Your aims improving Megatron!