How long was Rodimus Prime leader for, then?

[Cliffjumper]

Okay, in the UK comic he possibly wracked up ~350 years. That's not bad, though not much on the four-plus million Optimus managed it for. In the RoD timeline it might have been as many as 15-ish. In Japan I think it works out as six years, assuming I'm remembering correctly that TF:TM still happened in 2005 there, then there was five years of the Decepticons sitting on Quattro Bajeena doing bugger-all, then he had a year as boss, then a few weeks off, then a few weeks back before ****ing of in about 2011 to leave the less interesting version of Cerebros in charge. But in the US cartoon continuity it must have been something like nine months.

It looks like even being God's chosen one doesn't matter much when you're up against Optimus Prime. Or a bunch of totally interchangable archetypal Japanese knock-offs thereof.

[Halfshell]

It looks like even being God's chosen one doesn't matter much when you're up against Optimus Prime.

HE'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON.

[The Doctor]

I thought that in the g1 toon version he had at most two years. I actually thought Rodimus had a lot of potential.

[Clogs]

Modern youth - can't stand the course...

Yes, I think it depends on which timeline you look at. Certainly, Rodimus 'aged' quicker in trying to fight the corrupted Matrix, but that was set a couple of hundred (or was it more..?) years into the future.

[inflatable dalek]

In the RoD timeline it might have been as many as 15-ish.

How does thast math work? I make it at most 4, Rythems seems to be following on from a 2005 set version of the film where Unicron won (hence the creation of Galvatron being the same when we see it in flashback later on), so 2005-2009 is much less than 15 isn't it? Or am I missing something obvious?

Considering all the time traveling and Universe jumping we saw Rodimus do It's entirely possible there's no point in history where he doesn't count as Autobot leader. Hell, does his very brief command in 1989 count?

[Warcry]

Okay, in the UK comic he possibly wracked up ~350 years. That's not bad, though not much on the four-plus million Optimus managed it for.

Optimus spent most of that time napping, though, and we don't know how long he's had the Matrix before the Ark launched. Shockwave didn't even know for sure that he had it in The New Order, though, so it might not have been a very long time since he was anointed leader. For all we know, Optimus might have only had a decade's worth of 'supreme leader' experience himself by the time the comics ended. Or he could have been in charge for 20,000 years before then -- I don't think there's anything to say for sure.

Things might be more cut-and-dried in the cartoon, though, since we actually saw Optimus being made. Does War Dawn have a specific date attached to it?

In the RoD timeline it might have been as many as 15-ish.

Nah...Rhythms of Darkness was set in 2009, so it couldn't be more than three years (and potentially a lot less than that, if you're of the school of thought that Rodimus was already dead for a good while before the comic started).

[Heinrad]

According to the wiki, "War Dawn" happened 9 million years. Although, given the show's rather tenuous alliance with the concept of continuity, just because Alpha Trion rebuilt Orion Pax into Optimus Prime doesn't mean that was when he recieved the Matrix. The concept for the exo-structure rebuilding seemed to be to make a bunch of science geeks and architects into being able to survive against(and hopefully win against) a bunch of warrior-types. Which is why Optimus didn't revert to Orion Pax, or just a less squared-off version of himself, when he passed the Matrix on in the Movie.

The problem is Megatron's shots bouncing off of Optimus when the first meet in the episode. It could just be a representation of improved armor. It's not the best animated of episodes..........

In the US toon, I figured Roddy lead for a year and a half, maybe two, before the consumer mandated return of Optimus Prime.

[Cliffjumper]

For RoD I was leaping off the coming of Unicron in 1991 as I couldn't remember specifics, so it'd be 15 at the absolute max, but more likely only a couple, or possibly none (as in if it was 2005 and TF:TM, Galvatron may well have knocked the shit out of him in Unicron then and there).

Prime I'd theorise had been leader long before leaving Cybertron - little solid, but "...And there Shall Come a Leader" seems to be set some time before, and if he'd only been doing it a week or something Perceptor and company wouldn't be hanging around mooning about him four million years later. Pure conjecture, but it makes sense.

[inflatable dalek]

For RoD I was leaping off the coming of Unicron in 1991 as I couldn't remember specifics, so it'd be 15 at the absolute max, but more likely only a couple, or possibly none (as in if it was 2005 and TF:TM, Galvatron may well have knocked the shit out of him in Unicron then and there).

I'd say he'd have to have been leader at least long enough to create some sort of great impression on everyone despite failing to destroy Unicron, Galvatron seems to have some real issues with him and he gets called something like "The mightiest of the Prime's" in one of the "As you know your father the King..." speeches. Even allowing for hyperbole on the last statement (which is more than likely considering he kinda failed completely in this timeline) whoever it was giving that speech (no issue to hand, Spike?) would have had to at least known him long enough to get the whole respect thing going on.

He's clearly been on the WTC a while though, lets say randomly he was leader for two years after the evil-film and then hung up for two more.

In another timeline... Would Prime still technically be Autobot leader at the end of Peace? He doesn't really get to finish his abdication after all.

[Warcry]

Even allowing for hyperbole on the last statement (which is more than likely considering he kinda failed completely in this timeline) whoever it was giving that speech (no issue to hand, Spike?) would have had to at least known him long enough to get the whole respect thing going on.

IIRC it was either Prowl or Jazz, neither of whom would be likely to jump onto the Rodimus Prime Bandwagon without a really good reason. They both knew Optimus for a long time, and for Rodimus to win them over them that much in just a few short years he must have done something ridiculously impressive.

He's clearly been on the WTC a while though, lets say randomly he was leader for two years after the evil-film and then hung up for two more.

Was he? Some of the Autobots' dialogue suggests that he was put there to lure Galvatron away from his base, although admittedly it was pretty ambiguous. Galvy and the Pretender Monsters seem to be a lot more on-guard when they arrive in the city that you'd expect if Galvatron was just going there to taunt Rodimus's corpse, too.

[ganon578]

I don't have any experience with anything but the G1 cartoons as I have recently watched them all, and I also don't know how long Rodimus was leader for. That said, I think his run as leader was WAY too frickin' short. It took almost the entire season 3 for him to finally be comfortable with the mantle of leadership, and 3-5 episodes later Optimus is back in the driver's seat.

I understand that the writer's were going with the whole 'leadership is hard and doesn't come easy' deal with Rodimus, but damn! The writers made him out to be a massive whiner. He had a ton of potential to be a great leader at the end of the season, and it all got cut short so they could sell more Optimus toys and bring back some of the waning fan base.

I also noticed a huge difference between Optimus' and Rodimus' leadership on the show: there are multiple times when Optimus is giving out orders and sending Autobots this way and that in a militaristic commanding way, and Rodimus maybe had one or two moments like that. It just seems like the writing made strides to show that Rodimus would never be Optimus.

[Cliffjumper]

so they could sell more Optimus toys

There was no Optimus toy out at the time - this was the 1980s, before there were thirty different ones a year; the Powermaster one wouldn't come out for a year or so after the character returned to the toyline, and new episodes were no longer being made by the time it did (the CGI puppet turns up in Season 5, Optimus returned in Season 3 - Season 4 was the three new episodes plus a load of repeats). Optimus came back because, well, kids really wanted him to come back (possibly because Rodimus was a dick). It's one of the few non-toyline-driven creative moves of the kids' show, in fact.

Plus it's hilarious that when Prime comes back there's no debate or handover. The Autobots know who the best one is, and even though the last time Optimus came back from the dead he was a robotic zombie that led hundreds of them to their deaths, they'd still rather take their chances than leave Rodimus in charge for any longer

[Warcry]

Plus it's hilarious that when Prime comes back there's no debate or handover. The Autobots know who the best one is, and even though the last time Optimus came back from the dead he was a robotic zombie that led hundreds of them to their deaths, they'd still rather take their chances than leave Rodimus in charge for any longer

Actually, what makes that so awesome is that Rodimus was by far the more successful of the two in the cartoon -- but none of the Autobots seem to notice. I mean, between waking up on the Ark in 1984 and getting killed in 2005, Optimus had 21 years to get rid of Megatron. He couldn't get any traction at all, even though he had twice as many troops as the Decepticons -- in fact, by the time the Movie rolls around you get the distinct impression that the Decepticons are kicking some serious butt.

Then Rodimus comes in, and for about a year the Autobots manage to take complete control of both Cybertron and Earth, as well as becoming a major diplomatic force among local aliens. They're pretty much the top dogs of the known galaxy, and hold on to that position despite attacks from the Decepticons and the Quintessons.

Then Optimus comes back, and within two and a half episodes Galvatron has killed all the Autobots on Cybertron, seized control of the planet and turned it into an Earth-destroying superweapon. Optimus spends the entire crisis being completely ineffectual, then proceeds to get captured by Galvatron along with all of the troops that he hadn't managed to get killed so far.

So, in summary, Rodimus > Optimus.

[Blackjack]

So, in summary, Rodimus > Optimus.

Infidel!

But seriously, though, I think Rodimus has a greater personality. He did tell Sandstorm to forget about his homeworld after he ordered it blown up, didn't he? "Forget it, Cybertron is much nicer." or something along that lines. But he really doesn't seem comfortable at all with his leadership, so...

He does prove competent, although taking control of Cybertron is only a fluke of luck, since Unicron drove out Cybertron's previous tenants. However, being diplomatic and driving off both Decepticons and Quints in the galaxy is better than Optimus.

Can't beat Ultra Magnus in the failure department, though. Optimus hands him leadership of Cybertron as he goes off to Vector Sigma, and in five minutes flat he's overrun.

[Cliffjumper]

It's easier if you assume that Quint zombified him in TRoOP but was killed shortly afterwards before he could actually do anything devious, and thus Op's just juddering around with 3% of his brain. And they still don't get Rodimus to take over.

"All the Autobots on Cybertron" - don't we only see the Aerialbots, Protectobots and Magnus actually getting done in? They're rubbish. Plus, according to Strafe, they kick the shit out of the Decepticons between Season 3 and Season 4 once they have Optimus Prime back, causing Galvatron to recruit another bunch of idiots (seriously, who gave Misfire a job?) - there ain't no Soundwave, Stunticons, Predacons, Trypticon or Sweeps to be seen. Whereas the first thing Rodimus did after getting the job was to give most of the Autobot Cars head cancer.

One thing you do have to wonder, though, is why they give Optimus Prime the Matrix back... It doesn't seem to make any difference to him either way, whereas it makes Rodimus small and rubbish to not have it. Let Optimus Prime do all the important stuff, let Rodimus have the Matrix so the Autobots can go camping on weekends.

To be fair, the closest thing to a decent leader in Rebirth (and, well, Season 3 now I think of it) was Ultra Magnus. Rodimus is reliving his teenage years (what, he just forgets all that shit over the past year or whatever), Prime is a vegetable, and Magnus is holding the ****ing line like the Jervis Bay or something - he's the one that organises the counterattack at Autobot City, and with half the Autobots pissing off to Nebulos, he's the one who comes up with the idea of just killing Galvatron. It's not the most complex strategy of all time, I'll grant you, but he seems to be the only one vaguely aware there's a violent civil war going on...

[grimlockprime108]

Infidel!

But seriously, though, I think Rodimus has a greater personality. He did tell Sandstorm to forget about his homeworld after he ordered it blown up, didn't he? "Forget it, Cybertron is much nicer." or something along that lines. But he really doesn't seem comfortable at all with his leadership, so...

"forget it,Cybertron is much nicer...not quite so perfect

[Cliffjumper]

Sandstorm should've stabbed him in the eye for that particular crack.

Has anyone noticed how the Paradronians get more generic the further into the episode you are?

[Blackjack]

Well, when you put it that way... I guess Magnus is the only one who's competent. Still, just because he's named 'Magnus', the writers let the Primes do all the important stuff and get some screentime.

Strafe did say that?

-toddles off to rewatch the Rebirth-

EDIT: Yup, he said that in the Rebirth, I think. We kicked the Decepticons' tailpipes across the galaxy!

And yeah, why didn't Sandstorm beat Rodimus up? Doesn't make sense. Rodimus blew up his home planet, and insults it to rub salt in the wound. Bastard. Sandstorm can't even stand for himself, chicken.

[Cliffjumper]

Strafe did say that?

Him or Scattershot, they're basically the same character only one's slightly smaller. Like Rod and Tod Flanders.

It might have been Goldbug, actually... It's someone in the first scene, anyway. Now I think about it, it's definitely Goldbug.

EDIT: Apart from that it's not, it's Strafe.

[Warcry]

But seriously, though, I think Rodimus has a greater personality. He did tell Sandstorm to forget about his homeworld after he ordered it blown up, didn't he? "Forget it, Cybertron is much nicer." or something along that lines. But he really doesn't seem comfortable at all with his leadership, so...

Oh, he can be a whiny emo and a huge cock at times, no question. And it's pretty obvious that he doesn't want to be in charge, but he's still pretty good at it.

Actually, considering how eager he was to get rid of the Matrix in Dark Awakening I suspect Optimus being back in charge was Hot Rod's idea more than anything else.

Plus, according to Strafe, they kick the shit out of the Decepticons between Season 3 and Season 4 once they have Optimus Prime back, causing Galvatron to recruit another bunch of idiots (seriously, who gave Misfire a job?) - there ain't no Soundwave, Stunticons, Predacons, Trypticon or Sweeps to be seen.

Yeah, but they were already kicking the shit out of the Decepticons even before that, with Rodimus in charge.

Whereas the first thing Rodimus did after getting the job was to give most of the Autobot Cars head cancer.

I'll give you that, but keep in mind that the most useful ones -- Prowl, Wheeljack and Ratchet (Ironhide doesn't count, he was crap) -- were already dead. And he did keep Jazz around. And a lot of the others could have died in the interim. Aside from those four, I think we only see Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, Hound and Grapple in the Movie or season 3.

And, hell, after the way season 2 went I can't blame Rodimus for keeping the likes of Tracks or Smokescreen (I love the guy, but he didn't impress in the cartoon) tucked away somewhere where they couldn't do any damage.