Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime, also known in Japan as Convoy, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Transformers franchise. Generally depicted as a brave and noble leader, Optimus Prime is the supreme commander of the Autobots in their fight against the Decepticons. The Transformers characters were developed for the American market after Hasbro representatives visited the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show. Some designs were modified and the coloring was changed; notably, Optimus Prime (released in 1982 as Diaclone No. 17 - Battle Convoy and in 1984 as Powered Convoy) was colored red, chrome, and dark blue. While the Diaclone version was intended to be a piloted mecha, the Transformers version was a sentient robot. The popularity of the Transformers toys resulted in comics, movies, and a TV series. In the Transformers mythology, Optimus Prime is a Cybertronian, a member of an extraterrestrial species of sentient self-configuring modular robotic lifeforms (e.g., cars and other objects), a blend of biological evolution and technological engineering. He is the primary hero of the story, opposing the Decepticon leader Megatron. Due to the popularity of the Transformers franchise, Optimus Prime has remained one of the franchise's most iconic characters, and one of the greatest and most recognizable fictional characters of all time. As an established pop culture icon, his voice has been portrayed by a variety of actors, with the most common being his first, Peter Cullen. Other actors include Garry Chalk, Neil Kaplan, David Kaye, Alan Tudyk and Chris Hemsworth.