Rodimus Prime / Rodimus Convoy
 |
Rodimus Prime
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Protector
First Comic Appearance: Transformers:
The Movie #3
"Experience is the benchmark of maturity."
Profile:
Rodimus Prime is the mature, transformed persona of Hot Rod. This
transformation and simultaneous assumption of the Autobot leadership
occured in a major battle between the Autobots and Decepticons. It is
as Rodimus Prime that Hot Rod defeated Unicron and restored order to
the galaxy. Rodimus Prime speaks with the savvy of a seasoned veteran.
He can be hot-headed at times- he has a tendency to act first and ask
questions later. Rodimus Prime's sole purpose is to protect all life.
Abilities: He possesses acute
military prowess.
Rodimus Prime is an expert tactician with exceptional maneuverability
in battle. In robot mode, he carries a photon eliminator that shoots
high voltage electricity. Range: 500 miles. Speed: 200 mph.
Weaknesses: His only weakness is his
compassion for other living creatures.
|
Rodimus Prime is actually Hot
Rod, improved by the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. However,
due to temporal meddling by Unicron in the comic, it is uncertain if
Rodimus will ever come into being in that particular reality. In Japan,
Rodimus Prime is known as Rodimus Convoy and Hot Rod is called Hot
Rodimus (don't laugh!).
During the battle against Unicron, a Quintesson ship carrying several
Autobots
drove into Unicron by driving through his eye. Hot Rod was thrown out
of the
disintegrating ship and into Unicron's body. where he happened to
stumble across Galvatron holding the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. In
the fight that followed, Hot Rod reached for the Matrix and was
transformed into Rodimus Prime. Rodimus opened the Matrix and destroyed
Unicron.
After this, Rodimus carried the Matrix within him and led the
Autobots. In desperation to find out who the Quintessons
were, he shorted himself out and retreated into the Matrix, where he
uncovered the Transformers' origin: that the Quintessons had created
them years ago.
While escaping a Decepticon attack, he and other Autobots came
across the funeral barge from the great battle at Autobot City.
Amazingly, Optimus Prime was found to be alive,and Rodimus passed the
Matrix back to his predecessor. But this turned out to be a Quintesson
trap. Rodimus, as Hot Rod, successfully reclaimed the Matrix, with help
from Optimus.
Rodimus began to feel the pressures of leadership. Once, after
attempting to race a couple of
Stunticons, Rodimus lost the Matrix to the Decepticons. Scourge stole
the Matrix, and it fell to Hot Rod to realize that it was his destiny
to lead, and he reclaimed the Matrix again.
Meanwhile, a crew of Earth scientists found Optimus Prime's
body in space, and eventually he was revived by a Quintesson. Rodimus
returned the Matrix to Optimus, and reverted to Hot Rod.
Article submitted by Daniel Day.
By the year 2011, the Cybertrons had defeated the Destrons residing on
Earth, Seibertron and Arsenia.
When the Destrons returned via an abandoned spacebridge, a
fight started. To make matters worse, the Destrons had new warriors
called "Headmasters" and Vector Sigma had grown very unstable. While
Hot Rodimus fought alongside his fellow Cybertrons, Convoy travelled to
the center of Seibertron to try and stabilize Vector Sigma to prevent
it from destroying the planet. All seemed bleak for the Cybertrons
until new Headmaster warriors from the planet Master arrived and fought
off the Destrons. Hot Rod then went out on a quest with Broadcaster on
Earth to find the Matrix, which was supposedly being kept at an
abandoned Cybertron base. The duo ended up searching the north pole,
but ran into Soundwave, the Predacons and the Stunticons. The ensuing
fight seemingly cost the lives of Broadcaster and Soundwave.
Hot Rod returned to Cybertron Headquarters, where he then
continued his search with the aid of the Cybertron Headmasters. They
found the Matrix but almost lost it to the Destron Headmasters and
Galvatron. They then returned to headquarters, where they used the
spacebridge to return to Seibertron. They made it to the center of
Seibertron just in time, as Convoy and Fortress were fighting off
Scourge and Cyclonus. Galvatron and the Destron Headmasters arrived
right behind them. The ghost of Alpha Trion, who was following Convoy
the whole time, merged with the Matrix. As he did so, Hot Rodimus
opened it and became Rodimus Convoy once more. Rodimus and Convoy then
teamed up and defeated the Destrons. Convoy then merged with the
energies of Vector Sigma in order to stabilize it, and died. Rodimus
Convoy then resumed leadership of the Cybertrons.
Later, when the Cybertrons had invented a new metal that would
give them an edge in the war, the Destrons made another attack on
Seibertron. This time, the Destron Headmasters' mysterious leader
Scorponok gave them bombs and ordered them to plant them on Vector
Sigma. The Cybertrons were unable to remove the bombs after they were
set there by Wipe and had to be evacuated in the Trainbots and
Fortress's ship. Galvatron went to the center of Seibertron trying to
get the metal and was seemingly killed in the explosion that destroyed
Seibertron.
After, the Cybertrons landed on the ruins of their homeworld
and said a heartbreaking good-bye, Rodimus Convoy passed leadership to
Fortress (although he did not give him the Matrix). Rodimus, Cha, and
Blurr then flew off into space to search for a new homeworld for the
Cybertrons.
Article submitted by Nick Peron.
In Rodimus's only canon appearance in the US comic, he was in
a parallel universe
in which Unicron destroyed Cybertron and Galvatron had captured all of
North America.
Rodimus only appeared as a corpse, hung up between several poles.
Galvatron, in
a fit of anger, fired on the lifeless body, screaming "How many times
must I kill you?!"
Hot Rod became Rodimus Prime, the new Autobot leader, in 2006, when he
received
the Creation Matrix, using it in the process to destroy Unicron. He
travelled
back in time on two occasions, once from 2007 to 1987, the other time
from 2009
to 1989, looking to return Galvatron to the future. When they fought,
Galvatron
was always the stronger, and appeared to be totally invulnerable.
After the Time Wars, Rodimus found himself back in a 2009 that
was not his own.
While he and his companions were trapped here, and again in 2010,
Unicron took
possession of his mind from within the Matrix and used him to hurt his
fellow
Autobots. Unicron's essence had been trapped there since they found his
head
on Junk in 2008.
In 2356 Rodimus grew ill and weak due to Unicron's influence, and in
2510 he
was unable to stop a war between the Wreckers and the Technobots.