Transformers: Optimus Prime’s Best Designs

Optimus Prime, the gentle leader of the Autobots, has had quite the design changes and alterations throughout the years. While Transformers remains consistent with the red and blue truck color scheme, there are some changes to Optimus Prime across the decades of Transformers history that warrant a ranking of his best designs.

The best Optimus Prime designs often homage to nostalgia while still bringing something new, and with decades of character designs to go through, it will be interesting to see which of the best Optimus Prime designs make it to the top to showcase the peak potential of this Transformers icon.

8 Transformers: Animated’s Stylistic Optimus

A Sleek, Stylish, and Sharp Optimus Prime

• Featured in: Transformers: Animated (2007-2009)
• Art Director: Derrick J. Wyatt

The Optimus Prime variant from the Transformers: Animated series is definitely a product of the show’s art style from Derrick J. Wyatt. Optimus this time around is far more sleek than his counterparts, and is definitely less bulky, presenting a sharper look with a free range of motion.

This version of Optimus Prime is a firetruck, further showcasing Prime’s servitude to humanity and his respect for civil service. It’s a nostalgic look for the late 2000s, and the design presents familiarity with the bulky chest, but something modern with the skinny legs that proves Optimus skipped leg day.

7 Bayverse Optimus Prime (2014-2017)

A Cool Knight Suffering From Overdesigned Complexity

• Featured in: Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
• Directed by: Michael Bay

The Michael Bay Transformers movies didn’t end with a trilogy, and instead continued with a revamp of style, gore, and maturity. With Michael Bay’s return to Transformers, there needed to be a new design for Optimus Prime to keep things fresh, which is exactly where Optimus’s new ‘Knight’ look comes from.

While there are some interesting concepts about Optimus Prime’s design, like the metallic tunic that makes him look like a knight, and his pauldrons, the fact of the matter is that it seems far too alien and overdesigned that it doesn’t look more than meets the eye or a robot in disguise, because there are no parts that seem like it can transform into a truck.

6 Clean and Sharp Optimus for Transformers Prime

Bringing Cybertronian Designs to Modern CGI

• Featured in: Transformers Prime (2010-2013)
• Lead Character Designer: Jose Lopez

Transformers Prime was a great TV series for the Transformers to roam in, and Optimus Prime easily has one of his best redesigns yet for this universe. Optimus keeps the standard scheme of red, blue, and silver, but there are more prominent and slim areas in the abdominal area that showcase an alien machine outside of just a truck that can transform – making Optimus look more Cybertronian, and still gentle.

There is a sharpness to the design here, and Optimus has definitely bulked out in all the right ways. When it’s action mode, the faceguard looks great, and it’s equally as nice to see him emote with a stoic mouthpiece. From the high shoulders and protruding chest, this design fits the art style perfectly.

5 Bayverse Optimus Prime (2007-2011)

Beautiful Detail for Live-Action That Showcases a Complex Relationship with Design

• Featured in: Transformers (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon (2011)
• Directed by: Michael Bay

The Michael Bay Optimus Prime was the first live-action version of the character that triumphantly came to the screen with explosions, slow-motion, and lens flare. While many can debate the ethics of this version of Optimus Prime and his murderous ways, everyone who has seen these movies as a child can attest to how cool Optimus looks, especially with the painted flames.

The truck flames add a nice decal on Optimus Prime that helps make him stand out further, and the mechanical parts of his humanoid figure really make Optimus seem alien and stoic. There are some issues with the over-crowded nature of the design (especially the toes) but it’s a defining design for Optimus that should always be remembered.

4 Optimus Prime Rises in Transformers One

Clean, Bulky, and Looks Like the Perfect Hasbro Toy

• Featured in: Transformers One (2024)
• Directed by: Josh Cooley

Transformers One was a brilliant Transformers movie that deserves to be seen by audiences, and part of the many reasons is due to Chris Hemsworth’s take on the character. Transformers One is an origin story for Optimus, and he begins the movie as Orion Pax – a Cybertronian missing his transformation cog, which adds to his appearance as it shows that his recognizable look is missing something heroic.

It’s not until the third and final design where Orion Pax is reborn by Primus as Optimus Prime that audiences see the full glory of a Prime. The color scheme is breathtaking, and the bulk of Optimus’s glossy new armor shows how well the art style of this movie works, and the prominent display of the Matrix of Leadership in Optimus’s chest helps to inspire all.

3 A Peter Cullen Homage in Transformers: Rise of the Beast

Optimus Prime Gets New Abs and a Peter Cullen Face

• Featured in: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
• Directed by: Steven Caple Jr.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts blends new and respectable ideas with Optimus Prime. It’s a great mash-up of the best parts of the G1 design while still retaining a unique identity, like the elongated biceps that make Optimus more prominent and taller. Optimus also has a longer torso – perhaps showing a Prime not afraid of an ab workout.

While the creative differences to G1 don’t make this design perfect, there are some great additions like how Optimus Prime looks under his faceplate. Underneath the guarded mask, Optimus Prime looks a lot like Peter Cullen, seemingly with his nose and mustache immortalized onto Prime’s Cybertronian face.

2 A One-to-One Adaption of G1 in Bumblebee

The G1 Design Proudly Goes Live-Action

• Featured in: Bumblebee (2018)
• Directed by: Travis Knight

Bumblebee was a perfect love letter to Transformers after years of the action-fest and high-adrenaline of Michael Bay’s movies. With Bumblebee, fans didn’t have to wait long at all to see an entirely new, yet classic, Optimus Prime back in action, as the movie presents classic G1 designs for Autobots and Decepticons in fully realized live-action potential.

Optimus Prime here is perfect, and to this day, remains the most perfect live-action model. Everything about Optimus Prime’s design here is done right, from the size of his head, the width of his shoulders, the smokestacks – the list goes on. It’s G1 to a fault and comes with the details one would expect of live-action without altering such an iconic design.

1 Optimus Prime’s Classic G1 Design

The Unbeatable and Perfect Design That All Can Follow and Replicate

• Featured in: The Transformers (1984-1987), The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
• Designed by: Shoji Kawamori (Battle Convoy)

Optimus Prime’s fabled origins were never as the leader of the Autobots in The Transformers cartoon, but instead as a toy from the Diaclone line. His humble origins as Battle Convoy would soon see him lead his own American TV series as Optimus Prime, leader of the Auto Bots, with a design that is now, and forever will be, instantly recognizable.

Optimus Prime’s Generation One design is the epitome of character design. He’s bulky where he should be, and the blend of reds, blues, and whites presents heroism and patriotism reminiscent of the American flag. For a first design, the Gen-1 is perfect and is something every future Optimus Prime design should look to as the peak inspiration.