Orion Pax

Orion Pax is a fictional character in the fictional Transformers universes.

Transformers: Generation 1
Orion Pax is a peaceful and defenseless dock worker who will later become the Autobot leader Optimus Prime.

Animated Series
The young Orion Pax was a factory worker who looked up to the Decepticon leader Megatron and his army of Decepticons, as they could fly in robot mode without the use of other vehicles. One day, Megatron showed up at Orion's energy factory and deceived Orion while the Decepticons stole the energy. In the ensuing attack, Megatron seriously wounded Orion Pax, along with Ariel and Orion's friend Dion. Orion was taken to Alpha Trion, with the help from the Aerialbots, who were there as a result of traveling back through time. Alpha Trion was already working on a way to fight the Decepticons, and with the arrival of the damaged Orion, Alpha Trion used this opportunity to create a new kind of warrior. He set forth to repair and rebuild Orion Pax, recognizing his especially stronghearted nature. Orion was renamed Optimus Prime, and confronted Megatron, who, shocked at the stranger's battle prowess, asked who he was. Optimus replied, "Your worst nightmare". Optimus bested Megatron in the first of their many battles, and Megatron beat the first of his many retreats. Optimus Prime thus became the revered leader of the Autobots.

Dreamwave Productions
Optimus Prime didn't start out as Orion Pax, but rather as a new character Optronix, however, Optronix was nicknamed "Orion" by his friends.

IDW Publishing
Before the war, Optimus, then known as Orion Pax, was a graduate from the Institute for Higher Programming and a rising star in Cybertron's police, an inspiration to officers like Springarm. Shortly before Nominus Prime's assassination, Pax became captain of the Rodion Police and a somewhat liberal one at that. When the lowly miner Megatron was arrested for assault, Orion read his treatise on non-violent resistance, did some investigation, and found he wasn't guilty; he had him released, and told Megatron he'd read his treatise and told him to keep working for change. In addition, he locked up his officer Whirl for abusing the prisoner.

That last part made some high-placed friends of Whirl's very unhappy, and thugs working for Sentinel were sent to threaten Pax to release him. Orion refused, but the encounter rattled him; Megatron's writings had claimed the Senate was corrupt but he couldn't bring himself to believe that. He believed it when the thugs came back to spring Whirl and murder him, killing Springarm and Wheelarch in the process. In a mix of righteous fury and tactical skills, Orion took them down, arrested the leader, and then forced his way into the Grand Imperium: he made a defiant speech against the Senate's corruption and brutality, saying his eyes had been opened by Megatron.

Brutal corrupt regimes aren't likely to be guilt tripped and will instead arrest you. However, not every Senator was corrupt: one had Orion freed and repaired in a way that gave him a Matrix cavity. This Senator revealed elements of the Senate were behind Nominus' demise, intending to get the Matrix from him... Some time later, two Autobots named Fastback and Bumper were killed by Megatron, who had changed was now trying to overthrow the Senate by force. Orion Pax (with a completely changed appearance) was one of several Transformers who gathered for their funeral, standing solemnly with his arm around his girlfriend, next to his white clone and a guy with a beard.

After the death of Sentinel Prime, Zeta Prime rose to lead the battle against the growing Decepticon insurgency. Orion Pax continued upholding the law by changing from police captain to soldier, and was assigned to a unit commanded by the veteran Kup. Once again, during this time, he adopted a completely new robot mode, and was for some reason calling himself "Optimus". During this tour of duty, his unit intercepted a message reporting a planned attempt on the Prime's life. He approached former racer Blurr as a reliable means of getting the news to Zeta Prime in a hurry. The former celebrity balked, but ultimately the young soldier helped Blurr find what really drove him to race, and thus recruited him to the Autobot cause.

Orion Pax would face Megatron in open combat for the first time at Sherma Bridge, during the Rorsha Campaign; his side lost 5000 men but he tore off the tyrant's cannon arm before he losing and getting thrown off the bridge. Every Autobot and Decepticon stopped fighting to witness their duel.

Eventually, Orion became the commander of his own counter-insurgency unit working directly under Zeta Prime, though he had grown angry and detached from his experiences. During a mission to arrest the arms dealer Swindle in Nyon, he lost his temper and almost beat the Decepticon to death in front of horrified onlookers. He later admitted to Ultra Magnus that he was frustrated with his own failures and uncertain if they were really on the right side, since so many civilians seemed to hate them and the government. Dispatched by Zeta Prime to hunt down the spy Soundwave, Orion succeeded in defeating the Decepticon in spite of Frenzy's attempts to turn the fear and paranoia of bystanders against him. Before he could capture him, however, several other Decepticons arrived, taking his subordinate Bumblebee hostage and telling him Megatron wanted an audience with him. Brought to a bar in Kaon, Orion listened to Megatron compliment him on standing up against the Senate but refused his offer to help the Decepticons overthrow them. In turn, Megatron revealed that Zeta Prime was not only planning on draining energon from civilians for the war effort, but had also sent Orion's unit to Nyon because he had hoped they would die, thus giving him an official reason to attack the city. Orion stalled the conversation long enough that his allies could break in and rescue him and Bumblebee, then returned to Iacon and confronted Zeta with Megatron's claims. Zeta only told him not to question his motives before sending him on his next mission to capture the insurgent Hot Rod.

Tracking Hot Rod to the Acropolex in Nyon, Orion Pax and his men were baited followed him into the depths of the building, where they discovered tanks of energon drained from the city's population by Zeta Prime. Having seen the truth with his own eyes, Orion decided to turn on the corrupt government just as Zeta began attacking Nyon with his Omega Destructors. Leaving Hot Rod to evacuate the city, he and his unit tried and failed to defeat one of the Destructors. As they tried to escape, Nyon began to explode, and Orion realized that Zeta had set everything up to force Hot Rod's insurgents into self-destructing their own city. As Zeta arrived in person, Orion tried to fight him but was quickly dispatched by his vamparc ribbon. Before Zeta could execute them, Orion and his team were saved by none other than Megatron and his Decepticons, who brought them back to Kaon for repairs. Though he still didn't trust Megatron, Orion Pax now knew he had told the truth about Zeta Prime and accepted his proposal that they join forces against him. After assuring a depressed Hot Rod that destroying Nyon had been the right thing to do, he shook hands with Megatron to cement their alliance.

As their soldiers invaded Zeta Prime's Citadel, Orion Pax and Megatron were air-dropped into his chamber and confronted him in person. Though Orion lost an arm in the battle, he managed to destroy Zeta's weapon, and the corrupt Prime was finally killed by Megatron. As soon as everything was over, however, Megatron betrayed the Autobots and shot Orion in the back. Left for dead in the Undergrid beneath the Citadel, Orion was pulled towards a distant light which turned out to be the hiding place of the Matrix of Leadership. As a voice called out for him to take the artifact, he did so and was suddenly overcome with the pain, fear, and loneliness felt by all living Cybertronians. Imbued with new clarity and wisdom, he realized that Cybertronians don't need to be "united" since in the eyes of the Matrix, all were one, and that Autobots are meant to fight for the freedom of all sapient beings rather than uphold the laws of a long broken system. As the Matrix repaired his body, Orion Pax declared that he was giving up his identity for his people: he was now Optimus Prime.

Fun Publications
Nine million years ago, the dockworker Orion Pax and his coworkers and friends Ariel and Dion were murdered by Megatron and his new Decepticon army. Orion Pax was rebuilt into Optimus Prime as part of Alpha Trion's "Prime Initiative", a proposed alternative to the Elite Guard. However, after most of the Elite Guard were destroyed by the turncoat Guardsmen Combaticons, the Autobot High Council was prepared to give Optimus Prime command of the new Autobot military. This transferral of power was carried out at the Citadel, with Prime standing with his best warriors. Prime promised to match the Decepticons' ferocity in order to preserve their way of life.

Toys
In Japan, a toy was released by E-Hobby in 2005. The toy was a repaint of the Targetmaster Kup toy and was packaged with a repaint of the Wheelie toy in Dion's color scheme.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise
In the episode "Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion", it is said that Orion Pax and Dion were rebuilt into Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus by Alpha Trion.

Transformers Animated
Optimus Prime was not Orion Pax, but his Cybertronian mode is a homage to G1 Orion Pax, just as Elita 1 is a physical homage to Ariel (G1 Elita One's original form).

Transformers: Prime
The Cybertronian who would become Optimus Prime was once a simple data clerk, satisfied with his job. It wasn't until he heard of an outspoken gladiator named Megatron and his call for an upheaval of Cybertron's society that he realized he was dissatisfied with his lot in life- and that the oppressive caste system hindered the freedom of all the sentient beings on Cybertron. Little did he realize that his boss, the archivist Alpha Trion, knew of a secret potential within the data clerk, and that Cybertron's history was at a precipice. Once he and Megatron discovered they did not have as much in common as they once believed, the lowly data clerk was promoted by the High Council to be the next Prime.

Over the centuries, loss and war have led Optimus to appear stern and serious to most. But scratch the surface, and you'll find an individual who greatly cares for his fellow living beings, with a warmth and kindness his closest friends can rely on. You'll also find regret over the loss of a comrade to darkness, and the faintest glimmer of hope that he can be saved.

Transformers: Exodus
Like all Cybertronians, when Orion Pax emerged from the Well of All Sparks, he was taught how to transform, to select a natural alternate mode, and was put in a caste. At the Hall of Records, Orion would read and index information from the Communication Grid, but was forbidden to analyze. That was Jazz's job, and the two became friends. Orion began monitoring Megatron's transmissions, and began a secret correspondence with him because he agreed with his beliefs. They had intense but friendly debates over the nature of free will and the dangerousness of their ideals, and Megatron suggested Orion learn how to fight for his beliefs. Orion began training with Jazz, learning to fire an ion-cannon and to fashion his arms into an axe and a sword.

Orion made his first trip to Kaon to meet Megatron in person at his base. Megatron was the only gladiator who gave Orion a warm welcome. Terrorists began bombings in Megatron's name, and he made his first public announcement on the Grid, stating he was not responsible for the attacks and would bring the perpetrators to justice. Orion followed him up with a speech of his own. Orion trusted Megatron, believing if he were responsible for the attacks, he would have wanted to be associated with them. Later, when Shockwave took him to meet Megatron at an arena beneath the Observatory of Iacon, Orion was shocked to see Jazz in attendance, and that Megatron had heard rumors about the bombings but did nothing to prevent them.

When "Decepticons" kidnapped Sentinel Prime, Orion requested Alpha Trion arrange an audience with High Council for him and Megatron. During their hearing in the High Council Tower, Orion rigorously defended their ideals, even reviving the ancient philosophical phrase "Autobots" to describe the autonomy his brethren sought. It was then Councilor Halogen declared Orion the new Prime: Optimus Prime. An outraged Megatron accused his brother of treachery, and then murdered Halogen. When Optimus ordered the Elite Guard to not harm Megatron, Megatron declared Optimus had fallen into the trappings of power the High Council had foisted upon him, and those in attendance dispersed, with the planet forever divided into Autobots and Decepticons.

Prime cartoon
In the waning years of the Golden Age of Cybertron, Orion Pax was a clerk in the Iacon Hall of Records. His interests lay with the tales of ancient Cybertron history, but the more he learned about the past, the more he grew concerned about the present. There was a disparity in freedom among the classes of his race, and the ruling class was corrupt and all-powerful. In seeking a solution to this inequity, he found inspiration in the words of a gladiator named Megatronus, and the two joined forces to end corruption and bring equality to the masses. Optimus and Megatron became close allies, almost like brothers. But soon Megatron's ideals would become corrupted, and the two would become bitter enemies.

Both Megatronus—now "Megatron"—and Orion Pax appeared before the High Council, and Megatron stated it was his intention to overthrow the High Council by force and instate himself as the next. But it was Orion's speech that drew their attention. Jealous, Megatron left angrily and began his conquest, which resulted in countless casualties and left the Core of Cybertron itself poisoned with Dark Energon. It was Orion's subsequent search for the Core that completed his transformation into Optimus Prime. The Core, the essence of their creator Primus, relinquished the Matrix of Leadership into his chassis.

When they reach Unicron's spark chamber, Optimus and Megatron went inside, and, though the dark god possessed Megatron, Optimus unleashed the Matrix, apparently extinguishing Unicron's spark. However the price was high—Optimus's memory was lost and he believed himself to be Orion Pax. Megatron played along, and took him back to the Nemesis.

Megatron wasted no time in convincing Orion that black was white and up was down. Branded with the Decepticon insignia by Knock Out, Orion was shown false history of Cybertron's destruction, and convinced that the Autobots were the aggressors. Angered at Cybertron's loss, Orion promised Megatron he would do his part to help. He was put to work decoding information stolen from the Iacon archives, and told Megatron they were of locations of Earth, and feared that they could be weapons of mass destruction. Later, there was a commotion in the corridors, and Orion decided to investigate despite being ordered to remain in his lab, however Soundwave managed to prevent him from seeing Arcee when the Autobot managed to get on board. Not long after, the long-absent Starscream sneaked onto the ship to steal energon cubes and ended up blundering into Orion's work room.

Surprised to see Starscream, not least because Megatron had said he was dead, Orion's suspicions became aroused as Starscream noted Megatron would likely have told him many lies. Despite asking what he knew, Starscream was quick to depart when more Vehicon guards arrived and in spite of Orion attempting to convince them to hold their fire. After Megatron's subsequent covering of the incident, Orion decided to poke through the Decepticon database and learned that he was Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. As it turned out, Megatron already knew he knew since his work was being monitored. Orion decided to delete his discoveries so that Megatron could not use them, however Megatron revealed he was also having his work copied. As Soundwave reported activity on Cybertron, Megatron had more Vehicon guards put at his back while he dealt with the matter, and threatened to kill him if he didn't continue his work. Orion tried to appeal to the guards to help him warn the Autobots, but they responded with a beating until he discovered he was armed and stopped them. Having realised he was meant to be an Autobot, Orion went to confront Megatron at the space bridge. However, he found he was no match for the Decepticon leader and was quickly overpowered. Just then, Arcee leapt through the space bridge from Cybertron and tackled Megatron. Behind her was Jack with the Key to Vector Sigma, loaded with the information from the Matrix of Leadership. Orion questioned whether he was worthy, and Jack assured him he was. When his memory was restored, albeit minus his time as Orion, Optimus prevented Megatron from exterminating his comrades, and they returned to the Autobot base for a big reunion.