Optimus Primal's History
Optimus Primal was the leader of the Maximals during the Beast Wars and the captain of the Axalon. His spark was reborn into a transmetal protoform after the destruction of the Vox planet buster.
After Primal had taken the reconfigured stasis pod to confront the Vox's planet buster, he was thought dead as Megatron had sabotaged the pod to not eject and thus it was destroyed with the super weapon. Rhinox used a device to guide his core consciousness through the Matrix, retrieving Optimus Primal's spark and implanting it into a blank protoform. Reborn with a new Transmetal body, Optimus came to the aid of his troops as they were on the verge of defeat. Silverbolt, a newly online Fuzor, took the opportunity to apply for the Maximal ranks by taking out Megatron just as the Predacon leader was about to destroy Optimus. Once the greetings were done, Optimus turned to Rattrap and requested the rodent remove his stuff from the commander's quarters.
Optimus would later submit himself to a battery of tests, as Rhinox attempted to find out the limitations of the new Transmetal forms. fter an attempt by Dinobot to switch sides back to the Predacons, Optimus accepted his apology and left the final decision of whether Dinobot would stay with them to Rattrap, who agreed to let him stay. hen Rhinox worked out that another alien site was located in an area Tigatron and Airazor were patrolling, Optimus set out to warn them, but was too late to prevent them being apparently shot into space. The plants in the area subsequently grew into another alien construct, which knocked out everyone present with an energy wave. Though the Transmetals recovered quickly, Megatron was able to use the Golden Disk to take control of the construct, taking Optimus as a prisoner. Rattrap managed to get on board and free Optimus, allowing the Maximal leader to engage Megatron in a violent combat while Rattrap sabotaged the ship. Everyone was able to get clear before the ship exploded, and Optimus resolved that they would get Airazor and Tigatron back somehow.
After the discovery of a stasis pod containing Protoform X, Optimus explained the background of the Maximal experiment to Cheetor. The pair were damaged when a fight with the Predacons ignited an energon deposit beneath the pod and the Maximals were forced to return to base. Repairs were made, and the pair were able to return to the field in time to rescue Blackarachnia and Silverbolt from Protoform X, who was later named Rampage. ptimus and all of the Maximals mourned the loss of Dinobot, after he was killed defending a valley of anthropoids from the Predacons. The discovery of a strangely-mutated Transformer (named Transmutate) was tainted when it was subsequently destroyed in a fight between Silverbolt and Rampage.
The transwarp wavefront from the Planet Buster's destruction finally reached Cybertron and help arrived, but in the unexpected form of Ravage, who had come to arrest Megatron for his crimes against the Pax Cybertronia. Despite Rattrap's misgivings, Optimus agreed to assist Ravage, and after storming the Predacon base, they captured Megatron. Primal was forced to chastise Silverbolt for his dangerous relationship with Blackarachnia, sending Cheetor out to retrieve the arachnid. After Silverbolt decked Cheetor and went out in his stead, Optimus and Cheetor went to fetch some energon from one of Tarantulas's stashes, only to be ambushed by Inferno. The fight effectively ended when Inferno ignited the energon, blowing himself and the cave up. On their way back to the Axalon, Optimus and Cheetor received some unpleasant news—Ravage had changed sides and teamed up with Megatron.
The Predacons began an assault on the Maximal base, with Primal and Cheetor pinned down outside. The assault failed, thanks mainly to the efforts of Rattrap, and the Maximals set off in pursuit of Megatron. As it turned out, Megatron had found the Ark, the then-resting place of the Autobots and Decepticons and, despite their efforts, Megatron was able to gain entry and shoot Optimus Prime in the head. As Megatron gloated, a timestorm raged, threatening to erase the Maximals from existence.
In a desperate gambit, Optimus Primal took Optimus Prime's spark into himself to protect it while repairs were effected on his body. The presence of the extra spark caused Primal's body to mutate and grow larger, gaining new jet and ground vehicle modes along with his gorilla form. Megatron sardonically dubbed his new body as "Optimal Optimus".
