Hot Rod / Rodimus Prime
A hot-headed youth who opens the Matrix in the 1986 film and becomes Rodimus Prime. A story about the price of leadership.
Where he comes from
Cybertron. A young warrior of the new generation who grew up during the war.
Story
Hot Rod is a hot-headed youth always rushing into battle. In the 1986 film his recklessness partly leads to Optimus's death, and that guilt becomes his burden.
After his trials, Hot Rod opens the Matrix inside Unicron, destroys him and becomes Rodimus Prime. But being a leader proves harder than being a hero, and in many follow-ups he long doubts whether he deserves the title.
Classifier: traits & abilities
- Faction
- Autobots
- Role
- Young warrior → Autobot leader
- Alt-modes
- Sports car; a car-hauler as Rodimus
- Weapons
- Photon blasters; twin arm guns in the films
- Abilities
- Speed, determination, Matrix bearer (as Rodimus)
- Strengths
- Courage, initiative, ability to inspire peers
- Weaknesses
- Impulsiveness, self-doubt
- Personality
- Hot-headed, ambitious, sincere
- Key relationships
- Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Arcee, Kup
- First appearance
- 1986
- Voice (1986)
- Judd Nelson
Filmography
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1986 | The Transformers: The Movie |
| 1986–1987 | The Transformers (G1), season 3 |
| 2017 | The Last Knight |
| 2018–2021 | Cyberverse |
Main screen appearances; not an exhaustive list.
Fan prequel: «Fastest in Iacon»
An original story by this site. Not part of the official canon.
Hot Rod won every street race in Iacon but one. That evening an old courier named Kup passed him on the final turn and didn't even look back.
Hot Rod caught up with him at the docks, demanding a rematch. Kup laughed: "You drive to win. I drive to deliver. When something bigger than you is at stake, the road gets shorter."
Hot Rod didn't understand then. He understood much later, inside Unicron, when the Matrix opened at the very moment he stopped thinking about his own glory. Kup was standing nearby and didn't say "I told you so." He just nodded.
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