Optimus Primal

Powers:

Cybertronian 'Beast Machine' Physique: as are his fellow Maximals, Optimus Primal is a 'reformatted' Cybertronian, one who is a perfect mesh of both organic and inorganic componentry. While he's in a tangible state, he receives the benefit of the following super-human powers:

* Body Armor (s): like most Cybertronians, Optimus Primal was formed with a reinforced steel frame, one that offers him +2 resistance to injury. This makes him immune to most basic human attack forms, and moderately resistant to his fellow robots despite his relatively smaller stature.

* Growth (a): most Cybertronians have a degree of control over their size, no matter their form. Due to his height in either humanoid mode, Optimus Primal has this power via technicality; his mass moves around a bit, but he's usually taller than normal folk.

This power is bound in Primal's case by the Permanent limitation, meaning that he is always 8 foot tall in either configuration. Due to his size, Optimus Primal possesses this power at intensity 1, and while it's permanent, the requisite Strength and Agility changes are not applied.

This since his foes often vary in size considerably; the Predacons are not all die-cast from the same mold. For simplicity, one could just apply those alterations and call it a day, or he may go for accuracy and vary them based on the size of his current opponent; whichever works for your game.

* Microscopic + Telescopic Vision (w): all Transformers have the ability to alter their visual sensitivity as is necessary, where distance is concerned. This allows them to magnify the image of things that are very small, or very far away, doing so with intensity 2 ability.

* Radio Transceiver (i): as are most all Transformers on earth, Optimus Primal is equipped with an audio / video transmission system. This communications rig allows him instant contact with any Cybertronian on earth, having intensity 10 power (25,000 mile range).

* Resistance to Disease and Toxins (s): unlike most Cybertronians on earth, Optimus Primal is a techno-organic being, possessing both organic and inorganic components. As such, he is not invulnerable to organic pathogens, but still has +5 resistance to these threats.

Concussive Strike (s): while he's already considerably strong, Optimus Primal can enhance the effect of his melee combat when he strikes with his right hand. This 'blast punch' power allows him to inflict +2 damage whenever he feels the need to in melee, and few foes can stand before its power.

Energy Blast (i): in addition to his considerable melee power, Optimus Primal also has the ability to fire a burst of energy from his chest while in his humanoid form. He can fire off this blast at will, in order to inflict intensity 18 energy damage to any foe he cannot connect with in mere hand to hand combat.

Energy Reflection (i): Optimus Primal has the potent ability to reflect energy directed against his person. If he takes no action, he can withstand an attack of up to intensity 18 (this power score), and release it back at its source as a contingent action - handy, yes?

Flight (a): in his humanoid form, Optimus Primal has a rather large jet pack mounted on his back, one that allows him the ability to fight in both the air and on the ground. He can use this flight pack to fly about with intensity 8 speeds, or about 450 miles per hour, whenever he feels the need.

Materialization (a): it should be noted again that Optimus Primal is, in fact, deceased. While his spark lives on, it currently has no body to call home, and as such, this former Maximal leader is something of a wandering spirit. On his journeys, Optimus is primarily unaffected by the vagaries of space and time.

As such, his physical statistics (and most of the powers listed here) are essentially useless... for the most part. For, you see, he has the ability to materialize his ectoplasmic form for a short period of time (an aura duration), which can come as quite a surprise to those who are used to him being dead and intangible...

Shape Change (a): Optimus Primal's most notorious power is his ability to transform between his humanoid and gorilla forms. He can perform this transformation at will, at any time, though this power is voice-activated ('Optimus Primal, Maximize!'). He requires no action to make this change - it just 'happens'.

Equipment:

the Matrix (w): Optimus Primal has been entrusted with the power of the Matrix itself, a potent meta-program that has been around as long as, if not longer, than the Autobots and Maximals of Cybertron. This quasi-device has several incredible powers that can be used to fight the forces of evil and tyranny.

One power that Optimus Primal can make use of is the reformatting of Cybertronians from electromechanical or cybernetic life forms into true techno-organic beings. This is exceptionally taxing on Optimus Primal, however, and leaves him exhausted and drained for quite a while.

The Matrix has several additional powers, though their exact nature is something of a mystery. While it has done everything from manipulating mechanical devices to creating life in otherwise inanimate objects, Optimus Primal himself has not been witnessed tapping the nigh-infinite potential of the Matrix.

Of course, since his death, he has not been the bearer of the mighty Matrix, but his continued existence on the material plane may very well be an extension of its power. After all, he merged with the Matrix after finally defeating Megatron, so he may be active for reasons only the Matrix can answer...

Hindrances:

(none)

Skills:

Acrobatics (a): though physically imposing, Optimus Primal's form is also built with exceptional mobility in mind. As such, he naturally has the benefits of this skill, allowing him to lower the difficulty of any action to dodge attacks or reduce falling damage by one difficulty level.

Aerial Combat (a): in addition to being rather nimble, Optimus Primal has had years to perfect his airborne combat style, making the maximum use of these abilities. Whenever he's fighting an opponent while in the air (whether or not he's inside a spacecraft), Optimus makes combat actions at a reduced difficulty.

Boxing (s): in addition to being almost supernaturally nimble, Optimus Primal is quite the melee combatant, whether or not he's using his concussive strike. As such, he can divide his pre-cardplay action score between two attacks, the last of which will occur as a contingent action.

Leadership (w): though he's incredibly powerful, Optimus Primal is also exceedingly wise, having become so after years of hardship. As such, he's looked upon as quite the leader, and any group he is in charge of may add +1 to its action scores for the duration of his leadership in said group.

Piloting (a): Optimus Primal is an accomplished space pilot, and can fly most any spacecraft with ease. He can attempt any flight action while at the stick of a spaceship at a reduced difficulty level, and when combined with his aerial combat skill, this can be very, very effective in space-based battle...

Calling:

Protector, with a secondary calling of Mentor: Optimus Primal feels strongly about defending those under his care, much less rescuing those that he feels he could have helped were the situation different. Of course, he also thrives when teaching others how to better themselves.

Likeness:

In his gorilla mode, Optimus primal resembles an elegant mix of organic and robotic components covered in brown fur and golden cabling, with gold plating and red and blue trim in places. His humanoid mode resembles a sort of 'monkey-bot', being a more human-proportioned robot with spare monkey bits in places.

Personality:

Courageous and wise beyond his years, Optimus Primal was transformed from an unsure captain into the Maximals' greatest leader while stranded on earth's prehistoric past. He truly enjoys the role of the Autobots' mentor, and strives to help them find their inner strength and power.

Real Name: Optimus Primal
Occupation: Autobot spiritual advisor, former Maximal leader
Legal Status: citizen of Cybertron, legally dead (but still kicking somewhat)
Marital Status: inapplicable
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: the Autobots, former Maximal

Height: 8' (approximately)
Hair: metallic brown
Eyes: green
Weight: several hundred pounds
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Optimus Primal, while intangible and somewhat shimmery in his 'spirit' form, nonetheless looks like the result of a monkey and a robot blended together at the molecular level.

Story:

Originally the captain of the Maximal exploration vessel Axalon, Optimus Primal was in pursuit of a strange entity known as Protoform X when he was diverted to pursue the Predacon criminal known as Megatron, who had stolen one of Cybertron's most prized relics: the so-called Golden Disc.

When he found Megatron, Optimus attacked with his vessel, but the end result of this battle was that both craft crashed on a bizarre, unknown world to them, one which could be anywhere in space or time (thanks to the transwarp technology that brought the Cybertronians there).

Once they recovered from their crash, the Maximals found that this world had a dangerous excess of energon, and as such they adopted organic components in the form of an alt-mode, a secondary shape they could assume while wandering about in the wilds of this strange new planet.

Optimus' chosen form was that of a gorilla, an animal which had exceptional strength and agility. He used this form well against the various Predacon villains that Megatron threw against him and his Maximals in the pursuit of his ultimate mission - one given to him by the original Megatron!

Of course, Prime had a hard time with this, for he was not accustomed to either the mantle of leadership or such intense battle, and he in fact died on at least one occasion during this struggle - though he eventually 'got better'. His recovery involved adopting ever-more powerful forms over time.

Ultimately, though, Optimus Primal and his Maximal allies stopped Megatron from altering the past, since it was determined that they'd crashed in earth's prehistory, and saved the Autobots who'd crash-landed here four million years ago from being slain by the evil Predacons.

Once Megatron and his cronies were taken care of, Optimus Primal and company returned to the Cybertron of their own time, but something went wrong. You see, Megatron had escaped from their ship while they were crossing time and space, and he arrived on Cybertron a little bit before them.

Wishing to purge the organic components from his body, much less the rest of Cybertron, Megatron unleashed a powerful virus on the world, one that seems to have affected all Transformers with organic bits in their makeup. This allowed him to take control of the planet itself!

Not realizing what was up, Optimus and company returned home, and were rendered inoperable by this virus. However, fate was not with Megatron, for Optimus Primal was reformatted by the Oracle, a computer that can interface with the Matrix itself, and given a true techno-organic body.

After collecting several of his fallen allies and in turn reformatting them with the power of the Matrix, Optimus Primal began a guerilla war against Megatron and his Vehicon cronies, a battle that would last for several years - the villain had a whole planet from which to fight him, after all.

This battle came to a head when, in final combat with Megatron, Optimus Primal reformatted the evil Megatron (and himself once again) in the organic core of Cybertron, causing the world to be transformed from a dead technological shell into a true techno-organic paradise at long last.

While he was in fact slain in this effort, though, the Spark of Optimus Primal lives on. Likely through the power of the Matrix itself, which he had merged with on more than one occasion, Optimus Primal's spirit is once again free to roam the cosmos, even if it essentially lacks a body to call its own.

No longer needed in his era, having finally brought peace to his world, Optimus Primal's spirit has wandered through space and time once again - and he's once again found himself useful. Having arrived on modern day earth, he found the place victim to the depredations of Decepticons, Predacons, and Vehicons!

As such, he has made himself available to the Autobots present on earth, offering what counsel he could to assist them in the battle against this force of villains that seek out the most powerful Autobot of all: the hidden and inactive Fortress Maximus! Of course, counsel is not all he offers the Autobots.

A powerful warrior in his own right, Optimus Primal has the ability to become solid for short periods of time, allowing him to take the battle directly to the many foes of freedom and liberty that are at work on earth. He cannot retain this state for long, but his assistance is highly appreciated by his Autobot charges...!

Of course, thanks to his timely assistance, the Autobots on earth have finally defeated their many foes here, and have since returned to Cybertron themselves. How this will affect Optimus Primal's spirit in the future has yet to be revealed; it is unknown if he returned with them or stayed on earth.

This world is particularly special to him, after all...!

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