Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime is a major character and often main protagonist of Hasbro and Takama Tomy's popular Transformers franchise. A Cybertronian, Prime is considered a "technorganic" being (made of mechanical and organic parts) and possesses the power to morph his body, including his most famous form of a freightliner semi-truck. He is considered to be of deeply strong moral character, with him acting as the leader of the Autobots against the Decepticons and their fearsome leader Megatron. The Transformers toy line launched in 1984 alongside a tie-in television cartoon, with the success of the latter propelling the franchise into mainstream culture. As such, Optimus Prime has become very well-known among fictional characters. Prime is often voiced by Peter Cullen, whose portrayal of the character has become legendary.

Despite a solid first showing in Mr. /co/lympus's inaugural showing in 2018, Prime would be overlooked as a serious candidate for several years before ending up as a sleeper candidate during the tournament's sixth iteration in 2023.

Early Tournament History
Optimus Prime actually had a formidable debut in Mr. /co/lympus 2018, landing in the top 20 seeds of the debut tournament. He managed to reach round three after facing down Mojo Jojo (by ten votes) and The Tick. His run would come to an end against Squidward Tentacles from the ever-popular SpongeBob SquarePants franchise, who would prove to be a tough opponent throughout the tournaments. Squidward later lost himself to the also incredibly popular Aku. Despite his loss, Prime's decent showing made it seem reasonable to expect him to return in full swing in the second tournament in 2019. He instead failed to qualify with less than 69 votes. He would also miss the 2020 tournament, not even getting enough votes to reach the top 200.

After two years of absence, Prime finally returned to the bracket in Mr. /co/lympus 2021, albeit with a way lower seed of #122. Unfortunately, he was immediately paired against an invigorated Master Shake, who easily defeated him in the first round. Prime returned to low seeding in 2022. It felt questionable at this point in time if he would ever see another meaningful run, let alone anytime soon.

2023
Whether it was mainly by newfound momentum, consequences of the odd qualifier results, or just sheer luck, Optimus Prime would manage to return for a third tournament run in Mr. /co/lympus 2023. Due to randomized brackets, he would first be paired against Peter Griffin, whom was not really seen as a serious contender. While he started to gain a few support posts around this time, his run wasn't seen as standout by this point. People started to give his campaign was more attention, however, upon the defeat of Po from Kung Fu Panda. Despite not being a massive generator of original art or even roleplaying at the time, people began to rally around Prime's run. He managed to quietly defeat Space Ghost before going up against Double D, one of the year's top seeds, for a shot at the Elite Eight. By this point many were starting to rally around Prime, and with this fresh wave of support he overcame the challenge to end up in the year's Elite Eight after years of tournament obscurity.

Prime's quarter-finals round was up against King of the Hills popular Dale Gribble. He had been propelled by a strong campaign the previous year and in earlier rounds of the main bracket, alongside the tragic death of his voice actor Johnny Hardwick. By this point, however, a lot of the thread had rallied behind Prime and even began making fan art around his run. He ended up defeating Dale and making it to the semi-finals. After a very tight match against Zim, Prime would lose by a mere ten votes. Some anons expressed disappointed that his run had ended this soon, but his legacy had been rewritten. Once seen as a no hoper, Optimus Prime had turned out to have a true sleeper run that defied all odds. He would end up being granted 4th place against the ever-popular Samurai Jack.

Arguably the most memorable part of Prime's 2023 run outside his surprise results was the ludicrous amount of GETposts he managed to garner throughout the tournament, many times unintentionally. This started to be picked up on by anons around the third round and would become a recurring gag throughout. Many began to deem him as "CHADimus Prime" as a result of his unreal luck.

The Autobot leader will next be eligible to compete in 2025.