Optimus Prime Sword: An Unexpected Sci-Fi Weapon
What’s in this article?
The Transformers movie franchise has long since fallen off from its initial fame in the late 2000s to early 2010s but during its heyday, it was a multi-million dollar franchise with a dedicated animated series and toyline revolving around Optimus Prime and the swords he uses while fighting alongside his Autobots against the Decepticons.
Granted, when the Sword of Judgement was introduced during Age of Extinction, many fans were confused as to why the movies had swords in a series that was mostly sci-fi and high tech to begin with.
Who Was Optimus Prime?
We’re introduced to Optimus Prime during the first Transformers movie where he provides a level-headed counterbalance to Bumblebee’s overzealous and sometimes naive personality. As the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime commands them and protects them in the fight against the Decepticons which are in turn led by Megatron.
The two leaders and factions are contenders in the war for Cybertron, their homeplanet, and yet are only two of several factions of transformers. The Infernocons, Dinobots, and Guardian Knights make up the others, each of which contend with other transformer cyberspecies within the larger society of Cybertron. With his people scattered across the universe, Optimus Prime hopes to finally defeat Megatron, retrieve the AllSpark, and bring back life to Cybertron.
What is Optimus Prime’s Sword called?
When people talk about Optimus Prime’s sword, they usually refer to the Sword of Judgement that appears in Transformers Age of Extinction and Transformers: The Last Knight. This sword is then followed by the Energon swords that gleam red with heat from the energy directed to it by Optimus Prime. This in turn allows Optimus Prime to cut through metal, whether it’s regular Earth metal or the ones his enemies’ bodies are made of.
The Sword of Judgement, however, is Optimus Prime’s signature blade. After reconvening with Lockdown, a transformer who considers himself a neutral party outside of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, Optimus Prime acquires the Sword of Judgement from Lockdown’s spaceship. Lockdown later betrays Optimus Prime, resulting in Optimus using Lockdown’s own sword to cut him in half.
Though the Sword of Judgement seems to be made of stainless steel, this knight sword’s ability to cut through other autobots suggests that there’s more to it than meets the eye. The 2017 Transformers video game then brings the sword back as a mystical weapon created for ancient kings and knights, implying that Optimus Prime is able to use it because of his own knightly qualities.
The Sword of Judgement was destroyed during the battle against Quintessa and Megatron during The Last Knight. Since that was the last of the films, the sword has so far made no other cinematic or tv show appearances.
Hasbro’s Transformers toy line does include the Sword of Judgement in its play sets, though. In fact, several editions of the Optimus Prime action figure feature him with a weapon labeled as the Sword of Judgement despite not resembling the movie version.
Other Weapons Used By Optimus Prime
The Transformers franchise began in the ‘80s with the animated studio series before adaptations to film were made. Because of its long history, Optimus Prime has used dozens of weapons throughout all of the franchise IPs. Here are just a few of them.
- Ion Blasters
The ion blasters were a laser rifle attached to the arm of Optimus Prime. It allowed him to shoot blasts of energy at enemies, much like a regular gun would except with plasma laser beams.
- Energon Swords
The energon swords are Optimus prime’s second most popular set of swords because of their cool aesthetics and prevalence in the earlier films. Attached to Optimus Prime’s arm, they resembled the Energy swords in Halo and glowed red with heat.
- Energon Axe
The energon ax appears in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, featuring two gleaming red blades infused with laser energy. Its abilities are similar to that of energon swords. He gets this after he loses the other half of his energon sword pair.
- Shield
Optimus Prime shows up with a shield during Transformers: Age of Extinction. It’s never explained how he gets the sword.
- Arm Blade (As Nemesis Prime)
After Optimus Prime is brainwashed by Quintessa during The Last Knight, he turns into Nemesis Prime, a brutal yet powerful being who wields an arm blade similar to the energon sword but without the energon abilities.
Getting A Transformers Optimus Prime Sword Replica
Optimus Prime’s swords have designs that aren’t easy to replicate for cosplay. Aside from their complicated designs, they’re also bulky and oversized, making a stainless steel replica impractical even if visually ideal. That’s why we recommend opting for a high density PU foam replica or one made of bamboo, a lightweight bio-material that can keep its shape better longer than foam.
Conclusion
Optimus Prime’s swords come as a surprise to casual fans of the Transformers franchise because of the movies’ sci-fi themes regarding space exploration. However, at its core, Transformers is a classic story of good knights triumphing over evil, making the Sword of Judgement an ideal weapon for the noblest of the transformers.
