Originally posted by FistOfThe North
I, like Megatron, want to know..Why does Optimus carry this obsession or passion to defend humans? What's his motive? I mean, how does he even need humans. He's completely self sufficient. He even called humans "primitives" in the movies..or something to that degree.
Because he's.....Optimistic 😄
Megatron
Alot of people seem to forget that the premise of the Transformers involves strategically disadvantaged rebel underdogs heroically standing up to a merciless and (quite literally) fascist regime. No matter which continuity you chose, when the Earth-bound Transformers left Cybertron, the Decepticons were winning the war. When they arrived on Earth, there were 18 Autobots and only 10 Decepticons (11 or 13 if you count Reflector, depending on if you count him as one or 3). But the Autobots could still barely struggle to hang on. They never really "won" any battles, even in the old cartoon: they just managed to keep the enemy from advancing their plot. Even these static accomplishments took everything they had. Point: Decepticons are built for war, and more experienced at it. Sure, you could argue that the Autobots have an equal amount of experience from fighting them- but remember, the Decepticons have to worry about subduing worlds! Not to mention that a randomly selected Decepticon will average 5-15 feet taller than a given Autobot. Hell, most Decepticons already have weapons built into them! Optimus Prime was exceptional, in most continuities, in that he was built for war (relative to other average Autobots) and he was imbued with a mysterious power. All this still puts him at just about eye-level with Megatron, who already devoted thousands of years to cultivating his military prowess when Prime was just a protoform. He had already taken out two Primes with his own bare hands! (movie continuity aside, of course) Oh, and everyone seems to forget: Megatron is equipped with a THERMONUCLEAR FUSION CANNON. If one were to transpose realistic implications from this fact, and dismiss canon in which the actual potential of such a weapon had to be toned down so most of the good guys wouldn't have been utterly decimated in the first episode, then the trick for Optimus becomes getting past this and actually reaching him! Of course, Prime has a reputation as a sharp shooter, himself. But Megatron has thick skin. Hand to hand combat? Hate to sound Machiavellian, but I think Megatron would still have a little bit of an edge. He's bulkier and more ruthless. But Prime is quick and thinks on his feet, and Megatron talks too much. In all honesty, and I hate to say it, but I think it would come down to situational context... reference Hot Rod's ill-timed intervention... and, perhaps, a lucky shot.