Rodimus Prime

Rodimus is the name of several fictional characters from the various Transformers universes. He was formerly known as Hot Rod and was first seen in The Transformers: The Movie but was reformatted into Rodimus Prime when he recived the Autobot Matrix of Leadership and act's as the movie's main protagonist. Hasbro has used the name Rodimus, Rodimus Major and Hot Shot as replacements for later characters, due to trademark issues with the name Hot Rod.

Transformers: Generation 1
Hot Rod is often portrayed as energetic, yet brash and headstrong, with an overwhelming self-confidence that borders on arrogance.[1] As Rodimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, he is significantly more mature, physically powerful and instilled with the wisdom of the previous holders of the Matrix of Leadership. Regardless of this, Rodimus is plagued by lack of confidence and often doubting his own decisions and feeling he is in the shadow of previous leader, Optimus Prime.

Hot Rod's tech specs list him as an Autobot Cavalier, while as Rodimus Prime, he is listed as an "Autobot Protector" - unlike Optimus Prime's, which directly states "Autobot Commander". A commercial for the toy hinted at his ascension, but pitted him againstCyclonus and Scourge instead of Galvatron, who was his chief adversary in the animated series.

Hot Rod and Rodimus have displayed the ability to shoot lasers out of their forearms, as well as having a retractable saw blade.

Animated series
Hot Rod has a youthful attitude, and serves as an older brother figure to Daniel Witwicky, son of Autobot ally Spike Witwicky. He has a sort of mentor-student relationship with the veteran Autobot Kup. He was also good friends with Springer and Arcee. Later in life, he temporarily bears the Autobot Matrix of Leadership and becomes Rodimus Prime (Rodimus Convoy in Japan), and leader of the Autobots.

Hot Rod first appeared in the American animated series during the events of The Transformers: The Movie, where he was one of the many Autobots stationed at Autobot City.[5] He fought in the Autobot city battle and saved the autobot city for if he had not attacked Megatron, he would have destroyed the city. Due to his attempted intervention in the battle between the Autobot leader and Megatron. He fled the city with Kup and the Dinobots when Galvatron, a recreated Megatron, attacked the city after being reformatted by Unicron. After meeting up with the other Autobots after a series of adventures on the planets Quintessa and Junk, Hot Rod returned to the other Autobots and rushed to Cybertron to save it from being eaten by Unicron. After facing Galvatron inside Unicron's body, Hot Rod was able to get his hands on the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, as the voice of Optimus Prime was heard saying, "Arise, Rodimus Prime". The power of the Matrix reformatted Hot Rod into Rodimus Prime, with a larger body, deeper voice, and different vehicle mode. It also destroyed Unicron's body, bringing the events of the film to a close with Rodimus Prime as the new Autobot leader.

After the film, Rodimus did not have time to rest on his laurels as commander, immediately finding himself and the Autobots targeted by the Quintessons, who lured him to their planet of Quintessa and detonated it in hopes of destroying the Matrix. Rodimus and the Autobots survived, however, and Rodimus proceeded to voluntarily short-circuit himself to allow his life-force to enter the Matrix, feeling that the answer to the mystery of the Quintessons' identity lay within it. His hunch proved correct – the Quintessons, he discovered, were the Transformers' creators, and Rodimus knew that the future would be a difficult time for the Autobots.

At this point in the future, the Autobots had become something of a group of peacekeepers among the many races in the galaxy, and Rodimus would attend many meetings, parties and conferences to this end, most notably chairing the peace conference between the planets of Xetaxxis and Lanarq. Despite the brave public face he wore at these events, his own doubts continued to plague him, and he was particularly fazed by Galvatron’s threat of an "ultimate weapon", though the revelation that this was a bluff stirred him to action. Later still, Rodimus was among the Autobots who had their minds transferred into synthetic human forms by crime lord Victor Drath, who used their Transformer bodies to commit crimes. While Ultra Magnus, Arcee and Springer tackled this problem, Rodimus returned to Drath's compound where he was aided by Drath's mole, Michelle, between whom a spark of romance seemed to bloom, until she betrayed him to Drath. Through a combined effort, however, Drath was brought to justice and the Autobots regained their bodies.

Hot Rod only appeared three more times: once when he gave the Matrix to a Quintesson-controlled Optimus Prime. When he lost the Matrix, Rodimus was forced to face down his fears once and for all when the Decepticons began a series of attacks on Japan. Overwhelmed by the different responsibilities and directions he was being pulled in, Rodimus went joyriding and was attacked by theStunticons, losing the Matrix in the ensuing crash, which was acquired by the Decepticon Scourge. While Rodimus became Hot Rod again – and was not eager to change back – Scourge was warped and enhanced by the Matrix and led another attack on Japan. Counseled by a martial arts master on giri – the burden hardest to bear – Rodimus realized that the Matrix was his burden, and that he had been chosen to bear it; battling Scourge, he recovered the Matrix and resumed his role as leader, and finally when Optimus Prime was resurrected and Rodimus Prime was able to return to being Hot Rod for good. In all three occasions, his return to Hot Rod took place because he lost or passed the Matrix to someone else.

In the 3-part finale to the American Transformers animated series, "The Rebirth", Hot Rod became a Targetmaster.

In the Japanese exclusive Transformers: The Headmasters storyline (which replaced the "Rebirth" finale in Japanese continuity), Hot Rod appeared as part of Optimus Prime's inner circle. When Galvatron and his Headmaster warriors launched a devastating attack on Cybertron, Vector Sigma was damaged, and Hot Rod was sent to Earth to retrieve the Matrix. Recovering it, he returned it to Prime, only to be surprised when the ghost of Alpha Trion once again reformatted him into Rodimus Prime to help Optimus. After Optimus' death, Rodimus once again took command of the Autobots. However, when Scorponok destroyed Vector Sigma, Rodimus decided to leave the war, and left Fortress Maximus in command of the Autobots.

Although Rodimus would leave the dying Cybertron to find a new homeworld in the Headmasters series, he returned in the pages of the Battlestars manga. Once again going by the name Hot Rod, he was now a Micromaster, and aided Star Convoy (the once again reborn Optimus Prime) in his battles against Super Megatron.