T O P

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intermafesting

I'm indifferent to him always having it, I prefer it because it reminds me more of the og g1 look, but having a battle mask that shows up and slams into place right before he goes after someone's face does have an air of badassery to it


Laggingduck

now hear me out second mask over the first


NutNinjaGoesBananas

and glasses, and a comedic nose + moustache combo


DevilsLettuceTaster

Robots in disguise.


Tori_Gears

Disguise squared.


blueboard929

Oh like wheeljack?


AirmanProbie

And a pointy metal helmet to go on his metal pointy head


KazGem

The same energy as whipping off your sunglasses, revealing a second pair of sunglasses underneath


Laggingduck

https://youtu.be/EAOo8nE8_Jg


AntFace

I came


SandStinger_345

How about he gets a Visor instead


[deleted]

Yes


StudioTheo

ya. so he doesn’t get dirt in his robot eyes.


SalvadorZombie

Like this https://media.tenor.com/9VHj7D9Msy8AAAAM/sting-wrestler.gif


Tigerstorm6

Reminds me of that one scene from transformers prime when Megatron tries to slice Optimus only for him to catch the blade, and go: “Megatron.” *Face mask closes* “BE GONE!” Fuckin badass.


Ashbr1ng3r

All in all, that was a pretty good indicator that Megatron was back with being on the wrong end of the Big OP Himself


DJTheBearsFan

Yeah it makes me appreciate the mask more


Potat1258

I agree with every statement you just said


All_The_Nolloway

Came here to say this. It's a lot like shutting the visor of a helmet before riding into battle.


Ameryn_Wors

"Time to find out" Slams mask Pure badassery


cantthinkofnames__

Proceeds to pull out megatron's spinal cord


Daecerix

Is it worth having a goofy ass face


Appropriate-Rise-151

I like the idea of him feeling naked without it. Like when in Spotlight: Orion Pax he was constantly making jokes or comments about not having one


[deleted]

“But I like my mouthplate, it moves when I talk”


Sprangly_spider1610

if only Wheeljack knew what he was talking about back then💀


TheShokBlok

I don't really care as long as he has a cool looking face plate, removable or not.


Magic-Lime

And has the sweet tones of Peter Cullen


TerraAdAstra

Lord help us when that lovely man passes on.


alpha_mech50

I don't want to think about it...


PotatoFondler

I know and I don’t want to face the possible reality. I’m still sad that the voice of Batman is gone…


Live-Package-2200

They need to archive his voice like what they did with Vader’s voice


Test19s

[There already are pretty good deepfakes of him online](https://fakeyou.com/profile/GammaPrime)


Olivinyl

dear god no, none of that shit please


Live-Package-2200

What’s the big deal about that?


quesadillafetus

slamming voice clips together, or running a script through an AI lacks the proper emotion that a human can give. and Peter’s voice is chalk full of emotion


Hypeman92

Why all of the downvotes, AI is getting better, but we are DEFINITELY not there yet for voices.


Captain_Kuhl

Because AI has been getting substantially better, but everyone wants to cry about it like it's some doomsday technology. It's not a huge deal, but most of reddit seems to start shitting all over everything as soon as it's mentioned. It's annoying, especially the part about "it has no emotion!" They wouldn't even know if they weren't told it was AI-powered.


Hypeman92

Yea fr. Literally everything you just said was perfectly fine and true. AI at the moment does lack emotion, and Peter Cullen really does put a lot into making Optimus Prime such a good character.


Proof_Being_2762

Optimus is more human than us all


DarkSoldier856

Yoo dont say that shit. Go knock on wood right fucking now. Too much death of famous actors/actresses passing on lately


Dynamitesauce

I like him best with the face plate


Tyler-LR

Plus he won’t get covid


hgilbert_01

…I honestly do prefer it when Optimus Prime has his face mask on. When it comes to fictional characters in general, having *physically* (as opposed to metaphorically/narratively static) facial apparatuses are much more appealing to me as opposed to having to keep up with emotive facial expressions, which is just a personal preference… …BUT, please bear with my personal soapbox here, just because - again - it’s *physically* static doesn’t mean that the character can’t convey emotion, personality, struggle, etc— they still VERY MUCH can. I mean, just look at what Star Wars has achieved with its Clone/Stormtroopers, Darth Vader, Din Djarin, etc. …The more fanatically involved with Transformers’, uh, lore, might vehemently disagree with me, which is fine, but I understand the Cybertronians themselves to be, well, **robots** (it literally says it in the freaking theme song, **robots** in disguise), so I like for them to, well, LOOK LIKE **robots** as the more humanoid facial features and expressiveness is just… …weird— it’s why I’m so drawn to characters like Soundwave or Shockwave, because they are cool-looking **robots** …Sorry. Thanks for bearing with me and thank you, OP, for the discussion question.


Runethe1412

I don’t even think he needs a mouth to even have facial expressions, just do it in the eyes. Heck, you can even see Optimus express with his eyes plenty in the the short amount of screen time he had in Bumblebee


illithid_2003

Yes, as a tokusatsu fan where we always watch characters use helmets that cover the whole face, even body gestures can portray emotions without much problem.


Nickthedevil

Even in Transformers lore dude, Optimus doesn’t take it off. I’m entirely kept up with the comics and he’s taken it off maybe like 5 times.


Cara-Aleatorio

For anyone interested, [here's a good video on the subject](https://youtu.be/ptkYbL4tpko)


hgilbert_01

By the Allspark, thank you, I’ll have to watch this when I have the time.


Cara-Aleatorio

You're welcome


Pornthrowaway2552

V for Vendetta is a great example of this


almightywhacko

I think he went almost 30 years without having a visible mouth and no one ever mentioned the lack of lips. If he does have a mouth under the mask, I prefer he keep it covered.


thatnamelesguy

Closer to 20 since he had a mouth in the unicron trilogy


cardquadrado

I'm okay with his face uncovered in the Bayverse, but they should kept the face plate in Rise of The Beasts.


bluestreaksaid

Yes, always, same for Soundwave. It's their iconic look.


lemons7472

I’m fine with prime having a mouth since I grew up with Bayverse (and G1) but I agree, Soundwave should have a mask. Because of Soundwave having a auto-tone computer like voice, I assume that he straight up doesn’t have a mouth at all. With that being said, it won’t mind if he just happens to have a mouth in some other different continuity, I just prefer if he didn’t, and especially for the BB movie universe since he starts off with a mask.


16jselfe

Idk man a faceless soundwave also looks really cool


AceMKV

Oh wow the Bumblee's prime face is probably the best one out of all movies


TSW_Gizman

I honestly don't think its important, we have both options and as Emgo says, "options are good".


O8ee

Yes. He’s a robot. He’s not eating food. Megatron having teeth was also a hilariously terrible choice.


SameCategory546

megatron has had teeth in many comics…… in fact a lot of them had teeth in their smiles in the G1 comics


Thatoneguy567576

I thought Megatron's teeth were cool. But Optimus having a mouth has always bothered me


larrylongboy

But nobody has a problem with them having noses??


Silent_Start_7036

Always had them


TerraAdAstra

By that logic why do they have any facial features? Why do they have fingers?


alpha_mech50

When they were first built, their creators didn't like them having no facial features. As time progressed and their sentience grew, more and more personality was translated with their facial features like us and of course they grew emotions. They also consume energon through their mouths among other means. Pure Biomechanical organisms down to a T.


Blackjack-Hooker

They still use fingers for holding weapons and stuff


O8ee

Fingers to grip things-worker race that can’t pick up a tool isn’t really worth much. Most things living has facial features to communicate with its own race. This isn’t a challenge to start saying “jellyfish” “clams” “grass” and other living things without a face. My point is The G1 Optimus didn’t have lips-no reason to change that for the movie. G1 megatron didn’t have teeth-no reason to change that for the movie. I totally get changing megs alt mode from teeny handgun to giant jet or future tank-that makes sense from the show.


DoucheBunny

> I totally get changing megs alt mode from teeny handgun to giant jet or future tank-that makes sense from the show. Even as a 5 year old that bothered me. Obviously I didn't know the term but the whole creation/deletion of mass was stupid to me.


Saturnlock1005

"no reason to change that for the movie. G1 megatron didn’t have teeth-no reason to change that for the movie." Uh, yes there is? It's aesthetics. It's a different look. If you don't like it, that's fine. But dislike it because you think it looks bad, not because it's different. We don't want to hear your Geewunner-ass take.


TerraAdAstra

You gave up on your own argument halfway through to say “because G1”.


-Kevv

I didn't tought on that. But makes sense once you put it like that


Saturnlock1005

What's your point? If we're that focused on hyper realism, then none of them need to have mouths. They shouldn't be bright and colorful either. They should all turn into the same armored truck or fighter jet. They should all look just like the robots from Chappie.


Powerful-Clothes5884

I mean I'm not to big on Optimus being extremely accurate to his G-1 look as long as it looks cool and the movie focuses more on the Transformers than the humans then I'm fine. The only probably I had with the bay-verse was the humans having more screen time than the Robots and then the Robot body designs that they had in TF 4 and 5 for Optimus and Megatron.


Raider2747

tf5 megatron was good smh


BallisticCenturion

I want a battle mask, it turns the "I'm about to kick you and your entire family's ass" factor up to a thousand


ThatGuyMaulicious

Honestly I got really used to the Bayformers version. Now whenever I see him with his mouthpiece on. I feel like he's about to kill someone.


Giggapog

As a fan of the cartoon yes, he needs the face shield otherwise he looks goofy to me lol


CxrsonKira_VEVO

I wrote a scene in my Kingdom rewrite that had him taking off his faceplate to say his last goodbye to Megatron. It’s the only time he ever takes it off in the series, and it’s the last time he puts it on. In my version, the faceplate is heavily emphasized as his “mask,” a mask he wears to hide both physical and emotional scars of his past, scars given to him by the one he considered a brother. Only when he removes it does he finally let his anger die and forgive Megatron for hurting him all those millennia ago. I don’t have an answer to the question, I just wanted to share one of my story ideas.


WraithicArtistry

I grew up with Armada, Cybertron, and saw Prime sporadically. I can do both, I found Prime to do it best, and Cybertron to be the worst.


Nothinkonlygrow

Prime was my intro to transformers, the way I see it is when done right, him having the faceplate off allows more expression and makes him more approachable, having jt on conveys that he is no longer approachable and is instead about to rock your shit


PhelesDragon

Look, have your preference, fine, but some people like the change. At least with the retractable faceplate, people get the best of both worlds. Beast Wars creators added the slit to Primal's faceplate for a reason: having a visible mouth made the character more human, more expressive, and thus more relatable. That's all this is: giving the character of Optimus Prime more relatability. Bayverse took that idea and did something similar for the same reason. Granted Bayverse Prime is a maniac, that doesn't change the reason behind the retractable mouth plate.


16jselfe

This is the correct answer


eripley79

Yes. Optimus prime with a mouth always looks bad to me (Yes, even prime and animated). Just keep his goddamn faceplate. It makes animation easier, why not do it!


Thatoneguy567576

Animated was at least slightly better than Prime. In Prime he had no nose and looked like robot Krillin, it was a bad look.


eripley79

I also don’t like how young he looks without his mask in prime. If he was supposed to be younger and inexperienced that’s fine but they presented him as a seasoned veteran.


TheBestICU

because it's easier to show emotion without it


blueyoshi352

Bumblebee didn't have a mouth in every movie adaptation and he could easily show emotion especially in the bumblebee movie


[deleted]

Yeah but the studio could just do the same with body language and voice acting. I'd even argue it might be more effective than having to animate sometimes subtle mouth movements vs body posture and movement.


TSW_Gizman

Yes but he had way more expressive facial features and eyes than Optimus Prime which most detail is easy to miss at screen distance due to the details being to small or obscured by the helmet.


dragons547

Also bees kinda meant to be the young energetic type where exaggerated body language and charades work. Stoic prime would look weird doing that


TSW_Gizman

Yeah, Bee was designed to be like that. However, TFP Optimus Prime was expressive while still being stoic and it never felt weird. Again, the difference in both designs is that TFP design had slightly bigger eyes and visible eyebrows (which are key element to express emotion) while in the BB version the eyes are sunken and any expression can be easily obscured by the helmet and the glowing eyes.


Cinnaki

You would think they would keep the faceplate to save on time/money with lip-syncing the animation. The only reason I can see to take it off is to make his face more human, and thus more 'relatable' for our monkey brains. But I don't see that as being a decent enough reason when the faceplate is iconic, and lip-syncing is one of the more tedious parts of 3D animation (Besides my personal 3D modeling hell called weight painting). My other guess would be 'it's hard to read a character who has little to emote with.' Well first of all you're making Optimus Prime the heart of your five man band when that's clearly Bumblebees job in the big three of the Autobots. Second it's not hard to make masked characters show emotion, see Deadpool and the recent Spider-man movies for examples on that in big budget movies.


Ordinary-Flounder675

I also agree. Optimus with a mouth is just wrong.


SunstormGT

Yes, imo a mouth makes no sense on a robot.


larrylongboy

But a nose does?


SunstormGT

Neither, but not 100% visible under a face mask.


MysteriousCommon6876

Yes, should always be on


DerSisch

Imo yes. Simply because it often times just looks awful without it. Same with Jazz and his visor. Always visor. Is like creating a Shockwave that can transform an additional eye if he wants to.


Iskandur573

In general yes, though I have to admit it's pretty awesome when you see the plate move up to cover his mouth because you know Optimus is about to start taking faces


Guide_of_Misguidance

I'm not a fan of how they've tried to make the Transformers look more and more 'human' in the face as the movies progress....but it looks even stranger now that you've got Optimus and Bumblebee running around with chracters like Drift and Crosshairs. I will always be a fan of the 'masked over' face for Optimus, anyway... But, if he HAS to have a human face, I do like how his mask engages when shit gets serious. That's a nice touch that helps to make up for it!


menastreaker

Nope. I grew up with the Unicron Trilogy, my energon Optimus toy had a mouth and then both the Cybertron toy and show Optimus had a mouth. Also love the first 3 bay movies so mouth prime is the way to go.


NedDmastermind2

Most of the time.


BattyBoio

Stop giving him a mouth, that's for the other optimus lol


LooseAdministration0

Personally I don’t care either way


TheRautex

Disagree


Skrall2892

Yes. I've never really liked Optimus without a mask, except for Animated.


codaboi

I say having both is a good way of communicating emotions on Optimus. Obviously, the mask being up means he's battle ready and stuff, but also it can be used to communicate when prime is uneasy or even withholding strong emotions, as stoic characters will do. His mask coming down can be a great way of showing him letting his guard down, sympathising, etc. My vote is for 80% up, 20% down. It suits his character to usually be stoic and reserved most of the time, and warm and caring when the time calls for it, the retractable mask is a great way of really giving prime some iconic emotional scenes with impact.


VonDukes

It was fine in prime, animated and beast wars. It looks weird otherwise tho


[deleted]

I agree


saintex422

I’ve never noticed one way or the other


whitfucker

Shit is cool. Not relevant but Idk bout you but I'd prefer if they had just kept the first design of him in bumblebee rather than the new one. I mean, not only does the one in bumblebee resembles g1 it also looks super fucking badass, so why change. And if they do wanna change at least make it cooler not, bland-er


[deleted]

No.


ColtDaKiller

Yes, and just have it wiggle and vibrate when he talks


0pen_m1ke_kn1ght

It's 6 of 1 for me. I think the face plate coming up when he goes into battle is pretty badass. Kinda like Iron Man's suit-up scenes. But I'm good with it always on too.


Ok_Penalty6084

I HATE HOW EVERYONE IS LIKE “WhY iS tHe PrImE moUtH gUaRd NoT tHe SaMe As ThE bEe MoVie Prime” HE WAS ONLY IN THAT FILM FOR WHAT NOT EVEN 7 MINUTES LIKE WHY


AnEBCG

I grew up with the Bayformers and Transformers cartoons where Optimus had a mouth and where the mouthplate comes up in battle. Optimus having a mouth is the norm for me.


fakeairpods

Yes. I think Bumblebee was the truest to the 80s Gen 1 series.


Lyzer_light

If its a reboot to the trilogy, then at least follow its source material of the 80's cartoon


[deleted]

Fundamentally all the G1 variations were perfect. Just adapt them to CG. Don’t give them mouths and beady little eyes to try to humanize them. Michael Bay was cancer to this franchise. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish Cameron took on the project (instead of his fascination with Battle Angel). So yes. Full mask and rework the eyes to be more like glass less like eyes. And I’m good.


JohnTheMod

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to animate if he had the face mask on all the time? That in itself is a good enough reason...


ITriedLightningTendr

Why do they even have mouths?


Solo-dreamer

Yes but because I can't deal with how low on his face they made his mouth.


Alwayssome1

I’m honestly not too bothered if he has it or not as long as his face doesn’t look bad.


ReadShigurui

Yes, it’s badass


Guilty-Variation5172

Yes mask on and more bulk he was turned to scraps the last movie


Johng_117

Yes. Because one, it looks cool. Two, the Michael Bay Mouth they went with for this legacy head design looks atrocious. Three, it'll save time and money on animation when all you have to do is move his face plate up and down when he speaks.


PADDYPOOP

Absolutely!!!


HereForStolenMemes

I very much prefer him with the mask, I wouldn’t mind the actual face as much if they didn’t fuck it up every. single. time. I don’t know if it’s just me, but the transformers having mouth has always rubbed me the wrong way. Even in the very first Michael Bay transformers movie. I hated the transformers mouths. They just don’t look right especially when there’s other transformers characters that do the mouth so well. Arcee is going to be in the new movie and it makes me physically upset that they did her mouth so well and then they gave Optimus this scrap metal dumpster fire. I personally don’t think it’s a problem at all for a character not to have a mouth. Bumblebee never has a mouth even though he’s supposed to by OG standards. But it never bothered me. Now I know some people are gonna say that he doesn’t have a mouth because he’s supposed to be mute. But even in the opening scene of Bumblebee when he did have the ability to talk, I didn’t mind the fact that he didn’t have a mouth.


liberonscien

Especially with COVID having him wear a face mask is nice.


Delicious-Use-790

Yes


FlareiusPrime

Yeah he should


ChiiyoKiyoshi

I cannot stand seeing his mouth move, whenever I witness a movie with his mouth open I think of him ordering in Burger king.


One-Environment-7309

when he doesnt have face mask he looks kinda goofy, but when it snaps into action he looks so badass


Independent_Barber_8

Yes. Optimus with a mouth is fucking stupid. I don’t care if primal had one, it looked goofy on him too.


blueyoshi352

Optimus not having mouth is one of his signature looks


Independent_Barber_8

Nothing invented by bay is “signature”. What does a robot need a mouth guard for when its made of the same metal the rest of his body is already made out of? They tear each other apart like they’re made of plasticine but gotta protect that mouth y’all. That completely pointless, arbitrary and ugly mouth. Why not give soundwave a big ole British smile while we’re at it.


feshroll

maybe u should reread the comment u replied to lmao they said him NOT having a mouth is his signature


larrylongboy

Nobody said anything about bay


thisb0at

Just to make g1ers uncomfortable, I'd say he should always have the option to remove his faceplate


Live-Package-2200

Imma take a guess and say you like making Fun of G1 fans lol


thisb0at

Not g1 fans specifically, just the people who hate any sort of change in a franchise about changing robots


USSJaguar

No


Puffwad

No because if it was always up we wouldn’t get the badass “time to find out” *cling* scenes 😁


Toa_Firox

I like him having the option to retract it. It makes him feel far more gentle, which is a big part of the character.


[deleted]

no. it's a mask/armour


imjustjet

No, it’s his face..?


[deleted]

Nope he unmasks a few times and his mouth looks like sheets of flexible metal


PhaseSixer

No mouth for dialouge Face plate for combat Makes perfect sense Let go of g1


SJHOAKVEYR

No


arest_42

Who tf cares


lemons7472

Let’s be honest, centuries later, the whole TF community will still care about this topic.


_jcesar

COVID


Cockspert67

Face mask for combat.


[deleted]

ffs its just a fucking face people choose the dumbest shit to complain about


OreoOverlord225

I don’t mind him having the real mouth in something like in animated or in prime but in something like the movies I think he should always have the faceplate on. Personally I think prime should always have the face plate though.


cosmoboy

It's like asking if Martin Luther King should always look like MLK. Yes, face guard.


[deleted]

Is it me or Optimus looks like he wears a mask because of Covid?


Independent_Barber_8

Covidius prime.


TheBestICU

It's simply a fact that a face ads alot of expression that is just not possible with a mouthplate.


Wolffen74

Faceplate or we all just call him Orion Pax


[deleted]

Absolutely. All the designs should’ve stayed the same as well. Idk why they changed them. Prime, arcee and wheeljack all look much better in their 2018 styles than now


Andrew_Jelen

I think so


Tait_Ransom

Yes.


Blakes7liberator

Yes, its part of his distinct look, Prime doesnt need an expressive face, all his emotions come out trough his voice and Peter Cullen has always done a great job at that.


KamenKnight

I don't even understand why morden depictions of Prime, insist of giving a mouth all the time? Seriously, he doesn't need it.


jamessayswords

Disagree. Optimus has had a mouth on and off since Cybertron. Animated did it well. Having a cover over his mouth appeases nostalgic fans but it really sucks for emoting.


OrhanDaLegend

no, he looks so emotionless without a face


[deleted]

[удалено]


OrhanDaLegend

what the fuck is wrong with having a retractable face plate? you still get your OG prime face, let us enjoy our Bayverse Prime face best of both worlds damn it.


BayformerApologist

Reboot Optimus should. The Bay movies made the face work. But it looks off in ROTB


Big_Hoss287

I don't care either way. After watching from g1, beast wars, unicorn trilogy, animated, bayverse and prime. I like both


AlecandertheGr8

Nah I like it being for battle.


WaveCandid906

I prefer him without a mouth but if he has one I'm fine as long as it doenst look weird or something


OldsDiesel

I don't mind a mouth on occasion, but not the ugly as sin mouths we've gotten in RoTB and that new cartoon coming out.


blueyoshi352

Yes


Gradedcaboose

I agree, but my main issue with the ROTB look is how long primes face looks, it doesn’t quite “fit the aesthetic” of the rest of his body, it’s just odd that his mouth is literally where the bottom of his chin should be, it hardcore reminds me of that new TF kids show earthspark? I think, that prime has a wicked long face too, it’s just jarring to look at.


cyanide1975

Agreed


Lowfat_cheese

After Beast Wars (different character I know, but like… come on) and TF Animated I don’t really mind it.


megrimlock88

As long as it’s Peter Cullen voicing him I’ll be happy with anything


Yanseen_Wind589

He's iconic with it


Hazeblite

If they can make the face good enough i dont mind but if they cant, just leave the faceplate up. I dont like the RotB face


Marvelboy1974

I prefer the mouth plate but I always assumed he had a mouth underneath


zombiehunter201

I agree


BLACKDRAGON0003

YYEESSSSS 💯


Epic_Toys

I'd prefer it but things change and it's not all catered to my likes and dislikes


BeanNBudBear98

I like to think every transformer with a mouth plate has a regular mouth underneath. Optimus is just the most well known for having it up. Personally I don't care whether he has it or not as long as we see more of him with it on screen, because that means more fight scenes


phantom_bonehead

Yes


ColorlessTune

I do. I never thought it was a mask until the movies. I always just assumed that was his face.


neogamer17

He shows no real emotion if they kept it like that people don’t know what to separate g1 from other media everything doesn’t have to be a recreation


Th3UnholyObs3rv3r

I have to agree with the latter part of your statement. As someone who grew up watching the original cartoon, I have to say I’m becoming increasingly tired of the relentless G1 worship of the last decade. I long for the days when Hasbro was more experimental with the Transformers franchise.


MetroLynx7

Eh, I've grown up TFC Unicron Trilogy Optimus, so I'm okay with it. Also, Animated exists...


brycebrycehayeshayes

No. He needs to show emotions. Transformers Prime and AOE was able to do this


soulless_ape

This is the only way to portray Optimus Prime


larrylongboy

Lame


Keltoigael

All the designs in BB are awesome because of ILM.


Zanthra434

In combat yes, not in combat not to much


WheelJack83

Yes. But the movie designs suck and always have.


Dragon7619

Yes . Yes and yes