#peter cullen

Takes place shortly after War Dawn:

It had been a rough battle, but thanks to those five mysterious strangers blowing up that energy warehouse, the newly forged Optimus Prime had managed to drive Megatron and his forces out of Iacon City for the time being.

But it had come at a great price: two-thirds of the civilian populace had been greatly injured by Megatron’s assault on the city, with the other third having been killed.

And for what?

All so Megatron could display dominance and conquer Cybertron.

Optimus couldn’t help but feel as though he was responsible for Iacon’s current state.

And why shouldn’t I? The mech thought as he drove by the ruins of what was once a cargo ship. I invited Megatron into the warehouse, I told him we stored energy there. I… admired Megatron because he was powerful…

And Optimus had failed to see how Megatron used said power.

He drove past a headless Guardian Robot, a grim reminder of the casualties that had descended upon Iacon because of his poor character judgment.

And now the city, along with his friends, had paid the price.

Ariel… Dion…

Alpha Trion had said he’d do his best to fix them up and reconstruct them like he did with Optimus. In the meantime, he ordered Optimus to search the city and scour for any supplies, or more importantly, survivors who were in need of medical attention.

He was about to head back for the day when groaning was heard from among the debris, which surprised the young Autobot. His scanners detected no distress beacons in this vicinity. It’s a survivor. I have to help. Optimus quickly changed direction and headed toward the cry for help.

The sound grew louder as he got closer, eventually reaching the source of the cry. Transforming into his robot mode, Optimus saw that the mech in question was crushed beneath the remains of a statue that used to be Primon.

“Hold on, stranger!” Optimus exclaimed, removing the debris. “I’m here to help.”

Upon removing the last of the debris, he realized the injured mech in question was actually one of Megatron’s Decepticon soilders.

“Help…” the Con weakly groaned, his energon spilling out. “Please… Mercy…”

Mercy?

This Con was probably responsible for killing multiple civilians today, he was probably one of the Decepticons at the warehouse. Energon was on his servos, and he wanted mercy?

The young Autobot slowly raised his Ion Blaster at the soldier, ready to end his existence right then and there.

He deserves to die. Optimus thought, trying to bring himself to pull the trigger. He’s just another one of Megatron’s soldiers, if I let him live he’ll probably just kill more innocent and defenseless robots. Bots like-

Me…

For a moment, he was Orion Pax again, left for dead at that warehouse, along with so many other countless bots when Megatron had begun his attack.

He remembered lying there, dying. Orion recalled trying to pull himself together, praying to whoever was listening that he did not die today.

And then, they came.

Those mysterious five robots he had met earlier had come to his rescue and took him to Alpha Trion, where he had been reborn as Optimus Prime.

Five mysterious robots, strangers who had no reason to save him, other than it was the right thing to do. They could have fled for their lives, let him die. But, they instead chose mercy.

I must… be strong…” Optimus tried telling himself, looking at the Decepticon soldier. “I can’t… show him… mercy…”

At that moment Optimus felt good. He felt powerful, he felt strong, he felt-

just like Megatron…

Megatron did this to him, didn’t he? He shot him unarmed, defenseless, and left him to die. Optimus realized what he was doing. If he shot this injured and weak Con here and now, he would be just like Megatron.

Another killer.

No. He wouldn’t allow himself to become a monster.

Sighing, he lowered his weapon and instead opened his trailer, gently picking up the severely injured Decepticon and placing him inside. “Alpha Trion…” he spoke into the commlink. “I’ve got an injured Decepticon here. I’m.. bringing him to you…”

“… Very well,” The old mech replied. “I’ll have some security droids watch over him while he recovers.”

“Thank you…” The soldier whimpered just as the trailer closed on him, securing him in place.

Optimus said nothing, instead transforming into his vehicle mode.

If I am going to stop Megatron, I need to be better than him. He thought. I need to show mercy. True strength does not rely on taking the lives of others, but rather on helping those who lack the power to help themselves.

“Be strong enough… to be gentle…” Optimus whispered, driving off toward Alpha Trion’s workshop. “Yes… that is what I must be…”

——————————————————————-

Happy belated birthday to Peter Cullen! To the man who brought Optimus Prime to life.

I kind of wanted to tell a story from Optimus’s perspective from what happened after the events of War Dawn (obviously after the Arielbots were brought back to the present), so I threw this together.

I want to wish happy birthday to a very special person: Peter Cullen.

The voice behind Optimus Prime and most definitely the best voice actor I've ever heard of. He shaped my childhood with G1 and many other shows. So I just want to say: Happy Birthday Peter❤💙

"Till all are one"

Happy 85th Birthday, Peter Cullen!

The 1# Legendary Canadian 🇨🇦 Voice Actor 🧔‍♂️🧓 Of All Times

&

The Great Noble & Bravest Leader Of The AUTOBOTS 🤖 Himself

The Voice Of The Greatest Transformer Character That Ever Lived & Has Voiced The Iconic Hasbro Toy For 40 Years Since The 1980's & Still Going Strong To This Very Day

Cullen was born on July 28, 1941, in Montreal, Quebec, to American parents Henry and Muriel (née McCann) Cullen. He is of Irish descent. He has three siblings: Michaela, Sonny, and Larry. He is a member of the first graduating class of the National Theatre School of Canada, which he graduated in 1963. His brother, Larry Cullen, was a retired captain in the United States Marine Corps, and helped inspire the voice of Optimus Prime

He is a Canadian voice actor. He voiced Optimus Prime in the original 1980s Transformers animated series, later returning to the role in Transformers media in 2007, starting with the first live-action film.

He has also voiced many other characters across a wide variety of popular media, including Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh franchise, Monterey Jack in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, the first voice of KARR in Knight Rider and the vocalizations of the title character in Predator. He also voiced Thaedus in the animated series Invincible.

Cullen recalls auditioning for the role of the robot character Optimus Prime at a casting house in Burbank, California, explaining that as he read Prime's character breakdown, he saw that it was "the opportunity of the year", and heeded his brother Larry's advice: "Peter, don't be a Hollywood hero, be a real hero. Real heroes don't yell and act tough; they're tough enough to be gentle, so control yourself

Cullen reprised the role of Optimus Prime in the 2007 Transformers live-action film, the sequels Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction and The Last Knight, the reboot and its sequel, Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts and the video games based on the film series. Though he was only contractually obligated to voice Optimus up to The Last Knight, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura stated in 2021 that Cullen was welcome to voice the character for as long as he wanted.

Cullen again reprised his role as Optimus Prime in the video games Transformers: War for Cybertron, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and Transformers: Devastation, and in the television series Transformers: Rescue Bots, Transformers: Prime and Transformers: Robots in Disguise. His performance in the premiere season of Transformers: Prime earned him a nomination for a 2011 Daytime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program category.

He was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2023 as part of the 2nd Children's and Family Emmy Awards.

PLEASE WISH THIS LEGENDARY VOICE CANADIAN 🇨🇦 ACTOR 🧔‍♂️🧓 & LEADER OF THE AUTOBOTS 🚘 🛺 🚗 🚛 🏍 🛩

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

EVERYONE FROM BACK IN THE DAY KNOWS HIM

WE HAVE HEARD HIS VOICE ALMOST A THOUSAND TIMES OVER AND STILL GET THE AWE OF INSPIRATIONAL WISDOM WHEN HE SPEAKS

& I HAVE MET HIM IN PERSON & HOPEFULLY I GET TO ACT WITH HIM SOMEDAY.

THE ACTOR, THE MAN, THE LEGEND

HIMSELF

THE 1

& ONLY

MR. PETER CLAVER CULLEN 🧔‍♂️🧓🇨🇦 AKA OPTIMUS PRIME 🤖, LEADER OF THE AUTOBOTS 🚛

HAPPY 85TH BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 MR. CULLEN 🧔‍♂️ 🧓 🇨🇦 🤖 🚛& HERE'S TO MANY MORE YEARS TO COME

AUTOBOTS 🚘 🛺 🚗 🚛 🏍 🛩 TRANSFORM

& ROLLOUT 🤖