i was a whopping 1 year old when they first aired

 

but another comparison to optimus being the sole representation, think of the band KISS, unless you are at least a halfway fan of the band, you probably only would recognize Gene Simmons, and the others you would probably recognize as "the cat guy" and the like, optimus is transformers' gene simmons

It was a long time ago for me, too ... I was 4-5 when they came out in 1984.

Gawd, I feel old. I was 12 when G1 aired. :tfsad

I wasn't even born yet :P

He is the icon for the public. So I think he really does represent TFs.

I was -5 when it aired, what now Protectobots!

Optimus Prime is to Transformers, like James T. Kirk is to Star Trek.

I was only born a year after the series started airing, but I got hooked when I watched Beast Wars. And then I went further and found the whole story of TF. And I do think that Optimus is the epitome of all TFs. He reminds me of a couple of notable characters all rolled into one, and I don't mean just TF characters. I think he is sort of a mix of the following heros: TMNT, his sense of honor; Superman, his strength; Batman, his intelligence; Spider-Man, his ability to make mistakes and see the flaw in his enemy's plan; and some more I can't think of.

 

While Megatron along with the name of Optimus are constants in the TF universe, Megatron goes through multiple changes, in name as well to Galvatron, but Optimus can change his alt form and body entirely, but he's still the same guy, Optimus Prime/Primal. So Optimus is alone when representing TF. In actuality, I asked a couple of my friends, who are NOT TF FANS, who, if any TFs come to minde, the first one is when I mention the word Transformers, and about 99.95% answered Optimus Prime, and the other .05% answered Megatron, but mostly Prime. So yes, I do think he alone stands for all of Transformers :thumb :thumb :clap :clap :tfgrin :tfgrin :) :) :sun :sun