Since I used Optimus shooting Sentinel as the pic to propose him, what better than having Sentinel try killing Optimus as the pic for his removal
Alright, here's a reevaluation one of mine, who after revisiting many of his key scenes, may not really be shady enough for the trope anymore. I'll admit I might've been partially biased when proposing him because I did not (and still do not) like the direction these films approached his character. So let the trial commence.
What is the Work?[]
Transformers is a series of live-action action films that is based on the '80s toyline, and honestly, not a very good series at that. It follows the Transformers, okay, no, that's the other incarnations, it follows some humans, pretty annoying ones most of the time at that, as they somehow intertwine themselves with the war of the race of high-tech aliens from the planet of Cybertron, the Transformers, allying with the good guys, the Autobots, to stop the bad guys, the Decepticons, for their vile plans that frequently threaten the very survival of Earth, reminding you this is indeed a Transformers product which the abundance of focus on the humans can make you forget. Oh and some stupid government conspiracy will be involved in Literally. Every. Single. Film.
Eitherway, there are 5 films, the first film, Transformers (duh), Revenge of the Fallen (forever gonna be prissy this came on the heels of the cancellation of my favourite TF incarnation), Dark of the Moon (the one where the late legend, Leonard Nimoy makes his long-awaited return to the Transformers brand for the final time, also the one with the "we will kill them all" line), Age of Extinction (the film that somehow beat The Winter Soldier in the box office smh) and The Last Knight (the film that basically killed the entire film series, rightfully so, that one was just boring).
Why Does Optimus Prime?[]
Alright, so the reason why I had argued Murder Prime to be bad enough don't hold up. When it comes to how brutal the dude is dealing with Decepticons, regardless when they are defenseless or not, a lot of his kills, while unnervingly vicious, also happen during the heat of battle where the Decepticons are trying to kill him. Even when it comes to say defenseless enemies, all Decepticons have been portrayed as just wantonly bloodthirsty sadists who'd happily kill any humans as long as they want and always up to no good. Like the scene with Demolisher where he just shoots at him even when he is just a mere head, the dude caused a helluva lot of destruction and collateral damage to save his own skin without any sort of remorse right before. Yes, "Give me your face" but he's asking for the face of the Fallen, a purely evil villain who just tried to genocide the human race so there's that. And yeah, it's easy to meme how he just straight up murders a defenseless Sentinel Prime (and don't worry, I'll still do) or butcher Megatron in a truce, but seconds before Optimus did so, Sentinel was trying to kill a defenseless Optimus even when he pleaded for mercy while screaming how he will be a god on top of having sold out the Autobots on top of ordering a horrifying massacre that we sees thousands of people massacred for the audience in plain view. And Megatron? Megatron's truce is a joke, Optimus knows the truce is just so Megatron can menace the Earth once again while clearly threatening Optimus with how smugly points how "Who will you be without me" to Optimus, while still having a gun on his hand btw, showing the insincerity over it.
And when it comes to allowing Chicago's destruction, that isn't how the film portrayed it. Yes, Optimus knew the Decepticons were plotting something bad for Earth and faked the Autobots' deaths, but he didn't do this to punish Earth for siding with the Decepticons, but actually to just have the element of surprise to thwart whatever the Decepticons plot for Earth, not wanting to forsake the planet. Which makes sense as Optimus would actually choose the Earth's survival over reviving his own home planet. I was admittedly using fridge logic here. And him threatening the Dinobots to join the Autobots or die, it's a bit shadier than the previous actions, but even that is not that shady in presentation because Grimlock just before was savagely trying to attack the Autobots and kill them even when Optimus tried to sue for a peaceful alliance yet Optimus tries to fight him evenunarmed, that this threat of force was the only way to bring them in line and get their help. I don't like how brutal the films make Optimus, it's done just for the sake of action than anything deep people try defending it as, but it doesn't make him shady enough to be here either.
Final Verdict[]
Ultimately a cut. We could allow some Designated Hero keeps (like Oogway is someone I still stand by keeping while simultaneously believing he was never envisioned to be this bad), but as much as I really don't like how Bay handled Optimus, it'll be extrapolating too much to keep him here.