Superman has Bizarro, The Flash has Professor Zoom, Spider-Man has Venom, and Optimus Prime has Nemesis, the dark version of the Autobot leader who has had a number of different origins throughout a variety of universes within the Transformers‘ lore. With the arrival of the final chapter of War For Cybertron in Kingdom, not only did Nemesis Prime see a terrifying return toward the finale of the latest installment, but we also had the opportunity to revisit the battle between the Maximals and the Predacons from Beast Wars in a crossover that nearly tore the world of Cybertron asunder.
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With the Autobots and Decepticons managing to make their way back to their own world, they began to struggle with the machinations of Unicron, the planet devouring robot that became one of the most well known, evil Transformers that didn’t align with the Decepticons, but would venture to enslave them. Throughout the series of War For Cybertron, the original Megatron was struggling with the arrival of Galvatron, not realizing that this nefarious Decepticon was actually an alternate version of himself that was transformed by the power of Unicron. Holding an origin that was somewhat similar to Galvatron, we are introduced to Nemesis Prime, a version of Optimus that has all his powers and personality, while holding an aesthetic that is far darker.
When Nemesis Prime hits the scene during Kingdom, he explains that he hails from an alternate timeline, wherein Unicron had transformed Optimus into his slave, much like Megatron had done when he became Galvatron. Now fully a servant of the planet devouring powerhouse, Nemesis teams up with Galvatron and takes on the combined forces of the Autobots, Decepticons, Maximals, and Predacons.
Nemesis Prime first appeared in the animated series Transformers: Armada, created as a dark reflection of the Autobot leader who wanted to eliminate everything in sight, regardless of what side his targets were on. Following his initial appearance, Nemesis appeared in the series Transformers: Prime, in which he was created by the United States government. Regardless of what iteration the dark version of Optimus receives, he has always been a powerhouse and remains a fan favorite villain within the lore of Cybertron.
What did you think of Nemesis Prime’s new origin in War For Cybertron? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Transformers.
