There are so many dimensions to Optimus Prime, trying to understand where one ends and other begins, can be confusing at times. This is particularly the case with the many dark sides that have been derived from the Autobot Leader's character. Names are often used differently by Hasbro and Takara for the same set of characters that can generally look alike, such as Scourge, Nemesis Prime, Black Convoy, and even Dead Optimus Prime.
As part of the run-up to Halloween, today's shot reflects on the dark side with a look at one of the earlier evil Optimus Primes. Introduced as “Black Convoy” in the 2000 Car Robots cartoon in Japan. Hasbro imported him to America as “Scourge” in the also renamed 2001 Robots In Disguise series. Name games aside, we can see that Nemesis Prime also looks like Black Convoy / Scourge. Shown here left to right: 2020 Takara Transformers War For Cybertron: SIEGE Nemesis Prime, 2003 Robots In Disguise Destructicon Scourge, 2002 Robots In Disguise Spy Changer Scourge, and 2002 Robots In Disguise Scourge and missile defense base.
