Sentinel Prime was an ancient Cybertronian leader in Michael Bay's Transformers film continuity. Long before the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, he ruled Cybertron benevolently as the last in the lineage of the Primes. He represented all of the qualities expected of a Prime: a noble leader, a wise sage and a powerful warrior. However, he was also of the belief that Cybertronians were superior to other life-forms, viewing them as gods in comparison to lesser organic races.
History[]
When the war on Cybertron broke out, Sentinel Prime would lead the Autobots as they fought to prevent the Decepticons from dominating the planet. As the conflict dragged on and Cybertron became less and less hospitable, Sentinel became desperate and secretly arranged an alliance with the Decepticon commander Megatron. Believing that it was only through the sacrifice of another world that Cybertron could be restored, Sentinel developed teleportational space bridge technology to transport resources across interstellar distances—but, knowing that his chosen successor Optimus would never condone his course of action, Sentinel kept his plans a secret, claiming the bridge was a means of transporting troops into battle. Sentinel's intention was to depart for the chosen planet—Earth—and meet Megatron there later, but during the battle that erupted around the departure of Sentinel's ship the Ark, the vessel was damaged and sent spiralling off into the depths of space, presumed lost forever. The war was left to continue with none save Megatron aware of Sentinel's treachery.
In 1961, the Ark crashed on Earth's moon. The impact was detected by NASA, triggering the space race of the 1960s and leading to the United States of America's eventual first trip to the moon in 1969, which was secretly an attempt to inspect the crashed alien ship. However, before Apollo 11 got there, a team of Decepticons led by Soundwave, who had tracked the vessel, removed the majority of the space bridge pillars from the ship to keep them out of human hands. The NASA astronauts found no trace of them, nor of Sentinel himself, safely sealed in the ship's crash vault with five remaining pillars.
In 2011, a mission to Chernobyl resulted in Optimus Prime's Autobots discovery of a piece of the Ark, which had been recovered by a later Russian moon mission. Demanding information from new National Security Director Charlotte Mearing, Optimus learned that the ship was on the moon, and subsequently travelled there with Ratchet to find and retrieve Sentinel Prime. Taking his mentor's body back to Earth, Optimus revived him with the Matrix of Leadership, and Sentinel awoke in a crazed rage, briefly attacking Optimus before coming to his senses. Sentinel explained the space bridge to the Autobots and humans, lamenting the seeming loss of the pillars that the Decepticons had stolen, and took an immediate dislike to Mearing when she ordered the few remaining pillars taken into custody. Optimus proceeded to give Sentinel a tour of Earth, which led the old Autobot to marvel at the beauty and the life of the planet, after which Optimus offered Sentinel the Matrix back. Sentinel turned it down, feeling unable to lead on a planet he did not know, and telling Optimus that he was now his teacher, rather than his protege.
Discovering evidence that the Decepticons held the missing pillars, the Autobots' young human ally Sam Witwicky believed that they would soon be coming after Sentinel Prime, since only he could activate the technology. Several Autobots escorted Sentinel Prime back to NEST headquarters, fending off a team of Decepticons along the way, but once they had arrived at their destination, Sentinel allowed his facade to drop. Knowing that all was in readiness, he revealed his centuries-long alliance with Megatron by slaying Ironhide with his Cosmic Rust cannon, tearing NEST headquarters apart to reclaim the pillars, and departing to meet his Decepticon co-conspirators at the Lincoln Memorial. There, Sentinel opened a small space bridge portal above, through which Decepticon troops in waiting on the moon poured. Optimus Prime arrived and pleaded with Sentinel to stop, but Sentinel refused, leading to a battle between the two. Sentinel overpowered his former pupil, but spared his life.
Sentinel proceeded to deceive the United Nations, claiming that he and the Decepticons would harmlessly take the resources they needed from Earth and depart with no further bloodshed if Optimus and his "Autobot rebels" were exiled from the planet. The humans wasted no time in agreeing, and the Xantium was launched with Earth's remaining eleven Autobots inside... whereupon Starscream blew the shuttle to bits. With their primary opponents now believed obliterated, the Decepticons set about conquering the city of Chicago and positioning pillars in strategic locations around the world. Megatron gloated over the success of their partnership, but Sentinel was quick to violently and physically remind Megatron that he was working with him, not for him.
With the pillars in place, Sentinel activated the space bridge, opening a huge portal above the Earth through which Cybertron itself began to materialize. Earth was not without defenders, however: Optimus and the Autobots had, in fact, staged their deaths, and had arrived in Chicago to stop Sentinel's plot. Optimus shot out the control pillar, deactivating the bridge, leading a furious Sentinel to engage him in battle once more. Unlike their last bout, Optimus held his own, leading Sentinel to call upon Decepticon fighter ships to fire on his ex-apprentice, while he broke off to fight his way through the other Autobots in an attempt to escape. NEST soldiers destroyed the ships, allowing Optimus to pursue Sentinel and re-engage him, but this time, Sentinel took the upper hand when he severed one of Optimus's arms.
Just before Sentinel could deliver the killing blow, however, he came under attack from Megatron, who, thanks to the goading of Sam's girlfriend Carly Spencer, had realized the threat Sentinel posed to his leadership and had decided to once again take his rightful place at the top of the command chain. At the same time, the other Autobots destroyed the reactivated control pillar, thus destroying the space bridge and apparently Cybertron with it. Though Megatron's attack on Sentinel saved Optimus's life, the Autobot leader refused Megatron's offer of a truce and killed his eternal foe, leaving Optimus and the now-badly-damaged Sentinel alone once more. Sentinel abandoned his pride; he pleaded with Optimus for mercy, claiming all he ever wanted was the survival of their race. Optimus countered that Sentinel hadn't betrayed the Autobots, but rather himself, and as his treacherous mentor howled at the ruination of his plans, Optimus unceremoniously executed Sentinel Prime with Megatron's fusion shotgun.
Years after the Battle of Chicago, Sentinel Prime's remains would fall into the hands of Kinetic Solutions Incorporated. By reverse-engineering the components of Sentinel and other deceased Transformers, KSI would develop a new form of programmable matter called "Transformium" and use it to create their own line of transforming robots.
Abilities[]
- Alt-Mode - Sentinel Prime's Cybertronian vehicle form is unknown. On Earth, he would assume the form of a Rosenbauer Panther 6x6 airport fire truck.
- Primax Blade - A mighty sword-like weapon made from a material that is capable of blocking blows from energon-based weapons and can easily cleave through most known materials.
- Shield - A defensive shield that Sentinel can use to block attacks or bash his enemies with.
- Cosmic Rust Cannon - This exotic energy weapon is capable of hyper-accelerating the oxidisation process in metals, causing them to rust and deteriorate rapidly.