Autobots Names: Every Autobot in the Transformers Movies

Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots and the only Autobot who appears in all nine theatrical films. Peter Cullen voices him in The Transformers: The Movie (1986) and every main film from 2007 to 2023, while Chris Hemsworth voices the younger Orion Pax, who becomes Optimus Prime, in Transformers One.

He is also the Autobot whose story changes most. In 1986 he defeats Megatron but dies of his wounds, and in Revenge of the Fallen he is killed protecting Sam before the Matrix of Leadership brings him back, with Jetfire's parts adding new power and flight. In Age of Extinction he is badly hurt when Cade Yeager finds him in Texas, and he finishes Lockdown with Lockdown's own grenade. In The Last Knight he is corrupted by Quintessa into Nemesis Prime before he breaks free, and in Rise of the Beasts he destroys the Transwarp Key to shut Unicron's portal. For the full character profile, see Optimus Prime Transformers.

Bumblebee is the Autobot scout who guards Sam Witwicky in Transformers (2007) and gets his own film in Bumblebee (2018). Mark Ryan voices him in 2007, Erik Aadahl in The Last Knight, and Dylan O'Brien as B-127 / Bumblebee in the 2018 film, while Dan Gilvezan voices Bumblebee in the 1986 animated film. In Transformers One, Keegan-Michael Key voices B-127, the same designation Bumblebee carries in 2018.

In Bumblebee (2018), B-127 lands in California in 1987, is ambushed by the Decepticon Blitzwing, who takes his voice and damages his memory, and then hides as a yellow Volkswagen Beetle until Charlie Watson finds the car. In Dark of the Moon he destroys the Control Pillar that holds the Decepticon plan together. In Rise of the Beasts he is killed by Scourge and later brought back online. Read more at Bumblebee transformer, and meet his human partner Charlie Watson on the Charlie Bumblebee page.

Ratchet is one of the Autobots named in Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), directed by Michael Bay, where his story is short and hard. The bounty hunter Lockdown, who is working for the Creators, kills Ratchet while hunting for Optimus Prime, and the CIA unit Cemetery Wind is already hunting Autobots with Lockdown's help.

For anyone building a list of Autobots names, Ratchet matters because his fate shows how dangerous Earth has become for the team years after the battle of Chicago. His death comes before Cade Yeager finds the wounded Optimus in Texas.

The Autobots names in Age of Extinction are Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Hound, Crosshairs and Drift, plus the Dinobots. John Goodman voices Hound, John DiMaggio voices Crosshairs and Ken Watanabe voices Drift, and all three are in the film's credited cast.

Optimus calls in the remaining Autobots after he escapes the Yeager farm with Cade, Tessa and Shane. Cade, Shane and the Autobots then board Lockdown's ship to save Optimus and Tessa, and a battle in Hong Kong follows against the Decepticon army that Galvatron builds. The Dinobots are the film's most visible new addition: the team seizes a smaller ship that carries them, and Optimus frees them in Hong Kong and earns their loyalty. If you are tracking who returns later, none of Hound, Crosshairs or Drift is listed among the main cast of The Last Knight (2017).

Jetfire is the ancient Autobot Sam and his friends track down in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), directed by Michael Bay. He teleports Sam, Mikaela, Leo, Simmons and two small robots to Egypt, where the Matrix of Leadership is hidden in a desert tomb.

His biggest moment comes at the end. After Optimus Prime is revived with the Matrix, Jetfire gives up his own body to join with Optimus, who gains new power and flight and uses it to destroy the Fallen's sun machine near the Giza pyramids. In practical terms it is a very clean piece of story engineering: one Autobot is spent so another can finish the job. That sacrifice is why Jetfire sits so high in my top five at the bottom of the page.

Sentinel Prime is the former Autobot leader found on the Moon in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), directed by Michael Bay, and Leonard Nimoy voices him. The Autobots find him with five Pillars that can create a Space Bridge, after the Ark crashes on the Moon in 1962 and the United States sends Apollo 11 to investigate in 1969.

He counts as an Autobot because the film introduces him as one, but he secretly betrays the team and sides with Megatron, hoping to save the dying Cybertron. The Decepticons then use the Pillars to start pulling Cybertron toward Earth. Optimus Prime kills both Megatron and Sentinel in the end. In Transformers One, Jon Hamm voices a different version of the character, the leader of Iacon, who has come back from the surface without the Matrix of Leadership. See Sentinel Prime Transformers for the full profile.

The Autobots in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) are Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Mirage, Arcee and Wheeljack. Pete Davidson voices Mirage, Liza Koshy voices Arcee and Cristo Fernández voices Wheeljack.

Mirage matters most, because he is the Porsche that Noah Diaz tries to steal in 1994 Brooklyn. That mistake pulls Noah into the Autobots' mission, and in the final battle Mirage becomes an exosuit for Noah. The Maximals, led by Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) with Airazor (Michelle Yeoh), fight alongside the team but are a separate group, so they are allies rather than Autobots. The film ends with Noah recruited into G.I. Joe, which sets up a crossover between the two franchises. To see how it fits, check the Transformers timeline and read about Noah Diaz Transformers.

Hot Rod, voiced by Judd Nelson, is the young Autobot of The Transformers: The Movie (1986) who becomes the new leader. He is captured with the veteran Kup by the Quintessons after the Decepticons conquer Cybertron and the surviving Autobots scatter.

The Autobots regroup on the Planet of Junk, and when Galvatron seizes the Matrix of Leadership and Unicron swallows him, Hot Rod activates the Matrix, becomes Rodimus Prime and destroys Unicron. Optimus Prime dies of his wounds and the Matrix is lost along the way, yet the Autobots still end the film with a new leader.

Elita-1 is the Cybertron mine supervisor in Transformers One (2024), and Scarlett Johansson voices her. She takes the punishment when two of her miners, Orion Pax and D-16, bend the rules to rescue a coworker during a collapse, and she later follows them on the trail of Alpha Trion's distress message.

The turning point comes after D-16 pulls away from Orion. Elita-1 is the voice urging Orion to gather the High Guard and the miners and go back for his captured friends. She then helps him and B-127 seize Airachnid and play her recorded memories across Iacon, which swings the crowd against Sentinel Prime. Without that push, Orion's road to becoming Optimus Prime stalls.

The Autobots in Transformers One are Orion Pax (who becomes Optimus Prime), B-127, Elita-1, Alpha Trion, Jazz and Chromia / Arcee. Chris Hemsworth voices Orion Pax / Optimus Prime, Keegan-Michael Key voices B-127, Scarlett Johansson voices Elita-1, Laurence Fishburne voices Alpha Trion, Evan Michael Lee voices Jazz and Jinny Chung voices Chromia / Arcee.

The rest of the principal cast plays characters on the other side of the story: Brian Tyree Henry voices D-16 / Megatron, Jon Hamm voices Sentinel Prime, Steve Buscemi voices Starscream, and James Remar voices Zeta Prime. Alpha Trion is the Prime who gives the group the Primes' cogs and a chip with proof of Sentinel's crimes, before Sentinel's lieutenant Airachnid captures him and Sentinel executes him. At the end, Optimus Prime restores the miners' cogs, becomes leader of Iacon and names his followers the Autobots, while Megatron turns the exiled High Guard into the Decepticons. For the villains' side, see the Decepticons guide.

Who are the top 5 Autobots? In my opinion, they are Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Hot Rod / Rodimus Prime, Elita-1 and Jetfire, and this is a ranking of taste, not a count of screen time.

1. Optimus Prime. Peter Cullen is credited as Optimus Prime from 1986 through 2023, and Chris Hemsworth voices the younger Orion Pax in Transformers One, so he is the one Autobot every film in the saga needs. The strongest single image, in my view, is Age of Extinction, where he kills Lockdown with Lockdown's own grenade, a very mechanical way to win a fight.

2. Bumblebee. He anchors Transformers (2007), gets his own film in 2018, and in Dark of the Moon destroys the Control Pillar that holds the Decepticon plan together. Blitzwing ripping out his voice box and Charlie reviving him with a jolt of electricity that restores his memories in Bumblebee (2018) is the best use of the character, because the film makes a wounded scout with damaged memory the emotional center of the story.

3. Hot Rod / Rodimus Prime. It could be argued that no Autobot has a harder job than the one who has to replace Optimus Prime. Hot Rod does it in The Transformers: The Movie (1986) by activating the Matrix of Leadership and destroying Unicron.

4. Elita-1. She is the one who tells Orion Pax to go back for his friends, and she helps capture Airachnid and broadcast the memory recordings that turn Iacon against Sentinel Prime. Perhaps the best compliment is that Transformers One does not work without her.

5. Jetfire. He teleports the team to Egypt and then gives up his body so Optimus Prime can fly and finish the Fallen's sun machine in Revenge of the Fallen. A sacrifice that practical earns a spot.

If you would rather see how the films themselves stack up, read Transformers movies ranked, and to meet the opposite side start with the Decepticons.