Optimus Prime's Faceplate

[kup]

From the point of view of the TF Universe, G1 Prime's face plate is well his face! Its no different than Wheelhack's mouth or Hound's. You remove the plate of a Transformers and it will be like removing his face! (done already in G1 comics :P)

Later on Beast Wars, I believe it to be the first 'official' rendering of an Optimus with a mouth (not counting early storybooks and the like). Before that the face plate was not a plate at all but his own face. Since BW there has been a need to show Prime with a mouth for some reason. It makes sense in Beast Wars as the animation was not sophisticated enough to have someone with a face plate emote satisfactorilly and storywise, Primal is a completly separate character to G1 Prime despite both sharing the same 'first name'; but the mouth has been pushed on every thing else since, including the movie and very 'in your face' in Animated.

I personally don't mind it if done right (BW, Cybertron) but when it goes over the top when Optimu's face looses any sense of recognizability, it annoys me a bit but I can see passed it.
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APV