Well, he is a soldier and if he's gonna freak out every time he has to kill an enemy combatant then he would really suck as a soldier! It's similar to how medical professionals don't get squeamish at the sight of blood and guts (I wouldOriginally Posted by philby
), because you'd be a pretty crappy nurse or doctor if you did. Like Nick Riviera at medical school, "Oh no, blood!"
Optimus Prime didn't revel nor revile at killing Bonecrusher. It was something that was done in the heat of combat, much like the way you see a lot of the US military personnel behaving in the movie. Because most of those extras weren't actors but actual real US servicemen and women who were off-duty and hired as extras. Michael Bay often just threw scenarios at them and let them respond to the imaginary threat as per their training, a lot of it wasn't explicitly scripted. One of my favourite scenes in the first movie is this - listen to what most of the extras are saying from 3:38 onwards. Ignore the dialogue from the main named characters like Epps etc., listen to the extras. There is no swearing, no emotive language, no fear, no excitement... just pure emotionally distanced professionalism. And this is similar to how Optimus Prime is portrayed in the first movie, as a professional combatant.
This is very, very different from the way that he's portrayed in the sequels where he is far more driven by anger, vengeance and hate. In RotF and DotM Optimus Prime executes prisoners of war... that's a war crime! In AoE he threatens to murder a human being (Attinger), although ultimately he does end up killing him in the heat of combat in order to save Cade Yeager. He even threatens Joshua Joyce (who defiantly dares Optimus Prime to carry out his threat). The sequels show an Optimus Prime who is willing to kill or consider killing others because of his rage and hate. Optimus Prime in the first movie was the antithesis of this, only killing when engaging enemy combatants (no executions of helpless individuals), and he explicitly showed lament and remorse for his actions later. There is no time to second-guess yourself in the middle of a fight, that'd just get you killed.
From a psychological POV the mind learns to adjust to doing things that would initially upset it. For example, if you work with kids or have kids of your own, there are times when you have to say things that upset them and may even make them upset - such as when you have to discipline the child. This is super hard when it's a toddler. It makes you upset and each time you discipline the child it tears you up inside and hurts you just as much as it hurts the child... but you know that you have to stay strong in order to avoid spoiling the child. So you hold those emotions back and put on a brave face, and eventually you get used to it. This doesn't mean that you've stopped caring, but it means that you've learnt how temper your emotions in order to perform your duties as a carer or parent more efficiently. I would imagine that it would be something similar in being a combatant. It doesn't mean that you don't care but just that you don't allow your emotions to cloud your judgement.
Even in Star Wars the Jedi can carve through enemy combatants without showing emotion. This doesn't mean they don't care, but they don't allow themselves to become emotionally attached (because emotional attachment is the path to the Dark Side).
e.g.
* Obi-Wan Kenobi killing Darth Maul
* Anakin Skywalker & Obi-Wan Kenobi killing enemy Geonosians (and those monsters that tried to eat them)
* Other Jedi killing enemy Geonosians, and Mace Windu killing Jango Fett
* The Jedi killing countless enemies (or leading their Clone army to do so) during the Clone Wars
* Luke Skywalker killing Imperial Stormtroopers (and helping the Rebels to kill civilian contractors working on the Second Death Star!
* Rey and Finn helping the Resistance to kill First Order Stormtroopers
↑None of these actions were done in malice. Compare this with...
* Anakin Skywalker killing the entire village of Tuskens ("...I slaughtered them like animals!")
* Anakin Skywalker executing a helpless and defeated Count Dooku ("I shouldn't have done that, it's not the Jedi way.")
* Darth Vader killing Jedi at the Temple, including Younglings
* Darth Vader killing Nemoidian Separatist leaders on Mustafar
* Darth Vader killing a Rebel Trooper during an interrogation
* Kylo Ren killing Han Solo
↑These are acts of hate, and in Star Wars, the path of the Dark Side.
Notice another really important thing here. The first two atrocities were still committed by Anakin Skywalker, while the next 3 are by Darth Vader. Anakin and Vader both commit acts of murder, but the key difference is that Anakin cares. While he shows no emotion at the time of committing those acts, he does afterwards. He breaks down in tears with shame and guilt in front of Padmé when he confesses to murdering the Tuskens. He immediately expresses regret to Palpatine after killing Dooku, and then ignores Palpatine's suggestion to abandon Obi-Wan as he becomes more determined to stick to his Jedi principles, because he cares. Anakin's true descent to the Dark Side and becoming Darth Vader was when he allowed himself to stop caring. No longer expressing regret, Vader justifies his atrocities with his own twisted sense of righteousness. It is only through help from Luke that Anakin reawakens and kills Palpatine -- not through rage or hate, but because of his love for his children (knowing that Palpy's defeat would also save Leia). He had become a Jedi again. No, wait... that's better!
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