Optimus Primal (voiced by Garry Chalk) is the commander of the Axalon crew, and the main character of both Beast Wars and Beast Machines. His beast mode is a gorilla. Optimus starts off the series as a charismatic and competent leader, but also young and inexperienced. As the series goes on, he proves to be highly competent with a strict form of honor, though he is somewhat irreverent and is perfectly willing to bend the law. A running gag throughout the series is his penchant for stuffy and long speeches, something that Rattrap and even Megatron mock him for. In “Other Voices”, he goes on a risky mission to destroy the Vok Planet Buster. He succeeds, only to be killed thanks to a booby trap rigged by Megatron. However, in "The Coming of the Fuzors", Rhinox implants his spark in a blank protoform, reviving him in a Transmetal body. After Megatron fatally wounded Optimus Prime, threatening to erase the Maximals from existence, Optimus Primal takes his namesake’s spark into his body, transforming him into the highly powerful Optimal Optimus. During the finale, he attacks the Nemesis after it fires on and kills Tigerhawk, before boarding it and battling Megatron. He defeats Megatron, and he and the Maximals tie him to an Autobots shuttle. Before they depart the planet, Optimus memorializes his dead friends and declares the Beast Wars over.
