Optimus Prime VS Gundam

Optimus Prime VS Gundam is the 98th episode of Death Battle, featuring giant iconic robots Optimus Prime from the Transformers series and the RX-78-2 Gundam from the Mobile Suit Gundam series. Optimus was voiced by Richard Bacenas and Amuro Ray was voiced by David Matranga.

RoosterTeeth
''Transformers VS Mobile Suit Gundam! The first generation of giant robots battle to find out who is the supreme one.''

YouTube
''Transformers VS Mobile Suit Gundam! Two classic giant robots, the first of their kind, come together for a mecha-sized duel!''

Interlude
(*Cues: Wiz & Boomstick - Brandon Yates*)

Wiz: Across this vast world of different nations with different people, it is the clash of opinions which truly divides us. However, there is one universal truth that absolutely everyone can agree on.

'''Boomstick: Giant robots are freaking awesome! Like Optimus Prime, the original G1 Transformer.'''

Wiz: And the RX-78-2, the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

'''Boomstick: These aren't just any robots. They're the old-school classics! The first of their kind, and we're in for a Robo-battle of east vs. west!'''

Wiz: Well, Optimus was originally a Japanese toy-

Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.

Optimus Prime
Wiz: Millions of years ago, on a distant planet called Cybertron, a great unrest grew between two factions of robotic beings, the Decepticons and the Autobots. With little warning, they found themselves entangled in civil war.

'''Boomstick: Led by that douchebag, Megatron, the Decepticons started gunning down any bot they pleased for basically no reason, including some guy named Orion Pax, which will be important later. Rest in peace, ro-bro.'''

Popup: In the IDW Comics G1 continuity, Orion Pax was a captain of the Rodion Police, who went on the challenge the Cybertronian Senate.

Wiz: What Megatron didn't know was that this seeming random encounter would end up reshaping the universe.

Boomstick: Thanks to a robot Gandalf, Orion Pax was rebuilt into something bigger, stronger, and way more recognizable.

Wiz: The newest commander of the Autobots had risen: Optimus Prime.

Optimus: The Autobots will never sacrifice freedom.

Boomstick: Optimus is a powerful warrior, with tons of awesome robo-powers.

Wiz: As a Transformer, he can scan nearby objects and morph his body to resemble one, becoming a robot in disguise.

'''Boomstick: His favorite is a classic 1979 Kenworth K-100 tractor, an oldie but a goodie which sports five hundred horsepower and can book it over eighty miles per hour. He even gets a trailer, which, when he doesn't need it, mysteriously disappears into thin air. No, really, where the hell does that thing go? I need to know.'''

''Popup: According to a 1985 Japanese catalog, the trailer is teleported back to base via a "special signal" when Optimus doesn't need it. It's actually a weaponized Command Deck.''

Wiz: More importantly, the lifeforce of every Transformer resides in their spark, sort of like a soul, and Optimus is no different, except that his spark gives him a few unique abilities.

'''Boomstick: Yeah, his spark's pretty rare, compared to other robo-people, it gives him increased strength, speed, and durability. He can shoot laser beams from his hands, fly with either a jetpack or his feet boosters, and move his limbs around while their detached like some sort of ghost robot Rayman. Ooh!'''

Wiz: Optimus is referred to as a point one percenter, that is how rare a being of his caliber is.

Popup: After binary binding with a Nebulan named Hi-Q, Optimus could combine with the Combat Deck to achieve the Powermaster form, and later merged with Hi-Q to become an Action Master.

Boomstick: Is that what all those people on Wall Street were protesting?

Wiz: Even then, many of Optimus' abilities are further enhanced thanks to his possession of one of the most powerful artifacts in Cybertron's history: the Matrix of Leadership.

Boomstick: Oh yeah, you know, it's nothing much, just A PIECE OF ROBOT GOD!

Wiz: The matrix is a conduit for the power of Primus, the creator of the Transformer race. With this, Optimus can heal some of his most grievous wounds.

Boomstick: But not all the time, like, you know, when he died.

Optimus: And use the power of the Matrix to light our darkest hour...

Wiz: Well, he has an impressive arsenal to hopefully keep that particular problem from coming up again.

'''Boomstick: Hah... yeah... Never again... Regardless, he wields the Ion Blaster, a giant death cannon which Prime one-hands like a boss! This big ol' rifle fires bolts of energy strong enough to take down most Decepticons, and can even be fired into space from ground level! Even better, it never seems to run out of ammo! Ah, one can only dream...'''

Wiz: Optimus Prime also carries numerous weapons composed of Energon, a raw energy force used by Transformers to power their technology and, well, themselves.

Boomstick: He's got a glowy Energon Axe and Energon Swords, perfect for slicing up robots of all sizes, and I guess they probably work pretty good on people too.

''Popup: Optimus may be honorable, but will do whatever it takes to save people. He once fought his way into the Cybertronian Senate using the corpse of his friend Springarm as a weapon!''

Wiz: Fighting fire with fire, Optimus Prime led the fight against the Decepticons for several millenia. Eventually, the war even found its way to our own Earth.

'''Boomstick: But we've got nothing to worry about with Optimus protecting the planet. He's tanked blasts that would tear other bots apart. Like when this mega-refinery exploded, it could be seen from outer space! He's punched the ground so hard the trees around him freakin exploded.'''

Wiz: Child's play, Boomstick! He's strong enough to tip this large oil tanker, which, when compared to the real life Seawise Giant, must weigh over 700,000 tons.

Boomstick: He's thrown a satellite into orbit, and punched hard enough to crack Sixshot's chest plate.

Wiz: Who boasted that his armor was drawn from the compacted subatomic matter from a collapsed star. Just to let you know, such a star would have a density of over 300 billion tons per cubic inch. While great density does not necessarily beget great toughness, this still means that Sixshot's armor was 500 billion times more dense than osmium, the most dense natural material on Earth.

Boomstick: You're the most dense natural material on Earth...

Wiz: What'd you say?

'''Boomstick: And our robo-commander wrecked it! He's fast enough to catch up to this Decepticon space shuttle in just twenty three seconds!'''

Wiz: Given the size of the earth here and angle of ascent, we can determine he's moving around 125,000 miles per hour. He's also a talented leader, capable of commanding a thousand battles at the same time via the Omniglobe.

''Popup: The Omniglobe simply funneled information to Optimus, as he can't physically be in one thousand places at once. It did not enane his cognitive abilities.''

'''Boomstick: Like Skynet, but in a giant disco ball. He's used that crazy strength of his to punch through Megatron, who once tanked an explosion big enough to knock Cybertron out of orbit, and thanks to the weird robo-magic of the Matrix, he's even defeated Unicorn-'''

Wiz: Unicron.

'''Boomstick: Who's basically a giant robot Satan who eats planets! This guy is unstoppable!'''

Wiz: Not necessarily. Optimus is certainly powerful, but after all is said and done, he has one major weakness...

Optimus: To violate that law would destroy our honor.

Wiz: He's just too nice.

'''Boomstick: Yeah, he's kinda all about the whole 'honor' and 'fair fighting' thing, which kinda screwed him over more than once, [https://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_many_deaths_of_Optimus_Prime and even gotten him killed! Multiple times!] Plus, [https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Afterdeath! he killed himself once just because he accidentally broke the rules in a freaking game!] Damn!'''

''Popup: Specifically, he felt he broke his own rules of morality by sacrificing NPCs to defeat Megatron in virtual reality, and so sentenced himself to death. This was his in-canon death for years!''

Wiz: But when his back is to the wall and all hell's breaking loose, he'll fight to the end, riding the eye of the storm.

 Megatron: Prime!

Optimus: One shall stand, one shall fall!

Gundam
Wiz: In the year 2179, humanity has embraced the stars.

Boomstick: Well, mostly.

Wiz: Right, after a somewhat united humanity expanded across the solar system, the ideologies between those on Earth and those in space began to drift apart. A new Spacenoid republic, the Principality of Zeon, arose to challenge the Earth Federation.

'''Boomstick: Spacenoid? That like the Domino's pizza mascot, but in space?'''

Wiz: No, more like space Nazis.

[We see them do a straight arm salute and chant]

'''Boomstick: Oh, well, I guess it's no surprise that they started a war, by gassing a populated space colony and dropping the whole thing on the planet! Man, that's messed up, but that's just how it started. For the real star of the show, some smart guys put their heads together and came up with the coolest thing they could think of: Giant fighting robots!'''

Wiz: These were Mobile Suits, and one of Earth's...nuttier engineers had developed a suit which would put all others to shame, this was the RX-78-2, otherwise known as the Gundam.

Popup: Currently, there are over 400 different Gundam models across over 100 different television, film, manga, novel, and video game releases!

Boomstick: There have been lots of mobile suits named Gundam, but this was the original granddaddy of 'em all.

Wiz: This experimental mobile suit was hidden on a remote colony, but before its maiden voyage with the equally classified White Base could begin, it was caught in a surprise Zeon attack.

'''Boomstick: With just two Zaku suits, the space nazis wiped out almost all of the White Base's military crew. The only people left to save these secret projects were civilians, who had no idea these things even existed.'''

Wiz: Among those who rose up was a young boy named Amuro Ray. Brilliant, albeit standoffish, Amuro was actually the son of the Gundam's chief engineer, and had already stumbled upon the mech's coded blueprints.

'''Boomstick: So, he grabbed the owners manual, jumped in the Gundam, and flew into the fight. Damn! Not too shabby for going off just the manual.'''

''Popup: Piloting the RX-78-2 is extremely complex, using a mix of levers, buttons, and pedals to command individual joints. The Learning Computer helps inexperienced pilots adapt, though even that is a difficult task.''

Wiz: Amuro quickly adapted to its complex controls, thanks to its Learning Computer system, designed so the Gundam itself can learn its pilot's limitations and compensate.

Boomstick: Its body is made of a super durable luna titanium alloy called Gundarium, of course...

Wiz: Yet another fictional metal that's way better than anything in real life.

'''Boomstick: For weapons, it's got twin sixty millimeter Vulcan guns for ears, it's got a shield that can block shots strong enough to take down warships, and a Gravity Hammer, a supersized flail that's rocket propelled! Whoever came up with that is my goddamn hero. Same with the guy who built the ultra destructive Beam Rifle.'''

Wiz: That would be the ingenious Dr. Minovsky. Thanks to him, the beam rifle is a marvelous feat of weapons engineering. Minovsky had developed a way to miniaturize the enormous mega particle canons found on warships without losing any power.

'''Boomstick: The result is a Gundam sized rifle that can take down entire fleets of ships all on its own! It's like having a pistol with all the power of a thousand tanks.'''

Wiz: A single shot could easily tear through a 13,000 ton Musai-class warship. Given the official stats of this ship, to tear it asunder like so would require a strike worth nearly nine thousand tons of TNT.

Boomstick: Sure, the beam rifle only has sixteen shots, but who really cares when you just need one?

Wiz: Last, but not least, the Gundam carries two retractable beam sabers.

Boomstick: Cause you can't have space battles without royalty-free lightsabers.

Popup: The Gundam's cockpit can double as an escape pod or it can combine with the G-Armor module for specialized assignments.

Wiz: But all these amazing weapons would be useless without an exceptional pilot. Despite still technically being a civilian, Amuro became the main pilot for the Gundam. Turns out, his skill was mostly thanks to his previously unknown abilities. Amuro was a Newtype.

Boomstick: Like a Pokémon?

Wiz: See, apparently, humankind was never meant to live under gravity's pull. In space, without it literally weighing down their souls, some humans developed psychic powers.

'''Boomstick: That is the dumbest backstory for why someone gets powers, and we've heard a lot of 'em, Wiz. So, what, he can like, read minds or something?'''

Wiz: Sort of, these powers and their capabilities have little definition, often differing between different people. Most Newtypes can instantly understand each other upon contact, even drawing kinship between sworn enemies. Amuro's abilities, in particular, grant him something akin to precognition, he can predict exactly what will happen on the battlefield and where his enemies will be, and can capitalize on it if he reacts fast enough.

Popup: With Amuro's Newtype powers, the RX-78-2 could shoot down targets too small and fast for eyes or military scanners to pick up, suggesting high hypersonic reaction speeds when compared to lesser mobile suits.

Pilot: How could he possibly predict I'd attack from the other side?

'''Boomstick: He's shot down targets too fast for the eye to see, and navigated his friends through a collapsing fortress with no casualties. By the end of the war, his own reflexes were pushing the limits of the Gundam itself.'''

Wiz: A magnetic coating was added to the Gundam to compensate, reducing the suit's friction and increasing its speed by 27 percent.

Popup: Fearing Newtypes, the Federation removed Amuro from active duty for about seven years, this hardly affected his combat skill.

Boomstick: Over fourteen years of military service, Amuro became a legendary pilot, he even learned how to use these super fast funnel guns with his psycho-whatzit powers.

Popup: While Amuro has shown the ability to psychokinetically control funnels and bits, these were not a part of the RX-78-2 Gundam's arsenal.

Wiz: Speaking of speed, the Gundam is comparable to the Red Zaku, piloted by Amuro's rival, Char, which is three times faster than the standard green model.

Boomstick: During the first large scale battle with mobile suits, a Zaku flew through the battlefield in seven seconds.

Wiz: By comparing the 1072 foot long Magellan-Class starships in the distance, we can tell the Zaku flew over seven miles. This puts the standard Zaku's top speed just under Mach five. When tripled to compare to Char, this means the Gundam can move at least eleven thousand miles per hour, fifteen times the speed of sound. Highballing it with Amuro's Newtype powers and magnetic coating, it's possible the Gundam can move as fast as Mach 25, though anything over that would put it dangerously close to re-entry speeds, which its chassis cannot survive on its own.

Popup: In case atmospheric re-entry is necessary, the RX-78-2 does have a single-use deployable heat proof shield.

'''Boomstick: The Gundam is strong enough to lift and throw this goofy Mobile Suit, and tough enough to power through a magnetic field that's 7,200 degrees Fahrenheit. It's survived plenty of really big explosions, including a detonating asteroid and a nuclear blast which wrecked Amuro's home colony. I bet it could wipe out the space Nazis all on its own!'''

Wiz: It nearly did! Amuro and his Gundam were instrumental to the war effort. It doesn't matter how much the Gundam was burned; it would always stand up, dispel the fear, and fly.

Amuro's Gundam slices through several Zaku suits

Amuro: Die!

Death Battle
(*Cues: Wings of Iron - Therewolf Werewolf*)

In the middle of an asteroid field, there is a spacecraft in the middle of nowhere, apparently abandoned.

Suddenly, a laser cuts through a wall and the RX-78-2 Gundam enters the ship.

''Sayla: Amuro! Amuro, come in! Where are you?''

''Amuro: I'm checking something out, Sayla. It's more than meets the eye!''

''Sayla: Get your butt back to White Base! If there's trouble, we can't send backup.''

A red truck suddenly starts its engine and drives towards the Gundam.

Optimus Prime: Let's roll!

Noticing the attack, the Gundam turns around to see the truck transforming into another giant robot, Optimus Prime, who punches the Gundam out of the ship and into space.

FIGHT!

The Gundam starts firing some laser beams, which Optimus avoids with ease.

Amuro: It's an enemy Mobile Suit!

''Sayla: I told you. I TOLD YOU!''

Optimus makes the same move but the Gundam covers with its shield.

''Amuro: Ngha! It's too fast!''

Optimus hides behind an asteroid which gets destroyed immediately. He fires at the Gundam and manages to hit its right leg. Amuro's Newtype powers kick in at this point.

Amuro: There you are!

Amuro aims at Optimus and hits him, causing him to fly towards the ship, with Amuro following behind attacking Optimus with his shield. However, Optimus punches the Gundam's rifle away uses his axe as the Gundam uses its beam saber to defend itself.

''Optimus: Vile Decepticon! I have been in battle for countless eons!''

Optimus breaks the stalemate and dropkicks the Gundam away. He then charges towards the Gundam. The Gundam tries to punch Optimus, but Optimus dodges to the side before transforming into vehicle mode and ramming the Gundam. Optimus then swings his axe to destroy the Gundam, but Amuro's Newtype powers kick in again, allowing it to block the attack at the cost of its shield. It then takes out its second beam saber, knocking Optimus back with it and then throwing one as a Beam Javelin, which hits Optimus square in the chest. The Gundam then charges to attack Optimus again.

Optimus: Not today!

Optimus fires his Ion Blaster at the ground behind the Gundam, sending it flying towards him, allowing him to strike the Gundam and send it flying away, before removing the beam javelin from his chest. The Gundam's beam rifle strikes its head as it's flying away, which the Gundam then grabs.

Amuro: Only one shot left...

Amuro takes aim and fires, hitting Optimus square on and destroying the ship the two were fighting on. Optimus falls off.

''Optimus: No... NO!!!''

As Optimus is falling, he ends up falling straight into the Gundam, who is similarly sent falling to Earth. The two robots re-enter the Atmosphere, with the Gundam reaching the ground first.

''Amuro: Ugh... I hate gravity...''

He then looks to the side and Optimus lands, his impact creating a dust cloud which obscures Amuro's vision. His Newtype powers kick in, alerting him to Optimus jumping out of the cloud and firing his Ion Blaster. However, Amuro can't react in time and the Gundam gets hit. The Gundam then takes out its one remaining Beam Saber and leaps towards Optimus, slicing through the Ion Blaster. However, Optimus takes the opportunity to counter and starts relentlessly punching and kicking the Gundam as it tries to fight back. The Gundam then backs away and sees Optimus coming from above with his axe. Amuro barely avoids the hit and stabs through Optimus' arm with his beam saber before punching Optimus, knocking him to the ground.

Amuro: Not bad...

The Gundam then approaches Optimus and lifts him by the head, preparing to finish him off.

Amuro: I'm just better.

Optimus has one last trick up his sleeve and starts reaching towards his chest piece.

''Optimus: I must stand... so you shall fall!''

As Optimus says this, he opens his chest piece and unleashes a giant energy blast from the Matrix of Leadership, striking the Gundam clean through the chest. Amuro lets out a final cry as a massive explosion occurs. Once the dust clears, Optimus is seen standing over the only thing left of his foe: The Gundam's head.

K.O!

Results
'''Boomstick: He's got the touch! He's got the poweeeeer!'''

Popup: While he was technically with the military for 14 years before his mysterious demise, Amuro spent 7 of them in isolation by the Earth Federation's decree.

Wiz: The Gundam was an impressive machine and Amuro was a skilled pilot, but Optimus' millions of years of battle experience completely overshadowed Amuro's 14. Also, we already know that Optimus was over six times faster and nine thousand times stronger.

'''Boomstick: Holy hell! Who knew Optimus was so freakin' buff?! But the Gundam held plenty of its own advantages. With Amuro's super future-sense powers, he could keep up with Optimus' speed. And with the Gundam's firepower, who cares how much it could lift?'''

Wiz: Unfortunately, the Gundam's limited ammunition meant this couldn't last. And even then, Optimus could certainly survive a shot from the Beam Rifle.

'''Boomstick: Remember that refinery explosion Optimus survived? The one you could see from outer space?'''

Wiz: This blast left an enormous gash on the planet Cybertron. To measure the power of this explosion, we needed to compare it to the curve of the planet. Now, Cybertron's size is pretty inconsistent throughout G1 Transformers history, but even when using the alternating sizes between the cartoons and the comics, the blast is far more destructive than the Beam Rifle in both cases.

'''Boomstick: And Optimus just walked right out of that bitch! And this isn't just some weird outlier just out of the comics, either. In the cartoon, Megatron survived a blast that pushed Cybertron out of orbit! And he's pretty comparable to Optimus!'''

''Popup: By measuring the kinetic energy of Cybertron as it was sent into space, we found this explosion to yield about 4.48 ninatons of TNT. Megatron survived that!''

Wiz: To be fair, the Gundam boasted some impressive durability feats too.

'''Boomstick: Like when Amuro accidentally blew up a Zaku's nuclear reactor right in his own face! Hey, give him a break. It was his first time.'''

Wiz: This explosion created a hole in the space colony which sucked out Amuro's father-

'''Boomstick: Whoops! On the bright side, he's gonna save some money on Father's Day gifts, right?'''

Wiz: And with his height in mind, we deduced the scope of the explosion.

'''Boomstick: It's over 150,000 kilotons of TNT. That's 10,000 times more powerful than the bomb that dropped on Hiroshima. But still nowhere close to the refinery explosion Optimus survived.'''

Popup: While its relevance to G1 continuity is dubious, the Nuclear Quest Super Convoy toy depicts Optimus wearing armor which can withstand the gravitational forces within black holes!

Wiz: Also, the Gundam couldn't dodge Optimus' Ion Blaster forever. It was fast enough to strike down targets in orbit from ground level. That puts its laser speed over three million miles per hour.

Popup: This is actually consistent with Transformers lore, as Megatron's comparable Fusion Cannon could also fire projectiles into space.

'''Boomstick: Even when he knew it was coming, Amuro couldn't react quick enough to block or dodge anything that fast. And even then, Optimus' time in the Omniglobe proves he can think way faster than Amuro.'''

Wiz: And just to blow your mind even more, in order to obliterate Unicron with the Matrix, the energy output must've equaled more than... ahem... 40 yottatons of TNT.

Boomstick: Like the Star Wars guy?!

Cue Yoda laughing.

Boomstick: And you know what they say: size matters not, especially when Optimus has defeated as big as Devastator.

Wiz: The Gundam was a powerful Mobile Suit with some astonishing firepower, but was ultimately outmatched by the Autobot's strength, speed, durability and experience.

Boomstick: I'd say Optimus was primed for this fight!

Wiz: The winner is Optimus Prime.

Trivia

 * The connections between Optimus Prime and the RX-78-2 Gundam are that they are both iconic 80's giant robots that are the classic staples for their respective franchises. Both also use energy weapons and have unique power sources and their background stories take place in situations of civil war in their respective worlds, both of which involve Earth as a major factor.
 * This is the 3rd episode to feature a battle between giant robots, the 1st being Tigerzord VS Gundam Epyon and Power Rangers VS Voltron.
 * This is the 1st episode to feature a battle between giant robots which doesn't involve Power Ranger characters. However, they all feature a Hasbro character as Power Rangers was purchased by Hasbro.
 * This is the 3rd Cartoon VS Anime/Manga themed episode, after Gaara VS Toph and Samurai Jack VS Afro Samurai.
 * This is the 1st 3D fight that isn't animated by Torrian Crawford since Goku VS Superman, which came out in January 2013.
 * This is the first episode to combine 3D and 2D animation for the fight.