Hot Rod

o call the commander of Team Athenia a prodigy is an understatement. Though his drill sergeant Kup took him for a turbo-revving punk at first, Hot Rod, the young bot who would one day be called Rodimus Prime, distinguished himself during a live-fire exercise by throwing himself in front of a grenade to save his mentor. From there the higher-ups took special interest in him, and he was accepted into the Autobot Academy a full decade before his boot camp peers. In the Academy he continued to dazzle command, mastering servo-to-servo combat and a wide arrange of weaponry, as well as designing the energy bow that became his signature weapon. Some even began to refer to him as the "chosen one" after seeing him in action, and when he became the youngest Autobot to be assigned his own command, many felt he was on the fast-track to becoming Magnus.

Fiction
he Autobot who would later be named Hot Rod was the youngest Autobot ever to receive the Valor's Flame.

''Eight hundred stellar cycles ago, Hot Rod, Skram, Quickslinger, and Blaster were assigned to the drill instructor Kup. Kup named Hot Rod because of his punk attitude and the flames on his chest. At first Kup thought Hot Rod was all smoke and no flame, but during their final training exercise, Skram tripped and dropped a grenade near Kup, causing Hot Rod to jump on top of the grenade to save his instructor. Thankfully, the grenade was a dud, but this event changed Kup's perception of the youngster dramatically. ''

''Hot Rod got into the Academy one decade before the rest of his peers and earned himself the nickname "the chosen one." Years of studying taught him every form of hand-to-hand combat and all forms of Autobot weaponry. Soon, he renamed himself Rodimus, and centuries later, he was assigned leadership of Team Athenia.''

Rodimus Prime and his team, Red Alert, Hot Shot, Brawn, and Ironhide, defended space bridge 687-030 from Team Chaar. Rodimus ordered Brawn and Ironhide to fall back so they could protect the bridge, but a combo attack from Oil Slick and Cyclonus took down both Autobots. Rodimus managed to evade Spittor's tentacle-attack and incapacitate the monster, but he was quickly knocked aside by Blackout's power-stomp attack.

As the Decepticons moved in, Rodimus defiantly growled that they'd have to go through him. In response, Oil Slick threw a vial of Cosmic Rust at Rodimus' feet, which quickly spread across his body and paralyzed him.The infection ravaged his body, and he was slow to recover, earning the pity of his old trainer, Kup.

Alongside Bumper and Furao, the apparently rust-free Rodimus was among the crowd welcoming home Sentinel "Magnus" and cheering on the capture of several Decepticon prisoners. Decepticon Air Later still, he was also seen cheering for Optimus Prime and his crew when they returned to the planet after finally defeating Megatron.

Rodimus and the rest of Team Athenia had a private box for the opening night of The Motor Master's Stunt Convoy show.