If you told us in 2006 that Optimus would get an arm mounted cannon before Megatron in the movies, we would have never believed you.

The Vector Shield is the personal shield of Optimus Prime in the live-action continuity family. Appropriately enough for the leader of the Autobots, the shield is a versatile tool that can be used in close quarters combat, while also providing Prime a ranged alternative with a powerful cannon built into it.

Fiction

Age of Extinction film

Like the Sword of Judgment, the Vector Shield was stored within the armory of Lockdown's "trophy case" within the Knight Ship.

Optimus retrieved the Vector Shield after freeing the Dinobots with the Sword of Judgement. Optimus kept the shield mounted on his back as he offered to allow them to join the Autobots in the fight against Galvatron in Hong Kong. Grimlock challenged Optimus to a duel, and was beaten into submission by the Prime with the shield. Prime carried the shield into battle against Galvatron’s drones, and used its built-in cannon to destroy the electromagnet of the Knight Ship as Lockdown was sucking in his bounty.

Optimus continued to wield the shield in a battle against Lockdown, using it as his primary weapon when the bounty hunter disarmed him of his sword. After killing Lockdown and leaving earth to find the Creators, Optimus used the shield to protect himself against the extreme heat he endured as he left the atmosphere.

The Last Knight film

"Sir, we're surrounded!"
"Excellent. That means we can fire in any direction."

On Cybertron, Optimus used the shield to provide suppressive fire in order to give Viviane Wembly an opportunity to enter the Ignition chamber, as well as protecting himself from a blast from Megatron's fusion cannon. The shield was presumably lost or destroyed when the chamber collapsed during the battle, as Prime was not seen with it after he entered the chamber.

Toys

Leader Class

• Optimus Prime (Generations, 2014)
• Gold Plated Optimus Prime (2014)
• Leader Class Grimlock & Leader Class Optimus Prime (Platinum Edition 2-pack, 2014)
• Armor Knight Optimus Prime (Movie Advanced Series, 2014)
• Black Knight Optimus Prime (Movie Advanced Series, 2014)
• Optimus Prime (Premier Edition, 2017)
• Shadow Spark Optimus Prime (2017)

The leader class figures of Optimus Prime in his knight form comes equipped with a Vector Shield accessory that’s based on unfinished concept art. As such, while the overall shape of the shield is accurate to the movie, the plating in the center of the shield is inaccurate and it has a huge tri-barreled gun sticking out from the bottom. The initial release of the figure had a gray shield with red painted accents, while the various rereleases left it unpainted and in various colors such as light gray, dark gray, and gold chrome. The shield can only be mounted on Optimus’s left arm.

The Armor Knight toy redesigned the shield to be more accurate to the finalized design seen in the movie, albeit wider and cast in transparent orange. It was redecoed in transparent red and black for the Black Knight release.

Calibur Optimus Prime does not include the Vector Shield, but, being a retool of Armor Knight Prime, all versions of the shield from previous releases are compatible with him. He does include an Overshield, based on the shield he used in Dark of the Moon, which transforms into the rear half of his truck. With this retool, the shield can be mounted on his back.

Voyager Class

• Optimus Prime (Premier Edition, 2017)
• Optimus Prime (Toys"R"Us Giveaway, 2017)
• Dark Optimus Prime (Omni7 exclusive Voyager Class, 2017)
• Optimus Prime (MyNEWS Lucky Draw Prize, 2017)
• Optimus Prime (SDCC 2017 exclusive Voyager Class, 2017)
• Optimus Prime Clear Version (2017)

This newer, smaller, more accurate mold of Optimus comes with a newer, smaller, more accurate version of the Vector Shield based on the finalized design used in the films. As such, it lacks the prominent gun barrels seen in the Leader Class toys. Unlike most of the bigger releases, the shield can peg into either of Optimus’s arms.

The mass retail release of the toy includes a dark gray shield with light blue paint applications, while exclusive releases have it cast/painted in dark blue, gold chrome, transparent blue, and a screen-accurate silver with red and blue accents.

Unfortunately, the shield is severely undersized compared to the film.

Merchandise

Dual Model Kit

• Optimus Prime (Lost Age ver.) (December 2014)

This DMK kit of Optimus, based on his design in Age of Extinction, includes an all-gray Vector Shield with an extending tri-gun barrel. A “Sentinel” shield piece can clip onto the Vector Shield to represent the Sentinel Shield included with the First Edition Optimus Prime.

Prime 1 Studio

• Grimlock (2015)

The miniature Optimus Prime included with Grimlock comes with a Vector Shield that can be attached to his left arm or his back.

• Optimus Prime Ultimate Edition (2016)

This larger statue of Optimus also includes a Vector Shield that attaches to his left arm or back.

• Optimus Prime (2017)

This newer release of Optimus (technically Nemesis Prime) once again has a Vector Shield that attaches to his left arm or back.