That time a soldier changed his name to Optimus Prime

Service members are awesome people — they really are. But sometimes, they can do some pretty wild sh*t. Of course you've heard of your unit's token boot who bought a Mustang with an insane interest rate (you know who I'm talking about) and you've probably heard about the guy who creates elaborate, phallic murals in the port-a-johns, but have you heard of the soldier who legally changed his name to Optimus Prime?

That's right — the leader of the Autobots from Hasbro's famed line of toys served in the United States Army National Guard. During the '80s, when the Transformers animated series and toys were very much in vogue, I'm sure a lot of kids out there felt like Optimus Prime was their daddy — and it's very much possible that one of those kids ended up raising their right hand after 9/11.

This is his story:

Generation One Optimus Prime as showcased in 2018's 'Bumblebee.'

(Paramount Pictures/Hasbro)

The Transformers, the animated series, premiered the same year as the first line of Transformers toys (referred to as "Generation One" or "G1"), and it garnered a strong following. Kids spent their afternoons glued to the television sets, watching their favorite toys turn from robot to vehicle and back again as they fought against (or for, depending on the robot) the powers of evil.

Plenty of the boys tuning in didn't have father figures around, and they turned to the show's strong protagonist, leader of the leader of the Autobots (the definitive "good guys"), Optimus Prime, for guidance.

Born in 1971, Scott Edward Nall was about 13 when the show premiered. As a boy who had lost his father only a year earlier, he admired the leadership qualities and unwavering morality of Optimus Prime.

"My dad passed away the year before and I didn't have anybody really around," said Nall. "So, I really latched onto him when I was a kid."

Soldiers with the 761st Firefighting Team prepare to fight a fire during an annual training exercise at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in June 2016.

(U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. Matthew Riley)

Later, Nall joined the Army and become a member of Ohio's National Guard under the 5964th Engineer Detachment with the Tactical Crash Rescue Unit as a firefighter. In May, 2001, on his 30th birthday, he had his name legally changed to match that of the Autobots' fearless leader, Optimus Prime.

Prime later got a letter from a general at the Pentagon stating that it was great to have the commander of the Autobots in the National Guard. His fellow soldiers, however, may not have had the same opinion.

After he changed his name, of course, he had to update all of his forms, nametags, IDs, and uniforms. As one might expect, his friends couldn't let it go without giving him some sh*t. According to Prime,

"They razzed me for three months to no end. They really dug into me about it."

The resemblance is uncanny.

Optimus Prime would go on to deploy to the Middle East in 2003 and continue to serve his country.