Not all are jerks and traitors. The original cartoon version of Sentinel Prime was never named in fiction. The character is referred to as U-Haul Robot in the dialogue script for "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" and was not given the name "Sentinel Prime" until The AllSpark Almanac II declared it so via an Ask Vector Prime entry. Likewise, the earlier appearance of "U-Haul Robot" was dubbed "Sentinel Major", giving him a pre-Matrix name.Sentinel Major was originally one of the Quintessons' slave robots on Cybertron around twelve million years ago. Unusual among his consumer goods brethren, Sentinel Major was equipped for combat and was forced to participate in gladiatorial games for the Quintessons' amusement, wielding a spiked ball-and-chain weapon and a tire-shaped shield. He was once defeated in battle by Prima, who attacked their Quintesson masters when their match was over, only to be destroyed himself.
Subsequently, the consumer goods robots rose up against the Quintessons in a rebellion that ultimately forced the aliens off the planet. Sentinel Major survived this clash, but he and the rest of his race—now dubbed "Autobots"—were robbed of any chance of peace when the military hardware robots, now known as "Decepticons", set their sights on conquering Cybertron for themselves. Two Autobot leaders fell during the war that ensued, and Sentinel Major inherited the Matrix of Leadership and became Sentinel Prime, leader of the Autobots. Under his leadership, the Autobots realized that they would never be able to defeat the Decepticons with firepower, and they turned instead to stealth, reconfiguring their bodies to be able to transform into other forms. With the power of his new ability, Sentinel Prime defeated the Decepticons' leader, and the Autobots won the war.
He transforms into Rhi, the forgotten Beast Rider. He transforms into Rhi, the forgotten Beast Rider.