Wow. A U.S. soldier has legally changed his name to Optimus Prime — the hero of the 1980s robot-toy cartoon show The Transformers. From WKYC.com:

Prime took his name from the leader of the Autobots Transformers, which were popular toys and a children’s cartoon in the 1980s.

He legally changed his name on his 30th birthday and now it’s on everything from his driver’s licence, to his military ID, to his uniform.

“They razzed me for three months to no end,” said Prime. “They really dug into me about it.”

“I got a letter from a general at the Pentagon when the name change went through and he says it was great to have the employ of the commander of the Autobots in the National Guard.”

This is so incredibly, berserkly cool. The end part is kind of sad, though:

Prime says the toy actually filled a void in his life when it came out.

“My dad passed away the year before and I didn’t have anybody really around, so I really latched onto him when i was a kid,” he said.

(Thanks to Jeff Liu for pointing this one out!)